My genealogical attention has shifted in the last year from doing actual genelaogical research 40 hours a week to doing it less than 10 hours a week. Writing family stories, using artificial intelligence tools, has filled in the rest of the time, and more.
I still check the major record provider websites for new features and new record collections of interest, and think "gee, I should write a blog post about that new feature when I get a round tuit..." and the "round tuit" is washed over in my memory by the real world and my AI story world.
This week, I belatedly discovered the Ancestry Member Tree Profile "Advanced Search on Profiles" feature provided by Dan Maloney's Genealogy Assistant Browser Extension.
This Genealogy Assistant browser extension is extremely useful, and costs $2.95 a month (or a one-time $29.95) to use it.
Installing and activating this browser extension enables the user to do many tasks easily, and it also improves the user interface with some genealogy websites, especially Ancestry.com and MyHeritage.com.
1) For this post, I want to focus on the "Advanced Search" feature that appears on a person profile in an Ancestry.com Member Tree with the Genelaogy Assistant activated. Here is a screenshot of one of my ancestors, John Marshman (1747-1806) in my Ancestry Member Tree:
That looks a little different from the profile without the Genealogy Assistant activated.
On the second line down, do you see the "Advanced Search" button between "Search" and "Tools?" I clicked on "Advanced Search" and could select which record provider I wanted to search from within my Ancestry Member Tree. The sites that can be opened are:
- Ancestry (Basic) (no login required if already logged in)
- FamilySearch Records (requires login)
- FamilySearch Tree (requires login)
- FindMyPast (requires login)
- MyHeritage (requires login)
- FindAGrave (no login required)
- Newspapers.com (requires login).
- Search All Sites
2) Here's what I see on each tab opened by "Search All Sites:"
a) Ancestry (Basic):
b) FamilySearch Records (after login):
c) FamilySearch Tree (after login):
d) FindMyPast (after login):
e) MyHeritage (after login):
f) FindAGrave:
g) Newspapers.com (after login):
3) Note that the Genealogy Assistant for each record provider puts some information in the site search box. Each record provider is different, so I have to be cognizant of what the search fields are for each provider. I can modify those search terms if I wish. Note that I am not changing anything in Ancestry.com, only on the selected website in a separate browser tab.
With each the different record providers on separate tabs, I can narrow the search as I wish. For instance, on MyHeritage, if I just want to see "Newspapers," I can click on that category.
4) If I find something of interest, I can download an image or take a screenshot of a record, save it to my computer, and enter information for that person into my RootsMagic family tree program. I could enter it into my Ancestry Member Tree and MyHeritage Family Tree. Of course, on Ancestry or MyHeritage, I can do it with one click to enter it into my Tree.
5) There are, of course, other record providers not on the list above. I would like to have FamilySearch Full-Text Search, American Ancestors, GenealogyBank, Chronicling America, WikiTree, and Google on the list!
6) This Genealogy Assistant browser extension is a time saver for me - it's like one-stop shopping for ancestor information. Thank you to Dan Maloney for coming up with an easy way to do more extensive genealogical research in a more organized and faster process.
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