Recently there was a rather heated debate over public versus private trees. While I do keep my main tree private, I also broke my tree down into individual surname branches which I list as public. It seems that this subject is nearly as volatile as discussing politics. Everyone has an opinion and feels their opinion is right. And so it is.
I myself keep my online tree updated only for issues such as loss of data. Being I live in a hurricane state this is most important to me. My data is always keyed in on the archaic Family Tree Maker Vol 6. Yes, 6! I have bought the others and I peronally do not care for them. So it is back to my handy dandy 6. We are comfortable with one another and I do not mind that at each start up my computer tells me that it is not compatible with the new windows. I just say that's what you think, and override it each day. Sure I may not be able to use the online portion anymore, but I never used that anyway.
The census records are what I am really there for! They are what pull me in each day. The constant search is a challenge that I love and then the rush when you find whom you are looking for.
I also use the Shoebox in order to save things I may like to find quickly again. It is so handy right there on the dashboard, and I can quickly pull something up that I would like to go back over. Another of my favorites is the message boards! I can not say enough about those. Use them people!
The birth and marriage records are another wonderful source I use on Ancestry. Many times I have found persons I needed and then was able to order those records from the appropriate places thanks to the information provided.
Webinars! Watch one today! Even old dogs learn new tricks, you never know what you may pick up!
While many think the family tree's themselves are the backbone of Ancestry, I have always felt it was the many other valuable resources to be found on the site. Namely the census records. After all the first people to start out on Ancestry had to start those trees from scratch using those records as their basis.
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