Wednesday, February 27, 2008

New FamilySearch Delayed

The possible rollout delay for New FamilySearch (NFS) that I reported last time has materialized into a major shutdown of the rollout.

On February 21st, Judy Thomasson of the Melbourne, Australia district reported receiving this e-mail:

The new FamilySearch has been implemented in several temple districts. At this point, there are a few issues that need to be resolved before adding more temple districts onto the system. As a result, the implementation date for your temple district has been postponed. You will be notified as soon as a new implementation date is determined.

We apologize for this delay and encourage you to continue your preparations to use the new FamilySearch when it becomes available. (Source)

While no reason has been announced, one rumor has it that the problem lies not with the website portion of NFS but with the software that runs inside each temple. However, there have been no reports of temples already active with NFS needing to take precautionary actions or supplemental procedure.

Others speculate that the 700 server NFS system in Ashburn, Virginia has already hit its limits and needs to be expanded before additional users are added. Several users have complained that performance of the website has gradually declined until using the system has become painful.

It is entirely possible that various anomalies seen in several districts earlier this month can be attributed to the rollout freeze. Consultants in Colorado found they can get on NFS, despite not receiving any announcement. The rollout of the Washington, D.C. temple was announced to the staff, but not members of the district. The Hague, Amsterdam received the rollout DVD media, but nothing else.

Coincident with the freeze, the expected release of NFS version 0.92 did not happen on 15-February. Perhaps the release was always planned for the end of the month. Or perhaps the two delays are connected.

Regardless of the reason for the delay, it is expected to last for at least four weeks. Stay tuned.

3 comments:

  1. New FamilySearch does not work at all this afternoon/evening

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  2. It looks like version .92 has been released.

    Do you know if revised documentation is now available?

    And have you heard whether any advanced instruction is being planned for those of us who have been using the system for awhile?

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  3. Eric,

    If you've previously gone through the New FamilySearch documentation, an article, "What's New in the New FamilySearch" does a really good job of explaining the differences.

    I haven't heard of any advanced instruction. I have heard that the interfaces being tested at labs.familysearch.org are expected to replace the current user interface (UI). That being the case, I don't think FamilySearch will invest too much in advanced instruction using the current UI.

    In the interrim, there are some mighty bright minds hanging out at LDS-Ward-Consultants, a very active e-mail List on RootsWeb. Subscribe to the list and see what you can learn.

    -- The Ancestry Insider

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