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please fix the maddening duplication of marriage events

please fix the maddening duplication of marriage events

Posted: 7 Feb 2015 11:03PM GMT
Classification: Query
Edited: 8 Feb 2015 12:48AM GMT
For at least a year, maybe longer, marriage events are added in duplicate when a supporting document is attached. For example, I had a couple today who had a marriage event that was derived frm the 1900 census - no duplication showed on their timelines. However, I then found the official marriage record, and when I added it to the same event that had been created from the 1900 census, I then had two marriage events on each profile that were identical (including the exact date that came from the record I had just added), except that one had the newly located record attached and the other did not.

On very rare occasions I have been able to add with no duplication, if both the spouse and the record were added at the same time from a database that supports that. However, most of the time doing it that way also creates a duplicate marriage fact - one with the record cited and one with no citation. Sorry, I did not create a screenshot, but will do that and add it the next time this happens.

This problem exists regardless of which computer I am using and regardless or which browser I am using. The duplication results in two "marriage events" that are identical, except that one has the source document attached and the other does not This means that whenever a new marriage event is added, the next step, about 90% of the time, is to go into the timeline and delete the duplicate event that just was created (which, ironically, triggers a "warning" that I am about to remove the event from the profile).

This only started happening about 12-18 months ago, but it shows no sign of going away so clearly is not just a temporary hiccup. Please have this fixed, it's driving me crazy. I can tell there are a lot of programmers with not enough to do, given all the unnecessary tinkering with the message system, etc., so let's put them to good use, okay?

Edit: here are four comparison shots: (1) profile with marriage event added from 1900 census, (2) record attachment screen as initially presented, (3) record attachment screen with date update selected, and (4) resulting profile with two sources (marriage database and 1900 census) for one marriage event and no sources for the duplicate event. If someone sees something indicating that I am creating the problem, please tell me.
Attachments:

Re: please fix the maddening duplication of marriage events

Posted: 8 Feb 2015 2:37PM GMT
Classification: Query
Good explanation. I agree with your frustration. That happens on many of the marriage records I see also, though I'm seeing it a lot less than I used it. On the other party to the event, often the sources are attached to the 2nd event,not the first. so have to be manually edited.
By the way, this group is supported by other users like yourself, and not an official place where Ancestry staff visit. Be sure to report the issue to Ancestry support. Their email is ancestrysupport@custhelp.com

Barbara

Re: please fix the maddening duplication of marriage events

Posted: 8 Feb 2015 3:22PM GMT
Classification: Query
Edited: 8 Feb 2015 3:25PM GMT
About editing the event for the second party - if you delete the unwanted (and unsourced) event for the first person, it automatically deletes from the second one as well, leaving the second one with only the sourced event (so no need to edit on the second person's profile).

I realize this is not an official place to report problems, but it is viewed from time to time by staff like Jim Mosher who are (it appears to me) infinitely more knowledgeable than the run of the mill support staff person, which is why I reported it here. I fully expect that if I contacted the official support staff, I would first be told it is not happening, then I would be told to clear the cache and/or change browsers, then I would be told that if it is happening, it's my fault, etc. - but nothing actually would be done.

Re: please fix the maddening duplication of marriage events

Posted: 8 Feb 2015 4:36PM GMT
Classification: Query
Edited: 9 Feb 2015 1:18PM GMT
Barbara -

"By the way, this group is supported by other users like yourself, and not an official place where Ancestry staff visit."

Although that's true for all other boards, the boards that come under the heading of Topics / Ancestry.com are monitored by Ancestry staff, but not necessarily on a regular basis. All technical problems with the site should be reported to Ancestry support, as you state.

-- board admin.

Re: please fix the maddening duplication of marriage events

Posted: 9 Feb 2015 12:01AM GMT
Classification: Query
Edited: 7 May 2015 6:05PM GMT
One person complaining is filed under "you're the only one complaining". Sending an email complaint to ACOM support is an exercise in frustration and are rarely responded to.

Posting complaints on the public board at least gives the complaint visibility and can show that it's not an isolated issue to one user. While there seems to be little power in numbers when it comes to Ancestry user issues, at least it doesn't feel like a total waste of time.

Yes, this has been a long standing issue, one of many which are routinely ignored.

Re: please fix the maddening duplication of marriage events

Posted: 6 May 2015 11:16PM GMT
Classification: Query
Edited: 6 May 2015 11:19PM GMT
This has been going on for far too long, virtually every time a marriage is entered, and regardless of whether an event already is in the timeline - has anyone at Ancestry even tried to address the problem? Please, DO something about it! (And please, don't repeat the suggestion of calling the clueless robots who - sometimes - answer the support line, but seem unprepared to do anything except read from an irrelevant script.)

Re: please fix the maddening duplication of marriage events

Posted: 7 May 2015 8:10AM GMT
Classification: Query
I add my support to this. Incredibly irritating. Surely Ancestry's highly-paid IT staff can sort it out?

Re: please fix the maddening duplication of marriage events

Posted: 1 Jun 2015 10:19PM GMT
Classification: Query
I noticed this problem about a month ago. I just thought it was a glitch in the system due to their recent Beta testing. I had no idea that others were experiencing the same problem. The problem is now escalating and now my new Birth/Death entries are showing up in duplicate as well.

I agree that quite frequently lately, I have deleted duplicate entries only to find that the original is erased as well. This just adds to the exasperation.

I transfer all my changes over to Rootsweb daily and have noticed that strangely the duplicates do not show up there at all. So the problem must be a malfunction somewhere in the Ancestry program.

Only the shadow knows for sure.

Re: please fix the maddening duplication of marriage events

Posted: 2 Jun 2015 4:42AM GMT
Classification: Query
I only added my tree to Ancestry near the end of last year, having held out from that for many years of research, and uploading it regularly to WorldConnect on RootsWeb. Since I already had most of the persons marriage info, I started noticing a couple of weeks into using Ancestry to work on my tree, that there were many duplicates of marriages because just as you said, when I would accept one of their marriage sources, it duplicated what I already had. I went through my tree and hopefully have removed all of those duplicates, but this is something that Ancestry really needs to address. It's particularly bad, too, when you attach the 1900 Census to a couple, and you already have a marriage date for them; I've learned to be very careful when attaching anything from 1900 and unchecking the citation that is sneaked in there for using the census as a source. But it should not be necessary especially because there already is a marriage date there, which doesn't necessarily match what the 1900 Census says. This is just one of the complaints I have about how records are merged in trees, and I won't even go into getting hints for the marriage of the same couple for the same year in both North Carolina and England.

Re: please fix the maddening duplication of marriage events

Posted: 21 Jul 2015 10:41PM GMT
Classification: Query
I have noticed this for over a year now. figured it was from the sync with Family Tree Maker. I guess not.
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