The Genealogy & Family History Social Network
What happened to the surname groups to which I subscribed?
Right after this site was launched, someone set up a large number of groups with surnames in which I had some interest. I may have been the only one who joined each, but I did, and I posted in them. It turned out that after I had made my "request to join" the group and been accepted, I discovered that all these had been started by the same person. Apparently she never followed through as she herself didn't have enough interest; however, she had established the group, thus taking priority from anyone else. I am really interested in one because I do have a family line with them, and I am upset that my post disappeared; I was given no notice about this cancellation. This surname was Cannon. For the other one I recently checked on, I do not have a family line, but I have a manuscript document that I wish to give to someone who would have an interest. I posted the name of the person who wrote the document in the surname group; I also told the administrator when I requested to join the group of my reason for wishing to make the post. That post too, was deleted with the disappearance of the group, and I was given no notice; this family treasure still remains in my family's care where it has been for many years (my grandmother was this man's friend). This surname was Chadwick. Both these surnames remain in the surname Group list, but I get a red message saying the group does not exist. I am very concerned that this person started all these groups with apparently no intention of being their administrator. I haven't checked on all I joined, but am commenting on these two. Maybe this is true of the Bartlett Group discussed previously in this Forum.
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Johnny on
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Unfortunately this can happen when you have a community where users have "ownership" of items in the community. If the owner decided to remove the group, they have the ability to do this. It is typically quite rare to just have the content removed, but it looks like this may be the case here.
I'm wondering if you're seeing these groups listed on your groups page from a 'cached' copy of the webpage; because when I look at your groups I see neither of them. Also when I search for groups by those surname, I see neither.
The only CANNON group I see is "Cannon-Ga"; and I see no surname group for CHADWICK.
If you are interested in pursuing either, I would recommend creating the groups yourself. Let me know if you have any questions. -
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Permalink Reply by Joan Foster on
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I am reaching these groups through the tab Groups >Surname Groups, whether entered through My Page or the Main Page. They are not in My Groups and this is why I tried to follow up; they no longer appeared in My Groups, and I wondered why. These were the two names I recollected of the several I joined because I had specific reasons to join each. The names of these are still in the green "Surnames Group" list in alphabetical order: "Cannon Surname" and "Chadwick Surname." When I click through these links on this green Surname Group list, I get the message We're sorry, this Group does not exist. (Sorry that I said the message was in red. It is actually in black in a yellow box.) I have no interest in Chadwick directly but hoped to reach those who were. And I am not well enough to undertake administering a group here for Cannon or any other. That's why I didn't set up any Groups myself in the first place.
First: Can we get these Surnames (or others that no longer exist) purged from the "Surname Groups" list? Then maybe others will be inspired to start a new group for that Surname.
Second: Can we get all administrators to guarantee to notify any correspondents to the Group before the Group is cancelled? That way they can retrieve content before the group disappears, or, perhaps, be made aware that the group will, in fact, disappear unless any correspondent is interested in taking over the group.
Because of my health, I have no idea when the groups did disappear, but I expected to be able to access them when I found the group still listed in that green Surnames Group alphabetical list. I did not access Genealogy Wise for several months except when I received an email about a posting to a group.
Thanks, Joan -
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I am reaching these groups through the tab Groups >Surname Groups
Ah, that explains a little better. The groups listed there are collected by 'being indexed.' I don't think the index is automated yet, so this would indicate those groups have been removed since the last time the indexing was done. Once a new indexing is run, they will no longer show up there.Second: Can we get all administrators to guarantee to notify any correspondents to the Group before the Group is cancelled?
Administration would seldom, if ever, remove a group. And if we were removing or migrating a group we would let those in the group know. What's happened in this instance is a user removed the content they created, something that the administration has no direct control over in the Ning environment. -
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An advanced search for people interested in the Chadwick surname shows that there are currently 11 members on GW. The Cannon surname shows there are currently 35 members on GW.
Maybe talking with one of them might spark some interest in starting a surname group. -
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Thanks Debbie Anne, I am sure we are talking of the same person. I deeply appreciate your telling me of her story, and I, too, will keep her and hers in my thoughts. I only have one family member who was in Iraq, twice. He's home safely now, I hope, to stay. And, as I indicated, I do understand health issues. I did, just now, check both Cannon and Chadwick in that index list, and they have disappeared, whether through your action, Johnny's action, or hers, if she is reading this. I do appreciate your answer that it is not a general practice to delete a group without notification of any member(s). When I can, I will get in touch with some Cannons or Chadwicks from the lists Johnny provided, and see what I can do to get someone to establish a Cannon Group, or find a Chadwick who can help me find some family of my Chadwick of interest. If not, maybe later I can consider starting a group or two.
I appreciate both Johnny's and your interest and help.
Joan -
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