
by Lynne C. VanWagnen
When you are searching for a person in Family Tree, you can now specify a date range (From – To), as opposed to using one specific date. Using a date range allows you to see a larger set of possible matches. The date range is especially useful when you are not sure of the exact date in which an event took place for an individual. This change in . . .
format also makes the search experience consistent with the record search feature of the FamilySearch search page.
Family Tree used to let users type in exact dates with day and month. It even suggested the proper standardized form for dates. However, the search engine is currently built to search using only by year. The additional data is not actually used when processing a search request.
This new date search format makes it clear that the system is searching on a specific year or on a range of years for a given event. It also gives the user complete control to what year range their search will cover. This will be a great enhancement for those who have very common names, such as Asian users or those from patronymic societies. These researchers will now be able to be very precise in specifying the year range of the results they get back.
In the future FamilySearch will allow users to search using days and months. However, at this time, we cannot estimate a time frame for this enhancement.
This new date search format makes it clear that the system is searching on a specific year or on a range of years for a given event. It also gives the user complete control to what year range their search will cover. This will be a great enhancement for those who have very common names, such as Asian users or those from patronymic societies. These researchers will now be able to be very precise in specifying the year range of the results they get back.
In the future FamilySearch will allow users to search using days and months. However, at this time, we cannot estimate a time frame for this enhancement.