WorldConnect family trees notice found on a RootsWeb family tree

Question

Note: WorldConnect family trees will be removed from RootsWeb on April 15, 2023 and will be migrated to Ancestry later in 2023.

I'm not a member of Ancestry, so whatever useful leads these pages might still have will be lost to me as of 15 April. Posting here in case others might like the advance notice.

I found the notice on https://wc.rootsweb.com/trees/228095/I19911/-/descendancy - one of the sources listed for a profile that was set as a duplicate of one for someone that I think is a different man. I'm trying to pin down reliable resources but looking at all given for the two profiles - both pre-1500. However, I have a lot of later profiles that include Rootsweb trees that at one time included reliable sources (when Ancestry bought Rootsweb, those were mostly lost... looks like Ancestry is about to finish the job).

Comments

Note: The Rootsweb Mailing Lists will be shut down on April 6, 2023.

Found on https://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/read/HARRIS-COLONIALVA/2005-12/1134229930

---

VERY disappointing to read. (But thanks for posting, Liz.)

I wonder if the Wayback machine will or has archived these?

WorldConnect was where I first posted my work online in the early 2000s. I have/had multiple GEDCOMs there.  Those GEDCOMs became pretty worthless a few years back when Ancestry changed the formatting/display, removing all source citations. Now they'll be gone for good.

---

A great loss when Ancestry bought Rootsweb was 17000 pages of research by Ed Killian. Rather than allow Ancestry to copyright & control his work, Ed removed it himself.

Another loss was the entire database for the Turner-Thomas site, Celtic Royal Genealogy.

I don't recall finding any of the corrupted or lost pages in archive.org's Wayback Machine. (I thought I had, but just looked it up - it was a Family Tree Maker page.)

---

Jillaine: an answer to my other post provided a link that talks about the Wayback Machine - see https://dna-explained.com/2023/02/19/ancestry-to-delete-worldconnect-trees-and-shut-down-rootsweb-mailing-lists-prepare-now/

That link also talks about sites hosted by Rootsweb - such as the VAGenWeb and the like. That's a whole nuther wealth of info in danger of being gobbled up by Ancestry (and possibly never seen again).

Might be a boon for libraries, since it's likely we'll soon be to the point where the only alternative to an Ancestry subscription will be pre-Internet research methods.

Answer 1

WorldConnect Trees will be "migrated to Ancestry as a new free-access collection later in the year."

Comments

I think many of us would be interested in seeing the source of that quotation, Patrick.

---

Never mind, I think I stumbled onto the answer on my own:

https://support.rootsweb.com/s/article/Retiring-and-Migrating-Portions-of-RootsWeb

---

Sorry, I meant to add the link.

---

Patrick - thank you so much for this assurance & thank you Dennis for posting the URL. Fingers crossed!

---

The salient content on that page is as follows:

Mailing Lists Archives (last updated in 2020) will be retired on 6 April 2023 and migrated to an alternative, free platform. Once migration is complete, we’ll provide a link to them on the RootsWeb home page.

WorldConnect family trees (last updated on 9 August 2021) will be retired on 15 April 2023 and migrated to Ancestry as a new free-access collection later in the year. For help removing a tree or its content, contact us.

Hosted websites will become read-only beginning in early 2024. At that time, all logins will be disabled, but hosted sites will remain on RootsWeb as static content. Website owners wishing to maintain their sites must migrate to a different hosting provider before 2024.

---

It is April 2024, and the rootsweb website now says  WorldConnect family trees have been removed from RootsWeb and will be migrated to Ancestry early in 2024.

What does "early in 2024" mean? November?

I have a couple hundred profiles that have a one place study on Rootsweb as their single source (random example). Those profiles are currently technically unsourced -- and will remain so even after the OPS is available again on Ancestry. It's just that I can then begin to repair the references.

---

It is now October 2024, and the website still says the migration will take place in "early 2024".

Answer 2

It has been added to Ancestry as https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/62741.

Unfortunately, this is only an index, and Ancestry says that it's all that is available. As far as I can tell, the biographies were stripped to a bare minimum, only containing names and years (no dates), and there is no attribution to the original author (even though they claim otherwise in the description, quoted below). It's all just "WorldConnect Community Trees from RootsWeb", you can't tell whose tree it came from.

About RootsWeb WorldConnect Community Trees Index

General collection information

This collection includes an index to family genealogies found on WorldConnect by RootsWeb. WorldConnect is a repository for family trees submitted by family historians from around the world that are available free online. The index includes information about the people who submitted family trees and may include a link to the submitter's homepage. This collection is an index only. Images of the family trees aren't available.

Using this collection

Records in this collection may include the following information:

• Names
• Family relationships
• Birth dates
• Death dates

The family tree information found in this collection can help you expand your own family history beyond parents, siblings, and grandparents. You may find names of your extended family, such as cousins, aunts, and uncles. Family trees also may help you verify your ancestor's birth and death dates. Online family trees allow you to share the family research you have done with other family members.

Comments

thanks for the update. As a non-member, I can access the search page, but hit the pay wall if I want to see results.