A Day Makes A Difference | Ancestry's New Record Viewer Layout

What a difference a day makes! Yesterday, most everything in my Ancestry world was fine. I've been adapting to the many (many) recent layout and display changes. Today, I right-clicked to open a census record and the result was a complete (and somewhat unpleasant) surprise. 

Ancestry is at it again with the new interface. By now, you know I'm not a big fan of change....though I've been trying to keep an open mind as they obviously modernize their interface. After the initial shock wore off...I tried opening and reopening a couple times to see if it would magically revert...then sighed and settled in to take stock of the changes.

The information displayed in the past is all still there, just in a bit of a different layout. One advantage (yes, I actually see a couple of them) is the source information now displays without having to click a link. Just scroll down below the details. Clicking on "learn more" in the source description still opens the additional search features for the database.

There's also a timeline and family drop-down. It's convenient not to have to go back to another tab to see the person profile, but clicking on a family member still doesn't open anything. It would be wonderful if someday it would allow us to open another tab for selected family members (just like can be done on the person profile).

One small gripe - the person's name shows at the top of the screen, but it's not a hyperlink. You have to go down just a bit to the "In Your Tree" section to open the person profile (if you don't already have it open in another tab).

The suggested records are a bit improved! It now indicates if a record is already saved in your tree. This saves having to open each one to find out if you've already reviewed it. 

For those of you using the Genealogy Assistant browser extension, you'll see an additional Search button right above the Yes, No, Maybe buttons. This is the same as the Advanced Search from a person profile and opens new tabs for any of the websites you've selected.

Do I like the change? I suppose. The information hasn't changed, just the way it's presented. It's a pleasant change to have a few new positives. For several days, I'll struggle with feeling like my workflow is disrupted...but I will adapt. 

Have you seen this change yet? If so, how do you feel about it? 

Image by geralt from Pixabay
Disclosure: I used ChatGPT to help with the title and search description. All content is my own.