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bonalymac

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Post by bonalymac »

I'm having a similar issue to that reported in

Windows 10 upgrade upsets FMP Hints (14253)

Mine however is not tied into any specific MS updates, as far as I can see, as I've had the issue several times over several weeks (in fac t 100% of the times I've tried to look at Find My Past Links) which admittedly is not often as it is not a great priority for me. I've only bothered to raise the issue now tho, as it is not a major issue for me.

When I try a FMP link, I get a completely blank area where the search results should be. If I click on the gear icon and then go for external browser, I get the result I'm expecting.

If I click on a MyHeritage link, the web search window displays correctly.

Since there doesn't appear to be any other threads on this topic, in the intervening period, it may well be one to report to Calico?

Colin
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tatewise
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Re: Blank web search

Post by tatewise »

It sounds like a specific FMP issue with the internal Web Window, because it works OK with external browser, and MyHeritage works OK in Web Window.

In how_to:internet_data_matches|> Internet Data Matches have you tried using Refresh Automatic Internet Matching and the Preferences suggestions?

Is FMP perhaps just slow to respond? How long do you wait?
Mike Tate ~ researching the Tate and Scott family history ~ tatewise ancestry
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bonalymac

Re: Blank web search

Post by bonalymac »

Yes I did refresh. I even disabled them, re-booted the PC, then started them again.

And the window has been open now since I started posting, so time is not an issue either.

I'll report it and see.
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Re: Blank web search

Post by gwilym'smum »

Hi,
Don't know if I have the wrong issue, but we had a thread several months ago about FMP hints being very faint. I frequently have this issue and often when I first go for a hint my area is blank. I just close the hints area and go back to FH click on someone else and try again and it comes back, sometimes faintly, sometime correctly. Sorry if I'm on the wrong issue.
Ann
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bonalymac

Re: Blank web search

Post by bonalymac »

No need to apologise for trying to help.

As far as I can see, that is not the issue, but who knows?

I'll report any progress.

thanks for the help

Colin
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Re: Blank web search

Post by bonalymac »

Response very quickly sent saying
Please go to Plug-ins on our web page and download install and run (from tools>plugins) the Write Reg IE Shell Version plugin and set the version to 11 and see if that helps.

The Plugin reads and writes the Windows Registry, and for the change to take effect, FH must usually be opened by right-clicking its icon and choosing Run as administrator before running the Plugin, even in an Administrator accoun
I tried that and problem was solved.
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Re: Blank web search

Post by tatewise »

That tip was given in the earlier Windows 10 upgrade upsets FMP Hints (14253) posting!
You must have overlooked it.
Mike Tate ~ researching the Tate and Scott family history ~ tatewise ancestry
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Re: Blank web search

Post by bonalymac »

Yes unfortunately I missed that tip.

Colin
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Re: Blank web search

Post by Suetonius »

Hi
I have just encounterd this same problem, Mar 18 and got it working using the tip. Thanks guys.
It did, however, occupy time I had set aside for my genealogy research.
I do like FH, but am driven to ask why, to get a part of the program to work as specified, I have to find a solution to the symtoms by scratching around for a solution, then install a plugin (which, I may add, made me think the batteries in my keyboard had died, since, in trying to type in "11" as suggested in the tip, absolutely nothing happened), then make sure the right version number was input? ... which wasn't.
I am a retired programmer and think a lot of people would find the whole thing a tad difficult (I alway used my wife as a yardstick and if she couldn't get it working or didn't understand it, then it was changed).
Not all genealogists are computer geeks.
This whole thing, I have to say, failed the "Gladys Test".
... but, as I say, thanks for puttong me on the right path.
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Re: Blank web search

Post by tatewise »

Sorry, but your message failed the "Gladys Test".

What has Mar 18 got to do with anything?
Which tip?
Which Plugin?
Why typing 11?

Unfortunately, many of the issues with the Internet Data Matches feature are down to FindMyPast or MyHeritage, or their failure to support Internet Explorer that is used by the FH internal Web Search Window, or sometimes Windows upgrades, etc, most of which are outside the control of FH.
Take a look at the FTM message boards and they have similar synch issues with Ancestry, so FH is not alone.

Personally, I am not keen on the Internet Data Matches feature, because it does not take into account Source Citations already recorded, and insists on giving hints for the same records.
Mike Tate ~ researching the Tate and Scott family history ~ tatewise ancestry
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Re: Blank web search

Post by LornaCraig »

Mike, I think the answers to most of your questions are in the snip quoted previously by Bonalymac:
Please go to Plug-ins on our web page and download install and run (from tools>plugins) the Write Reg IE Shell Version plugin and set the version to 11 and see if that helps.
And perhaps Mar 18 is a typo for Mar 13 (i.e. today)
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Re: Blank web search

Post by tatewise »

If that is so, then it does not suggest type in "11" but set the version to 11 as it is a number spinner restricted to 6 - 12.

It is also strange that fix is needed, because the FH installation process sets it to 11, so presumably some Windows or other interference had upset it. Anyway, that is hardly the fault of the FH software. Although FH could check the setting every time it runs, and offer to fix it when found wanting.
Mike Tate ~ researching the Tate and Scott family history ~ tatewise ancestry
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Re: Blank web search

Post by Suetonius »

Um! I seem to have been the cause of some upset.
Sorry.
I appreciate your reply and the points you made, Mike, but I would suggest it merely strengthens the point I was trying (perhaps clumsily) to make.
I'm sorry, too, if my brevity confused.
LornaCraig was quite right in her reply, except instead of writing Mar 18, I should have written it as March 2018.
It was to stress the fact that the previous issue was mentioned in December 2017 and the solution (again, LornaCraig was right), presumably published earlier than that. So the fault - and it is a fault, whoever created it - has been around for a while, unaddressed other than by workaround.
I have to say, I am not really interested in searching out noticebords, other than just getting the thing working so I can use it for what it's intended.
Come to that, I am not really interested in FH itself, or its workings, rather than the use to which I can put it.
As to the plugin (Write Reg IE Shell Version) I'm embarrassed to admit I didn't actually notice it was a spinner and couldn't understand why it wouldn't accept my typing in version "11" - so I left it set to the default version 9 ... and it seems to have worked! :o
Which just strengthens, I think, the point even further. If I, who am old enough and ugly enough to know better, can make a basic blunder like that, then what about all the Gladyses of the world (remember her)?
My contention is that, no matter how smart the piece of software, far better to leave it out completely if you can't guarantee its behaviour, whatever the reason.
However, if I may, I'd like to agree heartily on the final point of your first email, Mike.
Perversely, having now got it working, I'm not terribly keen on it, myself. :?
Ah, well - thanks for taking an interest, anyway.
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Re: Blank web search

Post by Suetonius »

OOps! Forgot. Credit where credit's due.
What I've been carping on about is a very minor detail.
I think FH is a cracking piece of software and have enjoyed using it.
There really is no better.
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Re: Blank web search

Post by tatewise »

I'm sorry if I was a bit terse ~ I had been having a bad day.

However, the scenario illustrates one of the paradoxes of Plugins.
In earlier versions of FH in particular, the IE Shell Version needed correction in the Windows Registry.
So rather than wait for an update to FH to fix the problem, I wrote the Plugin as a quick fix, which is a great bonus.
Now that the Plugin exists, there is less incentive for Calico Pie to improve FH, which is a sad drawback.
What should I do? Withdraw the Plugin, so users will badger Calico Pie to make FH handle the issue internally?
Mike Tate ~ researching the Tate and Scott family history ~ tatewise ancestry
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Re: Blank web search

Post by BillH »

Mike,

How about adding a pop up window at the end of the plugin processing to ask users to please report the issue to Calico Pie and give a link for them to do so? Just an idea, not sure if it would help or not.
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Re: Blank web search

Post by Suetonius »

Ah!
Perhaps I should get a smaller size in clogs! But then, putting my foot in it is nothing new. :(
Nope! Whatever you do, don't withdraw the plug-in. You certainly did the right thing and can rightly assert the moral high ground.
Quite apart from anything else, I'd still be muttering and trying to find out how to get the darned thing to work properly ... old programmers never die, they only smell that way.

PS. Just seen BillH's post. What a good idea.
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Re: Blank web search

Post by tatewise »

The question is, would you prefer Calico Pie to spend their efforts on fixing rare events in FH that are fixed by Plugins, or to devote their time to adding popular new features?
Mike Tate ~ researching the Tate and Scott family history ~ tatewise ancestry
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Re: Blank web search

Post by Suetonius »

That was not really what I said (or, at least, what I meant).
CP, although they probably enjoy their work, are not doing it for the love of it.
Ultimately, they are doing it for money; that makes them professionals.
I maintain that it is unprofessional to ignore a piece of software which is below specifiction, for whatever reason.
Its problematic behaviour can't be that uncommon, since you wrote a plug-in to correct it.
BillH's idea was interesting in that it would give CP a direct indication of how many people were running foul of the problem.
What CP then choose to do is up to them.
As we both implied, this particular function probably wouldn't be missed, so, as a short term solution, why not just pull it?
Software which doesn't work only confuses the user and reflects badly on the software house, whatever the underlying cause.

Anyway, I think we've spent more time on this prob than it warrants. Overall, FH is a good piece of kit, which is attractive as well as functional - often a rare combination.
Now, for me, it's back to finding out exactly what the devil happened to my missing great grandfather ;)

Best wishes, Mike
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Re: Blank web search

Post by Jane »

I raised this with Calico, and the latest install should set the value to 11 for everything other than Vista, but I suspect if it's not a clean install (eg the registry key exists) it's not changed.
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Re: Blank web search

Post by tatewise »

Jane, I have a gut feeling that the Windows Registry Keys for IE Shell Version get upset occasionally.
I recall that there is a global setting and a dedicated FH setting.
Possibly Windows Updates or other software upgrades can 'damage' those settings.
Anyway, there is a regular stream of Forum problems that are cured by running the Write Reg IE Shell Version Plugin.
Rather than just rely on the FH Program installation process to set the Registry Key, which you think is unreliable anyway, why not every time FH runs make it check for a reasonable value between 9 and 11 otherwise set it to 11?
Then these problems should not arise and the Plugin becomes redundant (except in Vista or FH V5).
Mike Tate ~ researching the Tate and Scott family history ~ tatewise ancestry
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