Scotland's People

[Ann In the UK]

I don't know whether there have been posts on this issue before but, does anyone else get frustrated that Scotland's People is a Pay-per-view site only?

Am I the only one who wishes there were more options - the option to take out a subscription, say, on a monthly or annual basis? I've lost count of the times I've used up my credit in about 20 minutes, only to find there was something else I wanted to look at.

[Anne H]

Hi Ann,
Yes, it's been brought up before by those who feel as you do. Maybe one day SP will consider the option to take out a subscription. Let's hope.

Regards,
Anne H

[wswsb01]

Yes I agree.
I was cought in the other trap; I had bought a load of credits and used some of them but had a surplus of 42 which I intended to use some time in the future but with other things going on I lost them due to the time-out system. Why do they have a time limit on using the credits? I cannot see the point behind that; I have paid for them so why can I not use them in my own time. Very unsatisfactory. Not user friendly. When will they listen to public opinion?
Bill

[LesleyB]

I suspect things might change later this year as FMP now own SP and I reckon we may find the Scottish records merged with the other FMP records. I suspect there may be a subscription situation, but I sincerely hope this will not mean we lose a lot of the unique current benefits of SP such as being able to always view our past searches, previously viewed images etc. which is not a standard FMP option, or an option on any of the subscription sites I've used. It may be a bit like swings and roundabouts in some ways - subscriptions may seem like the ideal option, but at what cost to the other benefits we currently enjoy?

As far as I'm aware, Bill, you do not lose your SP credits - when they "time-out" (after 90 days) they become dormant, but can be brought back to life if you buy some more credits, unlike many other systems on subscription sites where the credits do disappear completely! So you can use them in your own time.
See:
http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/conte ... x.aspx?150

The expiry limit is defined by government statute.
Statutory Instrument 2006 No. 575 extended the session duration to 90 days, with effect from 1 January 2007.

and
http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/conte ... .aspx?1253

Credits are valid for 90 consecutive days - any unused ones remain in your account. To re activate these, you would need to purchase further credits.

The best tactic is to buy credits for £6 at a time as and when you need them, and in this way you can mostly avoid having extra ones which may be difficult to use up in the allotted time.

Best wishes
Lesley

[emanday]

I sincerely hope this will not mean we lose a lot of the unique current benefits of SP such as being able to always view our past searches, previously viewed images etc. which is not a standard FMP option, or an option on any of the subscription sites I've used.

Like you, I'd hope that our existing past searches and previously viewed images won't be removed. Surely, as they were "purchased" under SP, they should not be able to remove them. To my knowledge SP didn't impose any time limit on how long they remained.

The problem is that, if a subscription system was offered (and I'd prefer it) I feel it IS likely they will not include this facility. It would be a new agreement between them and us, so they could choose not to continue it for subscription members.

[AndrewP]

The subscription question has come up on a number of occasions. It was mentioned at the last meeting of the ScotlandsPeople User Group. See the minutes of that meeting at http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/conte ... inutes.pdf for more info. You will see that it can be up for discussion after September 2010 when the new contract for BrightSolid's hosting of ScotlandsPeople with GROS comes into operation. Any such change, should it be the will of ScotlandsPeople, has to be taken to the Scottish Government to be raised in a Statutory Instrument.

I don't know that there can be any merge of the SP records with FMP. SP is operated by a contract between GROS and BrightSolid. FMP is a separate operation, run by BrightSolid independently of their contract with GROS.

All the best,

AndrewP

[LesleyB]

Hi Andrew

I don't know that there can be any merge of the SP records with FMP. SP is operated by a contract between GROS and BrightSolid. FMP is a separate operation, run by BrightSolid independently of their contract with GROS.

I was basing that guess on an email from FMP sent out ooon 13 Jan earlier this year, as I was not at all sure what they meant by:

In store for 2010...

Irish and Scottish records will be arriving soon, establishing findmypast.co.uk as the primary family history site for the entire UK.

Best wishes
Lesley