Message Boards: Ancestry Project 5, Goal 2

Ancestry Message Boards help you connect with other Ancestry members to post questions about a wide variety of topics and get helpful feedback.

In the top menu, click the Help icon (question mark) and select Community.
On the left side, click Message Boards.
To search for content in the Message Boards, type names or keywords in the first box and click Search. You can also click the Surnames button to limit the search to surname boards.
To use advanced search features,
a) Click "Advanced Search";
b) Fill in any of the search fields as needed;
c) Choose a message classification from the drop-down list;
d) Choose a timeframe in the "Posted Within" drop-down list; and
e) Click Search.
To search for a specific type of message board, type a surname or topic in the second box and click Go.
To search for surnames alphabetically, click a letter in the list and continue to refine the search until you see the surnames you want.
Watch these videos for tips on using message boards in Ancestry.

AAC—How to Find Message Boards—2:17
AAC—How to Write a Message Board Query—1:28

To find Message Board threads in localities,
a) In the Categories section, click a category (to see more, click the "More Localities Categories" link);
b) If another list of categories appears (folders), open the category you want;
c) Click the Message Board title (message icon); and
d) Click a title of interest to read the message thread.
To find message threads in topics,
a) Click a category (to see more, click the "More Topics Categories" link); and
b) follow the rest of the step above.
Click a thread title to read the message. If you want to open all the messages, click the "Change to Flat View" link.

Click a message title in the list to read it. The message is marked as read in the list (the orange dot is removed).
You can click the author's name to see his or her profile, or click "View posts" to see all messages the author has contributed.
If you want to open all the messages, click the "Change to Flat View" link. In Flat View, you can select the message order as "Oldest First" or "Newest First".
To see more messages per page, select an amount in the "per page" drop-down list (bottom of the page).
To go to another page of messages (if available), click the left or right arrow (bottom of the page).
To read the next or previous message thread, click "Next Thread" or "Prev Thread".

To navigate back to previous Message Board screens, you can click any of the links shown in the path (top of the window).

In an open message, click the Reply icon (left arrow).
Type the message reply. You'll be notified when someone responds to your message, unless you clear the alert checkbox.
If desired, type one or more surnames that appeared in the message.
Select a classification type from the drop-down list.
To learn more about creating effective message posts, click the "What is this" link.
To include an attachment, click Choose File and navigate to the file.
To preview your post, click "Preview". When you're ready, click Post to send the message.
To print a post, click the printer icon (lower-right corner of the post) and follow the prompts.

In an open thread or message, click Begin New Thread.
Fill in the Subject line and other fields as explained in Choice C above.
To learn more about creating effective message posts, click the "Board FAQ" link (top of the page).
To preview your post, click "Preview". When you're ready, click Post to send the message.

Project 5: Help