Mayflower Update – Stop using MyFamily now.
This is an important update for Mayflower users. Once you have initiated your site download, your migration request is queued up and held until all jobs before it have been processed. Once the export is initiated, any posts or replies which are created after that moment will not be included in the export.
For this reason, we suggest that you discontinue use of your MyFamily site immediately at the time you commence your export, and let your users know that they should post any new content on your new Spokt Hub.
We are happy to see the strong response to Mayflower, and are glad to see our weeks of development being put to good use preserving the memories that would have otherwise been destroyed upon MyFamily’s closing.
In the next few days, we will be posting a more comprehensive Mayflower FAQ blog post outlining some of the questions we’ve received recently. In the meantime, enjoy your Spokt Hub (and if you are celebrating Independence Day, have a blast)!
I HAD A SREEN HHERE SHOWING THE DATA MIGRATION
HOW DO I GET IT BACK ????
Hi Riley,
You can see your pending migrations here:
http://spokt.com/mayflower/migrations
Hope that helps!
My MyFamily.com site migrated to 2.0 years ago. Is Mayflower really only for 1.0 sites at time time, as your Mayflower landing page says, or are all MyFamily sites now safe to use Mayflower?
Hi Christa,
We are still finalizing the 2.0 migration tool. It should be ready soon. Keep your eyes on the blog for an official announcement on that. You can also contact us at http://spokt.com/contact if you have further questions or need help with anything else.
Thanks!
RJ
Thanks for the reply. My other admin started a 1.0 migration today, and I am concerned.
1. Our site is 2.0. Did we just pay for nothing?
2. If content does move over from the 1.0 version of our site, do we have to migrate again to get the newer 2.0 content?
3. If we have to do a 2.0 migration later on, will the first migration we did get messed up? Will new content be overwritten, for example?
Thanks for being there for the refugees!
Christa
Hi Christa,
Will you please open a support request at http://spokt.com/contact ?
We will look into this for you and get things straightened out for you.
Thanks!
RJ
***I did an recce click on the Mayflower symbol and saw mention of the phases and about pricing. If there is a cost which has not been mentioned before it would be nice to get that out of the way by letting everyone know what they will have to pay to have info imported from MyFamily. Will charges be to individuals who ask for import or to the hub owner and cover all hub members. Most people don’t like surprises!
Hi Ernie,
Mayflower requires a one-time payment of $69 for every site that is migrated. This captures every user’s data on the MyFamily site, not merely the data belonging to the user who initiates the transfer. So the charge is one time for one person, and that covers everyone.
I hope that clears things up a bit for you!
RJ
Ernie: No. The $69 is for the whole site, all members posts included. It should not be hard to get that from your members if the site is big enough to bother migrating.
I was thinking of putting photos of
Food. For the receipies
Something for history
And migrate those items under those photos, since you do not have those categories.
Stupid idea?
I can’t swear that I’m right but I feel like my website has been exporting for at least 2 or 3 days now. Is that to be expected? How will I know when the export is finished (other than to keep checking in). Also how long should the processing take after that and how will I know when that’s finished? At that point in time, what, if anything, will I have?
Forget above changed ny mind. I will go with what you guys come up with.
Hi Spencer,
The processing can take some time. We are watching all of the transfers closely to make sure they are going through successfully. Once we launch Stages 2 and 3, we’ll notify you that we need your involvement to integrate the data into your Hub. This should be happening at some point between the middle and the end of July. I hope that helps! Have a great weekend!
How does one create a dummy member account for Mayflower migrations?
Hi Bob,
This will be an automatic process that is initiated once we are ready to import your MyFamily data. We will create the “dummy” accounts, then you will need to make sure the associations are correct between old vs. new accounts.
RJ, that didn’t answer my question. I wanted to know how to create “dummy” hub member accounts.
Hi Bob,
Can you explain for what purpose you are seeking to create a dummy account? That may help me address your needs better.
Thanks,
RJ
From your previous comments, I believe that we need to create “dummy” hub member accounts for those MyFamily members would will not be joining the Spokt hub. This would be necessary so there is a name for the person who posted the item imported from MyFamily. It isn’t clear to me if those dummy accounts that will be automatically created as part of the import step are hub accounts.
By the way, say we create a dummy hub member account for someone who subsequently joins the hub. Will there be a process for linking the dummy account to the active one? My fellow admins want to postpone adding new members until the import process is complete, so I anticipate having a fair amount of “linking” of that sort to do.
Hi Bob,
Quoting from before: “This will be an automatic process that is initiated once we are ready to import your MyFamily data. We will create the “dummy” accounts, then you will need to make sure the associations are correct between old vs. new accounts.”
You do not need to create the dummy accounts on your end. We will create those in your Hub for you when the time comes to import the data.
Will the dummy hub accounts be created for all MyFamily members or just for those who posted? And will there be a process to convert dummy hub accounts to active ones (for when a MyFamily member joins the hub after the completion of the import process)?
Hi RJ – More questions:
1.) Are the new Mayflower navigation button and Update Status link active and available for all HUB membership or just HUB Admin?
2.) Will the email messages created within the old MyFamily site be included in export?
3.) Are you literally removing the data from MyFamily during Mayflower extraction, or obtaining a copy?
4.) Way down the road once all Migration is considered to be done: A.) What happens to Mayflower’s copy of the export? B.) Can the data ever be removed in mass from the HUB level?
5.) Once the export is available for our Spokt Hub, will the members have a tally of “unread” items to wade through?
6.) What format will export text be in? (i.e. Document text or HTML) Format for Image files?
7.) When the time comes, will there be a charge for EACH download to individual hard drive?
8.) Trying to sort out the detail and benefit for Individual Member doing their own personal download of old web items Vs the entire group doing single download. Or, not doing extraction at all and “starting a new” with Spokt.
Thanks for all your efforts.
Kathie,
You have to read both threads, Mayflower Update (this thread) and Introducing Mayflower (an other blog thread). Question 5 was answered in the other thread. It was, “One more thing Lee – You can delete the superfluous data on MyFamily before migration. However, I would recommend you migrate everything and then delete what you consider superfluous when it’s safely in your Spokt Hub. That, or you can just ignore it since it’s not really going to bother you. It will be marked as “read”, so it won’t be front and center to crowd out the current stuff.”
So don’t make the developers keep answering the same questions over and over. Hopefully they are working on the necessary things to get our data up and function on spokt.
1) These are only visible to the person who initiated the transfer.
2) I’ll have to ask my product team about this
3) We do not remove any data, we only make a copy
4) A) The data will be integrated directly into your Spokt Hub, just like the rest of your Spokt posts
B) Using Harbor, our personal data download tool, users will be able to download the data from their Spokt Hub directly to their own computer
5) The posts will essentially be marked as “read” using ReMark. ReMark allows a user to choose a date by which any posts prior to that date are marked as “read” hidden from the “unviewed” lists on the Hub Home and Unviewed pages. They can adjust the date forward or backward at any time to change which unread messages show up in these unviewed lists.
6) Migration data will be imported directly into your Hub as though they had originally been posted there
7) Harbor will be a paid-for service. We have not yet finalized pricing details.
8) As the full site migration will be imported directly into the Spokt Hub, it is recommended that the Admin (or some other designee) be in charge of the Mayflower migration from MyFamily. Once the data is fully imported, all members will have the opportunity to initiate a Harbor download.
I hope this helps answer your questions, Kathie!
RJ
RJ, thanks for answering these questions. I’m also interested in the responses to Kathie’s questions above. Thanks in advance!
Thanks, Miranda. Please see my answers to her post. 🙂
Hello RJ – Anxiously awaiting answers to Kathie’s outstanding questions above. Also what credentials will I need to provide for migration? Will member access to our myfamily forum suffice, or do you need admin/mod access?
Hi Chuck. Please see my reply to Kathie.
Please enter your user’s credentials in the Mayflower page. We do not modify any content on the site, but rather export every user’s content. Please let me know if you have any other questions for us.
Have a great weekend,
RJ
How do you notify when and how much of the transfer from a site being switched is available on Spokt?
Hi John,
We will be contacting users through email and/or directly through our messaging system on Spokt, as well as through the Mayflower page. We’ll also have some new blog posts to guide users to the next stages.
RJ
Hi Don – Thanks for your reply. I’m more than sure that every member of the Spokt team is working beyond the human limits to get all of us what we think we may need to function on Spokt. It has been a wonder watching through all the BLOG threads. Thanks again.
RJ, any progress on the migration tool? Is it satisfaction guaranteed? Anything on the albums? Thanks for all you do.
Hi Ron,
As noted on our Mayflower page, due to the nature of our product pipeline, we are not able to offer refunds on Mayflower migrations. However, we are committed to completing the site exports as we’ve promised. In the unlikely event that we cannot deliver that for a user, we will make it right either through adding support effort to finish the job, or if delivery is simply not possible, via a refund. So far Mayflower has worked extremely well, so I don’t foresee users facing a problem with the migrations.
We will be releasing some features that improve photo upload and organization when we finalize Stage 3 of Mayflower or soon thereafter. The changes we make will be retroactive to the import from MyFamily. You’ll see much better organization similar to what you knew as “Albums” on MyFamily.
Hope that helps!
RJ
RJ,
Thanks for your hard work. I have not put much up yet, I’m waiting on the migration to be complete so i will have no dups. I look forward to a long relationship.
Ditto, Ron. Love having you here!
My family is very appreciative of this service. We have many members. Our site has been going since ’99 so we have lots of priceless data on there. My question: When our hub is finished processing, will each member have to pay a mebership fee to you in order to see everything on there? Will they be able to add photos or text? In other words will we have all the features of MyFamily?
Again, thanks to all involved in this service…Jeremiah
So glad your family was able to find Spokt, Jeremiah. To answer your question, the Hubs cost $29 per year, and that includes access to unlimited members. Mayflower migrations (data exports from MyFamily) requires a one-time payment of $69, and that also covers all the users in the Hub. In essence, migrating your data costs $98 for the first year, and the price of an annual Spokt subscription (currently $29) each following year. That is the same whether you have 2 members or 200 members (or more). Once these payments are covered, users are able to enjoy the Hub and share data for no additional charge.
I hope that clears things up for you!
RJ
My export from MyFamily has been showing the status “queued” for about a week. Is this normal?
Thanks. 🙂
Hi Lisa,
With the large number of requests we’ve received for Mayflower migrations, it is normal for a site to be in queue for some time. Response has been larger than we anticipated, but we are working daily to add nodes to Mayflower so we can handle the increased demand. If you don’t see an “exporting” status by weeks end, please feel free to contact me through our support page: http://spokt.com/contact
Thanks Lisa!
My export is stuck on “process data”..Do I need to do something?
Nope. It’s good to go. Once we’re ready to import your site data into your Hub (Stage 3 of Mayflower) we’ll notify you.
I have two myfamily1.0 sites. This migration is great if it will bring all our information over. I have tried the download tool from them and it sucks. STuff is just thrown in a pile and left to us to sort out. Am interested in how your migration tool works…..just not too much detail as I am not a programer, just a user.
Hi Karen,
I am not at liberty to discuss the specifics of Mayflower or of our relationship with Ancestry.com.
What I can tell you is that Mayflower is the only solution offering a comprehensive backup and re-importation of your MyFamily site data. If you’ve read through our Mayflower info page and/or blog post and wondering if we can really save MyFamily sites, then the answer is “We already are!” Give us a try. We are certain you will be pleased with the end result.
Thanks!
RJ
P.S. We’ve received your latest support inquiry, and are working on that for you!
I tried to use the Mayflower migration tool and was very disappointed that it would cost me an additional $69! I am not paying that. Migration of the MyFamily site to this one should be included in the membership fee. For that reason, I am requesting to get a full refund of my membership fee. I’ll look elsewhere. What other hidden fees are they going to be wanting from us? My Family only had the one $29.95 annual fee which could be paid by any website member.
Hi Norman,
An annual subscription costs $29 for a single hub. We charge a one-time fee of $69 per Mayflower migration. It is an incredible value to many but if preserving your MyFamily.com data isn’t worth the fee you are under no obligation to pay it. Do you have plans to preserve the news, history, file cabinet, etc. ?
Can two or more myfamily sites be migrated into the same hub or does each site need a separate hub for migration?
Hello Brenda,
Please contact us through our support form so we can get some additional information from you. Thanks!
http://spokt.com/contact
It’s now approaching the end of July and I’m sure Spokt developers are working very hard to bring us Phase 2 and 3. Do you have a revised estimate for when this will be ready? Are you still shooting for month end? Thanks Nancy
Hello Nancy,
We are still on track to begin the import process this week. Stay tuned to the blog for an official announcement. We’ll also notify Hub admins when it’s time for them to take action.
Thanks!
RJ
Hi there at Spokt,
One question — I just saw the notifications that Mayflower can only import “Myfamily 1.0.” How do we know which version of Myfamily we’re running for our family site? I can’t see any references to version # (it’s probably right in front of my face). Where do I find that, so I can know whether to wait to use Mayflower? Many thanks!
Hello Angela,
That’s a great question. Here’s how you can identify which version of MyFamily you’re on:
If you visit MyFamily.com, you’ll see the following screen:
By clicking the link on the left, you’ll enter the older “MyFamily 1.0”, and the link on the right will take you to the newer “MyFamily 2.0”
The login screen for 1.0 looks like this:
The login screen for 2.0 looks like this:
Hopefully these screenshots help you and other former MyFamily customers learn what version of MyFamily their site is.
Thanks!
RJ
I sat and watched as Mayflower took my two myfamily sites and sucked them off of that defunct site and laid them out in 3 phases onto spokt. My problem is that I have not been able to log into my spokt page to see what they look like. Assuming that I was putting in the wrong password, I clicked on the button to reset or retrieve my password. I’ve done that three times without a response from you. Please advise.
Hi Don,
I believe we got you straightened out through our email support, but please let us know if there’s anything else you need. Thanks!
I was wondering what is going to be done with all the different metadata that is coming over from MyFamily.com which is associated with photos. Is it all going to be concatenated together in the comment field or if there are any plans to modify the format of the photos page to more like the MyFamily.com photo page where there are separate fields for who posted the photo, when/where it was taken, etc. I think having these separate fields helps remind people to post this information which makes the photos more valuable.
Hello Don,
Great question. Currently I can tell you that we are capturing the metadata from the images on migrated MyFamily sites. It is too early to tell how it will be displayed or whether metadata specific fields will be added in the future, but the data you’ve accumulated thus far will be preserved and displayed clearly. I hope that helps add some clarity for you.
RJ
RJ,
I take it that the import will be completed soon. In the meantime would you please ask the developers to put some control in for the admins to be able to customize their hubs, as in change the colors our maybe add a photo to the front or an intro of some kind. I know this isn’t myfamily.com, but would like to be able to control the appearance of my hubs. I will be adding one next month after the import of my first one is complete. If I feel it will meet our needs, then I’ll add it and only then. It has about nine or ten years on it. So we have to have it right.
Thanks
Ron
Hi Ron. I’ll pass your suggestions along to our product team. I know they are working to make it easier to distinguish between Hubs, but I’m not sure how deep that customization will go. Stay tuned to the blog for future features, updates and enhancements.
Thanks!
We all have a lot of questions! But I, for one, am being patient and willing to wait as long as it takes for the right outcome on our SPOKT sites. Anyone who can make a deal (or whatever it was) with the Almighty Ancestry.com, is wonderful in my book. I am just so happy to be able to save all 11 years of my family’s information, comments, photos, news, etc – and then also be given the option to download it to my computer in the future? How AMAZING is that?!
GREAT JOB, SPOKT… take the needed time to do it right! I may have more questions/concerns later, after the site shows up when I log in, with all old info in tact! But we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it.
THANKS SO MUCH!
Thank you for your kind and inspiring words, Sharon. Your support is much appreciated, and we are working hard to deliver the peace of mind for which you’re so faithfully depending on us.
It shouldn’t be long before your vision is realized and your memories are safely available in your Hub.
Have a great week!
RJ
As content from MyFamily.com comes across, I was wondering if there will be some page changes made to the Spokt site. For example, will all the metadata (e.g., Date/Place Taken, Description, etc.) from the MyFamily.com site be placed in separate fields or will it be all concatenated together in the text field for the photo? I liked how the MyFamily site had the separate fields so as to remind those who posted content about recording these important details so we can look back years later and remember what the photo was about.
If you are going to be importing content such as recipes and documents, it would necessitate some changes to accommodate that sort of thing.
Hi Don,
Mayflower captures the metadata and displays it nicely on Spokt. I think you’ll be very happy with the results. Recipes look great too!
RJ, can you tell us if the target end of July is going to be met? Like I said I have another site to bring over, but I have to know it’s going to work for sure. I’d also like to say, without albums on both news and photos it’s going to be a big headache for both the admins and the members. But I’d really like to know when I can expect the next step and how do we initiate the import to the hub. Thanks so much. Ron
Hi Ron,
This is a few days old, so I’m sure you have seen already, but we are now actively importing sites. The queue is pretty sizable at this point, so it may be a short wait still to get your site imported. I do see a number of sites that are already successfully imported, and we’re hearing some very positive feedback on those so far.
I hope this helps. Thanks for your patience!
Can you tell me why we aren’t allow to “modify, delete, etc” from Our Family site? Just curious..
Here is a problem one of our users has : No the website says that the invitation has been revoked and only Dede can invite or revoke. I know my username but the website will not accept my password. so I go on an old email from spokt and I put my username in and then indicate my password which the computer says is not my password so I click forgot my password and it says wait a minute and an email will let me click on and I got in but when I try again no access. I am ready to give up for only the web company can straighten it out. I have mailed them twice my password and this mess continues. I am tired of the mess. Rosie
I have invited her and she has been on a couple of times but she is having trouble…I give up! PLease help her~
Hi Dede, Ken is on it!
I noticed that Spokt displays the photo Album categories next to the edit icon. Will we be able to sort the photos (sometime in the future) by Album. Otherwise, I have a hodgepodge of a 1000 photos scattered without any way of finding related photos.
Yes Richard, we will add photo and post categorization sometime after the summer rush to save as much MyFamily.com data as possible for our users.
I requested migration from my MyFamily site to my new Spokt site. I know next to nothing about how this works…so, how do I find out if my request was received and how will I know when its complete? I got an email from MyFamily a week or so ago stating that the migration was complete but I can’t seem to find anything here.
Hi Grace,
You’ll need visit http://spokt.com/mayflower to request your migration.
Our Mayflower migrations do not use the export files generated from MyFamily.com.