Fold3 HQ

Footnote is now Fold3 (updated)

Today we announced our intention to create the finest and most comprehensive collection of U.S. Military records available on the internet and changed the name of the site from Footnote to Fold3.

Footnote changes name to Fold3

Footnote Gets Focused

This announcement isn’t a complete change from what we’ve been doing.  Some of our best and most popular work has been on military titles like the Revolutionary War Pension files, the Civil War Service Records and “Widows’ Pensions,” WWII Missing Air Crew Reports and the Interactive Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall.

This new focus will direct our content plans and allow us to organize the site around military records.  In the future we’ll make other changes that will help us build the best online source for records related to the U.S. military, the men and women who have served and the families who support them.

You will still be able to access the great non-military records previously found on Footnote, but we’ll be adding millions of U.S. military records, like these that we’ve already begun work on:

  • Word War II “Old Man’s Draft” Cards
  • War of 1812 Pension Files
  • Mexican War Service Records
  • World War I Officer Experience Reports
  • Confederate Casualty Reports

Footnote Becomes Fold3

One change that won’t impact how things work, but is significant and will probably get a lot of attention, is the site’s new name.  Footnote has been a great name, but it doesn’t relate to military records and can carry a connotation of insignificance which doesn’t seem appropriate for a site focused on records related to the great sacrifices associated with military service.

We wanted a name that would show respect for the records we are working on and for the people who have served in the armed forces.  The name Fold3 comes from a traditional flag-folding ceremony in which the third fold is made in honor and remembrance of veterans for their sacrifice in defending their country and promoting peace in the world.

We are excited for this new focus and name because it will help us continue to improve the site and bring you records that will help in your research.

If you have any questions, feedback or suggestions, please let us know.

Update:

Many of the questions so far have been about what will happen to all the non-military content on the site. Sorry for any confusion we caused on that. We don’t plan to remove any non-military content from the site with the exception of some third-party newspaper content that may be removed at the owners’ discretion. The city directories, naturalizations, vital records, Native American records and other non-military content that we have created for the site will be available on Fold3. You can still find them through search, on the records list page, and in browse under the new “Other Records” category.

There have also been some questions about content moving back and forth between Ancestry and Fold3. We do plan to bring copies of some of Ancestry’s military records over to Fold3 (the World War II “Old Man’s Draft” Cards we are currently adding to the site are an example) and Ancestry may get copies of some Fold3 titles that make sense for their users, but when this happens, the records would be copied, not moved, Fold3 content added to Ancestry will still be available on Fold3 and vice versa.

Thank you for all your comments. We appreciate your passion and support for Footnote. We hope as the dust of this change settles, you’ll find that the site feels familiar and that the most important parts of Footnote are still part of Fold3.

Update 2

We have had several people mention they have not been able to access the fold3 site. We have narrowed it down to people using Internet Explorer 8 or 7. While we work to find the solution use one of these options to get to Fold3. 1) Some people have found success by deleting their cookies, here’re instructions. 2) For others they have switched to a different browser and that has worked also. Install Google Chrome browser.

Update 3

We just rolled a fix. Please let us know if you still have issues accessing Fold3. A big thanks to member SePennartz for helping solve this issue.

153 Comments

  1. Barbara Lima says:

    I am the daughter of a WWII vet, and 6 of my famiily served in that war, so I am not anti military. In fact my family goes back to the Civil War.
    BUT changing your website search parameters, and NAME, to subscribers who just yesterday could utilize it, is ridiculous. You should at least give people an option of which version to use. All I wanted to do was check to NY City Directory listings, and after a huge adapation and ime, could not get the full page to open. People need and want DIRECORIES for major cities, I really don’t care why the change; I care that Footnote “wasnb’t broke” so why “fix” it?? This is very disturbing,
    and to be done without notice by Footnote or even in Eastman’s genie newsletter is disregarding of your paid clients. Now, we have to take a month or so to get used to the new format? Very disrespctful of me and my dollars.

    Why the Military empahsis now? The economy is THE American emphasis, and with money tighter I resent paying for what I signe donto.
    Barbara Lima

  2. Ken Henry says:

    I guess you can’t please everyone, but you sure have made me happy. As a Naval Historian, I spend a lot of time on this website… adding to the resources available will only make my life easier. I hope you will add to the present list of available Pearl Harbor muster rolls, especially the lists of submarine personnel. If this could be expanded to include all WWII submarines (Atlantic and Pacific) I would need a bag of lemons to get the grin off my face. Thank you for increasing your Military emphasis!

  3. Jason Corder says:

    Just seeing these changes. Will you be including the other year’s Census? I thought those were on here before.

    Also, since this site is a military collection now, what does the Woodstock collection have to do with this now?

  4. Blake says:

    fold3 vs. footnote ? Strange. I’m not looking at military records. To me footnote was about all kinds of records. Why the narrow focus on the military? Does that mean the non-military records are still under the footnote name. Doubt it.

  5. I find it very interesting that you state that footnotes “can carry a connotation of insignificance.” That certainly is not true in genealogy and history! Aren’t genealogists and historians your target audience?

  6. Leslie Lawson says:

    And those photos I uploaded yesterday that were definitely non-military, what becomes of those? For that matter, what becomes of ALL the stuff on this site that is non-military?

  7. Dee Dee King says:

    Another Ancestry.com mis-step?

  8. Librarian-at-Large says:

    As a librarian who is trying to encourage the usage of this database this name change will make it even more difficult to promote. Did you find available domain names and flip a coin? At lease footnote had some reference to research. Perhaps you will spin off the non-military content and charge more for two different products!

  9. Kay Haden says:

    OK ….I went to the site and although it took a minute or two, I did discover that the Records tab and List All Records would quickly get me to the master list. Nothing is “gone” – it’s just the emphasis has changed, making the military records more prominent. The “free” records are still listed, etc. I have no problems with the new site – searches or browsing works just as it did. Having military family members in every war through WW II – at least 12 ancestors fought in the Revolution – I like the new name! All things change….

  10. Kathleen Floyd says:

    The name change & site focus change are not surprising to me. Any time a small company (Footnote.com) is swallowed up by a large company (Ancestry.com) all references to the old company will be removed. I am a paying subscriber to both sites and knew this was coming.

    Military records, especially those dealing with pensions, are very valuable documents to a genealogist, but footnote.com also had other records that I felt more than compensated for their high subscription price – such as the Texas birth and death records that were photocopies of the actual document.

    I also wonder, as a previous post noted, what will happen to the databases of non-military records? Will they be left on this site, shifted over to Ancestry.com, or just dropped altogether?

    I have no complaint about additional military records, anytime more records of any type become available it is a good thing, but where do we go now to find scanned vital records? Ancestry.com only gives the index for these (Texas). I had been waiting for more counties & years of these records to be added to footnote.com.

    I have genealogy buddies that had been waiting for the vital records of other states to be added before joining, I don’t see them joining now, or ever. A site that restricts it’s focus to one type of record restricts it’s following (i.e. subscribers).

    I can only hope that with the Ancestry.com acquisition that the search engine for footnote.com (fold3) records will be improved.

    We can moan & complain all we want, nothing will change. Genealogy has become a big business (Ancestry.com, which is really the old Eastman family from years ago) and big business is all about the profits, not about customer service.

    Don’t get me wrong, I remember genealogy the “old-fashioned” way from 30+ years ago before the internet, but not all change is good change. Belonging to Ancestry.com and using Family Tree Maker software is not really an option, it is a given, because of their monopoly on genealogical records. Whether or not I renew my subscription here will depend on how this site is changed – the records that become available, the price we have to pay for those & the ease of finding those records.

    • D. Coats says:

      You can find and see Texas Birth and Death certificates on Familysearch.org.They have lots of records from many states and countries.

  11. Steve Perdue says:

    What a surprise to find this out with no notice. Our genealogy department primarily purchased Footnote, in order to get the Native American records from the National archives to enable patrons to find out about their ancestry. We later discovered that Ebsco, had taken over the library edition and the Native American records were not available. I know it has something to do with money.
    I wish you would add the Native American records that the old footnote had.

  12. MaryFrances Ronan says:

    Footnote has been a major source of records for people of Native American heritage, such as the Dawes Rolls, the Indian census rolls, and the Eastern Cherokee applications. The name “Fold 3” has nothing to do with that. Indian and census records have nothing to do with the military. What do you plan to do about all those records?

  13. Lynda Schreiner says:

    As a Genealogy/Local History Librarian, I had pitched the subscription to Footnote.com to my library director as a way of gaining access to more of the types of records our patrons want. Ultimately, he agreed to the more costly Footnote Plus addition so that we could also have access to the Native American, African-American and Holocaust records, among others. This was about a month ago. Now I feel like the victim of a “bait-and-switch.” I understand that the non-military records are still on the site, but for how long? And will you keep adding to those non-military records? Will you eventually migrate non-military records to Ancestry or somewhere else, where yet another subscription will be required?

    Library budgets and family budgets are being cut across the country. I sincerely hope this “re-focus” does not mean we’ll eventually have to subscribe to yet another site and pay more for the same records we have access to now.

    I can speculate all day on the how and why for this change (and several of us in our library have wasted time on that already), but I have to say that the change to “Fold3” is inexplicable at least and ridiculous at worst. Even after reading the explanation for the name change and the meaning behind it, I think it’s an ill-advised move. My own father was a veteran, and he was honored with full military rites at his graveside. But the jump from the flag fold to the name for a records repository is head-scratching, indeed. I’m going to have to spend a lot of time explaining this to my patrons and reassuring them they still have access to the records we signed up for.

    My genealogy patrons knew what “Footnote” meant, and it never occurred to me that the name implied something “inconsequential.” I’ve learned quite a bit from reading footnotes over the years!

  14. JES says:

    First question: did you get hacked?

    Second question: If not, is this a joke? I don’t think this is April.

    Third question: if this is serious, aren’t you breaking the trust you have with the American people to provide them free and easy access to America’s political documents, such as the Papers of the Continental Congress? What kind of scam is this?

  15. Marcia Thomas says:

    I am very sorry to see this change. To have a focused military collection is wonderful but to change name and entire focus is to loose the essence of what you have been for amatuer genealogists and family historians. I have received many comments from the materials I posted which drew users to footnote.com. What not have a military collection within the larger entity.

  16. JES says:

    Ah, I see now that the Papers of the Continental Congress are buried under the Revolution category. I hate to tell you, but the Congress Papers cover a period longer than the War of Independence.

  17. Sam E. Pennartz says:

    help!!!!!

    when i click on all my “footnote” favorites all i get is a page telling me that “Internet Explorer cannot display the webpage”

  18. Someone says:

    Sounds like your parent company Ancestry wants you to focus on one thing and they’ll absorb the rest. So much for competition. Say hello to a greater strengthened Ancestry brand. Weee.

  19. Karen says:

    Well, I had been debating renewing my subscription because althoguh the hits weren’t frequent, there was the occasional lucky find, with images! in content not available elsewhere. This development has decided it for me: no renewal.

  20. Cindy says:

    Not happy, will not renew…enough said!

  21. TXGal says:

    Ancestry, didn’t you learn anything from your numerous name changes a few years back? Why change something that is working? The name you chose is awful! I liked Footnote much better.

  22. tajicat says:

    Hate the name change! Sorry I added info and connections to people on here. I look for more than military records. I figured this site would go downhill after Ancestry acquired it.

  23. I can understand the desire to honor the Military. I am certainly all for that. however, Footnote is more than a Military History site. It has so much more to offer. I feel that changing your name to what for me and many others, is an obscure reference not only limits the idea of the site but is also confusing to many people. I know that you will not change back but i am disappointed at this obscure and limiting new name. You had to explain it’s meaning. that should tell you something.

  24. Tom Pratt says:

    I think your corporate decision makers need a little more oxygen in the board room. Fold3? I’ve been in the retail business for more years than I care to admit to, and I can tell you this – when you have to explain what your name means, you’ve got trouble!

    Oh – and may I add a ‘footnote’ (sorry, I couldn’t resist)? Is the image with the Fold3 photo shopped? Pretty tacky if it is…

  25. TomS says:

    Peter, some of the questions people have asked here are really good questions and deserve an answer. I got Footnote for the directories, not the military stuff. For military the stuff I needed I mostly have gone directly to the National Archives, from whom I have obtained really, really complete records. So, I wonder about the future development of directories and similar resources. I think many of us would like a very clear outline of what’s going to happen — what part of what you are doing is going to go to Ancestry (to which I also subscribe) and what isn’t. Is there a place where it is all laid out for us? Or, do we just have to wait and see what you are planning? Thanks!

  26. Patricia Davidson says:

    What was wrong with “Footnote”? Why the name change?
    Some little techie with nothing else to do?
    But – I do look forward to the 1812 and Mexican War things.

  27. Leon says:

    Sorry, I don’t care for the name change and site redesign. Fold3? Really? Poking around it looks like the record sets I used most often are still there so in the end I guess the change will work out, but it just seems unnecessary.

    Tell us about future plans for the website. Will non-military records like city directories, newspapers, Native American records, etc., etc. migrate to Ancestry.com? Will military records on Ancestry migrate to Fold3?

  28. Footnote has (had?) a unique relationship with the U.S. National Archives. To me this was the selling point of Footnote. Users would be able to fill in the gaps and holes that Ancestry or other online offerings had. Does the change in focus to military records mean that the other valuable collections at NARA won’t be digitized on Fold3? If so, this is a short-sighted move. Of course, the relationship with NARA would possibly belong to Ancestry now due to the purchase of Footnote, so maybe those non-military collections will end up there. A reassurance on this would be helpful in light of today’s news.

  29. Sue Maxwell says:

    Cyndi, good points and I agree with you wholeheartedly.

    I’ve had to adjust to the change very quickly as I’m giving a presentation at a conference TOMORROW. I’ve been redoing my presentation on Footnote (thanks to the powers that be that didn’t really give us much in the way of a heads up!) and am, so far, finding very little difference in the website right now. I’m sure more will change. Anyway, I have been able to find most things or a work-around. For instance, the “State Search” isn’t there any longer but I can get to it by doing an advanced search and entering the State name in the location box. That narrows it to just records that have the State listed in it.

    I cannot find a “new and upcoming content” like it was before. I’m hoping they add that back.

    I wouldn’t be surprised to see more changes including exchanging of records with Ancestry’s main site. Of course, they wouldn’t consider combining them into ONE subscription. That’s sad. There are only so many military/war records available. Then what?

  30. Dee says:

    You guys don’t get out much, do you?

    I mean, away from here.

    Otherwise, you’d have read about the debacle for Geni.com for changing the way it operates with no notice to its subscribers.

    Amazing that two formerly respected genealogical resources would do that in one week…

  31. Brent D. Morgan says:

    Whatever happened to the promise that Footnote was supposed to be FREE after 5 years? And where are all the story pages or footnote pages military and non military. They have apparently disappeared. Anything I search for now I cannot find.

    You have a lot of unhappy customers and I don’t see much in an official word to quell this mistrust.

  32. Jane Ailes says:

    Not only has the name changed, but the browse and search functions have all changed.
    I’m especially frustrated to see that advanced search no longer can be narrowed to a specific record group.

    To search a specific record group, you now have to use the browse screens and enter your search words into one box that becomes a keyword search string. You can no longer search a specific category by firstname and lastname as separate items. More often than not, because of spelling anomalies, I want to search using wildcards in first and last names. Wildcards produce either no results, or not relevant results, in keyword searches.

  33. Jdy Rly says:

    I actually do extensive military research on fighters in every war back to the Revolution. I know the meaning of Fold3 since I have the flag that covered the casket of my 30-year-old father. That’s not why I paid for Footnote (a much more fitting name), and I echo every complaint that has been made.

    My only criticism of Ancestry for many years has been its lack of respect for customers, which is consistently demonstrated by poor phone support, an online help system that assumes everyone uses FTM, its unannounced take-it-or-leave-it changes, and its apparent inability to acknowledge problems or mistakes. Ancestry seems to be aiming for monopoly–it’s very sad to see the ACOM spreading its ethics by swallowing up some of my favorite websites.

    Since I already pay a hefty subscription price for Ancestry.com, I won’t be renewing my Footnote…uh…Fold3 subscription.

  34. Sue Maxwell says:

    I received a very quick reply from Footnote/Fold3 about the “new and upcoming” items. They explained how to find them. You go to records > list all records. Then sort by “new and updated”. At first I thought this would not show the collections in the hopper, but it does. They are the ones with no status bar on the left side. They are not in categories but you can still see the new records they are working on.

    Jane, actually the search changes are very minimal. You just have to find the right links. And I am sure they are working on a few things. In the example you listed about not being able to narrow a search to a specific record group, you can do it. Right now put your search term in the “keyword” field rather than the name field. That one works. But if I put a name field entry, it can’t find it. I’m sure there are a number of things that they either missed or are working on.

  35. Julia Mitchel says:

    I agree with all the above, I am very Patriotic and use your Military records, but leave it to Ancestry to screw up a perfectly good thing. This name change means nothing to most people who do not come from a Military family, its difficult to relate to and will probably mess up lots of things on your site.
    I am not happy with this new direction, seem you could continue to expand without screwing up what you have achieved.
    I also may not renew your site.

  36. Julia Mitchel says:

    By the way………THANKS FOR THE HEADS UP! NOT!

  37. Jason Smith says:

    Good job on fixing something that isn’t broken. Frankly, the name “Fold3” is ugly, and it doesn’t say “military records” to me. As for the guy who goes around and comes up with was to mix things up like this unnecessarily: I’d like his job — sounds like easy money.

  38. Lois Polson says:

    PLease discontinue my membership. I am in a financial crunch (illness), at this time and am unable to keep up my membership.

  39. Julia Mitchel says:

    By the way, THANKS FOR THE HEADS UP!

  40. Julia Mitchel says:

    FOLD3, does sound like a Martha Stewart way to fold those fitted sheets.

  41. Deborah Atchley says:

    Having ALL military records was also not why I subscribed to Footnote. I’m disappointed at the change. I had also suggested our city library subscribe to Footnote, and they did. I believe I’ll rethink it after being a member for several years now. Sad because it could have become so much more.

  42. Charles says:

    I can’t even access the site now. And who would have thought that someone would have made a change and not even send out an email to their subscribers? Poor planning, poor name, poor marketing. I basically use only the Civil War Service records and still don’t understand all this mess. Someone should be fired for this idea

  43. Charles says:

    Can someone please give me a phone number (preferred) or email address? Other than this blog, I can’t pull up anything now.

  44. Danielle says:

    Add me to the list of people very disallusioned by this change. I joined because you had all kinds of hard copies that added context to all kinds of history. Just military is not enough to keep me as a subscriber. I also guess I can give up on your completing the collections that I joined for. 🙁

  45. Diane says:

    I am a recent subscriber. I have found the military records very helpful, but they are not why I decided to spend my limited funds on a membership. I’m not sure I would have spent the money had I known that they would be the main focus of the site. The new name is neither positive or negative to me, although I can see why you would choose it. I do agree with many of the other comments that a footnote is in no way inconsequential, but the most important part of good research. What I am REALLY angry about however is the lack of any notice whatsoever to your paid subscribers. We deserved at the very least an email saying “hey, by the way”. The way you move forward after this major pr blunder will totally determine whether or not I keep my membership.

  46. Bruce says:

    I have US Collection account with Ancestry.com which I used to view images of military records from the Civil War. Now those images are on Fold3, and I can’t see them because I don’t have an account on Fold3. I refuse to pay another $80 for an account to get information I thought I was already paying for.

  47. Jim says:

    “Add me to the list of people very disallusioned by this change. I joined because you had all kinds of hard copies that added context to all kinds of history. Just military is not enough to keep me as a subscriber. I also guess I can give up on your completing the collections that I joined for.” I agree.
    And the Ancestry curse sets in! I too joined Footnote because of the vast and diverse records that it had. I use the Military collections and I know that they are probably the most popular and best collections here. But limiting this site to military records will also limit your customer base to short term subscribers. I will not renew.

  48. Henry Drysdale says:

    How angry would you be if Footnote just disappeared completely? Anger over a $60/year service? Wow. Just relax folks.

  49. Michael Hait says:

    I subscribed to Footnote about five years ago, just a few months after the change of focus to reflect genealogical resources rather than general historical resources.

    Personally, I feel the change of focus to solely military records is a good move. For years I have recommended Footnote subscriptions to audiences when I lecture about the Civil War. In any business, it is a wise decision to identify what you do best, and then specialize. I will be lecturing on the subject again next month, and will now be recommending Fold3 subscriptions.

    As an Ancestry subscriber as well, I also welcome the inclusion of non-military record groups from Footnote to Ancestry. Between Ancestry, FamilySearch, and Footnote, I found myself searching every name across all three platforms. It will be nice to cut down my search time by 1/3.

  50. Joan Peters says:

    Reading previous comments, I would say that I, too, am unhappy with the name change, primarily because as a subscriber, no one at the old footnote bothered to let us know about the upcoming change in name.
    One of the distinct advantages the old footnote had over ancestry was the excellence of its support team. When questions were asked, they were answered in a very timely fashion. That was not my experience with ancestry’s support. So, does this mean that fold3 has lost the old footnote support team?
    While I have used footnote for military records, I have also found the other content just as valuable. And whoever said that footnotes were inconsequential has obviously never read any history. Footnotes verify content. That’s what was so great about its name.
    Don’t suppose the name will change back, huh? Ancestry is not all that great in admitting mistakes. I did think there might be problems when they took over the old footnote. I just didn’t see a name change as one of them. It will take some time for fold3 to be come “branded.”
    So, maybe all of us who loved the old footnote should give the new fold3 a chance and see how easy or how hard it is to use and search for ALL the records on this site, not just the military ones.

  51. Joan Peters says:

    I REALLY don’t like this new search function. I do a lot of Rev War research and it is almost impossible to search the war records now. The old footnote let you search by state and then by unit. Pensions were searchable by state, then by name. I don’t like the new way at all. It is VERY cumbersome. Especially since there are so many states who have veterans with the same name. It will take huge amounts of time to get to your veteran. Not a good use of time. So, ancestry, go back to the old search functions for your war veterans. PLEASE. The same for pensioners. Can you image how long it would take to find John Smith’s war record or pension? When you really want John Smith who served in a Virginia Continental Line Regiment?
    I feel like you guys have taken seven steps back. A name change is ok as long as you leave the rest of the site alone. You don’t fix what isn’t broken. And now you’ve fixed it so that it IS broken.
    So, really, Ancestry you haven’t just changed the name. You’ve changed the site as well and made it much more difficult to use.

  52. […] first announcement, as it reads in today's blog post, concerns a new focus for the site: Today we announced our intention to create the finest and most […]

  53. Teresa Barley says:

    I really can’t comment on the changes as I have not been able to access the ste since the name change. I noticed someone else was having the same issue. Any ideas why some are getting the “Internet Explorer Cannot Display Webpage” message?

  54. Barbara Snow says:

    My memory often fails me, but I thought I remembered that Footnote started as a partnership with the National Archives and the emphasis would be on those records. No one asked me, but I thought the most needed contribution would be to digitize and offer the Civil War Pension applications and the Naturalization records, neither of which was available in digital form elsewhere. Three years later and still no one has asked me… but I offer my opinion anyway. I hope the emphasis on military records will include the invalid pensions as well as the widow’s and I am very disappointed that you won’t finish the naturalizations .

  55. Jeannie Register says:

    “I really can’t comment on the changes as I have not been able to access the ste since the name change. I noticed someone else was having the same issue. Any ideas why some are getting the “Internet Explorer Cannot Display Webpage” message?”
    I am having the same problem as the writer of this message. When are we going to be able to access the website again?!

  56. Lise Embley says:

    One of the reasons I subscribed to Footnote.com years ago was the ability it gave me to connect the *stuff* in my files to records in published collections. Over the years, I have uploaded historic photos and letters that I have scanned from my own collections, tagged them with locations and names, and connected them to census records, passport applications, naturalization and military records available on Footnote.com. I can see that I’ll need a new strategy for sharing those documents, none of which are military records. I don’t care for the name, and think shifting an entire website’s focus to just one type of records doesn’t bode well for the “Other Collections.” For what it’s worth, I just changed my account settings so that my subscription will not renew when it runs out.

  57. Janet Wright says:

    What on earth? I was asked recently to resubscribe to footnote.com, and I did, because it has been useful to me. The first I saw about this change of emphasis to military records was Aug 19 when I logged into the site to do a query. Nothing was there about it August 17. How can you market a product and then switch what it delivers without notifying subscribers? I’m interested in Indian and slave records, not military. It was great when you were adding records from the Dawes Commission and state archives. This new direction is a big disappointment.

  58. Karen Stewart says:

    I haven’t been able to get onto the site for two days now, and I have to say that I’m extremely disappointed that the site would just change its name and focus without so much as a word to loyal subscribers. My subscription is coming due, and it’s tempting to cancel but I really need access to the city directories.

    I’m writing a book and Footnote.com was a tremendous help. I had cited its databases frequently in my (ahem) footnotes. Now I suppose I have to go back through my manuscript and change everything to Fold3. No disrespect to our veterans, whom I esteem very highly, but I think the new name is a poor choice. As some others on here have said, any time you have to explain the meaning of your name, you can be sure it’s a poor choice.

    I doubt we’ll ever get the old Footnote.com back but please, please listen to the many disappointed customers and at least consider it. There’s absolutely no reason you couldn’t have continued to add military content to Footnote.com and by doing so you could have accomplished your goal to be the best military genealogical site while still retaining a name most genealogists recognize and respect.

  59. Ceil Bailey says:

    Anyone out there find out why & how to solvw the problems some are having accessing the new site?

  60. Sue Minton says:

    I have been unable to do any research for the past (3) days because I am only able to access this Fold3 blog page.

    I continue to receive e-mails regarding new content added to South Carolina Estate Inventories and Bills of Sale, 1732-1872, but cannot find it! I am devastated to have lost this extremely important research resource.

    I don’t believe that it would be asking too much to have a honest, frank disclosure posted under an Update topic on this page regarding the numerous accessibility problems which I find posted here. Are we up and functioning, or not?

    I can find no other way to contact Fold3 staff: your ‘let us know’ link is also broken.

  61. Karen T says:

    I am disappointed to note the change in focus. I hope that all the newspaper items previously available will still be offered.

  62. […] This post was Twitted by Ancestrydotcom […]

  63. Sheila Salo says:

    I too would like to know more about the renamed database and the partnership with the National Archives. As I recall, part of the agreement was that a record set would be made free five years after completion of digitization. Have others noticed that some record sets, for example, the Bureau of Investigation records, have been at 98 percent completion for years? Is Footnote/Fold3 taking advantage of a loophole in the agreement? That is, if digitization of the record set never reaches completion, the set will never become free. I look forward to an explanation.

  64. Fanny Timmer says:

    I can find no definitive answer to whether any non-military content will be added, or whether uncompleted databases will ever be completed. I research military records, but they are a small part of my search efforts. I, too, am disappointed in this change, so voting with my pocketbook, I changed my automatic re-subscription setting and will end my subscription when it runs out. I found a lot of information on footnote and I am very sad to see it disappear.

  65. Okay … so now the “new” site comes up but I cannot log in. I am VERY frustrated.

  66. Keith Hunter says:

    I’m also not to too fond of the name change, but fortunately TMG allows me to make one change to the source table that will correct all my entries.

    The real reason for my comment is to openly wonder about the digitization project that Footnote has or had with the Allen County (Indiana) Public Library genealogical section. This is one of the largest (if not the largest) collections at a public library in the United States.

    I have made research trips to that library and was looking forward to the digital images that would have been available. I guess I had better fill up the tank again…

  67. Barbara Belter says:

    I do not care for this new site. It is more difficult to locate files. I can no longer download images when I do find them. Something in the site will not allow me to assign a ‘file type’, therefore making a download useless. Was that an improvement? I think not.

  68. Sue Minton says:

    My sincere thanks. The fix works beautifully.

  69. robert owsiany says:

    I can not log in.

  70. Dr Ross A Brooks says:

    So, will you ever complete 100% of Confederate Citizens and Business firms files? (Been waiting for five years for that) Will you ever complete Confederate or Union Compiled Service records? Or will you just continue to provide complete collections of somethings and partials of others. Change of brand along the way leaves a researcher like me (who subscribed because Footnote provided access to the National Archives collections and signed up for three years in faith of that mission) feeling a little uneasy. I will watch and wait.

  71. Trudy says:

    The “meaning” of the third fold of the flag is just an urban myth, created by some anonymous person on the Internet 10 years ago:
    http://www.snopes.com/military/flagfold.asp
    Too bad you bought into it. You could have had a much nicer and more recognizable name for your collection.

  72. TomS says:

    C’mon, Peter, I didn’t see your answer to any of these questions.

  73. Charles says:

    I had to upgrade to IE9 to get Fold3 to work. The new name sounds like a poker site to me. I buy tons of books and many times it is just for the footnotes and bibliography. I thought that as a researcher “Footnote” was the coolest name for a historical based website such as this. I guess they didn’t. Still miffed that no notice was given to subscribers.

  74. Don Bible says:

    I can no longer get Revolutionary War records or pension records to download. If this can’t be fixed please cancel my subscription. I am very disappointed in this change.

  75. Carolyn Carter says:

    Not happy, will not renew. I love military records, but other info is necessary also.

  76. […] On 18 August 2011, the popular subscription genealogy database Footnote.com announced two major changes. […]

  77. Adam says:

    Incredibly unprofessional to wrangle customers in to buy your product, and then, without any indication (except to say that newer, and larger servers, were being introduced)e change the whole direction of your website. I quickly perused the collections to make sure the city directories and other areas of my own interest remained. They are present, but what about additional resources in the future for those whose interests lay outside military collections?

    I think it was a bad move. No survey or inclusion of your existing customers and at this moment I don’t see myself renewing.

    As someone stated above, I would change the existing settings of your account from auto-renew to avoid paying for a product you didn’t buy before its next cycle.

  78. Kay Torpey says:

    My understanding is that footnote.com was intened to be a public-private partnership to digitize Federal records and make them available to the public. I did not know that the focus was ever intended to be limited to military records. That’s such a disappointment and I’m subscribed through 2013!!! The new name sounds rather like a marketing gimmick to create an on-line “buzz”.

  79. Julia Mitchel says:

    You can’t fix STUPID!

  80. John says:

    Serious issues with downloading documents. Been a member for 2 years with no problems, Using vista. Can you help? Thank you and I hope the new format
    work’s better in future. Really slow now.

  81. John says:

    Issue also with auto renewal I am member of ancestry.com and renewal had me listed with discount 39.95 but that changed to 59.95

    Please correct and help with this change.

  82. John says:

    WOW that was quick fix. Works better with downloads. Thank you and hope to see change back with renewal as offered by ancestry.com 39.95.

    For customers will you offer anything on Black Friday in Nov 2011 as you have in past. This may really help in the times of no $$$ now.

  83. marjorie monnett says:

    I want to canel my membership. It is not user friendly! Thank you

  84. Pam Shackelford says:

    For those of you having trouble accessing the site through Internet Explorer, this happened to me over a year ago. I use Mozilla Firefox to access the site without any problems. Not sure if the same will hold true for fold3 (lousy choice of name) and I agree with the other comments. “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”

  85. Rosemary says:

    I subscribed for the Naturalization Records.
    I wanted more of them and will not be happy
    if more are not added. I won’t need a membership
    if you only focus on military records.

  86. Kyle Knapp says:

    I do not care for this change, not one bit. The only reason I subscribed to Footnote in the first place was because it provided access to the newspapers and city directories that were difficult to find elsewhere. Now, theonly change I see is that the content I wanted is all gone; and, I really do not find it to have any more military records than were available previously. Bad move folks.

  87. Kyle Knapp says:

    Had to really dig through the new site to actually find the directories and newspapers. Looks like it’s still here, but this new site is not user friendly (unless you want military records). I’ve decided to turn off the auto-renew, and will just let my subscription run out.

  88. DELMER HARRIS says:

    PLEASE CANCEL MY SUBSCRIPTION.

  89. G. Grant says:

    I discovered that the Windows 7 machine with Internet Explorer had incompatibility issues with pdf. files and printing pages from websites. I switched to Firefox for my browser an everything is compatible!

  90. K. Johnson says:

    Like many others, I’m disappointed at this turn. Only a tiny fraction of my research involves military records, so I won’t be renewing my subscription. Small loss; while I’ve gotten some great information, the interface is so clunky and annoying that I’ve avoided coming here.

  91. Jenny Stephenson says:

    So the real upshot of this change is that Ancestry.com will begin to de-emphasize adding military collections and fold3.com will henceforward add only military collections. Therefore if you want both general family history and military you’ll have two purchase a subscription to both Ancestry.com and fold3.com.

  92. Annie says:

    I am not pleased at all and will not be renewing my subscription. I have subscribed for three years. Will you be offering a partial refund if I cancel now, as this is not what I paid for. The navigation was always a little cumbersome, but it is now almost impossible. I tried to access a Texas death certificate, could not find where I could search by name, and the site kicked me out multiple times. I really would like my money back.

  93. Ruth says:

    I am very UNHAPPY with the TOTAL FOCUS of fold3.com on military records!!!

    While I appreciate and have benefited from the military records on the old Footnote.com site, I, also, found a great deal of info in their non-military records that I had never found before.

    If they continue to focus on military, with the exclusion of all other material, I will not renew my membership when it comes due!!!
    Ruth

  94. Elon Botts says:

    AS reorded, I took extended time for Footnote, and instead of what appeared to be easiness of obtaining information, there is little that I am able to get at this time. That is sad, and proves that when you pay for something, great chances one’s money is spent but the hoped for results will not be forthcoming.

    Will the access to information ever icrease to our benefit. Once footnote seemingly were woorking on the various wars, I tried checking my great grandfather’s activities in the Mexican War, when he served 1846 -1847, mustered out in New Orleans, having entering the 1st Ohio Infantry (Volunteers) at Camp Washington, Ohio.

    I locate nothing on what was Footnote.

  95. Bob McDonald says:

    I look forward to the focused expansion of military service related records. I just tested all the files I normally use, including downloads, and received perfect results.

    I thought you might wish some positive feedback, as warranted.

  96. David Beam says:

    I only use footnote.com to search for military records for the most part so this new direction won’t interfere with my research, but I do feel sorry for those who use this site for other record searches. This should have been announced some time ago and should have been revealed to those who have signed up since this new direction was being planned before they signed up. My only complaint personally is that when I open a document to view it, the page freezes and I can only see a small portion of the document. This has to be fixed or I will also be bailing out.

  97. Gary W Carson says:

    I was the oldest child of the “Band of Brothers” born in Kaprun,Austria in a German Prison Camp of which my mother was the Polish Blonde refered to in the book “Band of Brothers”. She spent 3 1/2 years in German slave labor after being arrested in Warsaw Poland in 1942. The 506th liberated the camp she was in and that’s how my father Gordon F Carson of the 506th and her met. My Grandmother died in the camp in May 1945 at the end of the war. I was born while they were still helping prisoners get back to where they were at the beginning of the war. Most of the men in Easy Company knew my mother who was good friends with Ronald Speirs the company commander. My father and my mother were married in Kaprun and we then later came to the states in 1946. This History of WW II should never be forgotten. Thank You
    http://members.chello.nl/~p.vandewal/carson01engels.htm

  98. Robert A. Edwards says:

    UN-HAPPY – slow – WAY TO SLOWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW

    WHY THE CHANGE – I can’t see that anyone was seeking a military history site. And as a Viet Nam Veteran – I’m not a fan of the casual use of the Fold 3 term. Can nothing be reserved or saved for ONLY those who served. Shame on you for making common a name so cherished by the men and women in uniform. Find a NEW NAME.

  99. Robert A. Edwards says:

    Don’t like the NEW Name – find something else. Slow – VERY SLOW
    What about CCC records? This question has been asked several times and to date, no-one (0) thats ZERO have responeded.

  100. Gapines says:

    I haven’t used the search feature since I only saw the new format today. But I applaud your focus on military records. I also know that you will work tirelessly to get any glitches out so that the searches will go logically and smoothly. Best of luck with this new and well deserved effort on behalf of those who stepped up to serve and protect us.

  101. Joan Peters says:

    I have to give ancestry and fold3 credit where credit is due. Peter Drinkwater responded in a timely fashion to my frustration with trying to search by name for the old footnote content on the new fold3.

    It was a very simple fix. Use the Browse button. There the records are so if you are not happy with the “new look” simply got to Browse to get to the “old look.” Works for me! Thanks!

  102. kristine stiehl says:

    I hope to find my gggranparents parents names and where i n norway they came from. Nels gunderson opsahl 1839 to march1915, ingaborg brua 12/20/1850 to 4/12/1920.

    • hcmisfit61 says:

      email me @[email protected]. I have some experience in researching Norge records. My grandfather was from Oslo. Mark subject line as “fold3 Norway research” I’ll do what I can to help. Carol

  103. shirley brown says:

    Who is the man pictured in your new Fold 3 blog title page (the top of this page) along with George Washington, Grant and Eisenhower??

  104. Peter says:

    Margaret is correct! John J Pershing lead the American Expeditionary Forces in World War I and mentored many of the generals who directed American efforts in World War II. He and George Washington are the only two people to achieve the rank of General of the Armies–the highest rank ever held in the US Army.

    • Donna says:

      My grandfather, Alfred J. B. Booth, was Pershing’s aid and wrote many of his speeches. He had the highest regard for Pershing,who attended his funeral. It was through Pershing’s office that The Stars and Stripes was first published.

  105. Sgt. Connell O'Donovan says:

    While I applaud your focus on military records (as a former Army Sgt.) I am extremely dissatisfied with the new name of “fold3”. Not only is it totally obscure (after six years’ military service I’d never heard that expression), but it makes it sound like you sell manilla folders or something. Beside my military career, I am now an academic historian/biographer who often uses your site for historical records (especially the city directories). “Footnote.com” was a PERFECT name for an academic citation in footnotes. “Fold3” now sounds like some mickey-mouse website with no academic validity to it whatsoever. Why not “Militaryrecords.com” or “USmilitaryrecords.com” or something else that’s not only completely obvious but academically sound?

    • Gail says:

      Have to agree with Sgt. O’Donovan about the new name. Fold3 is a VERY obscure reference and I think it will hurt your recruiting of new members. This thing happens when people who are too enmeshed in their esoteric field forget that regular people – computer programmers, plumbers, cashiers, etc. – need to be able to quickly understand what you’re all about or they’ll just move on.

    • Marlene says:

      I agree . . . Fold3 means nothing to most people searching for military records.

    • Nancy Daily says:

      I too was confused by the name, which brings us to the real problem: We don’t know our own flag history, How can we teach our children, the future of the United States, to love honor and repect those traditions if we do not know them ourselves. I for one am going imediately to the VFW to learn from our soldiers the respect and the meaning of the folding of OUR FLAG. By the way, my great great Uncle wond the Medal of Honor its high time I pull my weight and teach his descendants and mine about this flag that sparks hope for us all. Nancy

    • Vic says:

      I agree completely.

  106. hello iam desendent of sgt york on my mothers side of the family
    he was my grand fathers brouther and he was my great great uncle

    • Melba Stout Hunter says:

      I dont know what year this occured but my mom told me her father took her to Gallatin TN which is in Sumner county to see a
      Sgt. York parade through the city.
      Mom was born in 1910 lived in Cotton Town im guessing 10-12 miles. He held her on his shoulders so she could see. I loved the Sgt. York movie, his ol mammy was precious.

  107. Nancy Simonof says:

    Glad to see this happen. I am certainly going to take advantage of your content from now on. My genealogy is cramed full of military but the information is so spread out it’s usually last on my list of things to do. Your new program should save lots of research time. Kudo’s!

  108. Nancy Simonof says:

    I agree with Sgt. O’Donovan…Fold3 doesn’t begin to describe your content. Military Hero’s should have a bit more respect in their name. Don’t think a guy would pick Fold3.

    • seekerJay says:

      I agree, too. “Fold3” – sounds like an Origami site. “Footnote” was perfect and NOT insignificant at all – footnotes are where all the valuable information is found, where the action is!

  109. trying to find information on Charles Lemon and Agnes Hannah Hamilton.

    daughter Helen Gourley Lemon when and where did she die?

  110. laysa87 says:

    I noticed just hours ago that all the images (naturalization, census, draft cards) that had links on Familysearch, the LDS site, have all disappeared. This was a major source of genealogy info for me, & I always said when I am able to upgrade, I would do it with Footnote rather than Ancestry, because Footnote posts the actual documents.
    Now I am unable to retrieve info from Footnote OR Familysearch. I hope when you get things settled, you will re-link all the documents to Familysearch, like you had before. The way it is now, I would NEVER want to subscribe to Footnote (now Fold3.)
    I hope you will reconsider the name change. Fold3 is a horrendous name, & no one will remember it. I keep wanting to call it Flag3.
    I believe the changes will make you LOSE subscribers & potential subscribers, not gain them.

  111. All of us have military-famuily ties to the past. The key ks finding the correct and easiest way of accessing this info-data? This really looks like a good start and I hope it takes off and does it’s supposed to do, bring the past to the present.

  112. Peter says:

    laysa87,

    All the links should still work. There must be a bug either on our side or FamilySearch’s. If you can give us a few more details about where you are, what you are trying to do and what’s happening, we should be able to figure it out.

  113. Where is my subscription? I confirmed that my credit card was changed for a renewal of Footnotes in June. Where is my account?

  114. Bbctrd says:

    … While I can understand and appreciate your efforts to specialize, I’m really sad to see footnote go. I was really excited about the indexing you were doing with the familysearch records, and I’d already found a number of records I wouldn’t have found with familysearch’s limited search functionality.

    Sadly, the military records are of very little use to me, so I’ll be parting along with the footnote domain.

  115. 22Rusty93 says:

    Will this format allow access to WWI and WWII armed forces various ‘Nurse Corp’ records-theater of war served, time of enlistment, muster rolls, discharge information, rank, pensions, ? I was not able find this info using footnote by typing in an enlisted person name. Perhaps I was inept; however, I found similar info for army and marine entries.

    • Peter says:

      We’ll be looking for all the interesting military content we can find and digitizing it as quickly as we can. If you have suggestions for specific content you’d like to see added to Fold3, please let us know.

      You can use the “contact us” page to send your suggestions to our content folks.

  116. Dean Propps says:

    shouldn’t need a credit card, My what fraud for greaving people that you can take advantage of just as all the moneymongers. What a personal crime at such a level , I don’t understand, sites that claim to be free and those that are making
    money from peoples memory to opt out and possibly forget to opt out and get charged for other than the trial period.

  117. I cannot find were it says the cost of your membership, please let me know.

  118. Kristen Sammons says:

    I agree — the name change is a disappointment. I am also NOT impressed with . the duplication with Ancestry. It is difficult enough to keep from duplicating sources and this doesn’t help.

    But, I would hope that you would do much more work on the WWI records that remain, with either NARA/NPRC or individual military units/libraries that hold records. You could provide a real service in this area; copies of what draft registrations remain don’t give you information about actual service.

  119. coloroso says:

    I subscribed during the transfer of material.. Had I REalized what you were doing I never would have done that. It is not what i was looking for and have no desire to even look at that information.

  120. Lewis Hartswick says:

    I subscribed mainly for census records and it appears that the 1930 one is all that
    will ever be done so I would like to “un-subscribe”.
    I also agree the name change is ridiculous.
    …lew…

  121. I think that Fold3 is a fine name; short & you explained about folding the flag after burial to give to family. I am courious now if the Spanish-American War is your Mexican War as I was told that to get those records one had to go to the State that the individual lived in to get the record. I believe that most people who have lived in USA for long time had relatives in most wars–I do from Revolutionary War to (and including) present. We are not War Hawks, only patriots as we know that our Freedom was won by our Ancestors of whom we are proud & thankful.

    • Laura says:

      Thank you for your question, Theda, and for liking our new name!

      The Spanish-American War was fought between Spain and the U.S. in 1898. The Mexican War was between Mexico and the U.S. in 1846-1848.

      You can find some Spanish-American War records within the Civil War and Later Veterans Pension index on Fold3. Also, some members have uploaded records and photos to Memorial Pages relating to people in this war. They may be worth checking out by searching on “Spanish-American” as a keyword.

  122. Mary Ahearn says:

    How do you cancel?

  123. Mary Weidman says:

    I hate not being able to see the actual records! Transcribers make mistakes!
    I want to see the home addresses for my soldiers etc. I am fed up with Ancestry.com and will probably soon cancel my subscription.

  124. mari burgos says:

    my dad was in the Korean war,any chance on getting troop pictures from that war,also he enlisted in Puerto Rico,and from what i know they had the largest number of casualties,in this war any chance of finding more information on the Korean war spanish soldiers.

    • w.Mul says:

      Is your father a Edelman exec??

    • Laura says:

      Thank you, Mari, for your Korean War content suggestions. We are currently exploring different possibilities of what to add for Korean War records to the Fold3 site. We will consider your suggestions as part of our strategy.

  125. Maureen Ann McIntyre says:

    My dad was a very special man who raised 9 of us,8 boys & me the only girl.I remember my dad flying over the house in St. Louis when he was a test piolt for McDonald Douglas .Before that he flew as a bomber in World War 11 & I do believe there was some secret stuff he did for our country as well,.He’s gone now but I miss him so much. & only now do I realize how important he was to ME!!! & our country.I’m so thankful for all of the people that were there to protect our country.My dad’s name was Boleslo A. McIntyre & I was the lucky one to get his flag. Love you Dad, Your daughter, Maureen

  126. kristine stiehl says:

    I wouldlove to know my gggrandfathernels gunderson parents name and where in norway he came from. Also,my gggrand. Mother ingeborg brua her parents nels torkelson &anne brua. What were their parents name and where did they come from. Elsker kristina

  127. Annette says:

    Fold3 is a peculiar name/change and seems to need too much of an explanation for an already recognized “brand”. There were several things to like about Footnote, which appear to be dwindling with acquisition by ancestry. Any chance to reconsider the name change? Narrowing focus to military records and abandoning other aspects of digitization will likely shoo away a good number of current and prospective members. Had I known about the changes before recent membership renewal I would likely have reconsidered. Sorry to see footnote go.

  128. Jerry Andrew Saultz says:

    If any one has a info on,Betty Rore Vanny, is my Grandma Born 1888, I don`t no were she die, any info of her mother or Grandma ,name She told me I had Cherokee Blood in me ,witch makes me so Happy I can`t stand it.I Love the cherokee People, I Thank any one that can Help me.Jerry Saultz.

  129. Patsy A. Bennett says:

    Help me find my Dad and his family, William T, Thompson Died 1944-1945, in the US.Army born in 1926, Delaware USA. Married to Thelma Doris Monks-Thompson 1945 he was 19 Years old when I was Born 1945,[he had been killed in the Army Over Sea,s somewere]

  130. Patsy A. Bennett says:

    If I have to pay anything, for this don,t want cancel please

  131. Darren Jelley says:

    I am also disappointed with the change in the name
    Footnote has always meant “additional information” to me
    fold 3, being from the UK, means absolutely nothing to me.
    I am researching USAAF airmen who served in the UK and many of them are still living. is it fair to remember these men with a symbol that represents the death of a man?

    have a rethink and if you must change the name come up with something that everyone can recognise

    Darren Jelley

  132. gail sorrell says:

    I am trying to find my indian ross#my folks was on the trail of tears and all the indians that’s my hertiage was from berrian county Ga. My mothers mother name was francis and her dad was a chief and she married a chief son.henery fountain was addopted by indians be cause his mother died at birth

  133. Bob O'Neal says:

    I too am a veteran of 23 years US Army service and have never heard the term “fold” except as in the statement – “He folded for the night.” Or, as in poker, “I fold” (give up the hand). I agree with many that “Fold3” is obscure and from a military standpoint – not at all in the common vocabulary. You have taken a perfectly good and universally known name among family genealogists and made it disappear. Too bad.

  134. Jim Robbins says:

    I don’t understand the change to concentrate on military history or the need to rename the site. I’ve used Footnote as a major genealogy reference and repository since its beginning.

    My father is a veteran as are my two brothers and myself. Military history and genealogy-related documents are an important part of of the overall genealogy project and I would have hoped that Footnote would maintain that focus.

    I do not plan on renewing my subscription.

  135. Diane Crane says:

    I am searching for any historry of the Battle of Somerville ( New Jersey). There must be info mentioning a man i believe to be my ancestor, Jonathan Crane. Anything found in archives regarding this person would be appreciated. He was killed by a Hessian General, I believe, because Crane was suspected of being a spy.

  136. Terry Atkinson says:

    I liked the name change, but it did take an explanation for the term before I could. Can understand the ‘too obscure’ comments. Maybe adding a little more to the name would help. Anyone not being appreciative of the new focus is not being realistic. Any family who has multiple USA generations is going to have ancestors with military service. Not using their records for research is missing out on a great resource.