1. Don't automatically setting family members’ births to January in the “Statistics” section
2. Find shared last names/common ancestors of people in the DNA section
3. Make sources much easier to input
4. Baptisms, marriage dates, etc. should appear on one’s profile without having to select “edit” in order to view such details
5. Don’t make “matches” disappear when a page is refreshed
6. Make all features available when you FIRST add a profile, such as their burial place, marriage date, baptism information, etc.
7. Don’t privatize living profiles when you collaborate with someone
8. Make half/step siblings easier to add without having to add and then delete another unknown parent
9. Add “sibling” instead of “brother” or “sister” if gender is unknown; same goes for “parent,” “child,” or “spouse”
Remove “Current Location” and “Last Residence” feature
10. Allow users to look further back in their “Revision Histogram”
11. Add more variety in social media platforms to the “Contact” section, like Instagram
12. Select “burial” OR “cremation”
13. Run smoother on Safari
14. Be able to add time of death if information known
Get rid of location typos (often, I encounter “Engeland” and similar spelling errors as being suggested for a location autofill)
15. Add “Family Awards” directly under the “Family” tab
16. Expand on the “Family Awards” idea
17. Marriage Stamps Between Names While Viewing Tree
18. Keep the “+” for adding pictures on a profile even when there already is a profile picture
19. When you upload a photograph, you should be immediately able to “Identify” or “Rotate” or “Set Profile Photo” without having to go to “Media” once it’s already been uploaded
20. Make first names not required if it is unknown but everything else is
Remove “Connected to You” tab, because effectively everyone is connected to you if you are on the World Family Tree
21. Improve the interface and web speed. If you're like me, staring at Geni for hours a day, sometimes the visuals can really hurt your eyes. All the loading, the bright blue "Matches," the bright green "Expand Trees." It can be a bit much sometimes.
22. Advertise! Geni is such a unique genealogy program in that it offers a collaborative World Family Tree. Very few people get a chance to even visit this website, as it can be overshadowed by the larger corporations. But from what I can see, no other family tree website offers a web of the entirety of humanity –– that's your selling point!
And finally, for the top 3 most important suggestions/changes:
1. Allow GEDCOM to properly transfer ALL birthplaces and nicknames/display names (this one has to be the most pressing issue)
2. Make location prediction more precise, and include historical locations (like Middlesex county in England, for instance) –– also remove obscure addresses and places that randomly pop up when typing in a location
3. Filter System - Search terms shouldn’t have to be exact (for instance, if I’m trying to find someone named “Jon,” but I type in “John” instead, the computer should be able to understand what I’m getting at)
Please keep in mind these are just suggestions that I have as a avid Geni user and enjoyer. I, and others, encounter many of these issues on a daily basis, and I would love to see them resolved to make Geni even better than it already is. :)
