Reviews & Comments of Hope Chest chrome extension

I have used Hope Chest successfully for many years until a few months ago. It has taken me six months of trials to determine that the problem is not with FamilySearch or my tree or 20 of my friends trees or my computer or my Internet providers service, etc.The problem is with Hope Chest Software. And, the problem is that Hope Chest Software no longer does a complete descendancy search. It simply stops after running for a while. I have tried it on dozens of my ancestors beginning at the 8th and 10th generations with same result. The search is usually less than 1/4th done and never even half. I started using Hope Chest when it was free and like other writers of reviews, I purchased the $10 version then the lifetime option and sincce, the annual $36 Pro version. Each time I upgraded I was promised a discount and each time my credit has been charged the full price. I have tried and tried to contact Hope Chest support without success. I wonder if anybody else is having these problems. My name is John Gwynn and I am a FamilySearch consultant.

I have been a longtime user. I paid for the 'lifetime' family license many years ago. When they switched to subscription, they offered me a discount on the annual cost to keep the family license, which I accepted. I work for a software company so I understand the need to get annual reoccurring revenue to stay in business. This software has valuable features that I USED often. I have not had access to the full features since the switch. I have emailed, including forwarding the annual payment receipt from PayPal, but still support has not restored my access and they have not responded to my most recent email asking for a resolution. I would like to keep access to the pro features and am willing to keep paying the annual fee to have it, but it is not honest for them to charge me annually and not provide the services. Once this is resolved, I will be happy to improve my ratings as the solution is valuable to my family history research.

Back when this worked it was great. Now the developers are trying to nickel and dime me. Even the free version/features no longer work for me. Pretty disappointed because this used to be such a great tool.

I upgraded to pro years ago when it was 10 dollars for lifetime never had any problems till recently now when i click hopechest it asks for me to upgrade for 20 dollars .. what's the deal now all of a sudden my past upgrade isn't lifetime????

It has never worked. Not once. No list ever appears in the Hope Chest

I use Hope Chest every day. Makes it easy to find ancestors and cousins. Hope Chest is an excellent tool for LDS members trying to do temple work! Wonderful and time saving. This extension has NEVER caused problems and only works on FamilySearch,org.

I have used this chrome extension with ease. I purchased the family access so others can use it also. A great tool to help with family history work.

I used Hope Chest when it first came out and loved it. I got many people to start using it. I am so sad that Eric Vance isn't still in control. I can't even find a working email for Hope Chest to express my frustrations. [email protected]. this email does not work!! The new version of Hope Chest doesn't work either. The old one was great. I am so disappointed. I tried to label a line that I wanted to search which is very basic. That's what I use Hope Chest for. The window that came up said I couldn't "label" an ancestor to search unless I pay for an upgrade. Is that correct?

Downloaded this for a class I am taking where they recommend using this. However, it won't even run. I have contacted support with no response. Looks like it would be a great tool if it actually worked.

Hope Chest has been the greatest blessing for me. I have found thousands of names that needed additional work and it has keep my grandchildren very busy. Thank you for taking it over and keeping it running. Ed Seegmiller

I have been using Hope Chest for 10 yrs. My experience and others I have introduced it to have been exceptional. It is the best tool available to search ancestors and descendants. I have found it accurate, thorough, and easy to use.

I have used Hope Chest for about two years and I think basically it is a site with some value but I give it 2 stars because of the lack of communication between user and developer. Another big issue is the length of down time when the site bombs out and the total lack of communication when it does. The system went down on 15 Dec 2019 and today 31 Dec 2019 it is still down--over two weeks ago! Yes I know the Christmas season is a factor,but when users are paying for this site all the excuses in the world just doesn't cut it.

I have been using the paid version for several years. I use Window 10. There have been times when FamilySearch makes changes which requires the HC tech to make updates. It may take him a few weeks but he always comes through. I have never had a problem in getting my emails answered. The last update made earlier this year (2019) was awesome. HC runs smooth without a problem. I'm 70 years old and currently serving a temple mission. I have no financial connection with HC nor do I personally know the people behind HC. HC has incredible features that no other apps can offer. * If you are having problems with HC you should try deleting. Go to Settings, click on Extensions, and click remove. The go back and downloaded again from the Google Chrome Store. Next check the size of RAM in your computer - you need a minimum of 8 gigs. I have 16. Check your internet speed - you need 20 or more. I have have helped hundreds of people with FamilySearch and Hope Chest. ** The email for HC support is [email protected]

How do i get support

I went over to a friends house and she showed me this extension. It worked beautifully on her computer. I downloaded it today and it seems to not be working. When I want to search it comes up with the premium ad and when I press "just search" the pop-up closes and then nothing happens. I came on here to look at reviews and saw that most people had a hard time contacting the developer so I am not going to try. Just going to delete it, no use having it on my Chrome.

Can not live without it!

Great program!!!

Any problems we have had were always fixed within a few days and we have sent thousands of names to the temple with the help of the program. I have a new problem. When I click on the icon it will only show my husbands people with his name at the top. I have restarted, signed in and out, changed computers and nothing works. I cannot get my hope chest to show up, only my husbands.

I used the free version for years and three days ago paid $20 for Hope Chest Plus. The upgrade hasn't kicked in and I am pretty disappointed. Glad I didn't pay for the $99 version. Also, When I click on the developer's site it says it doesn't exist!?! What gives?

Have been using the free part of this for years,and its an awesome tool! However the new update (Nov 3, 2018) is wonky and isn't working properly. posting this hoping that it will be fixed.

I'm concerned that I am unable to reach the developers. I've payed them a number of times and the result has been restricted usage. Can we get an updated link to the developers website? Is there another way to contact them? Update: I used this on Oct 22 & 23 but when I tried today Oct 24 2018 I was told I had to pay $20. It states its a one time purchase. Does anyone else have this issue? UPDATE:Oct 25th it works today. Thanks to anyone that may have helped with this. I will raise this to 5 stars if there was support from the developer

can't get it to show up. Says it is added to Chrome, but can't get the icon

works well

I paid $20 to use this program a year or so ago. After getting a new hard drive, I tried using the program again yesterday. It made changes on my computer that weren't good. No program is worth keeping that messes up my computer! I'll do my genealogy the old-fashioned way. Very disappointed in this program!

Great, Quick Search Toll to take names to Temple for ordinance work! Thanks!

I paid for the program but can't get the extension on my task bar. It won't work. I uninstalled it, reinstalled it, signed out of family search and back into it, restarted my computer, pretty much everything I could think of to get it to work. I don't know what to do. I feel like I just wasted $20

I keep having problems that need to be fixed. Now my extension deleted itself and I can't even pull up the tree on Family Search! It won't search, or at least it will say it is but after an hour of searching, no results. It seems like Family Search needs to make its own search app that it can keep in sync with

I am having the same problem with the program running. I have reported it to Eric. He is working on it. Hopefully to be fixed in a few days. Don't give up, this is the best program ever!!!

I tried repeatedly to load and use the app. It didn't do anything. Help! I really want it to work!

Not working. Worked great for months. I got back on today and the search ancestors and search descendants does not work. I can manipulate the settings but I can't use it for any kind of searches. I have deleted and reinstalled and restarted my computer and still nothing. I have the paid version. Very frustrating

Have used hope chest for a long time and love it, bu got on it today and the search ancestors and decedents buttons stopped working. Would really love some help to fix it so i can get back to using it.

Very helpful for finding relatives.

Good program

What a great way to find names that are buried under layers of cousins!

I have found over 1000 relatives due to Hopechest. Thanks Eric for this awesome app!

can't get it to load

great tool for genealogy!

It used to work, but doesn't any more.

Phenomenal tool for Family History Work. You must correctly search family names for Hope Chest to work.

this is very unfriendly and complicated. I could never get to the information.

I have loved this in the past, but I also cannot get it to load. Does anyone have any information on this? Thanks!

I am running Windows 10 and I can not get it to work. No search window will open. No Log window will open. Sent e-mail to support with no response. Waste of 20.00 to upgrade. I hope they decide to respond and fix the issues.

it was so helpful

I loved it but it became disabled and now it won't load.

I like using this product, simple/easy to use ,straight forward and does a good job.

Love it for finding ancestors.

Right at the top of the list for finding needed temple ordinances. Every update Eric applies makes it even better! An inspired program for its intended purpose...

it is so useful it found so many names for the temple

Very good site.

I have found trying to down load Hope /chest as being very frustrating

sounds good

Very clever and cool service. Basically useless unless you buy the premium version though. If you want to use it to its full potential, plan on paying the $10.

The icon of Hope Chest disappeared and I can't find any support to get it back.

My time is short. I have looked and looked for people whose work may be ready, spending 2 hours and finding no one. Hope Chest solved that and I have been able to accomplish a lot of work. Thank you.

Awesome search tool that suits my needs. I would recommend this to a friend.

Excellent search toll

This tool has been a breakthrough for me. Thanks!

Keeps me and all my family supplied with temple names. Love it! Thank you.

great!

With much work done for many generations, Hope Chest is THE answer to finding "the forgotten ones" here and there who need to be forever linked with the rest of their family members. Well done and thank you!

I've been able to find 100's of names I never knew were there Thanks. Gordon T. Foote

As director of the Family History Center in Taylorsville UT, Hope Chest has really really enabled our patrons to focus on specific ancestors that bring the most bang for the buck (time) in research time resulting in temple submissions.

It's a really neat way to find out if work needs to be done for your ancestors.

The biggest problem with Hope Chest is that it does not show how you are related to those it finds. Many persons who use it also do not verify their relationship to those they submit or verify information about those they are submitting. Submitting ordinances in this manner is often referred to as "green temple hunting". I acknowledge that many have been taught that finding green temples is all that is really needed. However, I recently completed a study which examined the impact of green temple hunting for 200 persons in Family Tree who either displayed green temples (140 persons) or whose ordinances had already been printed or shared (60 persons). In 80% of the connections to Family Tree “ancestors” with green temples born from 1650 to 1799 there was at least one likely error that suggested an incorrect relationship, and there were no related persons who actually needed temple work. For those born from 1800 to 1905, 30% had suggested relationship errors and only 51.4% probably needed ordinances. The frequency of green temple hunting was also examined, based on whether users had made any contributions to the person’s record for whom they requested ordinances. For the 60 records with already printed or shared ordinances, 90% of users made no contribution, suggesting that they simply found and reserved someone with a green temple. This study suggests that this extension is frequently used incorrectly. I suggest that all who are using this extention review the study. The study can be found at https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/87166934/Verifying%20Information%20and%20Relationships%20vs.%20Green%20Temple%20Hunting%20for%20Distant%20Relatives.pdf. If used correctly, this extension can be useful, but most do not use it correctly.

I had a problem overnight with the app and extension. I got a response from the help line and guidance and I am back in business. I love the power of this extension and now app on my IOS devices.

I love Hope Chest. However, the extension has become unusable in Chrome. How do I fix this? was there a Chrome update or a Hope Chest patch?

Hope Chest is FamilySearch certified. You’ll save countless hours of time. It is super easy to use. Hope Chest can automatically create a separate list of records with Duplicates or ancestors ready to take to the Temple (you still need to exam the record for possible mistakes or missing info.) It's an incredible time saving tool. After going through the Family Tree Training Videos and searching the Help Center, I no longer needed the paid services of professional genealogists. (Click on the Get Help button found in the upper right hand corner. Then click on Learning Center. Look under Most Popular Courses.) FamilySearch.org made a major update in the spring of 2015 - you are not able to request ordinances if:  There are possible duplicates.  A child’s birth year is after the mother’s death date.  The person was born within the past 110 years.  Mother was too young to bear children or past child bearing years.  The person was under 12 years of age when married.  Child’s birth year is listed before the mother’s birth year.

I paid for the PLUS version about a year ago and never received any greater access or functionality. If anything I can do less and haven't used HopeChest for months and months. Haven't received any responses to my e-mails to resolve. Hopefully this catches Eric's attention.

I have only used it once but on my iPhone app and my mac it worked well.

A great place to start if most of your family history work has already been done

love it saves so much time

Just got this up and running and watch videos. The video said I could pause the search, so I did but then lost the brown icon, now I just see a light grey hope chest. How do I get it back up and going again? But I think this program has fantastic potential. Thank you, thank you!

Awesome!

love this program

I installed it, upgraded and ran the program. I loved it! Now a week later it wants me to upgrade and there is nowhere to get help, leave a comment or anything. There is no way to contact the company. So I guess I just wasted my $10!

Awesome Stuff!

Excellent! Very helpful for finding both names to take to the temple and for finding areas in a family tree which need more information.

For free, what do you expect? For $10, what can you demand? Hey, I am grateful and enthused that SOMEONE is trying to make some add-ons. I was an old Paf user years ago and loved all the additional tools people made like Ahona Software and such. FamilySearch is great, but it isn't made for EASY. Here paying $10 I have a chance some hard working problem solver will peck and grind through some tools that will often have their work thwarted at each FamilySearch upgrade and have to fix bugs and problems over and over. I know how hard that is, and I appreciate it, and if from time to time the app breaks and wont solve my duplicate problems or help me search, well I guess those days I'll do it myself. Thanks! Be grateful people. And learn how it works before claiming it doesn't. A lot of these comments here are operator error not knowing how to start or find results - watch all the Hope Chest videos people have done on how to use it.

This was so helpful for finding names! My family already has a lot of work done. I was talking to my grandma and she said that in 2 years she had only found 1 name. Using Hope Chest I found 4 names in an hour! I recommend it to everyone!

Eric, Thanks for all of your time and talents in providing this Chrome add on for FREE. I am excited for your Pro Version to come out, I am sure it will be an answer to our prayers. An example on how well Hope Chest works: I searched the Descendancy View in Family Tree for one of my ancestor's descendants who was born in 1720. It took me 5 hours to find 352 "Green Temple Icons". Hope chest was able to find the same people in less than 40 minutes. Even better was that Hope Chest eliminated most all of the duplicates. Great add on to allow more time to research the names found! Hope Chest does extremely well in going down your ancestor descendant lines to find temple opportunities for "Cousins" that may or may not qualify to reserve temple ordinances. To do this manually is next to impossible. Just trying to keep track of what you have done and not done is mind blowing. Thanks for this tremendous aid! I understand that when FamilySearch.org makes a change (...and changes happens frequently) this has an effect on Hope Chest and you may need to make some adjustments to get it back up and going. Thanks for your time and efforts as this is not you main job or focus in your busy life.

Unhappy! I paid my $10.00 and I still get nothing. I try to run the extension and it still wants me to upgrade! I paid my $10.00 - what more do you want?

A must have for even if you don't use the app for its main purpose i.e. tracking LDS ordinance progress. Would have 5 stars if it didn't sometimes get into a loop and not complete a search.

would put more stars if the ordinances will transfer when exporting to spreed sheet

love it!!

This extension has lots of bugs/problems that make this program rather frustrating on the whole, although it does help with finding names... Problems: 1. There is no direct link from the "hope chest" chart (that displays names found by the program) for reserving temple ordinances directly, making the actual reserving process tedious. 2. It sometimes loops when finding names, causing it to look at the same names over and over. 3. The found names that the program compiles aren't always names that need temple work done. 4. It's really too bad that many of the more helpful features cost money to have.

Added the extension multiple times and removed it. Double checked all the settings in Chrome, rebooted multiple times. Each time the pop-up stops after searching my tree and doesn't display anything. Rather, it only gives me the option to upgrade for $10. Not sure how this is a companion extension to FamilySearch if it requires a pay for service upgrade to operate. I emailed the developer and awaiting a response. I've searched the troubleshooting and no dice. Has anyone else recently had this problem? Sticking with Find a Record for now. No problems there.

don't listen to most of these reveiws they only write these because only they had it not work for them it is an amazing extension

It used to work, but now it will only search the names that i have already open on the screen. Very disappointing.

I LOVE this program. In a matter of minutes, it finds many in my line who need work. I did pay the $10 to be able to name my own folders and save the previous searches - it's worth it. Generally, all names I have found that indicated work was needed were correct, but I have found one or two names that were not actually in my family line. Some names already have the work finished under a duplicate name, so it's been a big help to me to be able to find and merge duplicated work.

This app can still use a lot of work, like filtering results you've found but type and availability of ordinance. Hope more features are added soon!

Love it!!! Searches like I do but so much faster.

this is a wonderful app. It finds family members and helps me with research

Really disappointed as I have heard good things about this program, just gets stuck in a loop, and no way to contact anyone to get help or advice. also paid my money, no way to get it back. Any ideas or help would be appreciated.

I love how this amazing extension allows us to find special oridances that need done in the sacred temple so we can do this work.

Love it!

I wanted something that can allow me to export my familysearch.org tree into a gedcom file to use with gedmatch.com. I was able to install it and get the hope chest icon but as soon as I tried to do something it brought up the screen wanting me to pay the $10. I tried clicking on the "just do search" button and it won't do anything so I still have this popup message. I still haven't figured out how to get it to go away so I can get into my family search. I will uninstall it. Maybe then it will go away.

Sure it has a few glitches at times, but I constantly find myself telling others about it, and have never regretted supporting it with my purchase. I love it!

It's a great idea for an app, though it's really glitchy. It has found a couple hundred names for me, but there are times when it gets stuck in a loop searching the same 6-10 names. There are also times when it simply won't start the search. Basically when it works, it does a good job.

Made my life a lot simpler

Love it!. On the first day of use I have found over 200 names I didn't know existed. It works exactly as expected. Some patience is needed if there are a large number of ancestors or descendants to search through. Can thoroughly recommend it.