The following article was posted on the Family Search blog today. It's very important so I'm re-posting it here. 

Family Tree Access

April 27, 2012 By dgreen 3 Comments

Early Access to the Family Tree

As a family history consultant, you should be aware of the new Family Tree on FamilySearch.org that we will be releasing to the public in the next few months. At this time we would like to invite you to use it before it releases to the general public. We need your participation to help us make it better.

Please keep in mind that features and menus may change at this stage of development, as your experience using the program also likely will.

Once the features and functions are in place, the Family Tree will replace new.familysearch.org and will be freely and publicly available to all people around the world.

The Family Tree will let you:

• Connect and collaborate with others who share an interest in a common ancestral line.
• Add, edit, and delete relationships between individuals in the Family Tree. –Coming soon!
• Discuss and source vital family tree information to improve conclusions over time.
• Add specific ancestors to a personal “Watch List” to receive notifications whenever information about those ancestors is added or changed.
• Try out new features and functionality as they are added over the coming months.

Get started today! Please follow the instructions below to activate your account and help pioneer this new approach to family history.

First-Time Account Activation for Access to the Family Tree

To activate your current FamilySearch Account for access to the Family Tree, just sign in on the special access page. Go to http://familysearch.org/invite/familytree_tab to sign in using your normal user name and password. This will be the only time you will need to access this page.

The first time you sign in, you will be automatically redirected to your family tree section on the main FamilySearch.org website. That’s right. You will now be able to access your family tree information right on FamilySearch.org!

All of the information from new.familysearch.org has been conveniently added to the Family Tree, and any changes you make in either system will be available in both systems. Your family tree and other features can be accessed when you click on the Family Tree tab at the top left of the web page.

Once you activate your account, you can then access the Family Tree anytime you sign in to the FamilySearch.org website. Be sure to always sign in. If you are not signed in, the Family Tree link will not appear on the site.

Got a Question?

If you need help, contact Support at 1-866-506-1830 or support@familysearch.org. Please note that help for this program is currently limited to assisting you to access the Family Tree.

A complete user guide for the Family Tree is available online to help you get started. Additional support materials are being added regularly. Any time you need this information, just click the Help link on familysearch.org.

Your Feedback Is Important

During these initial stages of the Family Tree, your experiences, insights, and ideas will help us to refine the process. Please take the time to share your thoughts by clicking the orange Feedback tab found on the top right of the web pages. You’ll also be able to view the comments made by others.

We hope that you enjoy exploring the Family Tree and that you find much joy as you discover more about your family history. We look forward to you learning and championing this amazing new feature as it comes online.

Blog Your Way to Genealogical Success

Family Search offers an excellent article and guide to creating a blog that will benefit your genealogical research. You can read it HERE. 

David Rencher Explains the Future of FamilySearch

Ancestry and FamilySearch Links

To Watch for new content at Ancestry.com:

• Watch for announcements at http://blogs.ancestry.com/ancestry/
• Check for new collections at http://www.ancestry.com/cs/reccol/default

To Watch for new content at FamilySearch:

• Interestingly enough, FamilySearch doesn’t announce its new content on its own blog, but in its list of press releases at https://www.familysearch.org/news
• Check for new collections by going to www.familysearch.org and browse All Record Collections. Click on the column heading: Last Updated. Recently added or updates collections are indicated with an asterisk (*) next to the date.

Feature Change at FamilySearch

Feature Changes in FamilySearch.org—27 January 2012

January 31, 2012 - 2:02pm by AndersonSF

Updated Tree Search Form

A new Trees search screen has been added to the FamilySearch search page. You can access this search screen by clicking the Trees tab.

Improvements include the following changes:

• The fields are organized to make it easier to search by relationships.
• You can add a life event to your search in the same way that you do on the Records search screen. You can use multiple events here as well.
• You can choose to search Ancestral File (AF) only, Pedigree Resource File (PRF) only, or both.
• You can search by PRF submission number. If you do, the Ancestral File checkbox will automatically grey out when a number is entered. The patron will see a message to the right of the box explaining why that happened.
• You can search with an Ancestral File number. Because an Ancestral File number identifies a specific record, you can’t use amny other search information with this search.
• The Tree page contains links that provide additional information about Ancestral File and the Pedigree Resource File so that a patron who is redirected from the old site will know why they were sent there.
• Patrons can click links that will take them to wiki articles to get additional information about Ancestral File and the Pedigree Resource File.

New GEDCOM Upload

At the bottom of the Tree page is a link that allows patrons to submit a GEDCOM file. This is not a permanent link but will reside on this page for now. This feature is a beta feature. FamilySearch will continue to refine this feature. All data that is submitted by patrons using this link will be preserved as part of the Tree database.

Here are a few of the details related to this new feature:

• You must be signed in to upload a GEDCOM file.
• Uploaded GEDCOM files are made available for searching in Trees immediately if you use this new process. GEDCOM files submitted on the old site cannot be published immediately. That happens through a completely different process.
• When a GEDCOM file is processed, it is filtered to limit access to information about living people and to remove foul language and broken or damaged files. Patron data is NOT changed. FamilySearch is just applying a set of standards to make searching more efficient and easier. Again—none of the patron’s original data is being changed.
• The GEDCOM upload feature on the old site will soon be shut down. No definite date has been announced, but when it is shut it down FamilySearch will begin sending patrons to this new upload link.
• When the old GEDCOM upload feature is shut down, all of the pending submissions that have been submitted will be available through the Tree search.
• If you uploaded one or more GEDCOMs for inclusion in Pedigree Resource File and if those GEDCOMs were in the data that was used to build New FamilySearch, you should see those submissions in your list of submitted GEDCOM files.

Family History Books
The Books search tab has changed. It now takes you to the new FamilySearch Books search, not to the BYU search database.

• The books search now has a lot more data compared to what was previously available (40,000+ books).
• You can now use an advanced search including Title, Author, Surname and Full Text Searching and the ability to filter results by material type, language and source archive.
• The results now have multiple facet types to help patrons explore the results set and allow sorting results by relevance, date, popularity, author and by title.

Different Top-Level Regions for Browsing Records

FamilySearch has created a top level region called "British Isles” that is viewable on the main page as well as in all results filters. Under this top level region a patron will find all the countries that apply to this geographic location (Ireland, Channel Islands, Isle of Mann, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, and the United Kingdom).

FamilySearch has broken the previous "USA, Canada, Mexico" region into separate countries. This enables patrons to filter results down to the county level in each of these jurisdictions. It also simplifies the user experience by removing unnecessary choices and getting the user to a country level quicker.

"Learn More" on the Research Wiki

By Caroline M. Pointer

FamilySearch.org has over 2.5 billion records online, but did you know that by clicking the “Learn More” button featured with each record set, you can connect to additional information about the record sets on the FamilySearch Research Wiki? By clicking on the “Learn More” button you are instantly accessing a wealth of information on the FamilySearch Research Wiki that can add depth and insight to the records you are using for your family history research.

While the information provided can vary slightly, there are 10 types of basic information that are provided for each record group, including:

• Collection Time Period—This indicates the time period the collection encompasses.
• Record Description—The description tells the kinds of records a collection contains. If a record collection contains only baptisms and marriages and you are looking for a death record, for example, then looking in this record collection may not be the best place to start.
• How to Use This Record—Have you ever wanted or needed instructions on how to use a record collection? It may sound silly, but it is important to know how to use a particular record collection. FamilySearch Research Wiki provides detailed instructions on how to use each collection in an easy to understand format.
• Record History—Knowing the historical context in which the records were created as well as the reliability of the records contained in the collection can help in evaluating the records.
• Related Websites—FamilySearch Research Wiki provides links to additional information for the collection.
• Related Wiki Articles—If there are volunteer-contributed articles that pertain to a record collection, then the links to those articles are listed here.
• Known Issues with the Collection—Record collections can have issues and concerns that come up from time to time, and knowing these can help in evaluating records. 
• Contributions to This Article—This is where users can add any information they have on the particular record collection, adding more insight to the records.
• Citing FamilySearch Historical Collections—No more worries on how to cite a record—examples are provided here.
• Sources of Information for This Collection—Knowing the sources of a collection can affect users’ decisions about records.

As you can see, FamilySearch.org provides vast collections of records, but the FamilySearch Research Wiki provides added value to those collections by providing more information about them. Click the “Learn More” button while you research, and let the Research Wiki add depth to your family history records.

When she’s not using FamilySearch Research Wiki to evaluate records, Caroline M. Pointer can be found helping researchers use technology to further their genealogy research on her blog For Your Family Story.https://www.familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/Main_Page