* Ancestry data

Got general Family History research questions - this is the place
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GeneSniper
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Ancestry data

Post by GeneSniper »

Hi All,

I have just taken out a subscription to Ancestry for the first time since I moved over from FTM. My question is, what is the best information to add to ancestry to get best results. I was thinking a tree that included names and BMD dates would probably be all I would really need to have. Any suggestions about any other information that would give better results?
William

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ColeValleyGirl
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Re: Ancestry data

Post by ColeValleyGirl »

Best results for what? Hints? Matches to other trees? You haven't mentioned dna so I'm assuming that's not yet of interest.

I include names dates and places plus source titles. Enough for anyone interested to see that my tree isn't complete nonsense. As it's not linked to any ancestry sources it won't be indexed for searching by others but dna matches will see it. I don't use hints - I prefer to do my own searches so I know what has been searched.
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tatewise
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Re: Ancestry data

Post by tatewise »

The Export Gedcom File plugin has a setting for Ancestry and it converts Census events to Residence facts which Ancestry prefers instead.
Mike Tate ~ researching the Tate and Scott family history ~ tatewise ancestry
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Mark1834
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Re: Ancestry data

Post by Mark1834 »

See this KB article for helpful advice. Even if you don’t go as far as setting up syncing for hints, it gives you an easy and clean GEDCOM file that is tailored specifically for Ancestry import.
Mark Draper
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Re: Ancestry data

Post by Mark1834 »

As it's not linked to any ancestry sources it won't be indexed for searching by others
Is that correct? My Ancestry tree has no sources at all, but is deliberately not marked as private, so people in it do show up in searches. I’ve got a second Ancestry account, which is just a guest account, and while it can’t see the details without a subscription, people are visible in redacted form, with my tree as the source.
Mark Draper
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GeneSniper
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Re: Ancestry data

Post by GeneSniper »

Sorry Helen, I never got to finish the post (dog walking duties) but thought I had put enough in to post it. I would normally do my own searches but hints come in handy some times on my tree. I once hit a wall with my wife's family and Ancestry came up with a suggestion that I would never have found at that time, there name was McGrady and the census suggestion from Ancestry was McGraddia and it was a perfect fit. I thought I had made all the sensible name options, but obviously Irish woman speaking to a Glaswegian can throw up a bit of dodgy spelling of surnames :lol: .

My view is there is no point in paying to have access to hints and other peoples trees and not at least have a little look, especially if someone has found a way through a wall you are stuck behind. I don't normally use hints, but ScotlandsPeople (most of my family are Scotland based) can throw up a few no results when searching and sometimes a helping hand can help there also.

Names, dates and places it is.
William

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ColeValleyGirl
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Re: Ancestry data

Post by ColeValleyGirl »

Mark, I believe you can see your own tree in searches but that ancestry reduce their indexing workload by excluding trees not linked to their sources from general searches. I was told this some years ago so it may not be up to date. I do know I can see people in my dna matches trees that I can't find by searching.
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Mark1834
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Re: Ancestry data

Post by Mark1834 »

It has changed then, as my point is that I can find my tree even if Ancestry doesn’t know it’s me searching - there’s deliberately no link between my two accounts.

It’s possible in Ancestry to set your DNA matches as visible but your tree as private and non-indexed, so that makes sense. I have one person in my tree who keeps her DNA private, so she can see me as a match but I can’t see her.
Mark Draper
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victor
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Re: Ancestry data

Post by victor »

What I do is use FTM to find links to Ancestry. From time to time I copy FH tree to FTM and upload it to Ancestry.
Could it be you haven't uploaded your tree from FTM to Ancestry. That is when one gets hints on FTM

Victor
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GeneSniper
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Re: Ancestry data

Post by GeneSniper »

Victor, you are misreading what I am doing. I haven't had Ancestry membership since I moved from FTM to FH back when Ancestry announced they were discontinuing support for FTM (early 2016). I have the first Mackiev version of FTM2014.1 but that is not compatible with Ancestry and I had actually moved to FH before it was announced Mackiev were taking over development and they issued 2014.1. I plan on uploading a bare bones version of my tree onto Ancestry and wanted to know what information would get the best results from Ancestry without having to put my full tree on it.

I am not a great believer in having numerous different makes of genealogy software (or for that matter any software), I like one piece of software that will do what I need and I will work with the one which comes closest even if it means forfeiting the odd thing. I have said on here before that I wouldn't try to get FH to work on a Mac/Linux when there is software that works happily on a Mac, but then again Mac/Linux is not for me. Fine for some, just not me.
William

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RS3100
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Re: Ancestry data

Post by RS3100 »

On Ancestry, you can keep your tree private so that it cannot be viewed by other users, and at the same time choose whether or not to allow it to be indexed for searches. If another user obtains a match to someone in a private but indexed tree via their own searches, they cannot see any further information but are able to send a message to the tree owner if they wish.

I keep my tree uploads private, but do allow them to be indexed for searching, albeit they are skeleton gedcom uploads with no Ancestry sources attached. As a result I was contacted by a semi-professional genealogist last year who turned out to be a somewhat distant relative of mine, and I now have copies of three books he had written about my maternal grandfather's lineage, that I would not have been aware of otherwise.

Each time you upload a "new" tree (or version thereof) to Ancestry, you need to check and edit the tree settings to reflect your wishes as to whether it is public or private, and included or excluded from the search index. I can't recall without checking, but I think the default is for all private trees to be searchable unless explicitly set otherwise by the owner.
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