* Simple Instruction on Exporting FH Tree to Ancestry

[PyreneesPirate]

Hello Forum,

For some reason I had a bit of a mad five minutes yesterday and I decided to export a FH project/tree to Ancestry for the first time.................

I read many old posts on this beforehand.....

I used Mike Tate's export Gedcom plugin and selected ANC option but didn't change any options. I understand that no media would be exported. I ran the process and it produced the file in the export folder. Great! I then imported into Ancestry and to all intents and purposes it worked very well.

So, I can now see my tree of over 3000 persons on Ancestry, but I do seem to have a lot of omega notes on the right hand side of a selected person along with all the source entries. Is this normal? Can I reduce the omega notes? Is it something I needed to do before the export from FH? Also the Source Text seems to have a lot of command characters within it and not just the text.

Screenshot 2023-11-13 130503.jpg (150.34 KiB) Viewed 817 times

Is there a kind soul out there who could point me in the right direction on this please?

Firstly to export without the omega notes and without the media but with Source text clearer.

Secondly, the process of exporting everything including all media?

I have been exporting to TNG over the past three years so know a little about that process.

Any help would be really appreciated.

Many thanks,
PP

[tatewise]

As a regular Export Gedcom File user I'd expect you to check the plugin Help & Advice.
The Help page for GEDCOM Destination (ANC) Ancestry Family Tree gives some clues.
See https://pluginstore.family-historian.co ... amily-tree

The Ancestry GEDCOM support is so poor that in an attempt to retain most of your data, many fields are converted to notes in synthesised Source Citation named Ω Notes, which is normal.
Try using the Basic Options tab (-) Brief Data mode that removes many of those data fields entirely.
See the Extra Options tab where many settings are different for (+) Full Data versus (-) Brief Data mode.

I'm not sure what you mean by a lot of command characters within the Source Text. A screenshot would help.

It is not possible to bulk upload Media to Ancestry as explained in the Help page mentioned above.
That is quite common for online genealogy trees such as FindMyPast, ZoomPast, etc. TNG is an exception.

[Mark1834]

Another option that Mike didn't mention is to export via RootsMagic, as that does bulk upload media to Ancestry. If you just want a static tree on Ancestry and aren't bothered about keeping it exactly in sync with your FH master, the free Essentials version of RootsMagic 9 is all you need.

Export a GEDCOM from FH using the RM settings, import into RM, complete with media, and set up a TreeShare link to create a new Ancestry tree.

A couple of things to think about before you do that though. Firstly, ask yourself why you want a tree on Ancestry. If it's for easier record searching or visibility to other people, it probably doesn't need every last complex detail of your FH original, so it may be worth creating a copy of your tree and simplifying it prior to export.

Also ask yourself about media. If it's a record obtained from another site, it will probably be a breach of the conditions of using that site if you upload it to Ancestry, so can you legally upload it? If they are your own personal family photographs, are you happy to give them to Ancestry to use for whatever purpose they deem necessary either now or at any time in the future? Maybe the answer to both questions is yes, but at least make that a positive decision on your part...

[tatewise]

Excellent points Mark. Perhaps I should include that in the Export Gedcom File plugin Help & Advice for Ancestry with the media caveats of course.

[PyreneesPirate]

Thank you Mike and Mark for your prompt replies. Points taken on board.

Having had a day or two to think about this and the ramifications of data protection, copyright etc, my thoughts have slightly changed on the exporting of my FH data to Ancestry.

OK, this is what I would like to achieve with your help please.

1) Cut / Split my master tree and produce a Gedcom, starting with my late father's generation to include all his Hayward ancestors to include his siblings, their spouses and families from older generations.

2) Once the new Gedcom has been produced, I would like to include the sources and source text but no media, obviously reducing /removing the omega note files.

Screenshot 2023-11-14 105036.JPG (113.32 KiB) Viewed 701 times

I have attached an example screen of what I already see on Ancestry of an 1841 Census. I have stored the actual weblink for the Census in the notes area of my FH source. Does this cause an issue with copyright etc?

Your thoughts and views on the above would be very much appreciated.

Many thanks,
PP

[tatewise]

One thing you have not discussed is the purpose of creating the Ancestry Family Tree.
Is it to obtain 'hints' from the Ancestry database, or for your family to review, or what?
If you only want 'hints' then consider the Ancestry Synchronization plugin, but an RM9 full license is required.

The FHUG KB Exporting a Family Tree with/without Media provides guidelines for exporting to other products.

1) Use the File > Project Window > More Tasks > Copy Project to create a temporary copy.
In that copy use the File > Split Tree Helper to prune your database as required.
We can give more specific advice on how to do that later.

2) The File > Split Tree Helper above has an option to delete all the Media records.
All Source Citation data is retained by default as they are integral with the Project GEDCOM.
Use the Export Gedcom File plugin with GEDCOM Destination: (RMT) Roots Magic Tree.
Experiment with how free RM9 Essentials uploads the 'unsupported' data structures to Ancestry.
If necessary the plugin (-) Brief Data mode may be useful in removing unwanted Notes, etc.

Weblinks are not a problem because they are useless without a subscription.
Are they the Source Text command characters that you complained about originally?

[PyreneesPirate]

Hello Mike and thanks for your help.

I would just like to put my FH version of the family tree on Ancestry, (maybe split into separate family chunks) so people can have a look. If it gives me hints then that's ok as well. As I mentioned in my first message, for the first trial I used your plugin FH to ANC to setup a Gedcom to import into Ancestry which worked very well apart from the omega notes thing that I commented on earlier.

I would be happy with, a Gedcom without media and the omega notes thing sorted (as much as possible), I would like to keep the basic source info and any text from source all from my late father back to the 1600's, no private or living individuals to be in the ANC Gedcom.

Source text command characters.......yes that was it. Is that something to do with rich text?

I hope this makes it a bit clearer!

Many thanks
PP

[jimlad68]

As Mike says, Ancestry support for Gedcom is... not very good, for me in particular the display of Source detail. I upload mine mostly as "cousin bate", DNA connections and Thrulines (use with caution!), to share my research, and use "Member Connect" for research. So still very useful.

For my tree display and detailed information, I encourage others to view it on Geneanet trees. I add this note to my ancestry tree:
Easier viewing via https://gw.geneanet.org/jimlive, may need to register(free+easy) Profile view good to see ALL detail of an individual at once, lots of dif displays.

The other advantage is you can just upload/refresh your latest FH Gedcom file as it does not display the living unless you invite specifically.

[tatewise]

I would just like to put my FH version of the family tree on Ancestry, (maybe split into separate family chunks) so people can have a look. If it gives me hints then that's ok as well. As I mentioned in my first message, for the first trial I used your plugin FH to ANC to setup a Gedcom to import into Ancestry which worked very well apart from the omega notes thing that I commented on earlier.

To split into family chunks I suggest you use the Copy Project and Split Tree Helper described earlier.

I would be happy with, a Gedcom without media and the omega notes thing sorted (as much as possible), I would like to keep the basic source info and any text from source all from my late father back to the 1600's, no private or living individuals to be in the ANC Gedcom.

Ways of excluding Media and minimising omega Notes have already been suggested.
Any data such as Source Citations that you don't exclude will be included.
Excluding private or living individuals is a whole new topic. If you really delete them entirely then that will break the family relationships and there won't be a single family tree but lots of fragments. A popular technique is to 'sanitise' the personal details but keep the Individual record and Family links. See the FHUG KB advice for Exporting a Family Tree with/without Media and Export to Website Without Sensitive Data for the Clean Living Persons plugin.

Source text command characters.......yes that was it. Is that something to do with rich text?

Yes, the Rich Text holds each weblink as a URL and that is what gets exported in plain text.