Great video with inventive ideas. Never thought of using the same image to create a list of sorts. In terms of tracking where I left off or things I want to do later, I have used the "To Do" list on the home page of Ancestry. Also, for newbies, it would be good to mention the use of research logs, since software products for this purpose often have objectives/questions you want to answer and help you keep track of what you want to followup. Additionally, a research log can be very useful for keeping track of research needed in a particular library or place/location. I'm using MS OneNote more now to organize research on DNA matches so I can keep all the ideas, research, tidbits together in one place, and I include the URLs in Ancestry. I will even take screen copies of the pedigree charts, put it on a page and add my various notes, comments, questions as well as any DNA matches which are pertinent.
18.13 So glad you mention this! I have the work-in-progress approach on my tree and I have that clearly noted on my profile with an invitation for anyone to message and talk about any of the work in progress stuff on there. You would not believe the amount of people who've clearly not read that note and then sent abusive messages that I stuffed them up by having the wrong stuff on there. What is it with genealogists? As a whole the vast majority seem to have zero interpersonal skills when it comes to living people. All that's really needed is really open lines of communication.
When I'm trying to figure out different people of the same name. I will use One note to list each one and the records for each person and notations. If I'm trying to decide which person is a child of certain parents, I'll use a spreadsheet. I use FTM so I will put in my to do list the person where I left off and what I still need to do. I use the notes to copy the information in a record. The confidence level tip is a good one that I haven't thought of. It is one I will try.
I use custom images to keep track of my DNA connections. I created twelve custom images, all based on a stylized DNA helix, to indicate which ancestors have come up as shared ancestors in my DNA cousin matches. I have four sets of three icons, the first is my DNA Verified icon, which just shows that I have leaf hints in my DNA matches for the ancestor. The second is my DNA Circle icon, which indicates an ancestor for whom I have DNA Circles (I currently have 60!). The third is a DNA Cousin icon, which I reserve for people in my tree who are known cousins who have taken the DNA test and we are DNA matches as expected given our paper trail. So why do I have twelve instead of three? Well, for each group, I have a color coding that lets me know at a glance which grandparent the specific ancestor or cousin is related to me through. For connections to my father's father, I have red icons, for his mother I have yellow icons. My mother's father and mother have green and purple icons, respectively. Every time I review new DNA cousin matches and see leaf hints where I have ancestors that don't have icons, I attach the icon to every ancestor on that branch. When I look at my tree in Pedigree View, it's easy to see which branches are the most speculative and which ones are the most robustly supported by DNA confirmation (though of course I understand that simply having a shared leaf hint isn't necessarily 'proof', it is a pretty reliable indicator that I'm on the right track). I do have robust DNA circles on all four of my grandparents' lines, which tells me that in a broad sense, I'm definitely climbing my own family tree. The only time I don't use my DNA icon as the profile image for an individual is when I have an actual photograph of the person. Any other images, like grave markers, documents, etc., are relegated to that individual's gallery, since I like to use the profile image as an at-a-glance reference tool that gives me information about the individual. Since I'm most concerned about verifying my research through supporting DNA matches, I use my icons for most people. I do use my DNA Verified icons for the siblings of ancestors through whom my DNA cousins descend as well, so I can tell at a glance which of the siblings in those families do or do not have DNA cousins descended through them. This can also be helpful when I'm evaluating cousin matches that don't have trees, since I also make extensive use of the Notes field in my DNA matches. Flipping back and forth between my tree and my cousin matches can often help pinpoint which of the siblings of my ancestors a new DNA match is likely to be descended through. It's been a pretty useful system for me, I have to say.
Yay! Thank you, Crista. After I made up a second tree to only include direct ancestors, I could not figure out how to get the '3rd great-grandmother' or '8th great-grandfather' notes to pop up on the profiles. I have paused your video to execute your very first tip....but I'm sure the rest will be great. PS ~ I like what you're doing with your hair-style. :)
Great video and perfect timing - I was just going through paper notes today thinking i should have them all digital.! :) . I'm interested in how you search your notes for specific phrases. That's a great idea!
Crista--I'm curious about your choice to not add, say, your sister-in-law's family members. I understand that it keeps your tree trim since you are just concentrating on ancestors and the occasional research of people. However, what if a niece or nephew of yours inherits your tree, when you have passed on, and that particular niece or nephew doesn't have her/his mother's information. Wouldn't it be more of a help to that person if you had provided that information in your tree? Maybe left the GPS for them but you had just gone ahead and filled in what shaky leaves came in--maybe up to a certain point? Just thinking....
That is certainly a decision everyone has to make for themselves. In my case, I will probably (when my niece is old enough) have her work with me to add her mother's family history into our tree.
Thank you! I am far from a beginner in genealogy, and pretty far from new at Ancestry trees. I have been very frustrated as to how to add notes.... Do you have any idea why the research toolbar is something that you must be aware of, and turn on?!? I just don't get why this isn't the default/of-course visual.... I love that it only has to be turned on once, and then carries across trees! But why on earth does Ancestry essentially hide it?
We did a lot of testing on that item. Most users didn't want the tools menu taking up screen real estate, especially on mobile devices (where more than 50% of our traffic comes from). Our compromise was to put all that behind a tools menu, default it to off, but make it a stick setting for those who wanted it always on their screen.
Regarding "relationships" as I build a DNA match relationship sometimes I have the following difficulty. The relationship, such as 6th cousin, shows correctly on the "shared matches hint" but when I am looking at them after I have added them correctly to my tree, the "relationship" under their name on their profile page is absent...as I follow the line up to our common ancestor, eventually the "relationship" shows. I need to look go to the child of my last ancestor showing relationship. On their profile I must Delete a parent....I re add the parents and then their "relationship to me" shows where it did not before. Is there a step I'm missing, or a certain way of adding sometime to the line that will consistantly show the relationship?
Hello Crista, I so appreciate all your videos and use many of the hints you give us...I'm wondering...as I look at my DNA matches I look for the new ones, with the little blue dot indicating they are new. I have been clicking the "Star" for ones I do not want to lose but I think I'm not necessarily helping myself as now I have so many with stars. I do add notes to each person as I identify which branch of my tree they belong to and I look for shared matches which help to identify where to look for the connections are with matches with very small trees. My question: is there a way to mark each person, similar to the "Star" that I can see immediately without having to open up each one to see which branch they belong to. I have tried sorting by surnames but do not find this too beneficial.. Anything I can use to help keep me on track without opening and closing each person would be helpful. And another questions, if I have a multiple direction match to a forefather, which one shows in the "relationship area" and does it change to reflect a closer relationship found after the first one? Thanks Crista.
Great question, Marisa. I enter notes on most of my matches as I work with them. The notes can then be viewed from the DNA Match list or Shared Matches list by clicking on the little notepad icon just to the right of the user name. You don't have to click through to view the match in order to view the note. Here are some examples of what I put in my notes to help me keep track of things. For each match where I can identify how I am related to them I put in the following note: "Real Name. Common ancestors are John Smith and Mary Williams. Actual relationship is 3rd cousin 1x removed. Shared DNA is 52 cM on 4 segments." When I'm not sure how they are related my note looks something like this: "Shared matches include LadyBug27 and Kris27674. Connection is likely on Smith/Williams line. Shared DNA is 47 cM on 3 segments. Tree is private. Sent message on 14 Sep 2017 with information about possible shared surnames." Does that help? Or did I miss your question?
Oh, thank you....I never saw that before...boy what a time saver! I put first names showing the line from the DNA match to the common ancestor and that ancestors relationship to me...this help when I am other shared matches. Thanks so very much! Its these little things in the program that really help me and are so easily missed.
Great video, lots of good tips there. One thing though; adding a single symbol to the suffix field, does not appear to interfere with anything. Alphabetic characters might, but I have been using ♦♥♣ for my DNA relatives and so far they are showing up just fine in searches, hints and circles (please correct me if there's other functionality I could mess up with that). I considered using pictures, but they are cumbersome to add to that many people and would take the place of their portraits, which I really don't want.
One is a FamilySearch icon because I have my Ancestry account linked to my FamilySearch account. The other is something I am testing for the product team here at Ancestry. ;-) (Crista)
Very great video. I have been using ancestry for many years and I have not known about the relationship part. Always known for Family Tree Maker. I tried to change this but, this dose not seem to work. Even when i change it to none and back to me again. Can you help? Thanks
When you say that it doesn't seem to work, what do you mean exactly? Are there no relationships showing up anywhere in your tree or just on some people?
The military pages were retired when we updated the site almost two years ago. You can keep track of military service by using a single icon for your whole tree or by adding a fact of military service to a person's timeline.
You upload it to one person first. Navigate to the picture and then you can add the people to the picture as Crista was showing. If you keep the picture open in a separate browser tab, you can add people without having to try find it each time.
When viewing your tree, click on the tree name and go to the Media Gallery. From there click on ADD MEDIA. You can then upload media to the tree without attaching it directly to a person.
See Susie O'Neill's answer to Ed Phelps above. When she says you load to one person, you go to the Gallery page on the person where you want to load the image, and click on Upload Media
Tailored more for beginners. Not much here for more experienced Ancestry users/genealogy researchers. I'd like tips on how to research in person at county and state levels, since I've pretty much wrung online records dry.
Great video with inventive ideas. Never thought of using the same image to create a list of sorts. In terms of tracking where I left off or things I want to do later, I have used the "To Do" list on the home page of Ancestry. Also, for newbies, it would be good to mention the use of research logs, since software products for this purpose often have objectives/questions you want to answer and help you keep track of what you want to followup. Additionally, a research log can be very useful for keeping track of research needed in a particular library or place/location. I'm using MS OneNote more now to organize research on DNA matches so I can keep all the ideas, research, tidbits together in one place, and I include the URLs in Ancestry. I will even take screen copies of the pedigree charts, put it on a page and add my various notes, comments, questions as well as any DNA matches which are pertinent.
18.13 So glad you mention this! I have the work-in-progress approach on my tree and I have that clearly noted on my profile with an invitation for anyone to message and talk about any of the work in progress stuff on there. You would not believe the amount of people who've clearly not read that note and then sent abusive messages that I stuffed them up by having the wrong stuff on there.
What is it with genealogists? As a whole the vast majority seem to have zero interpersonal skills when it comes to living people. All that's really needed is really open lines of communication.
I'm a big fan of the communication route! Also - be kind! ;-)
When I'm trying to figure out different people of the same name. I will use One note to list each one and the records for each person and notations. If I'm trying to decide which person is a child of certain parents, I'll use a spreadsheet. I use FTM so I will put in my to do list the person where I left off and what I still need to do. I use the notes to copy the information in a record. The confidence level tip is a good one that I haven't thought of. It is one I will try.
I use custom images to keep track of my DNA connections. I created twelve custom images, all based on a stylized DNA helix, to indicate which ancestors have come up as shared ancestors in my DNA cousin matches. I have four sets of three icons, the first is my DNA Verified icon, which just shows that I have leaf hints in my DNA matches for the ancestor. The second is my DNA Circle icon, which indicates an ancestor for whom I have DNA Circles (I currently have 60!). The third is a DNA Cousin icon, which I reserve for people in my tree who are known cousins who have taken the DNA test and we are DNA matches as expected given our paper trail. So why do I have twelve instead of three? Well, for each group, I have a color coding that lets me know at a glance which grandparent the specific ancestor or cousin is related to me through. For connections to my father's father, I have red icons, for his mother I have yellow icons. My mother's father and mother have green and purple icons, respectively. Every time I review new DNA cousin matches and see leaf hints where I have ancestors that don't have icons, I attach the icon to every ancestor on that branch. When I look at my tree in Pedigree View, it's easy to see which branches are the most speculative and which ones are the most robustly supported by DNA confirmation (though of course I understand that simply having a shared leaf hint isn't necessarily 'proof', it is a pretty reliable indicator that I'm on the right track). I do have robust DNA circles on all four of my grandparents' lines, which tells me that in a broad sense, I'm definitely climbing my own family tree. The only time I don't use my DNA icon as the profile image for an individual is when I have an actual photograph of the person. Any other images, like grave markers, documents, etc., are relegated to that individual's gallery, since I like to use the profile image as an at-a-glance reference tool that gives me information about the individual. Since I'm most concerned about verifying my research through supporting DNA matches, I use my icons for most people. I do use my DNA Verified icons for the siblings of ancestors through whom my DNA cousins descend as well, so I can tell at a glance which of the siblings in those families do or do not have DNA cousins descended through them. This can also be helpful when I'm evaluating cousin matches that don't have trees, since I also make extensive use of the Notes field in my DNA matches. Flipping back and forth between my tree and my cousin matches can often help pinpoint which of the siblings of my ancestors a new DNA match is likely to be descended through. It's been a pretty useful system for me, I have to say.
Yay! Thank you, Crista. After I made up a second tree to only include direct ancestors, I could not figure out how to get the '3rd great-grandmother' or '8th great-grandfather' notes to pop up on the profiles. I have paused your video to execute your very first tip....but I'm sure the rest will be great. PS ~ I like what you're doing with your hair-style. :)
Great video and perfect timing - I was just going through paper notes today thinking i should have them all digital.! :) . I'm interested in how you search your notes for specific phrases. That's a great idea!
Notes are searchable in Family Tree Maker.
This is extraordinarily helpful. And I'm not a beginner! Many thanks.
Yeah. I was gonna say that! 😃
Good info, I treat my tree as a work in progress... So when I get birth/ death cert./marriage lic. is when I change dates
What are the 2 additional icons you have on your individual profile pages at top right.
Crista--I'm curious about your choice to not add, say, your sister-in-law's family members. I understand that it keeps your tree trim since you are just concentrating on ancestors and the occasional research of people. However, what if a niece or nephew of yours inherits your tree, when you have passed on, and that particular niece or nephew doesn't have her/his mother's information. Wouldn't it be more of a help to that person if you had provided that information in your tree? Maybe left the GPS for them but you had just gone ahead and filled in what shaky leaves came in--maybe up to a certain point? Just thinking....
That is certainly a decision everyone has to make for themselves. In my case, I will probably (when my niece is old enough) have her work with me to add her mother's family history into our tree.
I really like your videos. I liked the custom fields. I have used custom fields in my on line tree on ancestry.
I use tasks to note where I am and what I need to do next.
Great video--I always seem to learn something from ever video I watch. What program do you use to create your images?
I use Camtasia to record these videos.
great video, I always not no known children because you never know if out of wedlock children happened and given up
"No known children" is a great way to do it.
Thank you! I am far from a beginner in genealogy, and pretty far from new at Ancestry trees.
I have been very frustrated as to how to add notes....
Do you have any idea why the research toolbar is something that you must be aware of, and turn on?!?
I just don't get why this isn't the default/of-course visual....
I love that it only has to be turned on once, and then carries across trees! But why on earth does Ancestry essentially hide it?
We did a lot of testing on that item. Most users didn't want the tools menu taking up screen real estate, especially on mobile devices (where more than 50% of our traffic comes from). Our compromise was to put all that behind a tools menu, default it to off, but make it a stick setting for those who wanted it always on their screen.
Regarding "relationships" as I build a DNA match relationship sometimes I have the following difficulty. The relationship, such as 6th cousin, shows correctly on the "shared matches hint" but when I am looking at them after I have added them correctly to my tree, the "relationship" under their name on their profile page is absent...as I follow the line up to our common ancestor, eventually the "relationship" shows. I need to look go to the child of my last ancestor showing relationship. On their profile I must Delete a parent....I re add the parents and then their "relationship to me" shows where it did not before. Is there a step I'm missing, or a certain way of adding sometime to the line that will consistantly show the relationship?
Hello Crista, I so appreciate all your videos and use many of the hints you give us...I'm wondering...as I look at my DNA matches I look for the new ones, with the little blue dot indicating they are new. I have been clicking the "Star" for ones I do not want to lose but I think I'm not necessarily helping myself as now I have so many with stars. I do add notes to each person as I identify which branch of my tree they belong to and I look for shared matches which help to identify where to look for the connections are with matches with very small trees. My question: is there a way to mark each person, similar to the "Star" that I can see immediately without having to open up each one to see which branch they belong to. I have tried sorting by surnames but do not find this too beneficial.. Anything I can use to help keep me on track without opening and closing each person would be helpful. And another questions, if I have a multiple direction match to a forefather, which one shows in the "relationship area" and does it change to reflect a closer relationship found after the first one? Thanks Crista.
Great question, Marisa. I enter notes on most of my matches as I work with them. The notes can then be viewed from the DNA Match list or Shared Matches list by clicking on the little notepad icon just to the right of the user name. You don't have to click through to view the match in order to view the note. Here are some examples of what I put in my notes to help me keep track of things.
For each match where I can identify how I am related to them I put in the following note:
"Real Name. Common ancestors are John Smith and Mary Williams. Actual relationship is 3rd cousin 1x removed. Shared DNA is 52 cM on 4 segments."
When I'm not sure how they are related my note looks something like this:
"Shared matches include LadyBug27 and Kris27674. Connection is likely on Smith/Williams line. Shared DNA is 47 cM on 3 segments. Tree is private. Sent message on 14 Sep 2017 with information about possible shared surnames."
Does that help? Or did I miss your question?
Oh, thank you....I never saw that before...boy what a time saver! I put first names showing the line from the DNA match to the common ancestor and that ancestors relationship to me...this help when I am other shared matches. Thanks so very much! Its these little things in the program that really help me and are so easily missed.
Great video, lots of good tips there. One thing though; adding a single symbol to the suffix field, does not appear to interfere with anything. Alphabetic characters might, but I have been using ♦♥♣ for my DNA relatives and so far they are showing up just fine in searches, hints and circles (please correct me if there's other functionality I could mess up with that). I considered using pictures, but they are cumbersome to add to that many people and would take the place of their portraits, which I really don't want.
One is a FamilySearch icon because I have my Ancestry account linked to my FamilySearch account. The other is something I am testing for the product team here at Ancestry. ;-) (Crista)
Very great video. I have been using ancestry for many years and I have not known about the relationship part. Always known for Family Tree Maker. I tried to change this but, this dose not seem to work. Even when i change it to none and back to me again. Can you help? Thanks
When you say that it doesn't seem to work, what do you mean exactly? Are there no relationships showing up anywhere in your tree or just on some people?
great imformation thank you - have a question where has the war page and icon gone? this was so helpful to keep track of veteran's
The military pages were retired when we updated the site almost two years ago. You can keep track of military service by using a single icon for your whole tree or by adding a fact of military service to a person's timeline.
what program are you all using to create your custom images to use in your family trees?
I use Powerpoint and then convert it into an image file.
thank you!
How do you upload an image to the tree instead of to a person???
You upload it to one person first. Navigate to the picture and then you can add the people to the picture as Crista was showing. If you keep the picture open in a separate browser tab, you can add people without having to try find it each time.
Or bookmark it. That would work too.
When viewing your tree, click on the tree name and go to the Media Gallery. From there click on ADD MEDIA. You can then upload media to the tree without attaching it directly to a person.
Great... but... how do you find it again? I've got hundreds of media items there and apparently they are only in chronological order.
I'm confused about how/where to add the images.
See Susie O'Neill's answer to Ed Phelps above. When she says you load to one person, you go to the Gallery page on the person where you want to load the image, and click on Upload Media
My mother's marred 3 time and has kids from all three. So I've found myself going up those branches some.
I add a comment to profiles to let others know if the info is verified or not.
Tailored more for beginners. Not much here for more experienced Ancestry users/genealogy researchers. I'd like tips on how to research in person at county and state levels, since I've pretty much wrung online records dry.