Ancestry® Announces Coveted Content Releases and New, Game-Changing Family History Research Tools at RootsTech 2019

I received this information from Ancestry.com today:

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For the 9th consecutive year, we are thrilled to be participating in RootsTech 2019 in Salt Lake City.  It’s such a special event that unites tens of thousands of people who are curious, excited and passionate about family history. For more than 30 years, we too have shared your passion and are proud to introduce never-before digitized content collections and cutting-edge research tools to continue to empower your journey of personal discovery. 

Historical records are the foundation of family history research, and Ancestry® is continuing to prioritize building the largest, most distinguished collection of Birth, Marriage, Death and Census records – one of our most valued and unrivaled offerings. We currently provide access to more than 5 billion BMD and Census records, and that number is quickly growing globally. In fact, we just released over 5 million Mexico Catholic records and 1 million new France Census and Birth, Marriage, Death records and have several U.S. statewide projects underway, from New York to Hawaii.

We’re also focused on providing exclusive access to military records to enable more discoveries than ever before. Today, we released US WWII Draft Cards from seven states and our scanning work at the National Archives in St. Louis is almost complete. This means that by early next year, the full set of WWII Draft Cards – all 33 million — will be exclusively available on Ancestry and Fold3.

Another cornerstone to advancing family history is innovation. We’re excited to have the opportunity at RootsTech 2019 to launch three of our most game-changing tools that help solve research challenges and give you the best possible family history research experience:

MyTreeTags™: You asked. We listened. MyTreeTags™ now allows you to add tags to people in your family tree to indicate whether your research on them is confirmed or verified, or to record personal details, like “never married.” You can also create your own custom tags to note that a person immigrated from Denmark or worked as a blacksmith. You can even use filters as you search your tree to see everyone with the same tag.  MyTreeTags™ is one way we can help you save time and enrich your ancestor profile.

New & Improved DNA Matches: We have redesigned the DNA Matches experience to help you make more discoveries, faster. Now you can easily sort, group and view your DNA Matches any way you’d like.  New features include color coding and custom labeling offering you more control over how you group and view the matches, quicker identification of your newest matches and new ways to filter your matches.

ThruLines™: We know you’ve spent valuable time trying to determine how you are related to your DNA Matches, and we want to help make this effort more efficient.  ThruLines™ shows you the common ancestors who likely connect you to your DNA Matches—and gives you a clear and simple view of how you’re all related.  When you link your public or private searchable family tree to your AncestryDNA results, new chapters of your family story may be revealed.

For more information about these new features, please visit http://www.ancestry.com/product/new-release

Join the MyTreeTags™ and New & Improved DNA Matches beta at https://www.ancestry.com/BETA

ThruLines™ will roll out gradually to all customers who qualify beginning today.

These innovative tools coupled with our continued investment in content are unlocking new possibilities in family history research. And there’s so much more to come.

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Disclosure:  I have had a fully paid Ancestry.com subscription since 2000.  Ancestry.com has provided material considerations for travel expenses to meetings, and has hosted events and meals that I have attended in Salt Lake City, in past years.

The URL for this post is: https://www.geneamusings.com/2019/02/ancestry-announces-coveted-content.html

Copyright (c) 2019, Randall J. Seaver

Please comment on this post on the website by clicking the URL above and then the "Comments" link at the bottom of each post.  Share it on Twitter, Facebook, or Pinterest using the icons below.  Or contact me by email at randy.seaver@gmail.com.

Seavers in the News -- Nicholas Seaver Dies in Wisconsin in 1934

It's time for another edition of "Seavers in the News" - a weekly feature from the historical newspapers about persons with the surname Seaver that are interesting, useful, mysterious, fun, macabre, or add information to my family tree database.

This week's entry is from the Stevens Point [Wis.] Journal  newspaper dated 21 May 1934:

The transcription of the article is:

"Nicholas Seaver

"Nicholas Seaver of the town of Eau Pleine died thism orning at 5:45 o'clock at his home.  He had been in poor health since November and confined to bed for the past three months.

"Mr. Seaver was born on March 9, 1871, at Leamont, Illinois.  He came to Wisconsin at the age of 16 years with his parents, Mr. and Mrs. John Seaver, and located in Eau Pleine, at his present home.  His marriage to Miss May Cronkhite of Eau Pleine took place on August 25, 1897.  Mr. Seaver had been engaged in the lumber business all of his life.

"Surviving are his wife, four sons, Harold, Howard and Ranald, all at home, and roger of Madison; three daughters, Mrs. A.C. Aldrich of Auburndale, Mrs. Louis Kunzman of Wausau and Mrs. Irvin Dishneau of Eau Pleine; one sister, Mrs. Wassman of Anawa, and six grandchildren.

"Funeral services will be held Wednesday afternoon at 2 o'clock at the Martens funeral home at Junction city, and burial will take place in the Lutheran cemetery in Eau Pleine.  The body is at the funeral home where it will be until the time of the funeral."

The source citation for the article is:

"Nicholas Seaver," Stevens Point [Wis.] Journal newspaper, obituary, Monday, 21 May 1934, page 3, column 4, Nicholas Seaver obituary;   Newspapers.com   (https://www.newspapers.com : accessed 28 February 2019).

The obituary for Nicholas Seaver provides his birth date and place, his parents names, his spouse's name, their wedding date, and their seven children's names and their residences.  

I found that I had none of these persons in my RootsMagic family tree, so I added them to the database and searched for records of them to see if I could connect them to another Seaver family.  

It turned out that his parents were John Sievers (born in 1831 in Prussia) and Susanna Yungles (born in 1841 in Luxembourg).  The records for Nicholas and his children spelled the last name as Seavers, with the exception of this obituary.  This is now another Seaver/s bush in my RootsMagic tree.

I am not related to Nicholas Seavers to my knowledge.

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Disclosure:  I have a paid subscription to Newspapers.com and have used it extensively to find articles about my ancestral and one-name families.

The URL for this post is:  https://www.geneamusings.com/2019/02/seavers-in-news-nicholas-seaver-dies-in.html

Copyright (c) 2019, Randall J. Seaver

Please comment on this post on the website by clicking the URL above and then the "Comments" link at the bottom of each post.  Share it on Twitter, Facebook, Google+ or Pinterest using the icons below.  Or contact me by email at randy.seaver@gmail.com.

MyHeritage Adds Automatic Clustering of DNA Matches for Insights on Common Ancestors

I received this information from MyHeritage today:

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MyHeritage Adds Automatic Clustering of DNA Matches for Insights on Common Ancestors

February 28, 2019 11:00 AM Eastern Standard Time
TEL AVIV, Israel & LEHI, Utah--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- MyHeritage, the leading global service for genetic genealogy, announced today the release of AutoClusters, a new feature that automatically clusters and visualizes shared DNA Matches.

In the past few years, millions of consumers have purchased DNA kits in order to find relatives based on shared DNA. However, the DNA results typically do not describe the exact relationship path between two matching people, and only cite the likely connection (for example, 3rd cousins). AutoClusters are helpful in shedding light on the relationship paths, by grouping together DNA Matches who likely belong to the same branch and have a common ancestor. Reviewing their family trees can allow users to piece together the entire branch.

This new AutoClusters feature on MyHeritage was developed in collaboration with Evert-Jan Blom of GeneticAffairs.com and is based on technology created by Mr. Blom with enhancements added by MyHeritage. These additions are especially helpful for successful clustering of endogamous populations (people who lived in isolated communities with a high rate of intermarriage, such as Acadians and Ashkenazi Jews). AutoClustering technology organizes a person’s list of DNA Matches into clusters of people who are likely to have the same common ancestor, because they are all mostly related to each other. Clusters are color-coded for convenience and are presented in a powerful visual chart, as well as in list format.

“MyHeritage strives to be at the forefront of genetic genealogy and offer its users the best tools,” said Gilad Japhet, Founder and CEO of MyHeritage. “When automatic clustering was introduced several months ago, we were impressed by the usefulness of this cutting edge technology and its ability to provide insights on DNA Matches. We set it as our goal to be the first major DNA service to offer it, and are happy to fulfill this promise today.”

“I've enjoyed working with MyHeritage very much,” said Evert-Jan Blom. “It's a very dynamic and vibrant company to work with.”

AutoClusters is a premium feature that requires a subscription on MyHeritage. Users who upload their raw DNA data from another testing service to MyHeritage and do not wish to purchase a subscription can pay a one-time fee of $29 per kit to unlock all advanced DNA features offered by MyHeritage, including AutoClusters.

MyHeritage DNA kits are available for purchase online at www.myheritageDNA.com.

See the MyHeritage Blog post - Introducing AutoClusters for DNA Matches - for more details.

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Disclosure:  I have a complementary subscription to MyHeritage, and have received material considerations from MyHeritage over the past ten years.

The URL for this post is:  https://www.geneamusings.com/2019/02/myheritage-adds-automatic-clustering-of.html

Copyright (c) 2019, Randall J. Seaver

Please comment on this post on the website by clicking the URL above and then the "Comments" link at the bottom of each post.  Share it on Twitter, Facebook, Google+ or Pinterest using the icons below.  Or contact me by email at randy.seaver@gmail.com.

RootsTech LiveStreaming Classes for Thursday, 28 February 2019

Even though I am not at RootsTech 2019 in Salt Lake City this year, I can still participate in some of the education opportunities by watching the livestreaming classes on www.RootsTech.org.

Here is the schedule of presentations that will be shown during Thursday, 28 February, with times in Pacific time (add 1 hour for Mountain, 2 hours for Central, 3 hours for Eastern, 8 hours for the UK, etc.):


*  7:00 a.m. -- Making the Leap—Becoming a Professional Genealogist (Power Hour) 

In this power hour session, Luana Darby, Valerie Elkins, and Anne Teerlink explore how to make a successful transition from hobbyist to a career as a professional. Learn about the importance of diversifying your talents, and discover the ways to earn income as a genealogist.

*  8:30 a.m. -- Finally! German Church Records and How to Use Them on FamilySearch 

Join Trish Melander, and explore the German Church records that are now being published on FamilySearch. These are records rich in centuries of history and contain baptisms, marriages, burials, and even confirmations.

*  10:00 a.m. -- Thursday General Session: Patricia Heaton 

Nobody knows family quite like Emmy award-winning actress Patricia Heaton. Known for her humorous roles as a typical American housewife in big hit television series’ like Everybody Loves Raymond and The Middle, Patricia has won many prestigious awards and the hearts of television viewers worldwide. Don’t miss this opportunity to watch one of the most recognized actresses in the world tell her story in person—a story that perfectly illustrates what it looks like to follow your heart, exercise faith, and persist until you achieve great success.

*  12:30 p.m. -- What You Don’t Know about Ancestry (Sponsored by Ancestry) 

Join Crista Cowan, and preview Ancestry’s cool new tools that are geared to improve and accelerate your family history research.

*  2:00 p.m. -- “Jumping the Broom,” Oil, Inheritance, and African American Marriage in the South 

Kenyatta Berry will cover the tradition of jumping the broom, the informal marriage ceremony for the enslaved. Kenyatta will also share the story of her paternal ancestors in Arkansas and East Texas, and she will detail how she used primary and secondary sources to discover her ancestor’s connection to the oil industry in Arkansas and Texas.

*  3:30 p.m. -- Perilous Assumptions: Revisiting Those First Finds 


Despite the best of intentions, many family history researchers make incorrect assumptions about records that don’t quite fit. Kris Rzepczynski will explore false assumptions, revisiting those mistakes, and the family history discoveries that may await.

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The URL for this post is:  

Copyright (c) 2019, Randall J. Seaver

Please comment on this post on the website by clicking the URL above and then the "Comments" link at the bottom of each post.  Share it on Twitter, Facebook, or Pinterest using the icons below.  Or contact me by email at randy.seaver@gmail.com.

Findmypast Announces Project to Digitise & Publish 1921 Census of England & Wales

I received this information from Findmypast today:

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Findmypast Announces Project to Digitise & Publish 1921 Census of England & Wales

The National Archives in association with the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has awarded leading British & Irish family history website Findmypast the contract to digitise and publish the 1921 Census online

In the most anticipated family history development since the online publication of the 1939 Register, Findmypast has been selected as The National Archives’ commercial partner to make the 1921 Census of England & Wales available online.

The census, which was the first to be conducted following the introduction of the Census Act of 1920, will be published online by Findmypast in January 2022.

The project will see Findmypast capture digital images and transcribe the records in a way that will enable family historians across the globe to conduct meaningful searches of these important records when they are opened for the very first time.

Taken on 19th June 1921, the census consists of more than 28,000 bound volumes of original household returns containing detailed information on close to 38 million individuals.

It provides greater detail than any previous census as, in addition to the questions asked in 1911, the 1921 returns also asked householders to reveal their place of employment, the industry they worked in and the materials they worked with as well as their employer’s name. Those aged 15 and older were required to provide information about their marital status, including if divorced, while for those under 15 the census recorded whether both parents were alive or if either or both had died.

The 1921 Census also included detailed questions on education, and was the first in which individual householders could submit separate confidential returns.

Tamsin Todd, CEO of Findmypast, says: “This announcement is important for all family historians tracing their ancestors living in Britain in the early twentieth century. It provides a fascinating snapshot of how people lived and worked in the years following World War 1, and it’s all the more important because there’s no surviving census for the next two decades until 1951.”

Neil Curtis, Finance and Commercial Director at The National Archives, said: “This is the most significant digitisation project The National Archives has undertaken to date, with the 1921 census containing detailed information on close to 38 million individuals. As home to more than 1,000 years of history, we are delighted to be working with Findmypast to open up this unique record collection to the world.”

Pete Benton, Census Operations Director at The Office for National Statistics, said: “The 1921 Census records are a unique opportunity to uncover details of how your family lived and worked in a period of massive socio-economic change in post-World War One Britain. They give greater detail than any previous census and are eagerly anticipated by genealogists the world over. At ONS, we keep census records under tight security for 100 years and we are very much looking forward to enabling this invaluable source of history to be made available to the public in January 2022.”

Collections previously digitised by Findmypast in association with The National Archives include the 1939 Register, Prisoners of War 1715 to 1945, Easter Rising & Ireland under martial law 1916-1921, Crime, Prisons and Punishment; outbound passenger lists; British Army Service records; Merchant Navy Seamen’s records; Maritime Birth, Marriage and Death indexes; and the 1911 Census.

For more information, please visit: https://www.findmypast.co.uk/1921-census

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Disclosure:  I have a complimentary subscription to Findmypast, and have accepted meals and services from Findmypast, as a Findmypast Ambassador.  This has not affected my objectivity relative to Findmypast and its products.

The URL for this post is:  https://www.geneamusings.com/2019/02/findmypast-announces-project-to.html

Copyright (c) 2019, Randall J. Seaver

Please comment on this post on the website by clicking the URL above and then the "Comments" link at the bottom of each post.  Share it on Twitter, Facebook, or Pinterest using the icons below.  Or contact me by email at randy.seaver@gmail.com.

MyHeritage Releases the "Theory of Family Relativity™" Feature for Finding Common Ancestors of MyHeritageDNA Matches

I received this information today from MyHeritage:

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MyHeritage Breakthrough: The Theory of Family RelativityTEL AVIV, Israel & LEHI, Utah--(BUSINESS WIRE)--MyHeritage, the leading global service for family history and DNA testing, revealed today its latest innovation in genetic genealogy — the Theory of Family Relativity™. This technology offers users, for the first time ever, theories that utilize nearly 10 billion historical records and family tree profiles to explain DNA connections. Until now, family history enthusiasts used two distinct domains for making discoveries: the paper-trail world of records and trees, and the biological world of DNA connections. Now, MyHeritage has combined these two domains and integrated them seamlessly.

TEL AVIV, Israel & LEHI, Utah--(BUSINESS WIRE)--MyHeritage, the leading global service for family history and DNA testing, revealed today its latest innovation in genetic genealogy — the Theory of Family Relativity™. This technology offers users, for the first time ever, theories that utilize nearly 10 billion historical records and family tree profiles to explain DNA connections. Until now, family history enthusiasts used two distinct domains for making discoveries: the paper-trail world of records and trees, and the biological world of DNA connections. Now, MyHeritage has combined these two domains and integrated them seamlessly.

The Theory of Family Relativity™ is based on a big data graph that connects billions of data points drawn from thousands of databases on MyHeritage, in real time. Every node on this graph represents a person, and every edge depicts a blood relationship between two individuals that is described in a family tree or a historical record; or a match between two tree profiles that are likely to be the same person; or two records that are likely to be about the same person. These connections between people and records are established by MyHeritage’s industry-leading matching technologies. MyHeritage engineers and algorithm experts led by the company’s CTO, Sagi Bashari, developed a unique approach that allows the big data graph to instantly compute all paths between millions of blood relatives. The Theory of Family Relativity™ draws upon this resource to construct the most plausible theories explaining how pairs of people linked by a DNA Match on MyHeritage are related, using family trees and historical records.

Previously, users who took a DNA test looking to find relatives were faced with puzzling lists of thousands of distant relatives, without many clues explaining the DNA connections. Now, for a growing percentage of these DNA Matches, theories are provided by MyHeritage that explain the precise relationship paths using trees and records. In these theories, not only does genealogy illuminate DNA connections, but DNA also helps separate fact from fiction in the genealogy and shows which tree and record connections appear to be correct.

This technology uses millions of family trees on MyHeritage, as well as the World Family Tree on Geni, which is replicated daily to MyHeritage, and the single family tree of FamilySearch, which is also replicated daily to MyHeritage under license. This combination results in the most comprehensive family tree traversal available today. Additionally, the technology utilizes billions of historical records on MyHeritage, including all census records, as well as the MyHeritage Record Detective™ technology that indicates whenever two records are about the same person. For example: a theory that explains a DNA Match between two users can begin in the family tree of the first user, traverse through a series of matching trees into a census record, continue to a household relative, who then matches into another tree, until the path completes with the family tree of the second user. MyHeritage displays the complete path of every theory, and explains every step along the way, allowing the user to verify its accuracy. Each theory is presented with a confidence level that is based on the confidence of the matches used to construct it.

“Our new technology is a game changer in its scope and power and is a tribute to our passion for developing the best genetic genealogy tools for our users,” said Gilad Japhet, Founder and CEO of MyHeritage. “Using genealogy to explain DNA Matches, and using DNA to validate genealogy matches, combines the best of both worlds. We expect this technology to help people make new discoveries in their family history. With every day that goes by, this technology grows even more powerful as more tree profiles, historical records and DNA kits are added to our global database.”

The Theory of Family Relativity™ feature is included for free with all Premium, PremiumPlus, and Complete subscriptions on MyHeritage. Individuals who upload their raw DNA data from other testing services to MyHeritage who do not have a subscription can pay a one-time fee of $29 per DNA kit to unlock the Theory of Family Relativity™ and the full range of advanced DNA features offered by MyHeritage.

To purchase a MyHeritage DNA kit, visit www.myheritageDNA.com

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NOTE:  I will demonstrate this feature in the next day or so.  This is the culmination of another BIG Tree exercise, which was announced last year at RootsTech.  It shows much promise for finding common ancestors with DNA Matches that have a MyHeritage family tree.

Here is the "Theory of Family Relativity" chart for one of my MyHeritageDNA matches (with the math's name anonymized):

The chart continues to the DNA Match name down the page.

Disclosure:  I have a complementary subscription to MyHeritage, and have received material considerations from MyHeritage over the past ten years.

The URL for this post is:  https://www.geneamusings.com/2019/02/myheritage-releases-theory-of-family.html

Copyright (c) 2019, Randall J. Seaver

Please comment on this post on the website by clicking the URL above and then the "Comments" link at the bottom of each post.  Share it on Twitter, Facebook, Google+ or Pinterest using the icons below.  Or contact me by email at randy.seaver@gmail.com.

Using the AncestryDNA ThruLines™ Feature to Find Common Ancestors

Ancestry.com announced the ThruLines™ feature today to help AncestryDNA users find the common ancestor(s) of their DNA matches that have an Ancestry Member Tree.

Over the past week as a Beta tester of the ThruLines™ feature, I have been exploring the feature with my AncestryDNA Matches, providing feedback to AncestryDNA, and I appreciate the usefulness of it.

In this post, I want to explain in some detail how it works, and what users can discover while using it.

1)  The ThruLines™ feature link can be found on the AncestryDNA home page of the user where the DNA circles section used to be - the right-hand side of the screen:

clicking on the link in that section (Explore ThruLines™) leads you to the ThruLines™ page.

2)  After clicking on the ThruLines™ link, the user will see a list of all of the ancestors down through the fifth great-grandparents that are in the user's Ancestry Member Tree that is attached to the DNA test.  Here is the top of my ThruLines™ page:

The page starts with my parents, then grandparents, then first-great-grandparents, and so on, in group of four.

Further down the page are some of my second great-grandparents:

3)  I clicked on the card for my second great-grandfather, James Richman (1821-1912).  Here is the ThruLines™ screen for James Richman:

Note that there are four children of James Richman who have descendants that are AncestryDNA matches with me.  I can click on the link for "13 Matches" under Thomas Richmond and see my DNA matches with him as the common ancestor, including my own line.

The single DNA Match of mine under Charles Edwin Richmond shows my DNA Match on the right side of the screen above [Note that I have blanked out the matches Ancestry name and initials on the screens above and below.].  The match is my 3rd cousin according to AncestryDNA, and we share 102 cM in 6 segments.  Note the button for the two hidden ancestors of the DNA Match up to Charles Edwin Richmond.

4)  I clicked on the button with "2" in it and can now see the father and grandfather of my DNA Match:

All of the boxes between my match and Charles Edwin Richmond have a solid line around them because I have those persons in my linked Ancestry Member Tree already.  If I did not have one or more of the ancestors of my DNA match in my tree, it would have shown them with a dashed box outline, and the information would have come from another online tree (usually the DNA Match's tree).

The user can click on any of the names in the ancestral line and see the Ancestry Member Tree profile for that person, and can see vital information and spouse information for the deceased persons.  If the user clicks on a living person (e.g., the DNA Match), then the user is taken to their DNA Match page that shows their Username and deceased parents, but no other vital information.

4)  After seeing the line of the DNA Match back to the Common Ancestor (in this case, James Richman), I enter the information for the ancestral line of the DNA Match into my RootsMagic family tree program if I don't already have it in the database.

I am using a RootsMagic Custom Fact titled "DNA Match" and entered that Fact on the profile of the DNA Match in my RootsMagic file.  In the Description field for the Fact I entered the DNA information (e.g., "AncestryDNA match, 102 cM, 6 segments")

I also use the Note field on the person Profile page to described the relationship,  For example, my Note says:

"Username XXXX is an AncestryDNA match with Randall Seaver, sharing 102 cM in 6 segments.  They are 3rd cousins, with common ancestors of Randall's 2nd great-grandparents James and Hannah (Rich) Richman."

5)  I have entered about 20 lines of my DNA matches who have a ThruLine to a common ancestor into my RootsMagic tree using this process.  While doing this, I've noted that:

*  The ThruLines™ feature only works if I have a well-populated tree, my match has a well-populated tree, and perhaps another Ancestry Tree owner has persons in the ancestral line that I or my match do not have.

*  While I knew the ancestral line for most of my 3rd cousins and closer in my AncestryDNA Match list, there were several on the list that I had no idea who the common ancestor was.  For most of those, I did not have all of the ancestral line for the DNA Match in my RootsMagic tree before this exercise, so it was very helpful to me.

*  While I have concentrated on DNA Matches with more than 20 cM in my DNA analysis work, I found that some of my DNA Matches who are 4th to 6th cousins, with 7 to 20 cM, show up with an ancestral line to the DNA match.

*  Many of the Ancestry Member Trees of the DNA Matches do not have all deceased persons identified - some are marked Private.  Many of those are deceased, and I have been able to find their names and vital information from other resources, especially from FamilySearch Family Tree.

*  Obviously, if a DNA Match does not have an attached and/or well-populated Ancestry Member Tree, there will be no ancestral line available for them.  For small or unlinked Ancestry trees with a few ancestors, the user may be able to research the line and find a common ancestor for the DNA match.

6)  In my humble opinion, this is a valuable feature that helps AncestryDNA users with an Ancestry Member Tree determine how some of the user's DNA Matches are related to them back to a Common Ancestor.  

7)  I am sure that other researchers will have more comments on how to use this  ThruLines™  feature, and will try to share links to those comments in a future blog post.  I am also sure that I will have more to say on this subject, but I wanted to get this out to the genealogy community as soon as possible to help those who need a demonstration of the feature and the process.

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Disclosure:  I have had a fully paid Ancestry.com subscription since 2000.  Ancestry.com has provided material considerations for travel expenses to meetings, and has hosted events and meals that I have attended in Salt Lake City, in past years.

The URL for this post is:  https://www.geneamusings.com/2019/02/using-ancestrydna-thrulines-feature-to.html

Copyright (c) 2019, Randall J. Seaver

Please comment on this post on the website by clicking the URL above and then the "Comments" link at the bottom of each post.  Share it on Twitter, Facebook, or Pinterest using the icons below.  Or contact me by email at randy.seaver@gmail.com.

Ancestry.com Introduces New AncestryDNA ThruLines™ Feature in Beta Release

Ancestry.com has announced a new feature for AncestryDNA ThruLines™  in a Beta release.  Here is the Ancestry Fact Sheet information for the ThruLines™ feature:

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ThruLines™ Fact Sheet

Overview

● ThruLines™ shows you the common ancestors who likely connect you to your DNA matches—and gives you a clear and simple view of how you’re all related. When you link your public or private searchable family tree to your AncestryDNA results, new chapters of your family story may be revealed. You could see how your DNA matches fit into your family tree and learn new details about the common ancestors who likely connect you.

About the Product

● Easier Discoveries: ThruLines™ makes it easier than ever to make new discoveries -- whether it’s finding out which ancestors connect you to your DNA matches or analyzing how well your DNA match relationships line up with what you know about your family’s history.

● Save Time: Customers may spend hours researching how they’re related to their matches. They review their matches and compare them to their shared matches and public trees to find their common ancestor. ThruLines™ aims to make this effort more efficient, enabling our members to spend more time making meaningful discoveries.

● Find New Potential Ancestors: ThruLines™ may also suggest potential ancestors that will appear with a dashed outline around their names. These are people who are not in your family tree, but appear in the public family trees of other Ancestry members who may share a common ancestor with you.

● Evaluate Relationships using DNA: People who appear in ThruLines™ are labeled with their potential relationship to you based on their position in your family tree. Your DNA matches are also labeled with how many centimorgans (cM) of DNA you share and the relationships that are possible between you. These DNA relationships, combined with relationships suggested in your tree, can help you understand if your DNA matches support what you know about your family’s history.

Release Information

● ThruLines™ will be in open beta on 2/27 and any member who meets the following criteria will receive ThruLines™ insights free for a limited time.

1) Your AncestryDNA results are linked to a public or private searchable family tree.

2) You have DNA matches who have also linked their results to a public or private indexed family tree.

3) Your linked family tree is well built out. It should be 3-4 generations deep to have the

best chance of ThruLines™ finding new discoveries for you to explore.

Qualifying customers can access this feature from the AncestryDNA logged-in home page. This feature will also be highlighted on our landing page at www.ancestry.com/product/new-release.

Ancestry often puts new features in Beta as we test and refine ideas and gather feedback from our customers. Features will come out of Beta when we have enough feedback to validate their value to our customers, including whether the feature will require a subscription.

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Watch how this works on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=9&v=uL50NxET83k

At RootsTech 2019, there will be regular Ancestry.com in-booth demos (come and check the schedule!) for this feature.  In addition, Kelly Becker and Neal Varner will present a combined class for ThruLines™  and New and Improved DNA Matching Tools (Ancestry Tools for Genetic Genealogy:  A Comprehensive Overview) on Friday, 1 March at 1:30 p.m. (class RT8001).

Note:  I am happy that Ancestry is adding new features to the AncestryDNA product.  This is, in my opinion, a significant feature that helps users find common ancestors of a DNA Match.  However, it us useful ONLY for a DNA Match with an Ancestry Member Tree.  I have explored this new feature for several days, and will demonstrate it within the next day or two in a blog post.

Disclosure:  I have had a fully paid Ancestry.com subscription since 2000.  Ancestry.com has provided material considerations for travel expenses to meetings, and has hosted events and meals that I have attended in Salt Lake City, in past years.

The URL for this post is:  https://www.geneamusings.com/2019/02/ancestrycom-introduces-new-ancestrydna.html

Copyright (c) 2019, Randall J. Seaver

Please comment on this post on the website by clicking the URL above and then the "Comments" link at the bottom of each post.  Share it on Twitter, Facebook, or Pinterest using the icons below.  Or contact me by email at randy.seaver@gmail.com.

Ancestry.com Introduces New and Improved DNA Matching Tools Feature in Beta

Ancestry.com has announced a new feature for New and Improved AncestryDNA Matching Tools  in a Beta release.  Here is the Ancestry Fact Sheet information for the New and Improved DNA Matching Tools:

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New and Improved DNA Matching Tools

 Fact Sheet

Overview

● New & Improved DNA Matches: Now you can easily sort, group, and view your DNA matches any way you’d like. We’re redesigning the DNA Match experience to help you make more discoveries, faster. Now use color coding, custom labeling, and other innovative new tools to see your AncestryDNA connections in the clearest light possible. 

About the Product

● More control: With new tools and customizable groups, New & Improved DNA Matches gives you control over how you group and view the matches that are the most meaningful to you.

● Streamlines matches: New & Improved DNA Matches allows you to quickly identify your newest matches or your maternal/paternal matches more easily.

● New Look: A much needed redesign brings an updated look and new features to the DNA Match experience.

● Updated Match List: This offers customers new ways to filter their matches, such as by close, distant, not viewed, tree status, notes and messaged. If a customer has a parent(s) tested, they can also now see a maternal and/or paternal label next to the matches that are descended from that side of the family.

● Custom Groups: A much longed for feature request - there is also the ability to create custom groups that can be labeled, assigned a color and applied to any matches in a customer’s Match List.

● Easily View Additional Tests: Customers can also easily see and switch between the Match Lists for AncestryDNA tests they administer, collaborate or have viewer rights for.

Release Information

● The New & Improved DNA Matches experience will be in public beta on 2/27 and anyone with an AncestryDNA test may opt-in at www.ancestry.com/BETA. Customers will continue to find this feature from the DNA Matches card on the logged-in-home-page and from the AncestryDNA menu item in the site navigation. We are still adding functionality and the features may change day-to-day as we work to provide the best version of this tool. Please come back frequently to use the tool and leave feedback for us.

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At RootsTech 2019, there will be regular Ancestry.com in-booth demos (come and check the schedule!) for this feature.  In addition, Kelly Becker and Neal Varner will present a combined class for ThruLines™  and New and Improved DNA Matching Tools (Ancestry Tools for Genetic Genealogy:  A Comprehensive Overview) on Friday, 1 March at 1:30 p.m. (class RT8001).

Note:  I am happy that Ancestry is adding new features to the AncestryDNA product.  I have explored this new feature for several days, and will demonstrate it within the next week in a blog post.

Disclosure:  I have had a fully paid Ancestry.com subscription since 2000.  Ancestry.com has provided material considerations for travel expenses to meetings, and has hosted events and meals that I have attended in Salt Lake City, in past years.

The URL for this post is:  https://www.geneamusings.com/2019/02/ancestrycom-introduces-new-and-improved.html

Copyright (c) 2019, Randall J. Seaver

Please comment on this post on the website by clicking the URL above and then the "Comments" link at the bottom of each post.  Share it on Twitter, Facebook, or Pinterest using the icons below.  Or contact me by email at randy.seaver@gmail.com.