Greetings!
This email is only for those who have tests at AncestyDNA. Also,
if you have Chrome and MedBetter, you REALLY need to read this!!!
Many of you already know about AncestryDNA’s coming update
where they will remove all your matches from 6-8cMs unless they are in a group,
have a note or you have emailed the match.
To clarify, not all the 8cMs will be removed. Because
Ancestry is removing 6-7cMs for sure and because they round up the cMs, some of
your 8cMs will be gone, if they are really 7.99 and below. You won’t know which
ones.
I have spent many, many hours for over a week trying to save
my 6-8cMs. After a week’s work on them I
thought I was done as Ancestry indicated I was at the bottom of each list (6cM,
7cM and 8 cMs. Note that I had also
checked the ThruLines and put them in groups as well as the New Matches. BUT,
not so….
I’m writing this in the case you have the same situation and
may not know it.
After spending a week on doing the above, I returned to the
8cMs and noticed a huge percentage did not have groups. WHAT!
I also had a recent half-first cousin test at Ancestry. She
was not showing up in my matches and I wasn’t in hers. We share the same grandmother. I called Ancestry and they told me we were on
each other and what group we were in for each other. The woman at Ancestry suggested I clean my
cache and try another browser. I did
both of those. Chrome, my favorite,
constantly updates the site so I wasn’t worried that I didn’t have the current
version.
Then I posted to a DNA Facebook group and someone suggested
there could be an extension, such as MedBetter.
Well, I do use MedBetter.
See more about MedBetter at
I removed MedBetter, and there was not only my currently
tested cousin but another cousin that I used to have in my list, but I thought
she had removed her kit. AND... there were some others that I had not
remembered seeing until they reappeared.
I am talking recent matches here…2nd to 3rd cousins.
SO, to prove to myself that MedBetter was the reason my
groups I had formed for a week was the culprit, I spent the last three days
(except for cooking, eating, sleeping for only 5-6 hrs, and watering my garden)
redoing all my 8cMs matches. I just finished a few minutes ago (Today is 26 Jul
2020 1:20 pm). I have 17, 733 8cMs. I
now have to redo all the 7cMs and 6cMs.
Here are some tips I learned along the way. Maybe they will
work for you…
Grouping
a cM list: (NOTE: There is no limit to
the number of people in a group.)
1.
Work on one set of cMs at a time (6, 7, or 8). I
personally suggest starting with 8cMs as there is a slightly better chance of
finding a common ancestor, but do as you wish.
2.
Create a group and label it so it will appear
just after the star. (The groups are in alphabetical
order.) (I’m beginning to HATE yellow after using that dot! LOL)
3.
Reduce the size of the font on the page. This
makes for less scrolling and the ability to see more matches on a page.
4.
Once you decide which cM list you are doing, use
your FIND link (see the three dots in the upper right of Chrome.) and enter a
name. Chrome highlights that name in orange. This makes it easy to spot where you
started. (I cannot help you if you have another browser or MAC.)
5.
Scroll down a bit from your highlighted name (as
far as you wish to work for a time period). Then, work from the bottom of that
group upward to the name you highlighted. Why?
Because you only have to do two clicks to get someone in a group by
going from bottom to top. Otherwise, you do three clicks. When you are talking
about thousands of names that is a big difference!
6.
Once you have worked your way back to the top
where your name is highlighted, you can quickly scroll down to where you began
adding people to a group to make sure you did not skip anyone or that you
clicked too quickly and the dot did not register. This gives you two
opportunities to hit everyone. You can very quickly scroll down to where you
started in this group, so that goes quickly. Just focus on the dot to see where
there is not one.
7.
Continue this until you have reached the bottom
of the list you started. Then begin a new section, and repeat from number 4.
Other tips if you do not have time to
do the above or run out of time
after working on one cM group
Check your ThruLines and add them to an appropriate group.
You can use two or three filters located at the top of
your matches page. To these add your 6cM, 7cM and/or 8cM matches list.
1.
Check your Unviewed Matches by the various 6 to 8cM
categories.
2.
Check your Newest Matches. See SORT and
choose DATE which gives you the newest to the most distant. Again, you
only need to group 6-8cMs so add those to your filtered search. This you will
want to do several times before Ancestry dumps everything which, in theory is
the end of August. Of course, they are not clear on what “the end of August”
means, so complete all this the week before the end of August to be safe.
3.
Filter by trees and by the 6, 7 and 8cMs and
group those matches.
4.
Search for your surnames and if 8cMs or less,
group them. You can actually search for a surname within a cM section.
(REMEMBER: you can use multiple filters)
Know that if you have not completed a cM section and you
exit it, then you may have to spend a lot of time scrolling down to where you left
working. I have had to scroll for 50 minutes to get back to where I was, and I
still had a good day’s work to complete the section. For this reason, I left my
computer as its for three days!
ALSO, be prepared to deal with a page locking up, dumping
you, etc.
I wish you the best.
Emily
If you do not
hear from me in a timely manner, just write again...I was buried in
email. LOL
Genetic
Genealogy: The Basics and Beyond
by E. Aulicino. Order online at AuthorHouse, Amazon and Barnes and Noble
