Balclutha Workshop info

Thank you everyone in Balclutha for making us welcome.
I'm now in the process of updating my notes, as noticed that some of the websites have changed a bit since I first made them - so watch this space.
Desiree

8 DNA Painter - Desiree Colson

DNA painter is stored on-line (not downloaded onto your computer).

It is designed to use with GedMatch results.

You'll need to create a login for yourself (don't worry, it's FREE) at dnapainter.com.

This is what my DNA painter currently looks like. 

(I've turned off my mum, dad and brother to make it easier to see.)        

NOTE: 

The DNA painter does not actually copy your own DNA data, but rather it takes note of the match information that you hold with another person.

Any match you have with a person, falls within a particular chromosome (or more than one), and a particular part of the chromosome/s.

The painter simply takes the match info and puts it on the chart for you to see.

First, let’s get the data from GedMatch by clicking on “A” for our intended person.

 

And then Submit when we reach the required screen.

We need to copy this data onto the clipboard so we can put it into DNA Painter.

Drag your mouse over the match data…

 

Right-click the highlighted selection and click Copy.

  

Now go back to DNA Painter.

Click on PAINT A NEW MATCH.

This will bring up a box as per below, in the white area Paste your info (do not worry about formatting).

Now click on OVERLAY THESE SEGMENTS.

This will show where these matches fall on your DNA.

You will see the below box.

Scroll down to see the segments.

In my sample instance; there were 3 lines matching on GedMatch. So this means there should be 3 places on my DNA Painter showing the matches.

Below is a view of the lower part of my DNA page… (I can only show 2 segments as the page is too large to be seen in any detail).

You should go ahead and save this to your DNA Painter Profile.

Work your way through the form that comes up next.

Use all of the information that you have available from the GedMatch info as your reference… the person’s GedMatch number, name and email address.

In this case, I know that this person is related to my mother’s side of the family (John Buchanan, who is my gt-gt-grandfather), so I’ve ticked the red box.

In the next box for DNA match name, I’ve put “Kay Oakley”.

In box for Ancestor’s name, I’ve put “John Buchanan – Kay Oakley”.

I’ve selected maternal from the dropdown box (as I know it’s my mother’s side).

I’ve selected a bright yellow colour for the match.

In the bottom notes for this group I’ve put “Kay Oakley, M771396, kayrock100@hotmail.com”.

And Save.

This is a wee bit of the DNA Painter with Kay’s details showing (in yellow).

To help when navigating your painter, you can turn colours on and off to get a closer look at things.

To do this, there is a wee ‘eye’ comes up beside each person – click on it to turn on or off.

I often turn off my parents and brother, as the match info for them blocks everything else out.

Now what I’m going to show you next is super helpful in linking an ‘unknown’ DNA match.

This has helped me ascertain that Tony Summers is actually linked to my Buchanan line.

Prior to putting his data onto DNA Painter, I had no idea how he was connected to me.

The red info is Tony Summers.

The yellow is Kay Oakley.

See how the red is tucked underneath the yellow.

It’s a match!

From using this theory as a starting point, I’ve now been able to establish that Tony Summers is indeed related to my Buchanan family!!

This saved more time that I could imagine.

This is just a brief overview of DNA Painter.

Combine DNA Painter with GedMatch and hopefully you’ll be on the way to solving some of those DNA mysteries.

7 Photos on Ancestry - Desiree Colson

IMPORTANT NOTE:
If your tree is public, before adding any photos or documents to your tree, bear in mind that it may well be copied without your permission and posted on someone else's tree.

First of all - find your photo.
You need to get to know where your photos are stored so you can easily find them again.  (below)

Open up your Ancestry tree, and open the profile of the person you want to add a picture to.  (below)

Open up the Profile.
Go to heading Gallery.
Click Add.     (below)

Hit Upload Photos.
Then Choose files.   (below)

Hopefully you can remember where you saved your photo.
Select the photo and then press Open.  (below)

And you're Done.   (below)










It's also great to have a photo on an individual's profile on your tree; on Ancestry, click on your person's face...    (below)

Hopefully by now you should already have a gallery of images on Ancestry for this person; so pick your best facial image.    (below)

Also you can crop the image, so you may wish to just get a close-up of the person's face - this is what will show on your Ancestry tree view.
In this case I would use 'use full image'.      (below)

You can also use exactly the same process with other pictures on a profile - which make it easier to see how your tree connects to other DNA matches using personalised logos...    (below)

Or perhaps the line dies out because he or she had no further children or died as a child... (below)

HOT TIP:
Whenever you are in a person's profile on Ancestry, you can return to the main tree by clicking the wee tree symbol.    (below)

And the finished product on Ancestry...

6 DNA Using GedMatch - Desiree Colson

Open up your GedMatch account:
www.gedmatch.com

On the front screen, the below is where you will be working from most.

On the lower left, you will see the DNA data that I have already uploaded.
Note the numbers associated with the DNA - it's good to have these handy whenever working on GedMatch.   (below)

On the right is the tools you will be using. The most often used tool is the 'One-to-many' matches.  (below)

Enter the 'kit' number (this is the number associated with your DNA data), or use the dropdown box, and click on Display Results.   (below)

You will need to scroll down a bit to see the actual matches.  Here, my matches with my mum, dad and brother are at the top as they are ordered in the highest match.  All my other matches are below.

You have several options:
Click on 'L' for list of matches for that person. (May take up to 5 minutes to process.)
Click on 'A' for details on Autosomal comparison.
Click on 'X' for details on X-DNA comparison.

I am going to choose Joyce Cowie to look into further.  I've clicked on "A" for Autosomal data info.   (below)

To qualify as a 'match', the results must have a largest Autosomal segment of at least 700 SNPs and be at least 7cM.  It must have BOTH.

You must check these results before assuming any match is real.
Do NOT send emails to anyone on your list without first checking these figures that it is a legitimate match.  (below)

Here are the comparison details supplied.
Often there is only 1 or 2 chromosome lines that match - in this case she matches 10 lines - which is a LOT.   (below)

In this case - you would want to send an email to this person to discuss your match further.

Go back to the match page and you will find her email.
If you are very lucky, they may have uploaded a GedCom - which is well worth a browse (unfortunately this is not the case for Joyce's info).      (below)

Sending an email to a complete stranger can be daunting.  As you are using GedMatch, you can be sure that these people are reaching out to others, so often your email will be welcomed.
Below is what I always send to would-be relatives...

Hi there

My name is Desirée Colson, great to see you appear in our DNA matches on GEDmatch today showing as a link to my family.

Would love to work out where in the family you fit in. Do you mind telling me your great-grandparent’s names? All of my ancestral family raised their families in Otago, mostly Lawrence and Milton, having come out from Ireland, Scotland and England. I myself live in Dunedin, New Zealand.

Really hope you can drop me an email at colson2@xtra.co.nz when you have some time.

The main surnames on my mother’s side are:

- Buchanan, Revell, Wilson, McMurtrie, Stewart, Ferguson

The main surnames on my father’s side are:

- Brook, Pennell, Miller, Garnett, Birkin

Till then

Nice to meet a new “cousin”

All the best

Desirée (GEDmatch # A394103)

Once you've sent off your email - all you can do is wait.

Patience is the key.

5 DNA Uploading GedCom into GedMatch - Desiree Colson

Check that your GedCom file has been saved to your computer and that you know where to find it.   (below)

Open up GedMatch - you do need an account, but it is free.
www.gedmatch.com

Ideally, it would be best to do this AFTER you have uploaded your Ancestry Raw Data, however this is not essential.
There is another slide I have done which talks you through creating and uploading Raw Data.

Once you are in your GedMatch account, the first step is to upload your GedCom.
You'll need to scroll down the first page quite a bit to get to this screen.    (below)

The next page is full of a lot of 'helpful' info...
Scroll down and you will be requested to add some basic details for your GedCom file.   (below)

The first question above is what to call your tree. I've called my Brook/Buchanan Ancestry Tree.
Secondly is if you have already loaded your Raw Data - you can link the main person (usually yourself) to the tree.
The third box relates to where your grandparents came from - in my case I've listed this as Otago, New Zealand.
And the last option to tick is whether you wish to display sources - I usually tick 'no'.

Once all this is completed, at the bottom of the page, click Browse to select your GedCom file from your computer.    (below)

Select your saved file... then click Open.   (below)

Now that you've selected your GedCom file from your computer, click Upload.    (below)

 If all has gone to plan, you should get a successful notification and also a number (in red) that corresponds to the family tree that you have just uploaded to GedMatch.  It's a good idea to write this down somewhere.   (below)

Now, when people are researching their DNA data, if they find a match to yourself, they can also peek at your tree to confirm their connection with you.

As you can see below, there are people who share my DNA who also have trees uploaded to assist in research.

Check out my other slides to find out more about what GedMatch has to offer.