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.

4 DNA GedCom Files - Desiree Colson

One of the most common methods used for genealogy information exchange is the GedCom; an acronym for GEnealogical Data COMmunication.
In simple terms, it is a method of formatting your family tree data into a file which can be easily read and converted by any genealogy software program.
Using this method, you can put your tree onto other sites, without having to start from scratch for each site.

A GedCom file can be shared with another genealogist so they can print it out or merge it onto their own tree (that is, if you are willing to give them all of your tree).
Or you can use it to put a copy of your tree onto another program- such as MyHeritage, GedMatch, etc.
The reason for doing this, is the more exposure your family tree has, the more success you will have in reaching other researchers.

A GedCom file can be made from any family tree program, but in this instance I am showing how to make a GedCom file from my Ancestry tree online.

So... open up your Ancestry tree.

First step, click on your tree name, and click on Tree Settings.     (below)

Scroll down a bit until you see Manage your tree and hit Export tree.    (below)

Now you need to download your GedCom file.    (below)

Save your GedCom file. 
NOTE: this is automatically going to be saved into your downloads folder.
Click OK.    (below)

Now you will have saved your GedCom file to your computer.
You can find this in your Downloads folder. (You may wish to move the file to another folder.)    (below)

Below you will see I have moved my file to a different folder that I use for my DNA info.

  

So what was the point?
What do I do now?

Now that we have our GedCom file, you can put it on another program.
Each program has its own instructions on how to import a GedCom.

See my next slide for instruction in importing the GedCom into GedMatch.

3 DNA Uploading Raw Data onto GedMatch - Desiree Colson

To upload your Raw Data onto GedMatch, first open up your GedMatch account:

www.gedmatch.com

From the front page, scroll down to File Uploads and select Generic Upload FAST!

 

You will be led to a form to complete, starting with the name of the DNA person (probably you).

If you do not know your Mitochondrial haplogroup or Y haplogroup - just leave these blank.

Click Browse to select your Raw Data.  (below)

Hopefully you can remember where your data is stored.

Here you can see my AncestryDNA - Desiree.txt (from an Ancestry test)... and BROOK Gordon.zip (from a MyHeritage test).

Select the test result you want and click Open.     (below)

Now click on Upload.     (below)

If all goes to plan, your next page will tell you the upload is complete (it does take a while sometimes, so be patient).

The number in red is assigned to your personal GedMatch data, write this down for your records - you will need it.      (below)

BE PATIENT!

You may be able to use your data fairly soon, but be prepared... sometimes you need to wait for up to 2 days for it to become active.

TIP:
You can add more than one DNA Raw Data to GedMatch under your own email details, eg, mum, dad, sibling, etc.

So what was the point?

What do I do now?

The reason you have gone through this process is to put your DNA onto GedMatch.

GedMatch is a free site that is purely for finding DNA matches - so likely anyone who is submitted on GedMatch is another genealogist looking for connections.

You can contact people that you are matched with by email, and likewise they can contact you via your email.

Check out my other handouts concerning using GedMatch.