Ancestry Public Trees versus Private - a new debate

[palfamily]

Yes I was right - see above - you did indeed activate a 'Disagree' icon first View attachment 1449 and now you say it is a 'Great quote and very true! (That's having your cake and eat it)

Just call me Boris.
See my earlier apology. How do I contact a moderator?

 

[Helen7]

There was no subscription and as I recall her ethnicity results could be viewed and (if memory serves) a general view of matches was allowed, but beyond that every interrogation was met with words (to the effect) 'you need a subscription to continue'. After a while a discounted subscription (6 months I believe) was offered and taken up and at this point I became her Tree Manager. Then, and only then, could I continue to research her results in the same way as I did with my own.

Your experience is very puzzling to me. My husband no longer has a subscription to Ancestry (as I mentioned earlier) and I have just now logged in as him to check what is viewable in his DNA results. I can see his matches listed in order of closeness of relationship, giving details of shared DNA ('x cM across y segments') for each person, along with whether they have a linked tree (in which case it gives number of people), unlinked tree or no tree. I can also see the list of shared ancestor hints.

If I click on 'View Match' I get the 'Discover how you're connected, subscribe now' message, but I can view the shared match list for each person (useful in working out which branch is relevant to the match). I can also click on the Send Message, leading to the pop-up to fill in with the message details, with no mention of needing a subscription to make contact. Of course, if I log in as myself and look at his DNA results, I can view the linked public trees directly, but even without a subscription there is a lot you can do, as Peter and I have both mentioned.

It seems very strange that you had to take out a subscription for your wife to research her results, as that was not the case with my husband and me. I wonder if Ancestry have changed their access conditions recently?

 

[peter]

So what was different about my approach to the one you relate?

I suspect you click on the user's name to view their profile, then clicked the 'Contact John Smith' (or whoever) button. This displays the following message:



This page at the Ancestry site shows what you can do, with and without a subscription.

 

[Helen7]

I suspect you click on the user's name to view their profile, then clicked the 'Contact John Smith' (or whoever) button.

I suspect something similar happened when I contacted a cousin through Ancestry and didn't receive a reply until over 6 months later when she apologised for the late reply, saying her Ancestry subscription had lapsed so she couldn't reply then, but she had just resubscribed, so now she could. Of course, she could have replied to my message without a subscription, but didn't realise it (either that, or maybe just making an excuse for the late reply?). I wonder if this is a common reason for people not responding to messages - they wrongly think you can't reply without a subscription?

Sorry if I'm going off topic, but we seem to have all digressed somewhat from the original topic of Public v Private trees! Perhaps we need a new thread on DNA results and access to them.

 

[palfamily]

This page at the Ancestry site shows what you can do, with and without a subscription.

I have found a similar thing with MyHeritage. I have had a free account for a long time and got lots of hints etc. but not been able to contact anyone. Now I have uploaded my DNA results to the same account and am able to contact my DNA matches.

 

[Bob Spiers]

Just call me Boris.
See my earlier apology. How do I contact a moderator?

Well Boris, if I may be so bold, I think a MODERATOR may spot your post anyway, but if not can I just say HELP - "palfamily" wants to draw attention to a mistake made in an earlier post (No. #146) and wishes his X Disgreement withdrawn. If that doesn't help contact Tim privately (using Messages). Cheers anyway

 

[peter]

I wonder if this is a common reason for people not responding to messages - they wrongly think you can't reply without a subscription?

For a while I would include a sentence in any message I sent to someone who hadn't logged-in at Ancestry for some time along the lines of "By the way, you don't need to be an Ancestry subscriber to reply" - but it didn't make any difference.

Ancestry don't help by displaying the graphic above even when it's not true - some might think it rather unethical, However I suspect it wasn't done deliberately - it's probably just careless programming. Maybe an article in my next newsletter will prompt a change?

 

[peter]

"palfamily" wants to draw attention to a mistake made in an earlier post (No. #146) and wishes his X Disgreement withdrawn

I don't believe that anyone but palfamily can make the change - and as far as I know there is no time limit to changing ratings that you've given to other members' messages.

I would have mentioned this earlier but I assumed there was something else palfamily wanted altered.

 

[Bob Spiers]

It seems very strange that you had to take out a subscription for your wife to research her results, as that was not the case with my husband and me. I wonder if Ancestry have changed their access conditions recently?

Food for thought there Helen, but I think with hindsight (and more knowledge of the DNA scene) I might have done things differently, but at the moment things are tickety boo even with two subscriptions, but I will be seeking to change that at a later date, next year in fact but comments from both you and Peter duly noted.

 

[Bob Spiers]

I don't believe that anyone but palfamily can make the change - and as far as I know there is no time limit to changing ratings that you've given to other members' messages.

Message for palfamily: It appears(from Peter's comments) you just go back and delete your post (the one with the cross) as he believes there is no time limit. No need to send an Agree message as you have made it clear since, you agreed anyway, but that's up to you. All well that ends well perhaps.

 

[Bob Spiers]

I know my interpretation was correct because I had the advantage of taking in follow on responses, where the author continued to make the point that by subscribing other users had the right to copy from Trees having paid for the privilege.

APOLOGY TO PETER: I misled with my statement that implied the author (of the quote) had followed up with additional supporting posts. This was not factual. I was relying on memory and although there were additional posts, they were not those of the author. Nothing changes my interpretation of the quote itself, but there was no follow-up support. Hope that sets the record straight.

 

[peter]

It appears(from Peter's comments) you go back and delete your post (the one with the cross)

Just to avoid any confusion, Bob is talking about a rating icon that was clicked inadvertently, not a message post. If you rate a post using one of the symbols at the right you can undo your rating by choosing Undo rating, shown in the same place.

The main purpose of the rating icons is to enable members to express agreement, thanks, or other sentiments without posting a message (which will trigger emails to those who are watching the discussion in question).

 

[Bob Spiers]

This page at the Ancestry site shows what you can do, with and without a subscription.

Thanks very helpful. I really must start paying attention to Support articles and Q&A fact lists as I find it hard to shake off trial and error methods. Sometimes my way pays dividends when I sort things out myself but there are times when on new ground (as with following through with my wife's DNA results without a subscription) when I try to do something and get thwarted. Reading the Support page shows I opted to do something that required a subscription (can't remember what exactly but likely something I do with my own DNA Tree which has a subscription) and was told I needed to subscribe.

Perhaps, had I known, there were some things that could be done without a subscription, that might have sufficed, but somehow I doubt it because I get stubborn and at this point sometimes -not always - I will opt for the quite life, expensive though it undoubtedly can be, and acquiesce. If I was made of money that would not be such a bad thing, but that is not the case so I may have to change my ways.

 

[palfamily]

Just to avoid any confusion, Bob is talking about a rating icon that was clicked inadvertently, not a message post. If you rate a post using one of the symbols at the right you can undo your rating by choosing Undo rating,

All done. I thought I had used the Undo rating button but obviously not. I suffer a bit from "fat finger syndrome" when I use my tablet.

 

[peter]

there are times when on new ground (as with following through with my wife's DNA results without a subscription) when I try to do something and get thwarted. Reading the Support page shows I opted to do something that required a subscription (can't remember what exactly but likely something I do with my own DNA Tree which has a subscription) and was told I needed to subscribe.

Remember that if you are appointed Manager of your wife's DNA results you can do almost everything through your own account.

 

[peter]

I suffer a bit from "fat finger syndrome" when I use my tablet.

You've got two options: either get a bigger tablet, or smaller fingers. I know which would be easier....

 

[jorghes]

I didn't mention it, but yes I did make my husband a Manager of my DNA results, and have now switched back to myself as a Manager of his results. This works fine, the only slight inconvenience being that you have to log in as the tree owner to give anyone else access to a tree.

If you're a manager of your husband's account, you don't need a second tree (unless you prefer it that way), you can just connect your husband's DNA results to the same tree that your results are connected to.

I am the manager of my 95 yr old grandmother's DNA results and I set up a dummy account only because I had to (all my other DNA results are simply within my own account as I added them before Ancestry changed the rules), and my grandmother's results are connected to the same tree as all my other results, with no problems.
Alternatively, to stop having to keep signing in and out of accounts, add your account as a "manager" of your husbands tree, and then it will be added to your list of family trees on your account; all messages in regards to DNA from other members should, I presume (as I haven't tried it), be sent to you as the manager.
I would test it, since I'm 90% sure there's a LostCousins member in my grandmother's list of results (I swear I've seen that black & white photo before!!) but I don't know who it is - and they're a fairly close relative too.

 

[Helen7]

If you're a manager of your husband's account, you don't need a second tree (unless you prefer it that way), you can just connect your husband's DNA results to the same tree that your results are connected to.

Thanks for the suggestion, but I'd rather keep the trees separate. I used to have one combined tree but found it was getting rather unwieldy so split it before we had the DNA tests. I can see his tree from my account, and all enquiries about his DNA come to me as manager, it's just the invitations I need to send from his account. It's not a major problem, and as Peter said I can log into both accounts simultaneously using two browsers (which I have done in the past).

 

[Helen7]

I would test it, since I'm 90% sure there's a LostCousins member in my grandmother's list of results (I swear I've seen that black & white photo before!!) but I don't know who it is - and they're a fairly close relative too.

Your grandmother isn't from Lancashire is she? That's where most of my relatives come from!

 

[jorghes]

Thanks for the suggestion, but I'd rather keep the trees separate. I used to have one combined tree but found it was getting rather unwieldy so split it before we had the DNA tests. I can see his tree from my account, and all enquiries about his DNA come to me as manager, it's just the invitations I need to send from his account. It's not a major problem, and as Peter said I can log into both accounts simultaneously using two browsers (which I have done in the past).

Then you can always add yourself as an editor to your husband's tree and you should be able to control it from your account as well.

Your grandmother isn't from Lancashire is she? That's where most of my relatives come from!

I do have ancestors from Lancashire, and it seems some are on my paternal grandmother's side - the rest of her English heritage is from Lincolnshire, Cambridgeshire, Northamptonshire and Surrey... (for one quarter English heritage, that always surprises me.) The Lancashire surnames are Ellison and most likely Seacome/Seacombe. (To explain that my grandmother has one quarter English ancestry; one half Ulster Scots/Scottish and one quarter European Jewish and they're all highly mobile!)

Yours isn't the picture I've seen the list though, so I'm still looking!