Is it me or is it Ancestry?

[sunflower]

Is anyone else experiencing the problem that I do with Ancestry and DNA matches?

When I go into the unviewed matches and click on shared matches, I can deal with the first one alright but when I have finished with the match, instead of going back to the list of unviewed matches, it throws me right back out to the beginning page. In the past, it always carried on with the list. It is very frustrating and means I don't deal with more than a few at a time as it takes such a long time.

Another annoyance for me is, the prompt message that their backend services are busy, so try again later. No matter what time of the day it is, I seem to encounter this problem quite frequently. Does anyone else?

These problems may be down to my internet but I don't really think so.

 

[Susan48]

I've noticed this problem too recently. If I click on shared matches and there are no shared matches, then clicking on "View all your matches" at the bottom left hand corner of the screen takes me back to the list of new matches.

 

[peter]

Is anyone else experiencing the problem that I do with Ancestry and DNA matches?

When I go into the unviewed matches and click on shared matches, I can deal with the first one alright but when I have finished with the match, instead of going back to the list of unviewed matches, it throws me right back out to the beginning page. In the past, it always carried on with the list. It is very frustrating and means I don't deal with more than a few at a time as it takes such a long time.

The solution is to open the match in a new tab - this will not only work better for you, it reduces the load on Ancestry's servers so helps the rest of us!

 

[sunflower]

Thanks Susan, that has solved that problem as most of the matches at 16cms are not shared with anyone else and I don't bother with anything less these days.

 

[sunflower]

Thanks Peter. Susan's solution has worked for me.

I forget to mention in my PM that my father and genetic father were born on the same day (different year) and both died in the same quarter as well. A bit freaky I thought.

 

[peter]

most of the matches at 16cms are not shared with anyone else and I don't bother with anything less these days

The amount of DNA you share with distant cousins is virtually irrelevant - you might share no DNA at all with a 3rd cousin, but 50cM with a 6th cousin. In most cases you won't know about shared matches because of Ancestry's 20cM cut-off.

My advice is to stick to the strategies in the Masterclass.

 

[Sue_3]

I have a known 4th cousin that I only share 6 cM with, so I had to save the match when Ancestry decided to discard matches of less than 8 cM. My 1st cousin shares 10 cM with the same match. Neither will show up as shared matches on Ancestry, but are essential in confirming our shared family history. We all share a rare surname in a specific location and had connected way before DNA was a 'thing'.

 

[sunflower]

I realise that some matches are with only a small amount of shared dna as I have found several myself and like you, only at 6cMs. I also have researched many trees of other matches where there is no tree online to check against but the cMs are over 16. Sometimes I find the link other times not. Once I have worked out the relationship using Peter's Masterclass, it does give me a idea of which generation I should start with.

My grouse with Ancestry (or maybe my internet, which is what I am trying to work out) is that when looking at shared matches, it throws me back to the very first page that shows 4th cousins and closer to all matches and that is very time consuming. Susan has given me a way around that and it works. The other problem I get is that often Ancestry's back services are overtaxed, no matter what time of day it is. It seems they do not have the capacity for a large number of users at the same time.

Nevertheless, I have managed to find a whole new family that I had no idea I belonged to, so dna matching works but sometimes not for the best.

 

[Sue_3]

I realise that some matches are with only a small amount of shared dna as I have found several myself and like you, only at 6cMs. I also have researched many trees of other matches where there is no tree online to check against but the cMs are over 16. Sometimes I find the link other times not. Once I have worked out the relationship using Peter's Masterclass, it does give me a idea of which generation I should start with.

My grouse with Ancestry (or maybe my internet, which is what I am trying to work out) is that when looking at shared matches, it throws me back to the very first page that shows 4th cousins and closer to all matches and that is very time consuming. Susan has given me a way around that and it works. The other problem I get is that often Ancestry's back services are overtaxed, no matter what time of day it is. It seems they do not have the capacity for a large number of users at the same time.

Nevertheless, I have managed to find a whole new family that I had no idea I belonged to, so dna matching works but sometimes not for the best.

Like many blessings, it is mixed!

I haven't noticed the specific problem you describe, but that could just be because it hasn't happened to me yet? I agree that Ancestry is often overburdened, but I find that's true of other sites too, including FMP. At least I'm at home and comfortable when it happens, unlike the past trauma of having to travel 300 miles and then join a queue in a basement corridor to view census microfilms at the Public Record Office in London. The length of that queue was partly determined by how many microfilm readers were broken ...

 

[sunflower]

How true that is Sue. Unfortunately, with the huge progress that has been made with resources for research, I think most of us are guilty of expecting so much these days while forgetting the difficulties of the past. Thank you for bringing me back in line.

 

[peter]

My grouse with Ancestry (or maybe my internet, which is what I am trying to work out) is that when looking at shared matches, it throws me back to the very first page that shows 4th cousins and closer to all matches and that is very time consuming. Susan has given me a way around that and it works. The other problem I get is that often Ancestry's back services are overtaxed, no matter what time of day it is. It seems they do not have the capacity for a large number of users at the same time.

If you follow my earlier advice and open your matches in a new browser tab it will not only solve your original problem but help everyone by reducing the load on Ancestry's servers. As Sue_3 pointed out, this problem is not unique to Ancestry - opening results in a new tab will also help at Findmypast and other sites.

 

[Sue_3]

How true that is Sue. Unfortunately, with the huge progress that has been made with resources for research, I think most of us are guilty of expecting so much these days while forgetting the difficulties of the past. Thank you for bringing me back in line.

I wasn't meaning to be critical, I also have daily issues with websites that are a pain in the proverbial, indeed I have three outstanding support queries right now (with Living DNA, 23&Me, and MyHeritage). Actually two of those have sent a reply, one apologising for an issue due to be resolved imminently, one with an unclear explanation and a link to their 'help' that isn't entirely helpful, but I've figured out what they mean so that will probably suffice. The other is an ongoing debate that someone on this forum already answered for me but I remain in debate with the site because they ought to be able to answer a very simple question and instead they keep asking me for more information. I have to keep reminding myself that I am fortunate (a) to be able to spend time pursuing my family history and (b) to be able to take advantage of all the tools now available. If only I could always remember those things I would be much more content myself ... just trying to share the idea in case it helps others!

 

[Susan48]

If you follow my earlier advice and open your matches in a new browser tab

I'm probably not the only one who hasn't yet found out how to open my matches this way, so help would be welcome. With some websites, clicking on something automatically opens that something in a new browser tab, but that doesn't seem to happen here. Also, I'm a Mac user so the procedure might be a bit different.

 

[Helen7]

I'm probably not the only one who hasn't yet found out how to open my matches this way, so help would be welcome. With some websites, clicking on something automatically opens that something in a new browser tab, but that doesn't seem to happen here. Also, I'm a Mac user so the procedure might be a bit different.

If you right mouse click on any link, you'll be offered a list of options, the top one of which is 'Open link in new tab'. I use a Mac with Chrome browser, but the same works with Safari and Firefox.

 

[sunflower]

Sorry Sue, I hope I didn't come across as feeling I was being criticised because I didn't feel that you were critical at all. Just happy that you responded in the first place. Best of luck with your research.

 

[sunflower]

Thank you Helen for your straight forward answer and thank you Susan for asking the question. It was something I had forgotten to use in this situation.

 

[peter]

If you right mouse click on any link, you'll be offered a list of options, the top one of which is 'Open link in new tab'. I use a Mac with Chrome browser, but the same works with Safari and Firefox.

This is correct, but some things that look like links aren't, in which case you won't get the option. This annotated screenshot shows what I'm talking about:



The links marked with ticks will offer you the opportunity to open a new tab, but the ones marked with a cross won't, even though clicking View match takes you to the SAME screen as clicking Public linked tree.

 

[Susan48]

If you right mouse click on any link,

Thank you, Helen and Peter. I use a MacBook with trackpad rather than mouse, and by trial and error found that pressing Ctrl+right click on the trackpad worked.

 

[PhilGee]

..... The links marked with ticks will offer you the opportunity to open a new tab, but the ones marked with a cross won't, even though clicking View match takes you to the SAME screen as clicking Public linked tree.

...as does the "username" and "Profile photo" ! I use the mouse "scroll wheel", which is also a middle button and is set to open in new window (as it's less button pressing ).

 

[peter]

set to open in new window

New tab or new window? Multiple tabs are generally easier to handle than multiple windows.