Pro Tools & New format DNA Match Lists

[Andrew Lloyd]

The upgrade to Pro Tools costs £4.99 a month

Interesting that the US version is $10.00/month. Wonder if we are getting a scaled down version?

 

[Pauline]

I'm considering whether to sign up for this.

I came across someone who said that after signing up to the Pro Tools all their notes on matches disappeared. I don't know if this was a one-off or if it might happen to anyone.

 

[Helen7]

Interesting that the US version is $10.00/month. Wonder if we are getting a scaled down version?

The features I am being offered in the £4.99/month package are (with Ancestry's descriptions):
Tree Checker: Get notified about discrepancies in your tree and keep track of progress
Insights and Reports: Create family history reports and insightful graphic summaries
Smart Filters: Search and sort people using key descriptors and DNA match data
Advanced DNA Tools: See how much DNA your matches share with each other to strengthen your tree
Clean up: Quickly spot duplicates or errors in tree nodes and get suggestions for how to fix them. So long, funky birth dates.
Zoom in: View your intricate family lines over generations, from fan view to Descendancy reports. Lean into the tiny details
Arrange: Navigate your tree faster with filters like family line, events, location, potential errors, and more. Less scrolling, more progress.
Zoom out: See where life events took place and explore details about your ancestors that may be hiding in plain sight
Uncover: Piece together the puzzle of your family and see how your cousins fit into your tree using enhanced DNA match data. Your 3rd cousin, their sister. Check!

The 'Advanced DNA Tools' and 'Uncover' are listed as 'New'

I came across someone who said that after signing up to the Pro Tools all their notes on matches disappeared. I don't know if this was a one-off or if it might happen to anyone.

Gosh, thanks for the warning! I have lots of notes which I don't want to lose. Perhaps I'll hang fire on subscribing until I know more. Perhaps jorghes can confirm whether or not her notes disappeared with the upgrade.

 

[Andrew Lloyd]

all their notes on matches disappeared

Updating notes is certainly problematical and I think there are a few bugs in that area that Ancestry needs to sort out. You can now update the notes of your matches from within the shared matches screen and sometimes it seems to take awhile for these to appear when accessing your shared matches directly, but I'm not aware that I've lost any notes (touch wood)

 

[Andrew Lloyd]

Advanced DNA Tools: See how much DNA your matches share with each other to strengthen your tree

For me, this is the standout feature of the upgrade. What is not widely advertised is that whereas previously to see a shared match both you and your shared match and your match and your shared match had to have a relationship > 20cM, but certainly for the US version only your match and your shared match now need a relationship > 20cM. Blew me away when I first saw it because it means that for a match to have no shared matches is a rarity.

 

[jorghes]

The features I am being offered in the £4.99/month package are (with Ancestry's descriptions):
Tree Checker: Get notified about discrepancies in your tree and keep track of progress
Insights and Reports: Create family history reports and insightful graphic summaries
Smart Filters: Search and sort people using key descriptors and DNA match data
Advanced DNA Tools: See how much DNA your matches share with each other to strengthen your tree
Clean up: Quickly spot duplicates or errors in tree nodes and get suggestions for how to fix them. So long, funky birth dates.
Zoom in: View your intricate family lines over generations, from fan view to Descendancy reports. Lean into the tiny details
Arrange: Navigate your tree faster with filters like family line, events, location, potential errors, and more. Less scrolling, more progress.
Zoom out: See where life events took place and explore details about your ancestors that may be hiding in plain sight
Uncover: Piece together the puzzle of your family and see how your cousins fit into your tree using enhanced DNA match data. Your 3rd cousin, their sister. Check!

The 'Advanced DNA Tools' and 'Uncover' are listed as 'New'


Gosh, thanks for the warning! I have lots of notes which I don't want to lose. Perhaps I'll hang fire on subscribing until I know more. Perhaps jorghes can confirm whether or not her notes disappeared with the upgrade.

I can't say that my notes have vanished no, I signed up for the pro tools a little while ago, ironically through the American website (they have only just started showing up on the Australian domain name) but seemingly none of my prevalent notes have vanished. My tree is synced to FTM, so I don't know if that makes a difference.

 

[jorghes]

I can't say that my notes have vanished no, I signed up for the pro tools a little while ago, ironically through the American website (they have only just started showing up on the Australian domain name) but seemingly none of my prevalent notes have vanished. My tree is synced to FTM, so I don't know if that makes a difference.

I'll edit myself - you can actually see some of the notes that exist on my DNA matches (it was early when I replied the first time and I misplaced the notes). These notes have been there for years (some of them actually reference "shaky leaves" and family groups, which were some of the first ways that Ancestry used DNA to link matches). I can't see that any of them have disappeared, but there are so many of them across three main sets of DNA results I wouldn't be able to say for sure if some random ones have vanished.

But (to clarify) - if I look at the first page of matches for each of those DNA results, there are still a lot of notes on that first page (I label vociferously) of each of those sets of results.

I got sided tracked in the permissions for sharing traits and ended up having a giggle over the idea that my DNA makes me more naturally athletic... so not. (I'm thinking that traits are that have a giggle and don't pay much attention)

 

[Helen7]

you can actually see some of the notes that exist on my DNA matches (it was early when I replied the first time and I misplaced the notes). These notes have been there for years (some of them actually reference "shaky leaves" and family groups, which were some of the first ways that Ancestry used DNA to link matches). I can't see that any of them have disappeared, but there are so many of them across three main sets of DNA results I wouldn't be able to say for sure if some random ones have vanished.
But (to clarify) - if I look at the first page of matches for each of those DNA results, there are still a lot of notes on that first page (I label vociferously) of each of those sets of results.

Thanks for this reassurance. Like you, I also have my tree synced to FTM. It would seem odd if all the notes disappeared. I think I might bite the bullet and subscribe to the Pro Tools. The extra information should be worthwhile and help me sort out some of my trickier groups of shared matches.

 

[Andrew Lloyd]

Another example showing shared matches < 20cM

 

[Sue_3]

It's probably more common than you think. But I suspect that colour-blindness was the main driver behind the original changes.

Oh, I didn't think about colour blindness!
Recent research suggests an incidence of around 4.4% of the population for the more usual types of synaesthesia, but I think colour blindness is more common? It is certainly occurs more frequently in men. I hope they can come up with a solution that caters for both, but if not then I hope they will give priority to the most frequently occurring condition.

 

[Sue_3]

Pro Tools ... oh dear, there goes another few pounds a month. I think it might be more useful than Disney+ though, so I know what to cancel if necessary!

 

[Pauline]

Updating notes is certainly problematical and I think there are a few bugs in that area that Ancestry needs to sort out. You can now update the notes of your matches from within the shared matches screen and sometimes it seems to take awhile for these to appear when accessing your shared matches directly, but I'm not aware that I've lost any notes (touch wood)

So from what you and others seem to be saying is that your existing notes already added to matches are fine, but when amending or adding notes, or tagging, in Pro Tools it doesn’t always ‘stick’. Is that right?

 

[Andrew Lloyd]

it doesn’t always ‘stick’. Is that right?

Happened to me enough times now that I can recreate the conditions when it happens

Sometimes (not always) when I edit a Note from the shared matches screen and click Save, the display freezes.

Nothing serious, I just amend the Notes from the Trees tab instead (as you do currently).

I'll mention it to Ancestry if I can

 

[peter]

I came across someone who said that after signing up to the Pro Tools all their notes on matches disappeared. I don't know if this was a one-off or if it might happen to anyone.

Mine haven't disappeared.

 

[Helen7]

Mine haven't disappeared.

Neither have mine, and I'm finding the new information very useful.

 

[Pauline]

Neither have mine

Yes, I think we can rest assured that notes made previously are unaffected by signing up for Pro Tools, but that adding or amending notes while in the Pro Tools view can be a bit buggy.

I'm finding the new information very useful.

The ability to know how much DNA two shared matches share with each other is (as AL mentions above) a particularly useful feature. I have long puzzled over the identity a match with whom I share nearly 275 cM, and now know he is a full brother of an already identified match, and thus my half first cousin once removed.

 

[Pauline]

Mind you, although nothing new, the 'headline' relationship(s) given need to be treated with a degree of caution. Having discovered that another two of my unknown matches are full siblings, I can also see that they both share nearly 850 cM with another match I've already identified, but although the amount of DNA they share differs by only 6 cM, one is given as a Ist cousin of the known match and the other a half uncle or granduncle.

 

[NikkiM]

I've just noticed that Ancestry have introduced the Pro Tools feature in the UK. Has anyone tried it yet? Any good?

 

[Tim]

I'm now seeing this at the top of my match list:

View attachment 2498

The upgrade to Pro Tools costs £4.99 a month. I'm considering whether to sign up for this.

Mine is £7.99 per month! How is yours £4.99?!

 

[Stuart]

Mine is £7.99 per month! How is yours £4.99?!

Because they've put the price up since yesterday, that's how!