"This hint is no longer available"

[jorghes]

I am wondering if anyone has been able to removed Ancestry's "phantom" hints from their list.

I am starting to get sick of the phantom hints, as I try to clear those little "shaky leaves" from people and they remain, because of the grayed out hint which won't go away!

I have noticed that more and more when I add a new person to my tree, and the first lot of hints are brought up, there is actually a phantom hint in the list already!


The other thing which annoys me is the duplicate hints - particularly photos that randomly appear. It can get to the point where I have ignored the same photos/hints (some already connected to my tree) 4... 5 or 6 times, occasionally in one sitting!

While I do love Ancestry's hints as frequently they're right on the money, and most of them, most of the time are completely accurate (even if you haven't discovered that that ancestor did marry that man at the time they appear) - although once you've cleared the accurate bunch they tend to get wildly inaccurate from that time in, from giving 18th century hints for people living in the 20th century, and randomly giving hints from England for a relative who was born and died in Australia.

Anyone else having these issues (and any signs of fixes?)

 

[Bob Spiers]

While I do love Ancestry's hints

they tend to get wildly inaccurate

Your post Jorghes came at the right time as I was just amused at finding two notified Hints (via a current and normally very useful "Possible record Matches" notification) totally reversed in intention. I will call the ancestors X & Y: X=(Hint for) Birmingham Cof E Baptisms and Y=(Hint for) UK Lunacy Patients Admissions Registers.

X's hint turned out to be the Asylum admission and Y (Australian born and lived) the Baptism record. What a silly mix up and so typically Ancestry of late.

Of course I have had many 'phantom' hints (as you so properly call them) of the kind you mention, and whilst easy to kick into touch as being the wrong period, or place or whatever, amount to a waste of time as they need to be checked over 'just in case'. But my biggest gripe -and that should be GRIPE - is the continuing failure to log in (or return) to Ancestry and that often applies to both Co.UK & COM.

I have had to resort to having Ancestry set up on different devices and in different browsers to find one that is not throwing a 'wobbly' because of time of day or because it is raining, or whatever gremlin is at work at the time.

 

[peter]

Bob, you need to delete all your Ancestry cookies - that will solve the problem.

 

[Bob Spiers]

Bob, you need to delete all your Ancestry cookies - that will solve the problem.

Sounds a bit drastic but perhaps 'drastic' is what is needed. Will see how I get on. Will have to do this on the two browsers currently used for Ancestry - Edge & Google - and apply on two devices. Of course they will readily install new ones, but perhaps it is the accumulation of many that is causing the problem.

 

[peter]

Sounds a bit drastic but perhaps 'drastic' is what is needed.

I only deleted the cookies in Chrome, but I was careful to include all Ancestry sites including Fold3. There were dozens of cookies in all.

Anyway, it did the trick - haven't had any problems since.

 

[Bob Spiers]

So far so good Peter, and I think that may have done the trick - well until the next time when I will do the same again. Thanks