How essential is an Ancestry subscription for getting the most in my DNA test?

[Rosinish]

My view is the opposite to Guy’s.

Put a time value on the £90 using how much you get paid per hour and the subscription has to be great vfm.

See my Reply #1 - 5 months ago with no reply as to whether it was thought to be good value or not!

Annie

[Rosinish]

I did have one match which looked interesting but his tree has no sources, has my great grandfather married to his sister (same first name), and one ancestor has 135 siblings

I often wonder the mentality of those with 'facts/figures' which are clearly impossible 


jc26red...

"I uploaded a barebones tree, kept it private but searchable, which is necessary to get the thru-lines and hints"

Can you please explain how to do this as my tree is Private i.e. I don't understand how 'private but searchable' works?

"I email one person linked to this tree and he very politely replied today and said yes, you know the Morgan line is a very big tree lol! If only he knew"

Did you let the person know you'd made an error in the early days & point it out?
I'm pretty sure if you had/did it would be ignored anyway as the 'person' has obviously not done their own 'research' to verify/rectify your errors 

Annie

[Biggles50]

In the tree settings there is a Privacy Tab where at the bottom is a tick box to either allow the tree to be found in searches or for it not to be found.

If find in searches is allowed it will show as Private and another user has to send a request to you and you to either send them a link or to deny access.

[Guy Etchells]

I am a bit late in replying.

It is not essential at all as all testing companies give a short term subscription to their databases with the test kit.
This free subscription is long enough to dertmine if a long term membership would add any value to your research, or whether you would be better subscribing with a different company.
Cheers
Guy

Zaph

My view is the opposite to Guy’s.

A subscription for at least a year is essential if you are serious about finding Family via a DNA test.

Without the subscription then following up on all the DNA matches, using Common Ancestor hints, Shared Matches and Thrulines will be far more difficult.

Put a time value on the £90 using how much you get paid per hour and the subscription has to be great vfm.

I do not dispute that but most if not all DNA kits include a short membership to the companies datasets. For example Ancestry have 3 options available when purchasing a DNA test kit at present
1 A basic kit only offer (this used toto include 7 or 14 days membership but now does not) at 59 pounds
2 An enhance offer with 3 months worldwide membership for 60 pounds, i.e. 3months for £1
3 The basic offer plus Traits for an extra 9 pounds.

To my way of thinking the only one worth taking up is offer two which gives 3 months membership in the cost so no need to subsccribe for 3 months and possibly you will have exhausted all your links in that time or at least had the chance to decide if a membership is worthwhile.
This is why I say there is no need to subscribe as a short subscription wass and is still free or almost free when you buy the kit.
Cheers
Guy

[fyremoon]

When some of you say you've uploaded a 'barebones' tree, did you have to put that together from scratch, or is there some way you can export a certain amount only from a family tree program, or is there another way altogether?
Does a "barebones" tree just include direct lines (parents, grandparent, great grandparents etc) or does it include siblings, aunts & uncles, grandaunts & uncles etc?

I'm considering doing a DNA test and/or getting a subscription at some point, and don't want to upload my entire tree (especially as I know it has some errors or queries I'm working through, and wouldn't want them to be duplicated)... but don't like the idea of having to build a basic one from the start either.

[phil57]

I export my tree as a Gedcom file from my family history software, in my case Family Historian. The software gives various options for creating the Gedcom when exporting. In my case I include all individuals in my tree, related or not, excepting those still living or specifically excluded for other reasons such as confidentiality. I include all relevant facts or events, but no source or media files.

The resulting Gedcom is uploaded to Ancestry and marked as private but searchable. I link it to my DNA test and others that I manage, linking the correct individuals in the tree. Periodically, as my tree expands, I upload an updated copy and repeat the linking process. Hints usually populate fairly quickly. Thrulines can take 2-3 days.

Sometimes I upload a speculative tree consisting of a branch where I am uncertain of the direct Ancestors, or have options for the correct individual, to see if I pick up any DNA Matches that could guide me to the correct individual or line. That does mean unlinking the primary tree for a while, as you can only have one tree linked to your DNA test(s) at any particular time. I also regularly upload the same bare Gedcom to other sites for similar reasons.

[fyremoon]

Thanks for all that info phil57!

[Biggles50]

When some of you say you've uploaded a 'barebones' tree, did you have to put that together from scratch, or is there some way you can export a certain amount only from a family tree program, or is there another way altogether?
Does a "barebones" tree just include direct lines (parents, grandparent, great grandparents etc) or does it include siblings, aunts & uncles, grandaunts & uncles etc?

I'm considering doing a DNA test and/or getting a subscription at some point, and don't want to upload my entire tree (especially as I know it has some errors or queries I'm working through, and wouldn't want them to be duplicated)... but don't like the idea of having to build a basic one from the start either.

No to a barebones, my full tree is on Ancestry but it is set to Private but searchable so it shows up in a search but they cannot see the content. 

A wide and full tree will enable Ancestry to present Common Ancestor hints and Thrulines hints a small barebones tree will not do this.

Regards errors, the software you have should have Error Checking Tools, Roots Magic certainly does.

The software that I use sync’s with Ancestry so I make changes in the software Tree I can sync it with the Ancestry tree, I make changes in Ancestry, I sync it to the Software tree within the software itself.

[phil57]

A wide and full tree will enable Ancestry to present Common Ancestor hints and Thrulines hints a small barebones tree will not do this.

You have a different definition of a bare bones tree to me. My Ancestry tree contains over 3,000 individuals, with their relationships, ancestors, descendants, collateral lines, and summary information for facts an events. So, for instance, it includes the dates and locations of births, baptisms, marriages, deaths, appearances in censuses, occupations etc. where they are known. What it does not include from my offline tree are the sources for that information, any media such as image of source documents, places or people, or my notes and other research information.

It is perfectly capable of obtaining record hints, common ancestor hints and Thrulines suggestions.

The export function in my software can track accepted or viewed hints in such a way that they are not repeated when I upload an updated Gedcom, but I have never felt the need to use that aspect of the software. Any new sources or information discovered as a result of Ancestry, FindMyPast or other hints and matches I download, source and cite in my offline tree. That information will make its way into subsequent uploads of updated Gedcoms, but only as summarised facts. It works for me.