Ancestry - Pro Tools/Enhanced Shared Matches

[rsel]

All,
   I have split this off from the discussion on the ongoing beta discussion, as its now being made available to all the UK users. 

   I bit the bullet an purchased the pro-tools option, despite the extra cost, as i was very keen to get the enhanced shared matches.  For those of you that don't know what this is, its the new shared matches view that Ancestry discussed earlier in the year, which allows you to see the amount of DNA (in cM) for both you and the person you are looking at for each shared match ( a bit like MyHeritage does).

   So far i am generally happy with the update as provided, in that it now gives me the extra info i needed to fully use the DNA Painter WATO tool to start identifying relationships.  That said there are a few little glitches :

• Paging - Like the BETA main display, the shared matches are now a paged list instead, however it just shows the current page number and the two arrow buttons. The only way you know there are multiple page or not is that the arrows slightly change colour to a greyed out shade which is not very obvious. When you finally get to the last page though, do you suddenly get the ' of x' added to the page counter
• Sorting - You can only sort based on your match details and not the person you are viewing so its hard to spot the closest relations of the person you are looking at
• page loading - sometimes when navigating the pages the new page does not load/display fully leaving you with either the original page (and a new page number) or you only get some of the details loaded

Richard

[Glen in Tinsel Kni]

My sub expired last month so I've had to jump on for a month of basic membership to unlock the pro tools offer then pay for a month on pro tools too. My results came back about 2 years ago and rarely see matches over 20cM as a rule and won't be running pro tools continuously.  I have learned a few bits and bobs from the shared cM details I've viewed.
As sub 20cM matches that were previously 'invisible' also get pulled into the mix it could be useful to some extent but the age old problem of no tree/private tree & no profile matches from overseas is still an issue.

[rsel]

the age old problem of no tree/private tree & no profile matches from overseas is still an issue.

It can help with the no tree/private tree, if there name displayed gives you some clues to get started with :-)  I had one match that i could not place originally due to no tree, but triangulating via the shared matches i have now managed to find where he fits into the tree. However, i do have another similar match that i can't narrow down, as i can't find any hints from there name, so the DNA triangluation gives a number of different possible locations. 
That said, if you don't have any many close matches the triangulation wont help much

[Pheno]

Does anybody know, if you attach your dna results to the correct person, but in another tree that you either own or manage, do the Pro Tools facilities transfer and work on that tree?

I was thinking particularly of the Tree Checker, which I have found helpful and would like to apply it to my other trees, rather than just the one to which my current dna is attached.

Pheno

[rsel]

I was thinking particularly of the Tree Checker, which I have found helpful and would like to apply it to my other trees, rather than just the one to which my current dna is attached.

Hi Pheno,
   The Pro Tools are not specifically linked to your DNA results or an individual tree, they are linked to your ancestry account itself.  I have multiple different trees, and the tree checker is available on all of them (not that i intend to use it on them).
  For the DNA side, i have 2 test i manage (plus my own), and have access to another persons results and i am seeing the enhanced natches on all 4 sets of results

Richard

[Pheno]

Thanks Richard.  I was wondering how I would apply it to other trees and assumed it tracked the dna,  but I see now that if I change trees on the  home page the tree checker applies itself to whichever tree I have chosen.

Thanks, Pheno

[Glen in Tinsel Kni]

Agree with the pro tools working with multiple dna results whether they be managed or just through viewing rights. It's a step up from MH which can exclude additional kits unless they are uploaded during a special offer period and has limited collaboration numbers.

[Steve3180]

One thing to look out for. Tagging a DNA match to a group or adding a note while you're in the ProTools part doesn't work, and I've read reports that editing messes up existing notes. I have been moving to the Trees tab to add notes and that works ok but is a pain. Hopefully they fix it soon.

[redshank]

Please can I just check something about Pro Tools. I assume this is not the same as a chromosome browser which GedMatch and My Heritage have - is that right?
I have matches on Ancestry where I know the common ancestor but don't know which segments of which chromosomes we share, including one fairly close match, and then I have equally close matches on My Heritage and GedMatch where I know the which segments we share but can't work out which family they belong to. Unless Ancestry are offering a Chromosome Browser which will enable me to match segments to family and then use DNA Painter to work out who the common ancestor might be, I don't think Pro Tools will help me. Or will they?
Hope that makes sense...