Ancestry Thrulines doesn't show all relatives

[Eric Hatfield]

Like most people I guess, I have a love-hate relationship with Ancestry. The largest DNA database but the least useful tools.

I'm finding Thrulines is no exception. I have found some very useful matches via Thrulines, but it is also frustrating in not giving what it is supposed to.

Thrulines shows ancestors back several generations, and then shows whether there are any DNA matches through each ancestor, or none. I am helping a relative resolve some uncertain paternity back 3 generations and the one ancestor (my relative's great grandfather) who I really want to look at is totally missing from Thrulines while the other great grandparents are all there.

I have contacted Ancestry support and an AI bot tried to answer my questions (or maybe it tried not to??). I was told that maybe my tree wasn't public, or I'd spelt the person's name wrong, or maybe there were no matches yet through that relative (which is irrelevant since many others who have no matches appear) and a bunch of other possibilities that didn't apply. In the end the bot admitted that there was nothing it could offer to resolve why one ancestor simply didn't appear on Thrulines.

Does anyone here have any information on what may be the problem please, and if there is any way to "force" Thrulines to include this relative? Is there some way to somehow re-start Thrulines like re-booting a computer?

Thanks.

[Ruskie]

I’m not sure if my answer is too simplistic as I am not a user Ancestry DNA these days, only having dabbled in thrulines briefly some time ago.

I am sure you will get the answer you are looking for here, but in the meantime, my thought….

Don’t “thrulines” use information from other’s trees to offer suggestions to fill in blanks on your tree? Wouldn’t the absence of this person on thrulines simply mean that no one else has this person on their tree? (Or has no more information about him than you do?)

I know when I last looked at my “Thrulines” there were many many people “missing”.

[rosie99]

That is what I thought too Ruskie.  Mine have missing people plus they have repeated attempts at giving me wrong links that I know come from fantasy trees

[Biggles50]

Today I looked at one of the Thrulines and it was completely wrong.

I looked at the tree of the DNA match and there was enough visible to correct the errors.

Thrulines is a guesstimate anyway, sometimes you are lucky, others not so much.

Remember each Thruline is cobbled together via multiple family trees with each one having the potential to be incorrect.

[Gadget]

I agree with the others about Thrulines. Many of the more distant 'ancestors' have been taken from others' trees that I've previously rejected but in they go!!

I don't bother with it now.

Gadget

[Cas (stallc)]

I very rare look at Thrulines for similar to mentioned above.

I use my DNA page search facility. Surname & area, narrow as much as possible. All may not be connected to family I am seeking, but all that comes up are DNA matches.

Cas

[Eric Hatfield]

Wouldn’t the absence of this person on thrulines simply mean that no one else has this person on their tree?

It seems possible, but I don't know if it's true. There 3 others with no matches who appear in Thrulines, but they may appear in other people's trees. If this is the reason, then it means I wouldn't get a result even if he appeared.

I agree with the others about Thrulines. Many of the more distant 'ancestors' have been taken from others' trees that I've previously rejected but in they go!!

I don't bother with it now.

I know it is inaccurate, but it finds possibilities that I might otherwise miss.

[Eric Hatfield]

Well a quick check shows that isn't the reason. There are 55 trees (at least) that show this person.

It must be a Thrulines bug. So my question remains: is there a way to overcome it? It seems not (so far)!

[David Nicoll]

Hi,

   Is the information identical for this person? The Thru lines algorithm is “AI” and if there are any differences it will not match or match in the wrong place. I had a Thru lines match with my cousin, 5 generations earlier, because of small differences in our tree information, it does not take much to throw it off.