Ancestry has rolled out a trial tool to approximately 10% of its customers. I know this makes the other 90% of us impatient but let’s hope that good things come to those who wait.
This tool seems to be worth waiting for. The aim is to integrate DNA features into traditional parts of the site. The main purpose is to decrease the need to switch back and forth and bring DNA into the mainstream. As a person who works with these results daily, I have found my favorite use already. I will share it with you.
On Ancestry I have a match C.D. We share 184 cM over 9 segments. Using the “Shared Match” feature, we have five matches in common. The first one is a kit that I administer. The other kits are for Mary and three others she administers, F.A., N.R., and C.A.
If I click on the link for the administrator’s name, it brings up the user information page for Mary.
On that page, it now will tell me which other kits that are administered by Mary also match me.
Notice that most of the matches are the same. Any matches that are 4th cousin or closer are going to appear using the “Shared Matches” tool. However, those matches that are more distant than 4th cousin will appear with this new feature. Note that C.I. does not appear anywhere else except with the new tool.
Previously it would have been possible to look at this information only by using a third-party tool such as DNAGedcom Client. While that is currently my favorite DNA tool, it has some learning curve so I’m hopeful that this new Ancestry tool will make things a lot easier for our many friends who are new to DNA.
Love it!
I am finding when I go into a member’s profile that it will say ” is not on your DNA Match list.” At first I assumed this meant the member had a DNA test on Ancestry and that he and I are not a DNA match. Having now found this notation on profiles of individuals that have likely never had their DNA tested I assume it just means they aren’t on my match list. Am I interpreting this correctly? Thanks.
Good question, Michael. I believe you are interpreting it correctly and I hope to write about it within the next couple of days.
About TIME to have something to cheer about on Ancestry. I’ll look forward to the 90% roll-out.
Every tiny bit helps. Of course, they could simply show us all the matches, even for 5th to 8th; probably they’re concerned about the extra load on their servers as it would make the search about ten times as complex. None of this would be an issue if they simply showed the match region by chromosome.