Saturday, August 29, 2015

FTM2014 - How i craft an Evidence Explained Reference Note with the Template Feature

I have been part of a "What Did SHE Say?" study group on Google+, where we are studying Chapters 1 and 2 of  Evidence Explained.

Elizabeth Shown Mills, Evidence Explained: Citing History Sources from Artifacts to Cyberspace, 3rd edition (Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Publishing Company, 2015). [Book available from the publisher at http://www.genealogical.com and in digital format from the author's website http://www.EvidenceExplained.com] 
A link to our 3rd session, first dealing with Chapter 2 is HERE

This video is a result of the homework, provided by +DearMYRTLE  for this chapter.

Homework Questions - 28 Aug 2015 What Does SHE Say? Study Group

This does not go into how to select a Template, but in how to use the various fields that we are presented with to generate a Reference Note. A couple of observations were included at the end.




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Copyright © 2015 by H R Worthington

FTM2014 - Update on the Web Merge Feature Change

I want to address the issue that I have seen in comments on this Blog and elsewhere, about the impact of the Web Merge feature with the most recent patch. There are three earlier blog posts on this topic.

Family Tree Maker 2014 SP6 Patch Notes - Patch #6, (build .404 or .1404)





Each of the above blog posts (VBlogs) started with the SAME file. This blog post will demonstrate the impact of the choices made and a few recommended steps when doing a Web Merge.




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Copyright © 2015 by H R Worthington

Friday, August 28, 2015

Creating a "DNA" Tree

I have been trying to figure out a better way to handle my DNA Results.

In this Video, I will create a Public Ancestry Member Tree and link my DNA Results to it. Making it public should make it easier for making those Cousin Connections and to be able to take advantage of the DNA Features provided at Ancestry DNA.






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Copyright © 2015 by H R Worthington

Thursday, August 27, 2015

FTM2014 and DNA - Change in Strategy

The other day, I did a blog post on FTM2014 and DNA and really thought about what I was doing and wondering why some of the "dna features" on Ancestry wasn't working the way I had hoped. So, I stepped back a bit to re-evaluate what I was doing.

In FTM2014, I exported my Direct Line to a New FTM2014 file, and creating a New Ancestry Member Tree, making is public and see if that made any difference. On the same day, Ancestry made an announcement on a new feature they just rolled out. So, I checked. I selected my known 1st cousin and clicked on the NEW SHARED MATCHES link to see if there was any connection.

This 2nd cousin isn't a new one, but the Tree was Private, so I really hadn't followed up on it. Before I made contact I want to have a good idea about how we are related. This person wasn't in my new online tree BUT neither is my known 1st cousin. So, why don't I look at my full database, the surname on this 2nd cousin rang a bell, but couldn't, off the top of my head, remember the connection.

The "Duh" head slap moment arrived. Why not look at your full database. As expected, the surname was in my master file. The father of this DNA match was another brother of my Grandfather. So, this person is my 2nd Cousin, one time removed as is my "reported" 1st Cousin.

A private, internal Ancestry Message has been sent, hoping to actually make the connection and hope to be invited to view that Private Tree.

New entry for my full database Research Log.

Will now have to think about how to track my DNA connections within FTM2014.

Thank you AncestryDNA !!!

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Copyright © 2015 by H R Worthington

Tuesday, August 25, 2015

FTM2014 and AncestryDNA

I was asked how I used FTM2014 with AncestryDNA. Because of privacy concerns, this will be a typed Blog Post as there in information on several screens that contain information on living people.

I have my working FTM2014 file sync'ed to my Ancestry Member Tree (AMT). That AMT actually had 3 sets of DNA kits linked to it. One is a Y-DNA test that I had done earlier, the Second is my Autosomal DNA Test. I have a cousin, by marriage who is trying to identify her birth Grandmother, so she also has a Autosomal DNA test kit linked to my AMT.

I know that for the best results for DNA "cousin connections" is to have a Public Tree. I had my tree public when I first did the Autosomal DNA test, but I was seeing other users copy photographs and documents from my AMT so I made is Private but Searchable.

Because of the nature, at least my understanding of the Autosomal DNA tests, my entire file is online. I let the Ancestry.com privacy settings, for living people, control who can see what. IF I invite someone to my tree, either by my suggestion or someone with DNA results that match mine, I'll Invite them as a Guest, and would not be able to see information on living people.

So, I have my entire tree, including information from my cousin, in this private tree. I do respond to requests to view my tree.

I have DNA results, but no Circles. Don't know why that is, but I don't. 


I will focus on the ICONs on the Right, and View All DNA Matches. In the upper right, is what I would select my cousin's DNA kit. I can switch the kid that I am looking at.


There are 102 pages of DNA matches. Too many for me, but I can view them all. On the Left is a couple of Sorting options. Relationship and Date. So, I could sort by date to see the Newest Matches. For now, I am going to focus on the Relationship sort. 2nd Cousin (in my case) and further back.


I have selected the first match from my 2nd Cousin. On the right, it indicates that there is a Public Tree, with 2,177 people in it. There is a LEAF to the left of the "View Match" ICON on the right.

At the top LEFT of this next image, are three ways to view these DNA Matches. HINTS, NEW, STARRED. I generally work from the HINTS choice, as I will SEE Matches between my tree and the suggested cousin's tree. (will show that shortly). I can just look at the New DNA Matches, or only those matches that I have Stared.

There is a second, second cousin, but the tree is Private (padlock ICON).



Going back to the first entry, with the public tree with the (HINT) leaf, I clicked on the View Match ICON and see our connection.



My information on the Left, my cousin's on the Right. The person's tree on the right, IS my first cousin, 2 times removed. The father and my grandfather were brothers.

There is an option here, for me to make notes about this tree. I and edit it or delete them, I also use the STAR ICON upper right, to indicate that I have a note there or have been in contact with the owner of that tree.


This next image is for the 2nd person with the Private Tree. I am given the option to Contact the owner of that tree.. I have not done that yet, so no Star and no notes. I do this so it is obvious what I have or have not done with each of these trees / DNA matches.



Below is a note I have on one DNA Match


Here is an example of a (internal Ancestry Messaging service) to one tree owner.


My Cousin, by marriage, is a more difficult problem. Her mother was adopted and we have not been able to find out who her birth parents were. The paper trail has been followed, even the mother had done research 60 years ago. (long story).

The approach here is different. We only know the location of where she was born, and about when she was born. The paper trail has conflicting information, where the medical records tell us that the real birth date is unknown.

Selecting that other DNA Kit, the DNA Matches have to be looked at differently. Now, we have had DNA Matches for her Father and his ancestry, so we are good there. To find her Mother's ancestors I will look at the Map and Locations ICON, not the Pedigree and Surnames ICON.


This tree does show the birth city for the Mother. Selecting that location there is a pop up window with information about who are in this other persons tree, born in that same town.


The three choices are in the right place, but not at the right time. But, it is worth a closer look.

We have the same option to begin a conversation with the owner of that tree to see if there is a connection. I  have looked at that tree, and there are some hints that there might be a connection. Because of the nature of this relationship, I have not made that connection, but have a note on that DNA Match about what I found. I am the only who can see that note. I need to look at that tree much closer, looking for records in the tree for a hint for a connection to the "Mother" whose parents we are looking for. This is the closest match, to date, in answering the question I have. Exhaustive Research on information in this other tree is my next step.

A NOTE from my experience trying to make a DNA Match with other Online Trees. The lack of Standard Place Names, in the tree is a real issue. I am not as concerned about the documentation in that tree, for DNA Matches, but for this Adoptive research, the use of standard Place Names would really help.

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Copyright © 2015 by H R Worthington

Wednesday, August 19, 2015

Census Merge in Ancestry Member Tree

As a follow up to the FTM2014 patch, I will now do the same task, but in an *Ancestry Member Tree*. Same choices and Same results.




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Copyright © 2015 by H R Worthington

Tuesday, August 18, 2015

FTM2014 - Web Merge feature AFTER the update / patch

This will show the changes in the Web Merge feature AFTER the Patch / Update is applied.

I have included my way of handling this change.



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Copyright © 2015 by H R Worthington

FTM2014 - Installation of the Patch / Update to Version 22.0.0.404 / 1404

How to Find, Download, and Install the latest patch / update to FTM2014

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Copyright © 2015 by H R Worthington

FTM2014 - Web Merge feature BEFORE the Update / Patch


This is a demonstration of the Web Merge feature BEFORE the patch to FTM2014 was applied





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Copyright © 2015 by H R Worthington

Saturday, August 15, 2015

What does SHE Say ? Homework Assignment #1

The What Does SHE Say Study Group, in the +DearMYRTLE Genealogy Community has homework. Imagine that.

Here is a link to the Homework Assignment:

Homework Questions for 14 Aug 2015 What Does SHE Say? Study Group

The Hangout On Air recording of the first session is here:

In response to the First Question and a lengthy discussion about Death Certificates in the HOA, I thought I would demonstrate one of those generic labels with a not so obvious feature, addressing Question 1 and that Each Fact, Claim, or piece of information can be easily evaluated within FTM2014


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Copyright © 2015 by H R Worthington

Tuesday, August 11, 2015

Family Tree Maker 2014 SP6 Patch Notes - Patch #6, (build .404 or .1404)

A Patch was released for FTM2014 on 10 August 2015. It should be downloaded and installed. More information is here

http://help.ancestry.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/9048/kw/9048

If you need help with the update, here is a link for you;

http://help.ancestry.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/5588/~/family-tree-maker-2014---program-updates

There is ONE "update" that you need to be aware of. That is, when you use the Web Merge Feature, you MUST look very closely at ALL of the Facts that are being merged.

When merging, changed default to discard duplicate facts (even when different) rather than keep as duplicate alternate facts

In the past, when doing the Web Merge, and you had a Fact in your database and the same fact was included in the Web Merge, FTM2014 would usually select Alt Fact, meaning adding the New information for that Fact. We had the option to make the New Fact as Preferred, Alternate, or Discard the new Fact. The CHANGE is to make this "new" information as Discard. That may or may not be the choice you want to make.

I'll do another blog post about this, but I just want to make sure that you REVIEW the Web Merge SCREENs very carefully to make sure you Keep what you want to Keep.

For me, multiple / Alt Facts are a good thing, meaning you need to look at the information, evaluate what you have and make an informed Choice of the information in your database. Discard is not usually my choice.


The other "Enhanced Features" include;
  • Added ability to edit sources from media link
  • Improved display of fonts in high DPI settings
  • Improved automatic naming of restored files to exclude "autobackup" text.
Will have to look at that first one, to see what that really means. I don't use the "automatic back up" feature, so that won't impact me. The Automatic Back Up only backs up the DATA in your file and not the Images that may be linked. I ALWAYS Compact my file AND accept that Back Up option when presented. That back up is the same as a Manual Back Up, in that it includes the Media files.

Stability & Performance Improvements
  • TreeSync improvements- improved handling of media.
  • Multiple crash fixes.
  • New option for extended analysis during compact and added fixes for more potential errors
The 3rd improvement is not new, just more obvious when FTM2014 crashes. We have had the Deep Compact command for a number of versions, this just offers the user the ability to run a Deep Compact file after a crash. Remembering that the Compact File command is a great File Maintenance tool.


Bug Fixes
  • Fixes to sorting of facts in Smart Story creation
  • Removed TMG from list of supported file types to import (due to outdated implementation)
  • Improved handling of notes in GEDCOM import
  • Multiple fixes for errors with various reports
  • 30+ additional fixes for a variety of bugs

Will probably do a couple more blog posts in this update when I have a chance to check them out. I just wanted to get the word out about the Web Merge setting and to really watch the Web Merge Screens when you use that feature.


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Copyright © 2015 by H R Worthington

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