ANCESTRY & MYHERITAGE ANNOUNCE EXCITING NEW FEATURES TO HELP WITH OUR DNA MATCHES

Right now up in Salt Lake City there’s a gathering of thousands of genealogists.  They are attending Rootstech.  I went last year with my friend, Pam and we had a wonderful time.  We hope to attend again next year.

Want to view live streaming from Rootstech – here’s the link Rootstech Live Streaming Schedule

Coinciding with the conference and not coincidentally, are announcements from major websites about additional functions to assist us with identifying our DNA matches.

There are other people who have already blogged about these new items.  Rather than re-create the wheel, I’m going to share what the new features are and then direct you to the other blogs and websites that can help you better understand how to use them.
 
Let’s begin with Ancestry.com  They are in a beta phase for these features right now.

• Thru Lines – illustrates how you may be related to your DNA matches through a common ancestor
• Labeling – This feature, which was previously available as a Chrome add-on, is now being offered by Ancestry.  It allows you to create groups and designate them by color.  This means when you are viewing matches or shared matches you can see exactly how they fit into your family. The labeling is up to you.  Here’s a sample of my labels so far.

MyHeritage new tools

• Theory of Family Relativity – theories about how DNA matches may be connected to a particular person.

• AutoClusters – An automatic tool that organizes your DNA matches into clusters that likely descend from common ancestors.  This can really help you determine how your matches are connected to one another.

I just began experimenting with these new tools yesterday.  I’m very excited about the opportunity this gives us to identify how our matches fit into our family trees.

For excellent explanations and tutorials about these new tools, please go to the following blogs.  There are other bloggers also writing about these exciting enhancements.

Randy Seaver’s Genea-Musings
MyHeritage Theory of Family Relativity
Ancestry DNA Thru Lines

Kitty Cooper’s Blog
MyHeritage Theory of Family Releativity

Extra tid bit – Kitty has also written about how to use the new Genesis that has replaced Gedmatch
Genesis - Gedmatch reinvented - How to Use it - Part 1

I’m sure there will be much more to come on both of the listed blogs and many others.  For now, I hope this will get you started.

Have you tried out these wonderful new features?  If so, are they helping you?
 
Happy hunting,
Michigan Girl

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