Why You Don't Get Replies from Ancestry Users

If you're waiting... and waiting... and waiting for a reply to your message to an Ancestry user, this may explain why.

When Ancestry introduced the new messaging system, I was annoyed that I no longer received email notifications about incoming messages. I contacted Ancestry, and they explained how to overcome that problem:

As part of the new message system, we are attempting to cut down on the emails we send to our members. The sheer number we are sending in some cases is causing email domains to pre-filter our important emails out along with promotional [spam!] and this is causing considerable hardship.

We have changed the process, so that we only send out one email for multiple replies, and we only send an email when you have been logged out completely from our site for a while. This way, you are not getting emails while you are working, but can still view your new messages within your account as they come in.

If you just close your browser instead of logging completely out, the emails may not send at all, because your browser's active login cookie tells our site you are still signed in. To prevent this, simply click on your name or username at the top right and choose Sign Out.

Once you have been signed out for a little while, notifications will start coming through email again.

This works! I now log out each time I use the site, and I'm getting notifications again. But many people don't know about this, and our messages are just sitting in their inbox at Ancestry.

There are, of course, many reasons why someone might not reply to your message - but please share Ancestry's 'log out' explanation with your friends and family history groups.

See also the excellent advice in this post by Margaret O'Brien: In-Depth Guide - Chapter 9 - Send Ancestry Messages that get Replies.

Note that you have until 31st August 2020 to download and save your messages from Ancestry's old system.



This post first appeared on https://genie-leftovers.blogspot.com/2020/07/why-you-dont-get-replies-from-ancestry.html.

How to Keep AncestryDNA's Small-Segment Matches

From late August 2020, AncestryDNA will delete matches who share less than 8 cM with you - unless you have added a note about them, added them to a custom group, or messaged them. Some of my known relatives only share 6 cM or 7 cM with me, and I'm sure there are others whom I haven't identified yet. Here is my strategy to prevent those people from disappearing.

#1. In my AncestryDNA account, I created a custom group called '6-8cM Keep' (but you could skip this step and just add a Note to matches you want to keep).

#2. In the 'Shared DNA' filter, I select 'Custom centimorgan range' and set it to min=6 and max=8; then I do a series of searches, and on the results screen I either add a Note or assign people to my group '6-8cM Keep'. Examples of searches (with 'Custom centimorgan range' set to min=6 & max=8):

#3. Filter for 'Common ancestor'. (Some of the 'potential ancestors' will be wrong, because Ancestry's Thrulines derives those ancestor predictions from other people's trees, many of which are wrong - but I need to prevent those matches from disappearing so that I can later check the Thrulines theory.)



#4. Using 'Surnames in matches' trees', I do a series of searches for end-of-line ancestors' surnames, 'brick wall' surnames, unusual surnames, etc.



#5. Using 'Birth location in matches' trees', I do a series of searches for the main places where my families lived. I've also done some combined surname + birthplace searches, eg: "Surname in matches' trees" = CAMPBELL, combined with "Birth location" = Argyll, Scotland. (CAMPBELL is so common that I don't want to keep all the matches, but some small-segment matches with CAMPBELL ancestors in Argyllshire will be my relatives.)

How close is an 8 cM match? In some cases it will be closer than a 4th cousin. To see the full list of possible relationships, with probabilities for each, enter '8' in the interactive Shared Centimorgan Project tool.

* Roberta ESTES explains a more thorough strategy for preserving small-segment matches that may be useful.

* Blaine BETTINGER explains why many small segments are *not* valid shared DNA.

* My personal thoughts on using DNA as a tool for family history.

(This post first appeared on https://genie-leftovers.blogspot.com/2020/07/how-to-keep-ancestrydnas-small-segment.html.)