So, Ancestry.com has introduced ThruLines in their DNA results section. I really enjoyed working with mine, but there were some weirdnesses, such as useless private links. What do other people think?
I have just begun looking at the ThruLines option. I've found some possible info through the "Potential Ancestor" suggestions, but don't find the "Private Potential Ancestor" links to be of any help since the tree information they lead to only go as far as names I've already identified in my own tree.
What I don't understand is the message "ThruLines suggests that you may not be related to any DNA matches through [name of person], I get when selecting a person that I know yields suggested DNA connections in other links. For instance when I click on my paternal grandmother I get the message about no related DNA matches, but when I choose to view the box that says "All DNA Matches" I get a good list of people I know I am connected to through that particular grandparent.
I'm assuming this maybe, in part, because ThruLines is still in Beta. One very helpful thing about this is finally being able to easily see how I might be connected to some complete stranger who shows up on my "All Matches" list. It is nice not having to shift through a bunch of individual trees in an effort to figure out how an ancestor familiar to me shows up in someone else's family list.
Your "may not be related" issue does sound off. I have that same situation where I match to a cousin but my grandparent/her great-grandparent shows "you may not be related to any DNA matches thru this person." I noticed so that cousin did not link her tree to her DNA, so if ThruLines is reading for common names in the linked trees to show the connections, that may be why the connection isn't showing up.
Overall it's probably good for privacy if Ancestry doesn't link us to our DNA matches' unlinked trees. I wonder if my cousin's ThruLines is showing her great-grandmother as a potential ancestor due to my tree, which is linked.
I agree Thru Lines has really cleared up a lot of mystery names in my DNA match list.
I went thru and color coded my family groups in the matches I've identified, but it's a fidgety process and I'm not sure it's worth bothering with once they're in my tree. I like the tags that let me mark people as DNA matches though.
All the shiny new things distracted me from my actual research though LOL
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What I don't understand is the message "ThruLines suggests that you may not be related to any DNA matches through [name of person], I get when selecting a person that I know yields suggested DNA connections in other links. For instance when I click on my paternal grandmother I get the message about no related DNA matches, but when I choose to view the box that says "All DNA Matches" I get a good list of people I know I am connected to through that particular grandparent.
I'm assuming this maybe, in part, because ThruLines is still in Beta. One very helpful thing about this is finally being able to easily see how I might be connected to some complete stranger who shows up on my "All Matches" list. It is nice not having to shift through a bunch of individual trees in an effort to figure out how an ancestor familiar to me shows up in someone else's family list.
no subject
Overall it's probably good for privacy if Ancestry doesn't link us to our DNA matches' unlinked trees. I wonder if my cousin's ThruLines is showing her great-grandmother as a potential ancestor due to my tree, which is linked.
I agree Thru Lines has really cleared up a lot of mystery names in my DNA match list.
I went thru and color coded my family groups in the matches I've identified, but it's a fidgety process and I'm not sure it's worth bothering with once they're in my tree. I like the tags that let me mark people as DNA matches though.
All the shiny new things distracted me from my actual research though LOL