{"id":9436,"date":"2019-11-11T18:02:54","date_gmt":"2019-11-11T18:02:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rootdig.genealogytipoftheday.com\/?p=9436"},"modified":"2019-11-11T18:06:19","modified_gmt":"2019-11-11T18:06:19","slug":"those-dots-at-ancestrydna","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rootdig.genealogytipoftheday.com\/?p=9436","title":{"rendered":"Those “Dots” at AncestryDNA"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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I’ve used the dots to help with some visual sorting of my DNA matches at AncestryDNA. Various shades of yellow\/red\/orange were used to “tag” shared matches I had with matches who were known descendants of John Neill of Drumachose Parish, County Derry, Ireland. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A match having more dots does not mean that match is more related to me. I started working the unknown matches who had the largest number of dots, hoping they would be easier to figure out. That was not always the case. What was helpful was keeping a master list of the names that had at least one dot (what AncestryDNA calls “groups”) handy. Those names that are in a group can easily be seen for a specific group by using the drop down menus in my AncestryDNA test results matches page. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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While some of the user names (omitted in the illustration) are somewhat cryptic, enough of them (at least in my experience) are real names or relatively close enough to the real name, that having a list is handy when performing searches of databases, websites, etc. in an attempt to determine the identity of ancestry of a match. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

My plan with using the dots was to temporarily assign them to matches of a known match in an attempt to determine other matches. I “star” matches that have been determined so that I can easily see who has been determined. My notes for a determined match always begin with “Descendant of.” That phrase usually shows up where the notes are partially displayed. Both things help me to quickly know if a match has been determined. It may be redundant, but since one never knows how AncestryDNA might change the interface in the future, I’ve decided not to change how I use the stars and the notes as I like to be able to quickly see what’s been figured out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When I made dots on my Neill descendants who had done DNA testing at AncestryDNA, I did not make groups for all the shared matches of known Neill descendants. I only focused on certain branches of the family:<\/p>\n\n\n\n