* Unwanted source information uploaded to Ancestry

[Gardengirl]

I have been working more in FH recently and wanted to update my tree on Ancestry. I have never uploaded this way via GEDCOM before, as I previously did my research in Ancestry then synced to FTM.

So I exported the GEDCOM from FH and used it to create a new tree in Ancestry which I wanted to make public. But when I started looking at it I have some sources that reveal the entire file path for the documents on my computer. I've obviously gone wrong somewhere. I have changed the tree to Private now until I can find out what I have done wrong and how to fix it.

This is what I am getting in some of the source boxes on Ancestry.

[tatewise]

I have moved this to the Importing and Exporting Forum that is more appropriate.

That is the Source record you chose to create when using File > Merge/Compare File... to merge a GEDCOM into your Project. It has an option near the end to create a Source for the new data.

If you locate that Source record you can edit it so that the details of file path are different/removed.
The Source only needs to remind you where the data that cites it came from.
If you no longer need to know that, then delete that Source record entirely.

It might also be possible to export to FTM and still sync with Ancestry.
See the FH -> RootsMagic -> Ancestry (Work-in-Progress) (18572) topic on interacting with Ancestry via RM.

BTW: Are you using File > Import/Export > Export > GEDCOM File in Ancestry mode or the Export Gedcom File plugin?

[Gardengirl]

Oh my! Thanks for the quick reply. I now feel completely out of my depth

I'll see if I can work slowly through your answer and try to make sense of it.

[Gardengirl]

If you locate that Source record you can edit it so that the details of file path are different/removed.

Do you mean locate it in Ancestry or in FH?

[tatewise]

In FH, open the Records Window and on Sources tab you will find that record among those starting with F.
Open it and edit its contents or delete it completely as necessary.

Do you understand where that Souce record came from and its purpose?

[Gardengirl]

OK, I found it in the sources tab and it says it is linked to 426 citations. The details look like this.

Do you understand where that Source record came from and its purpose?

No, I'm afraid I haven't got a clue. Sorry

[tatewise]

Well, that Source record tells the whole story...

On 10/08/2020 at 16:55 you used File > Mere/Compare File... to Combine FH and FTM trees.
That added 426 items of data that each have a Citation linking to this Source record.

Do you remember performing that merge of FH and FTM data?
We discussed it in the topic Merging two trees (18005) dated Mon 10th Aug 2020.

If you want to keep that historical record of where those 426 items came from then simply edit the Title to say something like File (merged) FTM database into experimental FH database and erase the file path that you don't want to publicise.

If you are not interested in keeping that historical record then simply delete the Source record, which also deletes all the 426 Citations automatically. i.e. In the Records Window, select that Source record and hit the Delete key.

[Gardengirl]

Thank you, that makes much more sense. I don't think there is any need to keep it really, is there?

Now the next bit....

It might also be possible to export to FTM and still sync with Ancestry.
See the FH -> RootsMagic -> Ancestry (Work-in-Progress) (18572) topic on interacting with Ancestry via RM.

BTW: Are you using File > Import/Export > Export > GEDCOM File in Ancestry mode or the Export Gedcom File plugin?

I gave up with FTM because I was struggling to sort out and understand the way the sources and citations worked (among other things) so I have no wish to use it as a 'middle man' for this purpose.

When I did the GEDCOM export I just used File > Import/Export > Export > GEDCOM File but don't remember seeing anything about using Ancestry mode. I left all the settings as they were offered because I don't like changing things that I don't understand. I didn't know there was an Export Plug in.

Would it be easier if I delete the tree that I have just made on Ancestry and try again, with the unwanted sources now deleted?

[Mark1834]

You may find the plugin at the end of the long thread Mike referred to useful. There is nothing to configure, and it will export a sanitised version of your database that you can import directly to Ancestry if you wish. All sources, media and living or private individuals are omitted automatically.

It depends on why you want to load to Ancestry and how much detail you want to include. You only need an intermediate program like FTM or RM if you want to keep your hint review history.

[tatewise]

Whether you want to keep that Source is not my decision to make. You must decide yourself.

The File > Import/Export > Export > GEDCOM File... command defaults to producing a GEDCOM with most FH features included, some of which are often not handled by other products such as Ancestry.
The Destination: has a Family Tree Maker option that should be similar to Ancestry, but it does little beyond deleting Place, Research Note & Source Template records.

The Export Gedcom File plugin has export modes for most popular products including Ancestry.

Yes, delete the Ancestry Family Tree you exported earlier and upload a new tree.

[Gardengirl]

Thank you for your patience in explaining it all, Mike. I will have a go at that process tomorrow when my brain is fresh!

Basically I just want it on Ancestry to pick up any hints and any researchers interested in the same families. So it does not need a huge amount of detail, just enough to look as if it has been properly researched and not just an accumulation of names plucked from other people's trees.

[tatewise]

That is the purpose of that other thread.
Once you have dealt with any hints on that first Ancestry tree, what are you going to do?

When you have added more people and source citations to your FH Project you may want to try Ancestry again.
But you cannot merge your FH exported GEDCOM into the Ancestry Family Tree.
You must delete the old tree and upload the new GEDCOM to a new Ancestry Family Tree.
Then that tree will accumulate all the same hints you got first time around, plus some new hints.
So you will have to search through them to find all the new ones.

That problem gets worse and worse as your FH Project grows and grows.

The other thread uses a feature of RootsMagic (RM) that allows GEDCOM to be merged in the same way as FH.
But RootsMagic can also sync with Ancestry just like FTM does.
So the idea is to export GEDCOM from FH to RM and merge them, then sync the result with the existing Ancestry tree.
That way only new hints get generated in Ancestry.

[Gardengirl]

OK, I’ll do some more reading before I do anything else but for those of us who don’t have a natural inclination to these things, it is a steep learning curve and sometimes very hard to understand.

I’ll keep trying though

[jimlad68]

I suspect this will not help with your hints but adding to syncing problems with Ancestry:

I have struggled to get my "textual" Fact and Source data to display in Ancestry for years and have given up.
Ancestry trees seem good for Ancestry items and your own images and now for their DNA thrulines. i.e. They want to tie you into their online product.
It takes many clicks to display fact and source textual data and even then it is badly formatted.
I can find no way to display ALL the information about an individual.

Although I irregularly upload/replace a Gedcom file to Ancestry trees for connections and DNA purposes I also update to Geneanet trees. I find it good for sharing with others; it provides things like an individual profile with ALL the details of an individual, various easy to browse trees, and because there are few bells and whistles is much faster. I suspect there are other sites like TNG that display better than Ancestry.