Correcting Mistakes in Your Own Family Tree | Ancestry

We all make mistakes - especially when we are brand new to family history. Join Crista Cowan as she shares some best practices for identifying and correcting common mistakes in your family tree. She'll also share a few bonus tips for correcting mistakes in the trees of others.
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Correcting Mistakes in Your Own Family Tree | Ancestry
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[@pennyjane59]

Hi Christa. Thanks so much for this recording. I didn’t know about the genealogical standards and have been doing my family tree for years! Some mistakes have crept into my Ancestry tree and I couldn’t understand why - I have started amending my tree using your format and this has made all the difference - I think I will have a lot of correcting to do - good thing I have just retired! Once again, many thanks.

[@christinelicker2014]

Thank you for this excellent, clear and useful presentation. I am especially pleased that you encourage messages which point out errors. For too long my attitude has been “ oh well, that person’s inaccuracies have nothing to do with my tree”. You helped me understand that errors tend to multiply when information anywhere is incorrect. Thanks.

[@CristaCowan]

I am so pleased that you found this useful.

[@AncestryUS]

We're glad you enjoyed this!

[@roxismith6122]

Christa, I just love you! Thanks for bringing up all these hints for correcting mistakes and in a non-judgemental way. These are so helpful!

[@donnasnyder3323]

Well, I’m certainly “late to the party!” I’ve just watched this video (my first on genealogy), and I see that you made it seven years ago! Haha! I do want to say that, late or not, I’m happy to have seen this particular one, since your kind manner and attention to detail are apparent here, and I will be following your tips and tutorials!

[@AncestryUS]

Hi Donna, thanks for stopping by. We are glad to see that you enjoyed the video, and are happy to hear that you are working on your family history.

[@coral53]

Thank you! Now I can begin correcting my entries (esp dates and addresses). Very useful.

[@conniwoods2375]

Sleepers of NH

[@priscillaware4749]

This is only one of several videos Crista has done on cleaning up you family tree. They are all excellent and there is something new in every one in addition to some repeated information. I have a lot of messes so I've listened and made notes to prepare for a major summer clean up project! Thank you, Crista, for all your wonderful videos.

[@stingrayofcincinnati]

I totally agree with you with the standards that you talk about at the beginning. REALLY frustrates me when others do not follow them.

[@cgreen4096]

I have just started doing my ancestry search and I didn't realize the importants of entering the information following the standards. Thank you for this information. I have alot of cleaning up to do.

[@ChristolJ]

Hey Crista, This is the most useful video I have seen so far. I am sharing it with our Campbell River Genealogy Society FB followers and everyone I know that does genealogy especially those using Ancestry and FTM. Also great for Newbies before they make the mistakes. Thanks for this

[@tuberlorose]

I was not aware of how easy it was to see comments, thanks for including that information on this video. By the way, you have helped me greatly in my travels along the genealogy road.

[@barbaralee9155]

Extremely helpful and informative. Confirmed a lot that I had discovered on my own but also gave me some good insights. Thank you!

[@caryefurd4994]

Barbara please contact me about my family tree album. Thank you. Car Efurd

[@joyceharris6134]

P

[@Rony2453]

Excellent video! I learned a lot and I have been doing this off and on for years. It also allows me to share it with people who do not obviously know the genealogy standards.

[@CarolShih-u9m]

Thanks Christa, I used to have family tree maker. No one has left me any comments but I comment to other people. My grandfather changed his name multiple times and in one census is a girl. Tried to explain to one woman he was Christian and not Christina but she was offended. Census errors, common.

[@evelynroob265]

LOVE your videos and all the information contained in them. I find something new in each one. One comment about the 'age' of some of the information contained in the videos .... cannot compare apples to apples when looking at the screens and where to find information in today's Ancestry files. Although this is a minor example, I've had to google "how to find a list of all people on ancestry tree" since it is now in the Tree Search. Also, I sent an email about the fact that one can no longer find ALL COMMENTS, but rather have to go into the individual's profile to find them. My suggestion, and maybe I just haven't found this yet, is to periodically have specific updates to individual videos and a link to where that video can be found. Perhaps the updates are all addressed in an yearly update video?? No matter what, I am finding a wealth of information to educate me on researching and keeping my tree in order. Thank you!

[@paulbaxter430]

Hi Christa, really great video with lots of useful and important info. I'm finding that lately I've been making an increased number of mistakes due to surnames - particularly two branches 1) Heil also spelt Heyl and 2) McDonald - in the region of Scotland it is interchangable with MacDonall and McDonell. The thing for me is that I need to slow it down a little and take the time to re-check all of my sources. Thanks heaps

[@jodisage6711]

Wonderful information! Never have been certain about date entry or the use of maiden names. And yes, I've made my share of family members from "India" not Indiana. Special thank you on addressing the issue of finding incorrect information in another tree and politely communicating it to the tree owner.

[@lilyswan]

Oh my gosh, this was so helpful--thank you!

[@DanaLKapp]

Thank you for all the wonderful tips on cleaning up my tree. I to have a lot of mistakes that I am still cleaning up from ages ago.

[@mikepenny5739]

Thanks for this lesson - Now I know I'm on the right track and have ideas to follow, namely comments which I have not checked or realised how to find in a methodic way.

[@AncestryUS]

Glad it was helpful!

[@perthuser75]

FYI. My tree is now public so any friendly comments about errors or extra add ons would be greatly appreciated. I started my tree in 2013 after finishing college & I am now addicted.

[@clarkefariel]

Clarke Fariel - I am so glad I found you on You Tube. Started our tree about 2007, now have 888 in our tree with a number of errors in relationships. My wife and I have seven children, some mine, sone hers both by previous marriages, some adopted, but all listed in tree as "our" children. To correct it, need to add a parent that is not in the tree so that the child should be a step child of one of the parents listed as "parent".. Also have two of my wife's children in the tree as parents of their spouse's children by previous marriage. Has become a nightmare to correct.

[@rebeccamariehall8126]

Thank you so much, this was really helpful!

[@darlenesye1609]

Great video Christa! At the 10:55 time point, I understand why you said "1880 to 1940" but some others may not understand. For those who don't understand it was beginning 1880 where relationships to the head of household began in the census. That brings to mind for me, questions about relationships 1870 and earlier where relationships are assumed. How are we getting past those assumptions? What is the GPS for proving those assumptions? Update: I have found the answer to my question. I'm now viewing the video "Genealogy Methodology: Who Are These People In This Census". Christa starts out with relationships being stated implied and inferred.

[@AncestryUS]

Hi Darlene and thanks for dropping by! We are so thrilled to hear that you find Crista's videos so helpful and informative. 😊

[@soolleigh4442]

So glad you mentioned you unattached a record. I've made some mistakes and would love to do that. How do you unattach a record? And when you do that, do the associated facts go away also.AND if you have attached a record more than one time, does it cause any duplication problems?

[@CristaCowan]

When you remove a record it does NOT also remove the associated facts. You will need to update the facts based on all of the records you have discovered. You can not attach an Ancestry record more than once to a single person in your tree.

[@MAMASTELLA3]

Crista, my Tree Overview page does not have a RECENT COMMENTS section. How can I add it?

[@torininabox]

I found a yearbook photo of my mom and the information is generally correct, the issue is she's the student to the right of the photo highlighted as her! How can I get this fixed?

[@BarbFFM]

great tips, but especially re/ maiden name or married name: Ancestry loves to add married names from records because they are not transcribed correctly. Especially the German ones. Transcription quality of some batches is awful

[@perthuser75]

Thanks for this great video. Using the all name index I was able to find mistakes easily & learn which people I needed to merge or delete. This is going to be so much better when my copy of Family Tree Maker arrives. I would also like to suggest that you make the download available to those living outside the United States as I couldn't type in my details unless I had a United States address.

[@andieduclos]

Crista Cowan who lived in Forest Grove in 1986? Thanks for the great videos helping with Ancestry and FTM!

[@elbonian663]

One genealogy standard I wish more people would follow: stop putting things into the name fields that are not the name. Examples: John M Smith DNA Match!!; Lord John Smith 3rd Earl of Mannix. Also, I know many people like to do the All-Caps last names (John SMITH); however, I've found that all-caps can make searching more difficult.

[@AncestryUS]

All caps surnames is an old printing/publishing standard that many have a hard time giving up. As for information other than names, as long as it is in the suffix field, it will not affect searching, hinting, or any of the automated matching features on Ancestry.

[@trcrispychrissmith3889]

There’s this one dude in my tree, her dad was born in 1643. It says for his parents 1943.

[@cherylh5125]

Hi Christa, I have learned a lot about my family, people I did not know they are related to me. I found 2 Aunts and cousins .

[@AncestryUS]

That's so interesting, Cheryl! We hope it has been an enjoyable experience for you to make these discoveries bout your family, we know it can sometimes be a little overwhelming too. We hope you'll continue to enjoy learning more in time. Have a lovely day! 😊

[@bearpawz_]

Another informative, excellent video! ~♥~ Thank you!

[@godisloveireland]

great video crista. new things for me to take into consideration.

[@rosiebolles5882]

Just started using Ancestry and making my tree thank you for your video. Can you let me know the name of the family tree maker you mentioned using. Maybe a link to it please. Also I'm not finding not finding how to locate the commit section you mentioned. Seems like my Ancestry page is a little different then mine. Thank you for you time!

[@nancystanford8958]

I find that adding having only a blank or underscores for a surname when a woman's birth name is unknown is not very helpful. It doesn't tell me WHICH Ann or Mary (or whatever her name) it is. How do you keep track of that? I have been adding an "8" to the beginning of husband's surname just for this purpose. (Ancestry did not let me put surname in parentheses or brackets.) All the "8"s sort to the top of the index of all names so I know who I need more info for. And gives me a hint as to which family they married into. Thanks for your informative videos.

[@church.farm.plants2607]

My Great - Grandfather Gilbert Strand was born in Oppland fylke Norway. The name of his farm he grew up on was Strandeeiet. I would like some help on finding out his Norwegian Army records. Thanks Cody

[@somewhereupthere785]

My families names started to change when they moved from Quebec to Ontario. Louis became Lewis.

[@kaydonahue]

My records I spent years getting right, are suddenly, not there, and scrambled. It is so frustrating. How does that happen? Is my account being hacked?

[@mikedow01]

Christa mentioned a "dialogue box Not a Match" button that I cannot find. Working back to Colonial America, I am finding that the dialogue boxes will have hyperlinks, but the links do not show up in the tree. Occasionally, Ancestry will suggest that a husband and wife or daughter and mother are transposed. How can I make those corrections? (BYW, I love the videos!)

[@cefcat5733]

Valid comments would be great. Passionate searching after hours could lead to mistakes made out of having weary eyes. I am not yet a member and wonder from where the obvious errors and repeat entries come. As I knew the people concerned in these files, it is apparent that searchers are young or can't read the oldstyle writing on the documents. So people enter guesses?

[@talkalotakaka]

WoW ! My GMA is a Cowan ... Hmm ... 🌊🔥🔥🌊

[@Berniegraph]

I cannot see a heading for Comments on my tree. I realise this is an old video - is this feature no longer available?

[@Kathy_Wray88]

Thank you for all your information. ☺

[@kandiskennedy7934]

Thank you so much for this

[@cassandramcknight2416]

I never saw that description box before.

[@michaelcallahan3777]

How do you feel about putting all married names for women as alternates? I do this because I have learned I can get hits I would not get otherwise. For example I knew a woman named Ford had married my Great Grandfather, but could never find a marriage record. Well, I found her once I figured out she had married before and Ford was not a maiden name. Once I discovered this, I was able to get her "records" back to birth.

[@AncestryUS]

I only list women by their maiden names. If they have another spouse, like in your example, I would enter that spouse. That would pull the hints correctly. If I don't know that spouse's first name I would enter him as _____ Ford, for example. (That's five underscores for an unknown name.)

[@dreamawhatley9609]

So, I'm curious: I'm twice related to my step grandmother. Her dad and my great grandmother were siblings and then her mother and my great grandfather were siblings making them double second cousins. Then my grandmother married my grandfather and had a child with him, then he divorced my grandmother and married my step grandmother (double second cousin to my grandfather) and had several children with him. Now, when I try to add her children into the tree under my grandfather what has happened is I wind up with two sets of entries for my great aunt, and on up. . . How can I fix that? If I remove it, it removes the parent relationship to my step grandmother and her children.

[@AncestryUS]

Hi Dreama! We're sorry to hear that you're having issues with relationships and duplicate people in your tree, but we'd be happy to help. We have two articles we think that you would benefit from reading. The first is relating to duplicates in your tree caused by intra-familial marriages, which you can find here: support.ancestry.co.uk/s/article/Duplicates-Caused-by-Intra-Familial-Marriages And the second is about how to avoid creating duplicate people in your tree, which you can find here: support.ancestry.co.uk/s/article/How-to-Avoid-Creating-Duplicate-People-in-a-Tree We hope this information helps, and that you have some very happy holidays!

[@cassandramcknight2416]

On your videos the yellow highlighted cursor area is not always recognizable with a white or green background. Please use powder blue or something that may stand out more. Cause otherwise I am unable to see where you are clicking & such. Thank you.

[@CristaCowan]

Thanks for the feedback, Cassandra. This particular video is about 8 years old. I've updated the presentation technology quite a bit since then. Hopefully the newer videos are easier to follow along. And, some of these older videos will be replaced by newer ones soon.

[@LairdGarrard]

Hi, Am using ancestry software - I've mistakenly missed a generation. Is there anyway to insert the missing generation without losing the subsequent content. Thanks in advance

[@rosejones407]

How do I correct this mistake? : My grandma was 15 when she had my Uncle and 18 when she had my mom. In the 1940 census my great-grandma listed Gma children (my mom & uncle) as her children. So that makes my gma children her sister and brother. It also makes them my great aunt & uncle. What can I do?

[@dlaity107]

Looks like they've changed the layout a bit since. Anyone know where to look for comments as at now (Nov 2015) please?

[@GeminiDayDreams]

I would like to know this as well.

[@elissshapingup]

Can anyone answer this? I can only find where you can view comments on each individual person in my tree instead a list of all comments in my entire tree.

[@pilgrimbc]

I would like to know this as well.

[@jeanneh1247]

In case you are still looking, the link is "View Comments". It is below the photo block. You can view or add/edit both comments and notes from there.

[@macpduff2119]

Yes, my mother is listed as daughter to my step great grandfather - which overrides when I try to enter my grandfather

[@AncestryUS]

Go to your mother's profile in your family tree. Click on EDIT | Edit Relationship. Who is listed as her father? If it is not her father, click the X next to the name of the person listed. That will remove the relationship (not delete the person out of the tree). Then ADD her correct father.

[@cassandramcknight2416]

As I change the errors in my tree will the "Thrulines" change although I attached the error'd Thrulines relatives on my tree?

[@CristaCowan]

Yes. ThruLines are regenerated within 24-48 hours after a material change is made in your tree.

[@pickle1200]

Hi there I know I might be 5 years too late, lol but are the comments still connected to our online trees? I've searched around trying to find on Ancestry and can't find them! Thanks for your vids, I love them so helpful.

[@CristaCowan]

Yes. Comments are still available in trees on Ancestry. When you are viewing a person in your tree, click on TOOLS and you will see the option to VIEW COMMENTS.

[@pickle1200]

@@CristaCowan thanks for taking your time to answer!

[@dbmgna3951]

Will Ancestry have a better user interface for de-duping any time soon?

[@AncestryUS]

Hi Deborah. When you on the profile page of a person in your tree, merging duplicates is as simple as clicking on TOOLS | Merge Duplicate.

[@dbmgna3951]

Ancestry I have been doing this. One tree has 14k records and dependence on visual/manual discovery (I use the list feature) is imperfect and reactive to the extreme. Other platforms proactively present potential duplicates to work.

[@Raineycolt]

correct date on family search is two digit day full name 4 digit yeat 19 May 2003 for example

[@debbieadkins2200]

Great Video Crista, thank you for all that you do. I started doing family research in 2001 and have been doing it on and off since (mostly on lol) I have alot of newbie mistake and just not paying attention to the automotive attaching records to my tree. I have been correcting and deleting the mistakes this past year. I have been merging duplicates and such, but my question is: Can I print the "Find Duplicate People" report? Please forgive me if this question has already been asked.

[@AncestryUS]

Unfortunately you can not print out the list of duplicate people. You can print out an index list of all the people in your tree and then work through the duplicates that way. Hope that makes sense. (Crista)

[@debbieadkins2200]

Thank you for the idea and for replying back, I really appreciate it.

[@karenhoskins9126]

How do I change the color of a filter group?

[@Sisu_Kara]

i decided to add any blood relatives and a match had the same last name as a grandmother, he told me his near family tree and i let him see my tree as it i made sure i had slreadt looked up th stuff he told me about, i will have to let him know his surname goes up 2 generations as both were finnish immigrants and the husband did not like to sound as a runnian name

[@cassandramcknight2416]

Sometimes it's one husband as spouse. Then later there are two wives with the same husband or vice versa. Or often times there are step parents with no mother and/or father bio.

[@judyfesnock5325]

How do I delete duplicate facts when there is no edit? You can’t click on it. I don’t know why there are two.

[@susanharris3224]

Hi Krista! Me again, same type of question: what about in-American standards? E.g. in Québec, the spelling is different fév for your Feb; B for Blanc ( white) on census or R for First Nations ( Red... I know...) etc. What are the standards for national differences? Is English the default on Ancestry? Tks! Love your présentations!

[@susanharris3224]

Meant un- American, as in foreign...

[@jeremywhite7654]

Are Comments still a thing on Ancestry? Can't see any on my public tree's Tree Overview page. I've done enough colaborative genealogy that I'd expect there to be some comments.

[@danidonatacci8265]

You are such a great presenter!

[@cassandramcknight2416]

"List of all people" view: is it still there 2022? Is this an appropriate area to delete a person or people from your tree?

[@CristaCowan]

The list of all people is still there - it is found under the tree search button when you are viewing your tree. I wouldn't delete people from there as only deletes the one person and can cause their relatives to become "floaters" in the tree. If you need to delete, do it from the person profile view so that you can see exactly which spouses, children, and parents you have attached to them.

[@mamont5943]

How does one correct the mispelled family name in the main tree?

[@AncestryUS]

Hi Mamont! Thank you for reaching out to us with your question. We have an article that will walk you through the process of correcting a record and we have linked it below. support.ancestry.com/s/article/Correcting-a-Record

[@marthaforsyth5240]

I have devised a different system for dealing with unknown first or maiden (or last) names, and it seems to work: I list the person as, say, "Anna (w of John) Smith". This allows them to come up close to each other when I list people alphabetically, and it really helps me a lot to do this. Is there something really wrong about this, that I haven't discovered yet? Sometimes it finds me, say, a death record for the person (in this case her death record would probably be for "Anna Smith", not "Anna [whatever her maiden name was]"

[@lylabl]

Good info!

[@MelissaGemini]

Have you ever deleted 1 person off of your tree and it wipes out a part of it? If you have did you ever fix it and get the information back or did you need to type it all back in?

[@AncestryUS]

When you delete a person off of your tree, it does not delete everyone connected to that person. It just disconnects them. They are still there. So, you just need to reconnect them. You can do this through the profile page and then click EDIT | Edit Relationships. Then reconnect the appropriate father, mother, spouse, or child that is already in your tree. Hope that makes sense.

[@richardcrosby6682]

Somehow my 4th great-grandmother is listed as my 4th great-grandfather's wife on her profile with no relationship to me even though everything else is correct. How do I get it to display her as my 4th great-grandmother?

[@roberthopgood1894]

Why do some genealogy sites NOT use that date standard? Is there somewhere to find the genealogy standards?? location names - how to enter the name when it has changed - ie British Colonial America vs USA What is the benefit for leaving the maiden name blank when it is not known? I find using the married name lets me know about where this woman fits in the tree

[@virginiamateleska9494]

Hi Mary Pat happy to hal

[@roberthopgood1894]

@@virginiamateleska9494 hal???

[@cassandramcknight2416]

Sometimes the original form has "colored", but the other Ancestry match (stuff) has "white". It's confusing unless I take the time to look at the original form. How can I report this to Ancestry?

[@CristaCowan]

If the race has been indexed wrong, you can click on the "add or update information" link on the record page to provide a correction.

[@grahamgathercole1806]

Hi Can you please tell me how I can delete a person entered in error in my tree

[@CristaCowan]

If you are on a web browser, you can go to the PROFILE page of the person in your tree and click EDIT | Delete Person.

[@rosejones407]

I also have family that has private trees. What benefit is it to have a private tree?

[@JT1358]

It stops people just copying all your hard work, but in the same way saves mistakes being perpetuated.

[@nickmiller76]

It means they get to take advantage of all the stuff you've done and put in your public tree, without them having to give anything back in return. Some people are like that I'm afraid. I generally have as little to do with them as possible.

[@luddeneperry5563]

How do you correct for accidentally skipping a generation after you typed in 100s of ancestors past that generation?

[@organisedann884]

I've discovered iv entered a father and grand father but they really should be grand father and great grandfather (joy of 4 generations of passing on the family first name!) how do i move them up the tree and add in the missing people?

[@AncestryUS]

Go into the profile for the man you have entered as "father." Go to EDIT | Edit Relationships. Click the X next to his children (that really should be his grandchildren, right?). That does not delete them from the tree it just removes his relationship to them as their father. Then, add his correct son (who is the father of the children). Then go into the new "father" (that son you just entered) and go to EDIT | Edit Relationships. Click Add Child and use the search box that comes up to find the person in your tree that is his child and click Save.

[@shellisherwood]

the layout has changed, maybe a new video is in order..thanks for all you do

[@stingrayofcincinnati]

Hello Christa, I have a weird question about women's maiden name. You said that you enter in 5 underscores. Wouldn't the system think that was the name?

[@AncestryUS]

Nope. Our search/hint system do not use an underscore as a recognizable character and it gives me a nice blank line on reports and in my index list so that I can visually see that I am missing information. (Crista)

[@TheAmarilita]

nice video. However, I would like to ask you for help. I am doing my family tree with ancestry as well and from my husband side, it is a lot! of duplication of information because they tended to marry between cousins and also they put the same name to their children. How can I go to my tree and eliminate a repeated ancestor or clean the lines between them...? example: married between a father and the sister in law... thank you so much for your help... is not easy here.. my tree has more than 552 people already!!!

[@AncestryUS]

If you have duplicates in your tree, you can merge them. On a person profile under the TOOLS menu, you can find a MERGE with duplicates option. This should help with the cleanup. Hope that helps! (Crista)

[@hannannah1uk]

I have accidentally added duplicate facts for example births and can't delete the dupes because no edit buttons appear when i hover over. What to do, please?

[@AncestryUS]

Hi, hannannah1uk. Thanks for getting in touch. We're sorry to hear of your frustrating experience. We can understand that you need to remove some 'Facts.' We're happy to help. We have an article with instructions to remove unwanted Facts. In this article you'll see a sub-heading, "Removing a fact or event." Please try the steps in this article and let us know if you still need help. support.ancestry.com/s/article/Managing-Facts-and-Events

[@cassandramcknight2416]

I never noticed the "not a match" area.

[@jenmoorhead5692]

I'm in the free trial . I a deleted a duplicate person and half my tree is done . when I go to view the list of people it's showing 50. How do I get that other part of the tree back ?

[@AncestryUS]

They are still in the tree they just became disconnected when you deleted the individual. (For future reference, rather than deleting a duplicate individual go to the TOOLS menu on the person profile page and MERGE DUPLICATE. Then you won't lose anything.) To reconnect individuals in your tree, follow these instructions: support.ancestry.com/s/article/ka215000000TxhZAAS/restoring-missing-people

[@cynjinmissouri8958]

You're wrong about people changing your information. Some of my stuff kept changing and I knew I had not done it so my cousin and I did an experiment and we went into each other's trees and it let us change each other's information. Because of that I have had to keep my tree private. If Mark private they can't change it but then they also can't see it unless you invite them. I have told ancestry about this but I think it fell on deaf ears. They don't believe me.

[@joangass2874]

how do i move a person from one of my trees over to another one of my trees

[@macpduff2119]

Your page looks different than mine. My Tree page stops after recent videos. There is no Comments. Was I given a cheaper stripped down version because I'm waiting for my DNA results? My Ancestry site doesn't have the communication options you show

[@AncestryUS]

There is only one version of the Ancestry Family Tree building on our site. This video is about 4 years old and there have been some changes since it was made. However, COMMENTS can still be found on the profile page of any person on your tree by clicking on TOOLS | View Comments.

[@gwmoore4]

When I first started I saw LNU a lot not knowing it meant Last Name Unknown

[@Rony2453]

also, why do the hints sometimes show sources that I have already added to the person?

[@brownboysjourney4032]

Veronica Vale it dont

[@Rspenesmit]

Hi Crista a couple of simple questions, I see where you say do the date, DD/MMM/YYYY My question is, on Day, if it's a single digit 1 through 9, do you place a Zero in front of it, to stay with the standard of 2 digits, example: 09 or just 9. Also does it make any difference if the month is in Caps APR or Apr with just the 1st one capitalized, does it matter, or is either or, considered a standard, Thanks for all your videos, they are so helpful.

[@Rspenesmit]

Sorry for the 2 simple questions Krista, but I like to stick to a certain standard if it exists on those 2 things, so if it does matter or make a difference which way to do the dates and Months in caps or not, I will stick to that standard or answer you give me, it will take time to correct my tree, but I Like to do that way, just need to know which is the way to go, thanks again,

[@AncestryUS]

I do not add the leading zeros on single digit dates. And, the Ancestry system removes them if you use the drop-down when standardizing your dates. Similarly with the months - I only capitalize the first letter and that is what Ancestry does in the new standardization of date fields as well. Hope that makes sense! (Crista)

[@Rspenesmit]

Ok, thanks a lot I appreciate it!, I'm sure as my Wife and I continue with our trees, I will have more questions,and it really helps to have someone experienced like you to refer them to for the answers. take care.

[@AncestryUS]

Hi Graham. We're happy to help. We have many great resources to help with your research. Go to our Support Center online for more support. support.ancestry.com.au/s/article/Adding-Editing-and-Deleting-People-in-the-Ancestry-App

[@TrainerLori]

Christa! Is is better to list a named place based on then or now? I.e. Massachusetts bay colony.

[@AncestryUS]

That is entirely up to you. However you choose to do it, just be consistent. Personally, I use the current place name in the location field so that I can standardize locations across my tree and take advantage of current mapping software. Then I add the historical location in my descriptions and notes so I know the different places I need to look for records. Hope that helps! (Crista)

[@TrainerLori]

Great idea! Thanks so much. Love your videos!

[@cassandramcknight2416]

Where would I see comments from others other than my Ancestry email?

[@CristaCowan]

You will see them on the people and/or photos in your tree.

[@strike4n]

How do I change a parent? I added the wrong person as a parent to my cousin....I have no idea how to correct it...

[@AncestryUS]

Hi Luis, Go into your cousin's profile on your Ancestry family tree and click on EDIT | Edit Relationships. Then, click the X next to the wrong parent. (Note: This does not delete that person from the tree. It just removes the relationship between the two people.) Then you can add the correct parent. Hope that helps!

[@janedoe1229]

How to unmerge aerge of two people with same name

[@sandyd-h9563]

When was the Comment section removed? That would be handy to have today

[@AncestryUS]

Hi there Sandy! It is still possible to add comments to family trees as well as records. We'll include an article from our support site below that we hope can help a little. Thank you so much for stopping by so we could provide this! Link: support.ancestry.com/s/article/Notes-and-Comments-in-Trees

[@MrSquareart]

good video!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@bdickey836]

Thanks cuz :)

[@lesleyrobinson2788]

So you can get at census data from the 1930's? In Canada the latest census we can access is 1916. :-(

[@jamesdarnell8568]

Lesley: 72 years in the United States. First census was 1790. The census for 1940 became available in 2012 and 1950 will become available in 2022.

[@camikucera8097]

Now it is 1921. Yes, a agree with your :-(

[@organicsab]

I accidently added a child relative as a spouse and I don't know how to undo that without deleting his whole profile. This is because my 33rd great grandfather had lots of wives and concubines and lots of children and I got confused lol

[@LawdyMizClaudy]

I still have the old version on my MacBook but made a big mistake yesterday by updating on my iPad. Some things that were great improvements in the last 2 years have literally disappeared.,namely, viewing partial notes on the Match list, and being able to see pre-Timber segments lengths. Both were touted at the time as a response to user requests. Guess they're no longer listening...