AncestryDNA

[Jomid59]

There are no freebies with Ancestry.com.

Exactly why I stopped using "it" many years ago. They even charge (their credit system) to look at UK birth certificate index entries, which are in fact free.

[tomcat]

Exactly why I stopped using "it" many years ago ...

I recently emailed them to see if they would update my contact info associated with the DNA records, because an Ancestry Y match had to web search me to get a phone number. It would be a benefit to any of their other subscribers who may wish to contact me but I'll bet they'll want a sub.

[1_mke]

Subscribers see both the ad for the new autosomal test and the link to Y and mtDNA results under the DNA tab.

I understand that they aren't cheap and that some of the data is available elsewhere for free but so far I've been more than happy with the value I've received from Ancestry.com. They are the big fish in the pond and charge accordingly.

Also, compared to what I've spent on DNA testing Ancestry.com is a pittance.

[JamesBianco]

Have any of you heard back from them? There was a link to click that you were interested and they promised a message in your mailbox (eventually) inviting you to take the test... I haven't heard back from them yet...

As a very experienced genealogist (25+ years of continual work in the field, with a passion I might add that has never lapsed) Ancestry is working incredibly hard of late to get tens of thousands of original source materials online and I applaud their efforts. They are working as fast as The LDS to get this stuff up and indexed quickly. Granted the LDS site is free, but Ancestry is gaining access to primary source materials I never thought in a thousand years I would see in scanned image format. I gladly pay my $29 a month World membership, if anyone argues that it is not an amazing value, well they obviously have not explored just what is up and searchable.

Hats off to Ancestry, 5 or 10 years ago I would have never said that... but now I just have to.

[JamesBianco]

Exactly why I stopped using "it" many years ago. They even charge (their credit system) to look at UK birth certificate index entries, which are in fact free.

You are missing out on more than you know, trust me. They are NOT the same money hungry rip off they were 10 years ago. They are uploading images of original English Parish registers (not indexes) on a weekly basis, along with probates, tax lists, cemetery registers and a plethora of incredibly valuable documents for the UK. I never saw this coming, part of me is still in shock!

[teyoung]

Free Access To Ancestry DNA

I have 48 marker combined SMGF & FTDNA composite (presumed ancestral) results from my surname project attached to a free account at Ancestry. No charge for access.

I used to have several free accounts, one for each project member, but deleted all but the 1. Too difficult to keep maintain and they were all pretty much the same anyway.

The link to manually add results to the Ancestry database has gone missing with the roll out of the autosomal test, although it may be a browser issue. None of it works very well with OSX Firefox 12.

I do not think SMGF autosomal results (if they even exist) can be imported into the new database. I am pretty sure SMGF was planning on using 15 STR autosomal markers.

[teyoung]

I am pretty sure SMGF was planning on using 15 STR autosomal markers.

Ok, so my old man memory is not so good. Google tells me that SMGF was initially planning on testing 300 autosomal STRs. There are published papers by Scott Woodward that use 68-70, so that is apparently as far as they got.

[Kountz]

For those trying to find how to enter your results manually at Ancestry try the following links:

mtdna results:
link removed

ydna results
link removed


I entered my ydna some time ago, so I don't know if the function still works, and I don't have any mtdna results yet, so I can't check to see if the other one works. All the same, those are the links that were up previously for manual entry.

[EdwardRHill]

Stop hating Ancestry its a great tool for research and when I have had any problems they have always been helpful. Within the last three months other public tree have help me break down three brick walls that I have been dealing with for over 15 years. This new DNA test is in the beginnings and all the bugs have not been worked out. Some of you will say that they have by other companies like FTDNA and 23andme but if you have new ideas you have to work out some of the bugs. They allow Y and mt transfers for free why would they not allow this new test to be transferred after things are figured out. If FTDNA and 23andme can't keep up someone will come along like all these other companies and buy them out their data base are gold mines to someone I'm sure, not that I think they are going anywhere anytime soon.

[1_mke]

The free Y and mtDNA links on Ancestry.com worked as of a few weeks ago though they are a bit of a pain to find. I will not post links here of course as that would be a violation of the terms of use. If you are moderately persistent they are findable.

[Zaru]

Ancestry has been invaluable.

I cannot say this enough. Their scanned records (primary sources) have saved me thousands of dollars in travel expenses alone. With this latest diversification, they are putting themselves in the position to become an all stop shop and research center. They already have brand recognition, so if I were other companies I would consider some strategies to deal with this.

I have been a paying customer for years at Ancestry so perhaps one has to have a membership in order to upload YDNA results. I never stated that it was free, but only that you did not have to purchase a dna test kit in order to upload and access. This may have recently changed since they are obtaining and developing new revenue centers.

[Yaffa]

I cannot say this enough. Their scanned records (primary sources) have saved me thousands of dollars in travel expenses alone. With this latest diversification, they are putting themselves in the position to become an all stop shop and research center. They already have brand recognition, so if I were other companies I would consider some strategies to deal with this.

I have been a paying customer for years at Ancestry so perhaps one has to have a membership in order to upload YDNA results. I never stated that it was free, but only that you did not have to purchase a dna test kit in order to upload and access. This may have recently changed since they are obtaining and developing new revenue centers.

Try familysearch.org -- They are loading new actual court records all the time for "FREE" download. Ancestry only has transcriptions of many records and does not have many of the records familysearch.org has . Ancestry only has transcriptions and charges money for this. Most of my actual records I found on familysearch.org not ancestry. I still need court records not found on either web but using familysearch.org has cut down the actual records needed.

https://familysearch.org/ Page down to browse locations and the location you are looking for.

[Yaffa]

duplicated post

[Yaffa]

Other good resources not on ancestry.com

If you are looking for actual military records, you can either get them from the NARA or get a Fold3 account http://www.fold3.com/

If you are looking for old newspaper articles in general, including obits, marriage announcements, ect. try Genealogybank http://www.genealogybank.com/gbnk/

[Zaru]

Try familysearch.org -- They are loading new actual court records all the time for "FREE" download. Ancestry only has transcriptions of many records and does not have many of the records familysearch.org has . Ancestry only has transcriptions and charges money for this. Most of my actual records I found on familysearch.org not ancestry. I still need court records not found on either web but using familysearch.org has cut down the actual records needed.

https://familysearch.org/ Page down to browse locations and the location you are looking for.

ALL primary source records that I have found on Ancestry, are the actual records of 16th and 17th century baptismal registries. In terms of census reports, they do have the same as Ancestry, free of charge. As of yet, I have not seen these registries on Family Search.