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I have several matches who have identical names -- think "John Smith" or "JS", or even blanks for kit names. When I download my segment list and then sort by Match Name, how do I know which segments belong to which John Smith?
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I think you are talking about the Chromosome Browser Results. You get this spreadsheet on the Chromosome Browser page, from the "Download All Segments" link. Maybe you could note the estimated relationships in your match list for the same named matches, then sort the Chromosome Browser list by name. Those with closer relationships should match you on longer segments, and probably more segments overall. But that is a lot of work and might not be worth it.
Instead you could select each John Smith individually from your match list and compare him one to one to yourself in the Chromosome Browser, and download the individual comparison on the resulting page. You could then note for each individual comparison some type of identifying feature, such as email address of the match, etc. in the file name or within the spreadsheet.
Just my thoughts. -
I think this download used to include kit numbers, so that there was no problem with duplicate names! I fail to see any reason why kit numbers should not be included in the download!Comment
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A random sampling of old downloads (from FT-DNA) did not reveal any with kit numbers. Because the kit number is the default UserName, I do not think FT-DNA will add them to the download, because they consider it a security issue. As I recall, they pushed GEDmatch to use a different ID for FT-DNA kits there. That said, I agree that some kind of unique identifier would be great! (at all the sites - I personally have the most trouble with this at MyHeritage for some reason - I have several "DNA Kit," a "Firstname Lastname," and more.Comment
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John McCoy As Teri R posted, FTDNA kit numbers are part of the log in, so it is for security reasons that they are not included. For the same reason, kit numbers should not be posted in the forum: https://forums.familytreedna.com/hel...es_v1/securityComment
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Exactly how it's a security issue is beyond me, but I go back so far with FTDNA that my old records of matches include kit numbers. Any genealogist will appreciate the need for unique identifiers, because so many of us have more than one John Smith in our databases. But the DNA testing vendors who didn't start out as genealogy web sites have always been weak in their genealogy features.Comment
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I think that those who try to get access to accounts also have programs to try many passwords, so having the "username" as the kit number is half the battle.
I had some match lists for relatives that were from 2013 at the earliest. They show some matches with match dates from 2011. Those old match lists did not show kit numbers, but maybe your match lists are older than that and they used to. I have also noticed that the match dates shown in the Family Finder match list now do not show the original dates anymore. The earliest matches show a match date of May 09 2021. So it seems when the match lists were regenerated, they lost the original match date. Unfortunately.Comment
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Having the kit number as the login name may have seemed practical back then, but nowadays it's more of a nuisance than anything else, esp. for those people who manage numerous kits. I'm fed up with having to log into each relative's account to check for new matches, then log out and have to log into the next one etc. A system based on a user name (e.g. email address) that manages multiple kits would be far superior (similar to MyHeritage). That way kit numbers would function as unique identifiers and help to distinguish matches with the same names.Originally posted by blanko View PostComment
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Why don't you create a DNA project for your set of kits? Request FTDNA create the XYZ Family project for you. When you sign in as admin you are able to see each kit.Originally posted by StefG View PostComment
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That's a great idea that many don't know about. FTDNA doesn't really advertise Family Finder or Private projects as they do for projects for Y-DNA, mtDNA, surnames and geographical regions, but they work as Jim Barrett said.Why don't you create a DNA project for your set of kits? Request FTDNA create the XYZ Family project for you. When you sign in as admin you are able to see each kit.
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