using paternal, maternal, both tabs

[TJinBC]

I'm having trouble understanding how I use and manually set links in myFamily Tree, so that the paternal, maternal, and both tabs are used.

At first I thought that all "links" that I made would automatically be allocated to one of the tabs. For instance, I would have thought all my male x-matches would be designated "maternal" (because I am also male). Or my full-siblings would be determined to be "both" (but instead they are allocated to "maternal")
But, it appears that this is not the case (and in fact the automatic allocation seems problematic). So, I had hoped to do this manually.

I've read and reread the info in the Learning Center... particularly: https://www.familytreedna.com/learn/...matching-tool/ But, no "linking buttons" are displayed in myFamily Tree -- so there is no way for me to manually set the tab allocation.

Is the information in the learning center no longer valid? Why don't I see the linking buttons? Is there a way to manually select paternal, maternal or both settings?

[John McCoy]

As I understand it, the "maternal", "paternal", and "both" tabs are populated only when (1) you have added your family tree to your Family Finder profile, (2) you have linked at least one close relative who is one of your matches to that tree (and I don't recall exactly how this was done, and besides, the process has probably changed since I did it!), and (3) one or more of your "other" matches also matches one of your linked close relatives. To end up with a "both" tab, such a match will have to match with one of your close relatives from BOTH sides of your family.

Among my father's Family Finder results, there are only "maternal" matches identified, because he has only one relative closely enough related to be linked to his family tree and used by Family Finder's algorithms. Even though there are some known paternal relatives among his other matches, they are too distant to be used by the algorithms, and so he has no matches under the "paternal" or "both" tabs.

[dna]

Is the FTDNA algorithm visibly better than doing In Common With ?

I can see that surely it could be more convenient.

Mr. W.

[prairielad]

Maternal and paternal tabs use your DNA. It phases your actual raw Data into maternal and paternal values based on which side of tree (myFamilytree) match is linked to.

Once you have linked a maternal or paternal relative to tree, it then looks at that section of DNA you share with said relative. Any of your matches that share that same segment as well as matching the segments phased values in Raw Data are then placed in the appropriate tab.

Siblings are not used due to sharing both maternal and paternal values with each other. Can not say which is which without 3rd reference. Can not phase data into its maternal and paternal values

Siblings will only be placed in both if they both share a linked maternal and paternal match

Maternal and paternal tab matching also only uses segments that are 9cM or Greater.

Note: Not all X matches are true, FTDNA declares anyone on your matchlist to be an X match if they share a matching segment of 1cM/500SNPs or greater. Most segments under 7cM have a high chance of being false positive. X DNA is not used in Maternal and Paternal tab matching

[TJinBC]

Among my father's Family Finder results, there are only "maternal" matches identified, because he has only one relative closely enough related to be linked to his family tree and used by Family Finder's algorithms. Even though there are some known paternal relatives among his other matches, they are too distant to be used by the algorithms, and so he has no matches under the "paternal" or "both" tabs.

John, my results are similar to yours. I only have maternal matches. It appears that 4th cousins are not used in their algorithm. So I guess there's no benefit in adding distant relatives to myFamily Tree.

[TJinBC]

Siblings are not used due to sharing both maternal and paternal values with each other. Can not say which is which without 3rd reference. Can not phase data into its maternal and paternal values

Note: Not all X matches are true, FTDNA declares anyone on your matchlist to be an X match if they share a matching segment of 1cM/500SNPs or greater. Most segments under 7cM have a high chance of being false positive. X DNA is not used in Maternal and Paternal tab matching

It's unfortunate that siblings aren't used, because it's proven that multiple siblings can be used to establish DNA of the four grandparents (I'm in the process of doing this because I have no parents to test). And the addition of close cousins, in combination with multiple siblings only strengthens the validity of this process. (see info on Lazarus -- at GEDmatch).

And as for x matches, I agree that there are high chances for false positives with segments under 7cm. But why not use an algorithm for donors that have a single atDNA segment of greater than 20 cM, for example?

[prairielad]

It's unfortunate that siblings aren't used, because it's proven that multiple siblings can be used to establish DNA of the four grandparents (I'm in the process of doing this because I have no parents to test). And the addition of close cousins, in combination with multiple siblings only strengthens the validity of this process. (see info on Lazarus -- at GEDmatch).

Yes I have done that, created my Grandparent files from 15 family members tests. (Not Lazarus, but manually)
But in respects to siblings, without 3rd reference DNA can not be identified as maternal or paternal, only sections that match 3rd reference can be.

[TJinBC]

Yes I have done that, created my Grandparent files from 15 family members tests. (Not Lazarus, but manually)

I've wondered how Lazarus compares to doing it manually (for instance if you used 4 siblings). I'm surprised the manual process hasn't been automated yet -- I'd like to think that Lazarus will do this for me.

[KATM]

FTDNA, on the Family Finder - Family Matching System page, makes a couple of references to future improvements to the matching. They advise linking all tested relatives, as they may be used in further upgrades.

Also, TJinBC is correct about 4th cousins not being used. From the above link,

The Family Matching tool is not limited to Parents and uses anyone currently linked to your tree between Parent to 3rd cousin.

A more descriptive list of relatives who can be used currently is described in a 2016 post from Roberta Estes' blog, "Additional Relatives Added to Phased Family Matches at Family Tree DNA." I believe the list there is still accurate.

[Trev]

What about half-siblings? Would they be filtered into maternal tab? I have an unknown father. My mother is dead but I have a maternal half-sister. Would the system show only my maternal matches with my half-sister. I'm trying to find relatives on my paternal side. I have already taken a YDNA test thinking it would help but matches at all on it.

[KATM]

Yes, your half-sister would help to show maternal matches. According to the blog post by Roberta Estes shown in my post above, half siblings (and half uncles/aunts, cousins) can be used to filter your matches. FTDNA's Learning Center pages for the Family Matching Tool, and Family Matching Feature, still have not been updated to show the full list of relatives which is shown in the blog post by Roberta Estes. Those Learning Center pages only show "parent to 3rd cousin," when "half" relatives and others are actually included.

Linking your maternal half-sister to your tree at FTDNA will show maternal matches, but it will not show a maternal icon for all of your maternal matches. This is because your maternal half-sister got 50% of her DNA from your mutual mother (as you did, but not the same 50%), so there will still be maternal relatives who cannot be identified as maternal matches. As you find more confirmed maternal relatives in your match list, these can also be linked (as long as they are within the range of relatives shown in Roberta Estes' blog post). The more maternal relatives you can link to your tree will help to identify more of the maternal relatives in your match list.

Some of the remaining matches in your Family Finder match list, who are not identified as maternal matches, will be paternal matches. But some will be still-unidentified maternal matches. If your unknown father's ethnicity was distinctly different from your mother's, you may see clues of it in your own myOrigins ethnicity estimate, as well as from information shown by your matches that doesn't match what your know of your maternal side. Information shown in your matches' profiles that does not seem to be related to your maternal ancestry may be relevant for your unknown father. Add what you know of your mother's ancestry, such as surnames and locations for her ancestors, in your profile. Eventually, when you find information for your unknown father, you can add that to your profile, too.

Do your Y-DNA matches show one surname more than others? To what level did you test (Y-12, 25, 37, 67, 111)?

[Tenn4ever]

Hope this will help someone as much as it did me. A project admin added this to one of the projects I'm a member of. I printed off the instructions and that made it easier to follow as I did the work. It took a day for the little blue men and pink women to show up instead of right away.

"As many of you who have taken the Family Finder test know, one of its niftiest tools is how linking to known matches will automatically initiate the maternal/paternal identification capability. That can be so helpful! As long as your match is a 3rd cousin or closer and is added to your FTDNA tree in their appropriate place, you can link to them and get some paternal/maternal information on other matches of yours. (Note: Full siblings, children, nieces/nephews won't help with this since they share autosomal DNA with you from both sides of your tree; however, if they link to you it will help them.) I recently was helping someone with linking and discovered FTDNA's new tree format has an entirely new way to do linking. Unfortunately, it's not very intuitive, so I wanted to share how to do it. Once you know how, it's actually pretty easy. 1. Log into your kit. 2. Go to your tree. 3. If your tree is displaying in "Pedigree View," click the "Family View" icon at the top of the page. 4. If you know exactly how you relate to someone on your match list, add them to your tree in their appropriate place. 5. Click on the DNA "Matches" icon at the top right of the page. The icon will turn red and a pop-up box will appear. 6. In the search box, type either the first or the last name of the person on your Match List that you want to link. (Type their name the way it appears on your Match List.) 7. A list will pop up with everyone you match who has that name. 8. Left-click on the name that you want to link to and continue to hold down your mouse button. 9. Drag that name over their "box" on your tree, then click the middle box with the link emblem. 10. Now go back to your Match List and refresh your page. You'll see the little circle spinning as it's searching for other matches of yours that share that exact same DNA. 11. When the search is complete, you'll soon see either the little blue-man or red-lady icons! Knowing which side of your tree your matches share can really help!"
"

[Greg Dalton]

I have two women that appear as a paternal match in FF and yet both match on X. I know that there are some common ancestors from both sides of my tree my maternal gf's sister married my paternal gm's 1st cousin. Then again the x match could be a false positive. I will have to check the chromosome browser to see the size of the X match. Thanks for this great discussion!