Saturday, August 30, 2014

Today August 30, 2014 is the First Anniversary of this Blog

We've made it! Today is the first anniversary of this blog.

There have been 65 posts (66 if you count this one) and a lot of information conveyed this past year.

There is more to come so keep reading.

See you soon at the Mt. Clemens Public Library!

LE

Friday, August 29, 2014

Have Ancestry.com's Y-DNA or mtDNA Tests? Make Sure You Download Your Results and Data Before it is Deleted

For anyone out there that had a Y-DNA or mtDNA test done with Ancestry.com, remember you only have until September 30th, 2014 (it was September 5th) to download your test results and copy your matches.

Ancestry.com will retire (delete) all Y-DNA and mtDNA test results and matches from its website on September 30th. Do not wait until the last minute to save your information to your computer. (Please note that AncestryDNA -- the autosomal test -- is not effected by this retirement.) 

See the DNA Frequently Asked Questions page at Ancestry.com for more information. If you purchased a Y-DNA or mtDNA test but did not use it/have it processed, there is a phone number to call and get a refund of the cost of the test and any taxes paid. Shipping costs will not be refunded.

To download your Y-DNA or mtDNA test results, sign into your Ancestry.com account and go to "Your DNA Home Page." Go to the Y-DNA or mtDNA test page. (Note: I can't see this but it is probably similar to the AncestryDNA test page.) Essentially, for each person you had tested, click on Settings to the right of the tested person's name. Then likely to the right will be a column with Actions, select  "Download Your Raw DNA Data." (Do not select delete this test.) Follow the directions given to download your raw DNA data and then you will have a copy of that test's results on your computer. Repeat this for each test you had done.

With your results downloaded, you can transfer your raw data to another genealogy/DNA testing company if you choose to do so. Transferring generally costs a little bit less than purchasing a new test. (Note that with a transferred test you will not be able to add/upgrade another type of test to it because the company will only have the raw data your transferred, it will not have the actual DNA sample. To have the person tested for another type of DNA you would have to have a new test kit sent.)

Now as to your matches/potential matches, you will need to either page by page or individually print these out to paper, print these out as pdf files, or make screen captures of your matches to preserve them for future reference. If you have definite matches, you should likely print/preserve that individual match.

You can also check the Ancestry.com community forum for DNA for other ideas on how to preserve your matches for the future.

Also remember that Ancestry.com owned websites, MyFamily and Mundia (English) are also retiring on September 30th. The website Genealogy.com is being retired too but some of it will be changed to a read-only website (i.e. community message boards). Recently the website, MyCanvas, has been sold and will change hands instead of retire.

See you soon at the Mt Clemens Public Library!

LE

Thursday, August 28, 2014

FamilyTree DNA has End of Summer Y-DNA Sale until September 3

All Y-DNA tests and upgrades are on sale for a limited time at FamilyTree DNA. The sale runs until September 3, 2014 (likely 11:59 p.m. CDT).

Here is a run down of the savings on the various Y-DNA tests.

Y37 test (37 markers) regularly $169, on sale $129
Y67 test (67 markers) regularly $268, on sale $199
Y111 (111 markers) regularly $359, on sale $279
Big Y regularly $595, on sale $495

FamilyFinder + Y37 combined tests regularly $268, on sale $228
FamilyFinder + Y67 combined tests regularly $367, on sale $298
Comprehensive Genome (FamilyFinder/Y67/full mtDNA) combined test regularly $566, on sale $497
[Note: for the combo packages, only the Y-DNA portion is on sale. I checked this with a calculator. So you could just order the Y-DNA test itself rather than a combined test and wait for a sale on the FamilyFinder (autosomal) test and then upgrade your Y-DNA test to add FamilyFinder to it.]
 
Or upgrade a Y-DNA test already taken with FamilyTree DNA to add more markers to your test.
Upgrade a Y12 test to Y37 (12 markers to 37 markers) regularly $99, on sale $70
Upgrade a Y12 test to Y67 regularly $189, on sale $149
Upgrade a Y12 test to Y111 regularly $339, on sale $239
Upgrade a Y25 test to Y37 regularly $49, on sale $35
Upgrade a Y25 test to Y67 regularly $148, on sale $114
Upgrade a Y25 test to Y111 regularly $249, on sale $209
Upgrade a Y37 test to Y67 regularly $99, on sale $79
Upgrade a Y37 test to Y111 regularly $220, on sale $179
Upgrade a Y67 test to Y111 regularly $129, on sale $109

Sorry everyone, I have not found any coupon codes for a discount on the shipping costs that FamilyTree DNA charges.

To get an idea of previous sale prices from each of the three different Genealogy/DNA companies and their various tests, check out a post on the Genealogy Junkie blog site. This Genealogy Junkie post on DNA Test Sales is generally kept up-to-date -- i.e. it now includes this current sale. This listing gives you a good idea of what is a good sale price for a test and approximately when a sale might occur.

Remember, we will be revisiting the topic of DNA and Genealogy at our September meeting of Let's Talk...Genealogy. 

See you soon at the Mt Clemens Public Library!

LE

Limited Time: Ancestry.com is giving Free Access to the Newly added databases of its Global Collections

Ancestry.com is giving free access to 1 billion new records from 67 countries until September 1 (midnight).

Obtain access through the special portal (you may need to scroll down to see it) on the main Ancestry.com page when you are not signed in.

From the map below the special portal search engine, you can see which 43 new countries have been added (orange) and what other countries have newly added databases (green.) From what we can figure out, it is these databases that are included in the free access.
Unfortunately, I have not found a list of which specific databases make up this group.

Good Luck Searching!

LE

Tuesday, August 19, 2014

MyCanvas Website Will Not Be Retired -- It is Changing Hands Instead

Ancestry.com announced today that its website, MyCanvas, will not be retired after all rather it will now be part of Alexander's.

The announcement was made on Ancestry.com's Facebook page and blog page.


Projects at MyCanvas will be accessible thru Ancestry.com until the website is transitioned next year to Alexander's. Alexander's is the printer that prints MyCanvas projects.

This is good news for any MyCanvas user.

LE

Saturday, August 9, 2014

AncestryDNA Test On Sale Until August 27

Ancestry.com is having a sale on its AncestryDNA (autosomal) test this month. The test is now $79 (20 percent off the normal $99 price) until August 27 at 11:59 EDT. Autosomal tests are for males and females -- it tests what you inherit from both biological parents.

Remember, you can get free DNA shipping on AncestryDNA tests by using the code FREESHIPDNA which is valid until April 1, 2015. (The code is listed on RetailMeNot but you do not have to go to that website to get the code. It is as you see above, all capital letters with no spaces.)

LE