So, you have taken the AncestryDNA® test and have a tree on Ancestry. What else can you do to help figure out how you are related to your DNA cousins? Just like with your tree, you can invite people and give them the right access level to help you figure out your DNA relationships.
I recently wrote about Random Acts of Genealogy Kindness where I helped Brett, a DNA cousin with furthering his tree. In one of my messages, I hinted to him that he could have people look at his DNA to help figure out his connections. I guess he didn’t understand as he never asked me further about my suggestion. This is pretty similar to setting up the tree access, but it is located in your DNA settings
Let’s get our magnifying glasses out to investigate this mystery of how to invite others to view your DNA cousins and give them the right DNA access role.
How to invite:
Once you are logged in, you should see the DNA tab on the top menu bar. Click on the DNA tab and you should see a menu. Click on “Your DNA Results Summary”.
On the DNA page, off to the top right, you will click the button that has a gear symbol and the word “Settings”. On this page, you will see your name and sections that are labeled: Test Details, Link DNA to Tree, Research Consents, Visibility and Sharing, and Download or Delete. Scroll down to Visibility and Sharing and click on “DNA Test Sharing”. Now you will see a big button with word “Invite”.
Types of Access Sharing:
Just like sharing your tree, you have three levels that each give the invited person a certain assigned access role. It is up to you to decide their role.
- Viewer: The Viewer has full view of all your DNA results but can’t change anything.
- Collaborator: Can do all that the viewer can do, but can also add notes, edit participant details and link your test to a tree.
- Manager: can do all of what a Viewer and Collaborator can do plus invite others to access your results, assign and change account roles, permanently delete your results, download DNA Data, and send and respond to messages in the test owner’s account.
Any of these access roles can be changed at any time to be remove or increase their roles. For me personally, I reserve the manager role for this situation: My husband had his DNA done on Ancestry, but to have his tree linked, we had to create a separate account and tree, in which I made me the manager as he has no interest in handling his DNA and tree.
For his tree I made a GedCom (GEDCOM is an acronym standing for Genealogical Data Communication. It is a universal genealogy file that allows you to exchange genealogical data between different genealogy software programs) using my Family Tree Maker to narrow his tree to focus on his ancestors and used it to match DNA cousins who also have trees. After that, I can then see the results in Thurlines.
Now You are Ready to Create Your Roles:
If you want results, be selective with who you want helping with your DNA. You want to invite someone that really wants to help. Here is a true story, one cousin made me collaborator as he said he just couldn’t figure this DNA out. I took time away from my tree and solely focused on his DNA.
For him, it paid off as I was able to put together that the father he had listed was not actually his biological father and he had 2 half-sisters that were listed in his DNA that he never knew about.
In order to do this right, I had to build a tree, which since he was already in my tree, was a pretty easy task. The new trees added were his new lines. He still has the father who raised him listed but with the alternate biological father’s lines added. His story has a happy ending, but for some this would be so devastating to find out.
Now that we uncovered how easy it is to invite people as a vistor, collaborator or manager, you are ready to role(haha!).
It's Not a Mystery
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