Ancestry link to database

I am happy with both my Ancestry and RM databases but need to tidy up my folders and rename my main database. At the moment the database is in a separate folder to the media and backups associated with it.

Question:- If I move and rename my database into the folder with its media & backups will it continue to recognise the media folder and retain its link with my Ancestry tree? If not is there an easy way to accomplish this?

Hi Charlie

If you don’t move the media folder itself, then RM will retain the links. That’s because the full file path for each media item is stored in the database. If those paths don’t change, then RM is going to still find everything. If your database ever loses its notion of where your media files are, you can use the “Fix broken links” tool to find them again (assuming you haven’t wholesale renamed all the media files).

The database will also still retain the TreeShare link to Ancestry, even if you move or rename the actual database file (I’ve done that before to test it.).

Note: If you move or rename the actual database file, RM won’t remember any of it’s memorized points to that file. So in the app interface, if you’re used to opening the database through the “Open an Existing RootsMagic file” interface, it won’t find that memorized link. Likewise if you have RM set to automatically open the last opened database. You’ll have to manually browse and open your database once more so that RM knows where it is again. After that you’ll be good to go.

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Thank you very much Kimberly, you’ve saved me a lot of stress! I just didn’t want to experiment.

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Be aware that if you “Disconnect from Ancestry”, the only way to Reconnect is by doing a Restore of a Backup before the disconnect.

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Thank you MadDog, I’ll try to avoid that.