Ancestry [Upload to an Ancestry Member Tree] questions

I am nervous about using this feature because I don’t want to screw up my Roots Magic database or files. I also don’t want to screw up mu Ancestry.com database.

Question #1
If I Upload to an Ancestry Member Tree and there are already ancestors in my ancestry account that are the same person will doing this leave the old people in there, causing me to have duplicates? Or will it tell me this?

Question #2
Will the photos from my Roots Magic upload into Ancestry.com?

Question #3

If I have updated my Roots Magic database, can Upload to an Ancestry Member Tree again and overwrite the previous file or do I have to make the individual changes or updates in Ancestry.com account one at a time that I change or added in my Roots Magic database?

What my goal is and what I am wanting is to use my Roots Magic software and keep as my primary database and keep that up to date and adding and updating to that. Then every once and a while, Upload to an Ancestry Member Tree, if that is possible?

This is my hopes anyways. I did not want to have to update both RM and Ancestry every time I had a change, update, or a new person to add.

TreeShare is the way you keep Ancestry & RM database the same. You either download from Ancestry to RM OR upload from RM to Ancestry.

You should decide which one has the most current data. You might want to modify the name so as not to be confused if they both have same name.

Any pictures can be added to Ancestry or vice versa.

Watch the video on TreeShare to learn more.

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I want to upload from RM to Ancestry.
Let me see if I understand this correctly.
If I choose to upload from RM to Ancestry the first time, then I can continue to upload the same file from RM to Ancestry whenever I have changes to my RM database and it will sync with each other?
When I do this the pictures that are in my RM database will also upload into there prospective locations in Ancestry?

It sounds like you have a tree on Ancestry & 1 in RM with both possibly having the same name.
You can using TreeShare, upload RM to Ancestry. I would give it a different name so your Ancestry tree is still there (up to you)
The upload from RM to Ancestry happens Once. Afterwards, using TreeShare, it will compare the RM to Ancestry and show you the differences. You then go thru each change and add/change to Ancestry.
The pictures will upload.

Here is the video on TreeShare (it was recorded using v7 but it works the same in v10) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oDOlq7EFIWA

Thank you very much for helping me out with this and sharing the video. It did explain a lot.
I will have to give it a try.

Rick

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adding to what @MadDog said… Depending if there were any previous connections you may need to disconnect and reconnect – depending on you objectives – would depend on how you go about that – and the order taken

Adding one other thing since you did NOT say how big your file was— some on here have suggested that you update your Ancestry tree after you have added say abt 50 new people ( or a lot of new facts to a few people)–just easier to update a small amount of people every few days than a whole lot at one time

As others have already said, the particular situation you describe is impossible. You cannot upload from an existing RM database to an existing Ancestry tree. To get started with RM’s TreeShare feature, you have to upload from RM to a new and empty Ancestry tree or you have to download from Ancestry to a new and empty RM database. You cannot connect together an existing RM database and an existing Ancestry tree.

Thereafter, you can “sync” changes in RM to Ancestry and you can “sync” changes in Ancestry to RM. But it is not a true sync and probably should be called something different. RM’s TreeShare feature presents you with a screen showing your RM data and your Ancestry data and offers you an opportunity to copy the data that’s new or different in either direction.

Given that your RM database is your master, it is perfectly reasonable simply to delete your Ancestry tree periodically and to do a fresh upload from RM again. Or leave the old Ancestry tree there for a while and upload to a new Ancestry tree with a different name. But you can’t just do a complete upload from RM to an Ancestry of the same name and replace everything unless you first delete the Ancestry tree.

Be aware that there are differences between RM and Ancestry that make it impossible to copy 100% of data perfectly in both directions. These differences may or may not be of any significance to you. They are not likely to be of any significance if you are only copying data from your master RM database to Ancestry. There is a page on the Internet that lists these data differences between RM and Ancestry, but I cannot find it right now. Perhaps someone else can post it.

Make a RM backup. Then I would do a “test” run of upload RM to Ancestry and name it accordingly. Make minor changes in RM, that way you can see how TreeShare functions. You can then disconnect and delete Ancestry tree before actually upload.

I am a little confused about one part after watching the video. It’s the sharing of my tree.
It states that I can use Tree Share for collaborating with someone else.
If I understand it correctly, I need to share the tree in Ancestry with the person that I want to collaborate with.
This is where I am confused. If I share it with a person or collaborate with them, do I have to give them editor rights to my Ancestry tree to share it with them as a contributor?

This is what I am confused and nervous about.
In Ancestry I see three options when inviting a person to my Ancestry tree. These options are guest, contributor, and editor.

Can I collaborate with someone as a guest or a contributor without giving them editor rights to my Ancestry tree?
I want to share and collaborate with a person, but I don’t want to give them editor rights in my Ancestry tree. I don’t want them to be able to edit my Ancestry tree within Ancestry.

I hope what I am trying to explain here makes sense.

Editor Rights means they can add or change anything they want-- you supposedly are notified of any changes…
Guest – means just that-- they have full access to your file BUT can’t add or change anything— it says that can make comments and that they can NOT automatically view living people BUT I’m a guest on several accounts and can view all living people…
Contributors can view and add comments, photos, and stories. They cannot edit or remove existing tree content or automatically view living people.

So basically in my opinion, I would add them as a guest-- they will get a notice of who you updated …
I am a guest on several accounts-- when I see an update, I will check what they entered- then see if I can find additional info such as their spouse, kids / marriage or death dates etc and send them an email with what I found…

I guess it would not hurt to make them a contributor.
I just wanted to make sure that if I shared with them, that I would also be able to see their file and be able to download all the people that they had that I did not have and also get the photos and other data that they had.

I would say it depends on how well you know the person. They would have to give you access to their tree for you do anything with it. Some trees are marked private and you need to email the person.

O, I thought if you shared a tree with a person in Ancestry that you also gained access to their tree. I did not realize they had to grant access separately for their tree. Thanks for pointing that out.

If they do give you access to their tree, you would have to download that to a new database-- you can’t download it directly into your existing tree…

Now you have me confused. I guess I am misunderstanding the share tree feature.

I thought if they gave me access to their database that it would be a shared tree and I could download/import the people that were not in my tree from there tree?

Here is what I was planning on doing.

Here is what I thought I would be able to do, step by step.

  1. I would start out with a new database in Ancestry (with just two people in the tree because that is what is required to have a new Ancestry tree).

  2. I would invite the person in Ancestry as a contributor to my new tree.

  3. They would accept my invitation.

  4. I would use the RM Share Tree feature.

  5. There would only be those two people that would be in their tree that would match or be in my new tree.

  6. From here I could add all the people in their tree to mine that I did not have in my tree.

  7. Then I could Download my new tree from Ancestry that I just added all these people to.

  8. Once downloaded I would merge it into my RM tree and then create a second new tree in Ancestry and put it all back into the second new tree on Ancestry.

Does this make sense and will this work?

Nope.

  • Their Ancestry Member Tree (AMT) cannot connect to your AMT
  • A RootsMagic database can TreeShare with one and only one AMT.
  • A TreeShare connection between a RM database (RMDB) and an AMT is established only by having TreeShare download from an existing AMT to a new empty RMDB OR by having an existing RMDB create and upload to an AMT via TreeShare.
  • you could have one RMDB TreeShare connected to its AMT that you have created and grant others privileges to see, contribute, edit the AMT but you do not see any of their AMT through that TreeShare connection. They could grant you access privileges on their AMT with which you could TreeShare download to a separate RMDB, not to the one connected to your AMT.
  • With these two RMDBs, you can transfer data between their AMT and your AMT but I daresay you would find the needed three srages of data comparison and propagation laborious and possibly with disappointing results.

Sharing your Ancestry tree via Contributor/Editor with someone is NOT the same as RootsMagic’s TreeShare.

RM’s is just “sharing” your database with your Ancestry tree. They are the same. It is not meant for “sharing” with others.

Upload your RM data via TreeShare. You can make the other person Contributor.

They can add/change this Ancestry tree.

Do RM TreeShare again to pick up any changes.

I think this will work but I’ve never done it.

You will just have to try with a few people to test.

Remember, anything you put on Ancestry will be available to them.

I would really work with TreeShare first so you get familiar how it functions.

Here is the video again https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oDOlq7EFIWA

You will only see the tree in TreeShare if it is shared with Editor permission.