Tree Share with Ancestry is useless

One problem with trying to sync every couple of hours.

It is not possible if, like me, most of the work on Ancestry is on my iPad.

I would still have the same issue, I spent two hours on my iPad adding people via DNA matches, or amending others, then having to break off, boot up my PC then go through each Tree Share item one by one.

The workflow is not conducive to using RM for anything other as a Backup.

I might just as well work away on Ancestry then every month, create a new RM project and download the tree and media.

Make spending cash on updating Roots Magic in the future less likely to happen.

I am sure that RM will survive without your $19.99. But one thing to keep in mind is that Ancestry can change their API at any time and break the link to RM7. Who knows if or when that will happen!

Biggles,
Just curious, are you adding people to your tree solely based on a DNA match, or are you including supporting sources and citations at the same time?

I am adding DNA matches person by person and with each there are the BMD records plus Census records in other words I am working through each thoroughly. In many cases so I do not run the risk of corrupting my main tree I start a new tree with the DNA match as the home person and work backwards until I get to the common ancestor, then I create the same in Ancestry or add the new tree to RM and incorporate it in RM then sync it back to Ancestry

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Iā€™ve just started using RM8 after starting a tree in Ancestry a year ago which now has 450 people. I tried Jerryā€™s option 3 of syncing the trees but very quickly got tired of manually accepting loads of changes. After reading all the helpful posts in this and other threads, Iā€™m inclined to go with option 2. One of the things I want to do is clean up the inconsistent places which fits better with option 2. But WebHints are less confusing within the original Ancestry tree.

So what are the pros and cons to option 1 (using Ancestry as the master) compared to option 2 (using RM8 as the master)?

I would not use Roots Magic as my prime Tree.

Ancestry has the main tree and the syncing to Roots Magic makes Roots Magic the backup.

I now just have to work in comfort on my iPad, then when I am finished I start up my PC and sync what I have amended or added in my Ancestry Tree to my Roots Magic backup tree.

To me it is a pain to use Ancestry to search then to update the Roots Magic Tree and then sync back to the Ancestry tree, that make zero sense from a workflow perspective.

BTW, the Tree Share sync Bug still occurs, just fired up Roots Magic to sync and the second on the list resulted in a violation error. You guys need to work on solving the bugs, its not as though RM is a new product.

For othersā€™ convenience, the post of @thejerrybryan which describes the options is at Tree Share with Ancestry is useless - #4 by thejerrybryan

Sometimes, I think I should compile the posts of this great RootsMagic Wizard and Philosopher!

This rather suggests that you only use Ancestry as a research tool. Ancestry is just one of about a dozen tools that I use on a daily basis and probably one of about 50 that I use less frequently. Most of my thousands of media items do not come from Ancestry. All my data is entered manually in RM. . I wouldnā€™t do it any other way.

Noted Terry.

Yes there are plenty of source sites but for me over 90% of mine are from Ancestry.

I would not use it any other way.

Being reliant on offline software places one at the mercy of software bugs.

Since my last post Roots Magic has locked up twice with Violation Errors.

A good way of using Roots Magic if like me you use it as a backup is to ignore the Tree Share and setup a new Project and download the Ancestry tree, error check and only then Sync back to Ancestry.

It is by far the quicker way than being sat for hours Manually faffing around with bug ridden software.

Hours later and I am still having one crash after another, each crash results in an Error Report being sent, 20 crashes so far today and counting.
On the Facebook Group others are having the same issue.
Even an update all option against each person in the Problem list could add a new event and update the related media, having to go through each one and manually check is archaic.

Open a chat on the website and have a support agent remotely see what it happening and how things are setup. Best time to reach chats is Mon-Fri 8:00-4:00 (MT).

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Problem has been occurring on my Tower PC.
Booted my Laptop and loaded RM, exactly the same issue, Access Violation windows pops up.
Laptop is quite old and still uses Window 8.

What did support say?

Possibly problem with your database. Restore from older backup and see what happens.

Thanks for the suggestions.

I did persist and get it complete and did the error checking so now I have a syncā€™d Ancestry Tree and a RM tree and the RM tree backed up.

Over to my Wifeā€™s tree, new people added from Ancestry Tree to her RM tree OK so now working through the changes. Git of to a poor start with the first two bringing the same Error message.

So its hardly likely that two databaseā€™s are in error, its a RM bug.

Uh not likely! Otherwise A LOT of people would be having this problem.

Of course the last genius that was here pitching a fit about not being able to upload, well, when he got a new internet connection along with new hardware, magically his issue went away.

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Agree - if it was RM you would have thought a chat with support would have been in order. Seems odd that doesnā€™t appear to have happened!

And being reliant on online services puts you and your data and work totally at their mercy. You no longer have control, they do. And they can change or discontinue services whenever they wish. Think of all of the Google online services that no longer exist.

If thatā€™s your cup of tea, thatā€™s OK by me.

That is precisely why I want Roots Magic to function as a Backup app for the main Ancestry Tree to give me safety.

Whilst it is much better than other Genealogy Apps it is still flawed.

PC, Laptop both give errors.

Will try a chat with RM staff soon, not giving confidence that they can sort it.

There are a couple of other options if the main goal is to backup your main Ancestry tree.

One option is to download you Ancestry data as GEDCOM. The other option is to use Family Tree Maker instead of RM to download and backup your Ancestry tree.

I donā€™t like Family Tree Maker very much and 99 times out of 100 I would recommend RootsMagic over Family Tree Maker. But if backing up your Ancestry tree is truly the only function you want in your desktop software, then Family Tree Maker is probably your best choice. Thatā€™s because the Family Tree Maker data model and the Ancestry data model are very similar and there is very little data loss of data when transferring between the two. This is not a matter of bugs. Itā€™s a matter of data compatibility or incompatibility.