In an apparently recent change to the way RM10 syncs with Ancestry (now in the background), my media files all disappeared as soon as I allowed my Ancestry subscription to lapse. I had been preparing for the conclusion of my Ancestry subscription, by redownloading it one final time. Now that file that had the most recent edits and media files is corrupted by TreeShare syncing in the background. And there is no way in RM10 to shut off TreeShare.
I have not seen this happening with any of my databases (TreeShare syncing in background).
It still works the same as it always has ā¦ compares database with Ancestry tree to see if there are any changes. You have to update the changes.
The Media is stored in a Folder with the database name when you download from Ancestry.
When you upload to Ancestry, your Media are still in the same location.
Not clear why your media files disappeared.
Thank you for the response. I agree that the normal TreeShare workflow should behave that way, but in my case, it didnāt. I had a fully synced RM10 file with thousands of personal and downloaded media files.
After simply opening the RM10 file (which had previously been synced), while logged into Ancestry, all media links were wiped from the Media tabāeven though I made no manual sync decisions. I believe this was the result of recent background sync behavior that now occurs without user prompt, unlike the previous manual review step that you described and which I previously observed.
I realize others may not have encountered this, but I wanted to document this in case it happens to someone else. Iām now working from a backup copy and will avoid using RM10 while logged into Ancestry in the future.
Ancestry has no way of removing the media on your computer. You also canāt just have all the media links wiped out of your database. Something else is going on. Iāve had Dropbox eat my media files and simply disappear. Were your media items in a folder syncing with the cloud? Check that you are using the correct database file.
Just to clarify, were all your media links just gone, or were all of your media links broken with a red X?
The notion of all your media links being just gone really sounds impossible. I canāt picture any scenario where that could happen. The MultiMedia table in your RM database would have to be emptied out while all the other tables remained intact. Even if all your media files were removed from your disk, all the media links should be in your RM database and should show a red X.
I donāt think there is any evidence that TreeShare is doing a background sync. That simply is not the way TreeShare works.
shut off treeshare in database settings hintsā¦disconnect from ancestry tree.
media should be stored in a folder on your computer. confirm that it is there and has media. then Fix broken media links to that folder. Do not use Dropbox or other cloud sharing service to avoid issues. Treeshare on mac is initiated by the user clicking the sidebar icon for ancestry. this pops up a window showing progress (if any) and will take some time to complete (or on mac to timeout and fail).
Thanks to everyone whoās responded. I want to clarify and round out this discussion with a calm summary of what actually happened on my end.
I understand the view that āAncestry cannot delete media from your computerā and that TreeShare doesnāt alter media links without user action. However, hereās what I directly observed:
- My file had thousands of media items, including both Ancestry-linked and personal uploaded images.
- On the morning my Ancestry subscription expired, I opened RM10 (while still logged in to Ancestry) and noticed that all profile images had disappeared in the Media tab for people I knew previously had them.
- A browser tab appeared referencing TreeShare sync status, which I had not manually initiated.
- The file that had just been open on screen no longer displayed any of the previously visible mediaāneither Ancestry-sourced nor my own uploads.
- This was the only version of the file that had the most recent name and date corrections for over 100 individuals.
I understand that others havenāt experienced this behavior. But I know what I saw, and I donāt believe this was user error, nor a misunderstanding of where my files were stored.
Rather than try to manually rebuild those updates, I made the decision to resubscribe to Ancestry for one more month, and after doing so, the media reappeared and everything returned to normal. So Iāll spend this time cleaning and finalizing my tree.
Going forward, I no longer trust the TreeShare sync connection when my Ancestry subscription is inactive, and Iāll make sure to stay logged out of Ancestry in RootsMagic after my subscription ends.
I share this not to debate, but in case it helps someone else who may encounter something similar. Thanks again.
Iām in Windows and my TreeShare function in RM10 (version from 30Jan 2025) does not offer the option of shutting off TreeShare.
What Rooty is telling you to do is to go into Settings, click the lightbullb icon at the top. Once there you can āDisconnect from Ancestry Treeā. Personally, I would not do this because once you do it, then you can not connect it again. You would need toTreeShare you RM file to Ancestry or download Ancestry to a new, blank RM database.
As for [quote=āSFGallagher, post:7, topic:14117ā]
Ancestry-linked
[/quote]
I have no idea what you mean. You really canāt link to an Ancestry image. However if you have found a way, then it is no surprise that any Ancestry images disappeared when you account expired and returned while it was active. When you find an Ancestry image, you really should be downloading a copy and linking it to the pertinent location. This way there is a local copy on your machine and you are not reliant on having an Ancestry subscription.
Presuming these are an Ancestry feature on their website (donāt know of any āprofileā in RM) ā¦what kfunk says would seem rightā¦ Ancestry is not gonna let anyone see images with a dormant account (no subscription paid for). One can still use TreeShare w/o that paid subscription, though.
Hi Kbens0n and kfunk. This is helpful and I learned something from you that will be useful after my Ancestry subscription expires. This screenshot shows an example with three profile images. These images are what I am saying had disappeared.
ANCESTRY tree share media will often be stored in a seperate folder not sure if that is what happened in your case. It will not be typically be in main media folder
Those are thumbnails created by RM when You first add that media to the person. If the original media file on your local system gets moved or deleted the Media tab typically still shows the thumbnail (but with a red X in the lower right corner of the thumbnail).
I apologize for not understanding, but I still donāt understand. Those profile images in the screenshot from your RM Pedigree view are not coming from Ancestry. They are really not even coming from jpg files on your computer. Instead, they are thumbnails files that are actually stored in your RM data base. The full size files may have started out in Ancestry and/or they may have been downloaded to a disk of some sort on your computer. But thatās not what we are seeing. We are seeing thumbnails that RM has created and stored in its database.
It is true that RM only links to files on a disk of some sort on your computer when it comes to the full jpg file (or whatever type of file it is). But RM also creates thumbnails (very small image files) and stores the thumbnails in your database.
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I still think you have the wrong database if the thumbnails are gone. Go to the People List view and click on Customize. Add āDate editedā as a column. Click OK and then click on the column header to sort on it. Look carefully at the most recent dates and see if they match up with what you recently worked on. If needed restore your last backup in a separate folder and compare the ādate editedā between the databases.
Turn off āOpen last closed fileā under Settings, Program Settings. Iāve seen people have that on and then think if they double click on the file outside of the program that it will open with it, and it doesnāt. So they start working with different files. Open RM and locate the correct file you want to work with. Never open RM by clicking on a file outside of the program, especially if using āOpen last closed fileā.
There was no red x next to any image. I wish I had taken a screenshot to prove it. I appreciate all the help, folks, but no, I do not have the wrong database. This glitch happened when TreeShare sync ran in in the background and āupdatedā my database from Ancestry just after my World Explorer sub ran out. Going forward, I will definitely turn off sync when not subscribed. The images in my screenshot did not come from files on my computer. They were part of the media collection that was downloaded when I created the database with TreeShare. Up until now, my primary Authority has been Ancestry. Iāve been using TreeShare in RM to mirror it as much as possible. I never manually added anything to RM. Iām only using RM to create publishable reports. RM10 keeps a list of recently used files. Whenever major work happen to my Ancestry, I create a completely new RM file by a fresh download via TreeShare. The behavior of TreeShare (updating in the background) is what I no longer trust. Going forward, just before my sub to Ancestry ends, I will download it with the media on final time, AND turn off sync. None of you seem to be acknowledging that TreeShare happens without being prompted these days. Maybe itās because of a different version or configuration for each of you. For now, data is restored, but I had to pay $39 for the sub renewal which I wasnāt expecting to have to do. Not to worry. I am going to make use of it and improve my 2,187 person tree even more. Just today I brought the Ancestry rating up to 8.2 from 8.0 where it had been at with what I thought was my final download. Again, thanks everyone for chiming into the discussion, especially kfunk for the solution of how to turn off TreeShare. This is gold.
That remains the mystery. I wish we could see a screen shot of TreeShare happening without being prompted. Unless the developers have added an option that they havenāt told us about, TreeShare simply doesnāt work that way. Thatās why it is such a a puzzle. Can you capture a screen shot of this happening?
That means you must have multiple databases each with a separate media folder containing many of the same media files. Unless you have been deleting them.
The absence of thumbnails indicates a fresh download to a new database that did not include (or failed to) the media or that RM failed to derive the thumbnails from the local image files.
I agree that there is a background process that uses the TreeShare API even though the user is not in the Publish > Ancestry window. But that is for Hints and nothing else.
That you saw a spontaneous TreeShare progress window might indicate that there is something under the hood that aims to be more like FTM or that your system glitched into the normal TreeShare process.
The number of people who have an Ancestry subscription expire while actively using RMās TreeShare must be small. If your fellow users and RM Support find your conclusion bordering on incredible, itās because they have no shared experience and youāve provided only anecdotal evidence in support of your belief.
RM doesnāt have a sync option. Are you by any chance using FTM that does? All RM changed recently is the ability to stay logged in. That is not a sync, that is just being allowed to remember the login token Ancestry sent to us for a longer period of time. You can log out of TreeShare at any time if you donāt want it to remember the login. Being logged in changes nothing. You still have to open TreeShare to have it load a change log where you can compare and decide what you want to update. RM has never had a background sync.
Did you Customize the People List like I suggested? Compare it against a backup made when your media was still there.
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