- HOW CAN I SORT MY DNA MATCHES PRO
- HOW CAN I SORT MY DNA MATCHES TRIAL
- HOW CAN I SORT MY DNA MATCHES FREE
When we do this, we see things we might have otherwise missed or not noticed: patterns, trends & perhaps a new discovery along the way. Let me know in the comments below if you’re using the template.I’m a big fan of visualizing & organizing our DNA results in different ways. So there you have it-my spreadsheet for tracking DNA matches. Ĭlick on “Explore Base, then “Copy base” to start using for your own matches. Once set up, you can access the template here.
HOW CAN I SORT MY DNA MATCHES FREE
To start using this table, create a free account with Airtable. As discussed above, this is a yes/no checkbox to indicate whether the match has been added to DNA Painter. This is another open-ended field where you can add anything you want-email address, phone number, location, etc.įinally, we have the ‘Painted’ field. I like this open-ended notes field because the alternative is to have many optional columns that make the spreadsheet feel cluttered. Often I’ll use this field to record how the person descends from the MRCA. As we already talked about, this is a long-form, open-ended field where you can add anything you want: Gedmatch kits, links, funny anecdotes, whatever. The column after this is simply a count of how many shared matches you’ve entered into the Matches field. And if you’re adding a new name, it will automatically add that person as a new row to the main spreadsheet. This field is linked to the first column, so you’re able to select existing matches quite easily. While I intend to expand this field’s functionality in the future, I’m only using this field to record the strongest shared matches – usually above 70 cM. That loss is what prompted me to start keeping track of my matches.Īfter MRCA, we have the Matches field. In particular, one match was a heartbreaking loss because it was critical to the brick wall case I was working on. I lost a lot of valuable match information when that happened, especially on Gedmatch. When news broke of police using DNA databases to hunt down the Golden State Killer, many people removed their profiles due to privacy concerns.
Log it before you lose it.Īnother fundamental reason to track your DNA matches with a spreadsheet is that not everyone keeps their profiles active forever. Grouping matches like this is one reason I use AirTable instead of Microsoft Excel or Google Docs (more on that later). I also use my spreadsheet to quickly group my match list across all databases by things like MRCA (most recent common ancestors) and actual relationships. This is where I can record things like a Gedmatch kit ID, links to research logs in google docs, or links to trees I created on Lucidchart. The notes field I leave open-ended, which allows me to make a note of any other pertinent information not covered by the other fields. Some other essential things I like to track are contact information, strong shared matches, and notes. I like to track who I’ve already painted – even if I haven’t determined the common ancestor(s). DNA Painter is a far better tool for this, so there’s no need for redundancy. Unlike some other spreadsheet templates, I don’t like to store chromosome data or start/stop positions in my spreadsheet. Keeping track of who I’ve added to this tool allows me to see who I still need to add. I like to think of this tool as a single chromosome browser for all my matches. By that, I mean I’m a big fan of DNA Painter’s chromosome mapping tool. I’m also a big fan of “painting” my matches on a Friday night. That way, when I have some free time and want to sink my teeth into a new DNA mystery, I open my list and filter by unidentified matches. I track which matches I’ve determined the actual relationship for and which I have not. But I don’t just add my matches to a spreadsheet to have a nice clean list of people. Stay organizedīecause I manage multiple kits across multiple company databases, I need a system to keep track of my activities. Click here to learn more about this offer.
HOW CAN I SORT MY DNA MATCHES TRIAL
MyHeritage has a free 14-day trial which gets you instant access to 16.9 billion records and over 3.5 billion family trees.
HOW CAN I SORT MY DNA MATCHES PRO
Pro tip: a great way to get your feet wet in this hobby is with a free trial at one of the big genealogy sites.