Add Updated Info

[romad]

What is the easiest way to add updated data from an Ancestry.com file to a Reunion file? I know I could just download a GEDCOM and create a new Reunion file, but I'd rather just add the new data to my current one.

[John Hill]

Re: Add Updated Info

What is the easiest way to add updated data from an Ancestry.com file to a Reunion file? I know I could just download a GEDCOM and create a new Reunion file, but I'd rather just add the new data to my current one.

I no longer have an Ancestry subscription, so cannot experiment; but is it possible to select an individual in an Ancestry tree and download the GEDCOM for that person only? You could then import the GEDCOM and Match and Merge.

Alternatively, you could download the whole GEDCOM, put it in a new Reunion file and then just import the people you want into your current file. Again, use Match and Merge (or even delete and replace!).

As always, make sure you have a backup in case it all goes pear-shaped!

[romad]

Re: Add Updated Info

John, thank you for the reply. Looking at all the options, comparing what "clean-up" I'd have to do for each one, etc., I think the easiest way would be to create a whole new file from a GEDCOM download.

[Michael Talibard]

Re: Add Updated Info

What is the easiest way to add updated data from an Ancestry.com file to a Reunion file?

Do you mean source documents or family trees in Ancestry? It is very easy to copy data from one Ancestry tree to another, and I would say too easy - because that is one reason why there is so much false information up there. People copy each other's dodgy (unproven) info until it starts to look true just by repetition. I have always typed everything into my Reunion file myself, and checked each 'fact' as I go. In rare cases I do enter dodgy data from Ancestry, but then I attach a source saying 'Ancestry trees only, therefore unproven.' So I'm not in favour of making it too easy to grab such data.

[Bob White]

Re: Add Updated Info

I do pretty much like Michael with a couple more things added.

One is that I have a copy of the current version of FTM on my iMac which I use as a backup to the tree I'm maintaining on Ancestry. (It's too clunky for everyday work.) So I synch once or twice a week.

Regarding other family trees, I will look at them but never import them and always "ignore" them (never attaching to mine). But I will jot down some notes about what I'm seeing so that I can pursue another ancestor or two via my own research.

[romad]

Re: Add Updated Info

I use Ancestry's Census, Marriage, Passenger List, etc. records for a lot of info. I'm working with another member right now because he had one surname for an ancestor while I had a different one from a 1770 marriage record. It was due to a RootsWeb member that we discovered he had the maiden name and I had the one from her deceased first husband. It is data like that that I wanted to add without a ton of re-typing.