NOTES
On your tree at a person’s profile you can click Tools, View Notes, and you can write anything you want there. Only you can view the notes, and the people that you invite to be Editor on your tree. No other people can see your notes.
View Comments
will give you the same box and you can choose Tags, Notes or Comments.
COMMENTS
Many of us have had this experience…
You know, with evidence, that a line on your tree is correct and you see other people have put the wrong people on their tree. I have seen trees with right guy with right wife and right children and right dates, but with wrong parents. Or right parents and wrong wife. Others have perpetuated these errors. What do you do?
This is how I handle this situation.
First I message the people and gently, politely tell them what is wrong, why I think so and ask if they could please make changes. After a while when I see the message is read, they don't reply, and no changes are made I will send another message saying if they want I can email them the evidence. Still no change? Then I take measures they may not like.
On their page I go to Tools, View Comments and there I write a comment detailing why it is wrong. Then a number shows up by the person’s name letting people know that there is a comment there. Anyone else researching that person can read the comment and know there is a discrepancy. They will see who made the comment and can then message them for clarification.
UPDATE 2023: Ancestry made changes to the Comments feature and now tree owners can delete comments on a tree they own. Argh!
The great
thing about this… the tree manager can not delete the comment. Only the person
who writes the comment can edit or delete it. The tree manager can hide the comment, but it is only hidden to them, not to others looking at their tree.
If the tree manager asks me to delete the comment I reply that I don’t want others copying the errors and I will delete the comment once they make the appropriate changes to their tree. Or if they say nothing and I go back and the changes were made I will delete the comment and thank them.
Sometimes I write comments on a profile myself. I do this if I am not sure of something, or if there is a discrepancy in dates or names. This way anyone looking at my tree can see the comment, whereas if I wrote a note no one would know.
What would you use notes and comments for?
Thanks for the process you use. I've done this as well and I like the steps you take. With the most problematic person and their errors, i had success after 5 yrs. of trying to get her to fix the errors! I've also put the notations/corrections on my original 'gallery' photo or info, so anyone going to 'copy' that info will check they are using the info correctly. (many times errors have been copied widely, so I've left the comments standing.) Peggy QB.
ReplyDeleteSometimes it does take a very long time to get results! At times I think some people have just given up on their tree, or don’t care if it’s not their bloodline.
DeleteThanks for this Dianna. I have a problem with a person who has picked up parts of my 'tree' and all my family photos and posted them in his tree which has absolutely NO connection whatsoever with mine. I have twice asked him to remove them proving to him that there is no possible connection but his own "tree' is a mess and I don't hold any hope of his fixing this. So I need to make sure I at least don't let him mislead others.
DeleteA post in a group on Facebook this morning was about a person who’s parents died when she was young and went to live with an aunt and uncle. The tree manager was advised how to add additional parents as guardians of adopted on Ancestry and set them as preferred for searching purposes and to write a note.
ReplyDeleteI reminded the manager that a note can only be seen by him and does not tell other researchers WHY the person has parents and guardians, and I advised to leave a comment that everyone can see.
This was another example of how to use notes and comments.
Great article Dianne, I'm going to take steps to some of my issues in my tree. Wonder if the owner of the other tree can read Comments, View Notes if their subscription has lapsed.
ReplyDeleteI believe they can read other’s comments on their own tree .
DeleteI never thought about this! When I find discrepancies on my own tree, I often wish someone had told me about it. I seldom look at other's trees but I will keep this in mind.
ReplyDeleteWhen I am stuck on a relative I do a search for that person on other Family Trees. Someone may have that person married on their tree and that gives me a clue to follow and try to verify. I may add the spouse for searching purposes but I will tag both people Unverified.
DeleteI received an email that a comment was put on a photo of ppl in my tree. The problem is that I can’t find the ppl, the photo, or the comment. The person that posted it does not have any tree to try to figure out who she is commenting on. How do I find her comment, etc? Is the only solution to message her back to give me more specific info? Surely there is an easier and quicker way to find these.
ReplyDeleteDoes the notification specify the person and photo commented on and you just can’t find it? Perhaps after commenting they deleted it for some reason.
DeleteI use Chrome on my iPad to work on Ancestry (not the app). I am always signed in.
When I get an email notification of a comment I right click on the View Comment button, copy url, and open in Chrome. It usually takes me to the right place.
Hope this helps.,
My Paternal Grandfather was wrongly declared dead in Korean War. His first wife, my Maternal Grandmother quickly remarried. I can't even imagine the drama when he arrived home a few months later. He abandoned my Father and Aunt and quickly remarried himself. Had 5 other kids. I didn't know any of this until I started doing my Late Father's geneaolgy. I was very excited to see close relatives in 2nd family were into Ancestry. Every time I contact one of them, they ghost me when they find out I'm part of the First family. It bothers me to see they only put the 2nd wife on my paternal grandfather's tree. I finally pulled the trigger and left an UNemotional comment about hsi first wife and children. Glad to know it will remain.
ReplyDeletenice post
ReplyDelete