How to Member Connect in Ancestry.com

When I have exhausted online resources for a member of my family tree I reach out to other ancestry.com users who have added the same person to their tree in order to collaborate. The simplest way to identify these users is to accept Hints from Ancestry member trees — not their research, just the individuals users. If you have previously ignored these hints, you can find them in the Ignored section.

By default Ancestry.com will present you the shared family member as well as their parents, spouse, and children. For this process I recommend deselecting all other family members and just focus on the one subject you are currently researching.

When selecting another user/researcher to Message, please be concise and specific in any request. State your familial connection as their tree may contain thousands of individuals, for example:

According to ancestry.com our common ancestors are my wife’s 3rd Great Grandparents Silas Dexter BACON (1816-1893) & Maria Elizabeth MORSE (1830-1906)…

I usually include a link to an article I have written about the shared family member, ask for any offline research materials they may have gathered, but not posted on their ancestry tree, and offer to collaborate on research. And finally I include my email address and the city in which I reside, so they may respond in email with photographs and documents which are not easily shared via Ancestry.com messages. By sharing my city they are able to see how far our shared family have travelled… even if that may be just a couple of miles in 150 years and seven generations!

Step by Step Instructions

Before you begin, select the Tools Drop Down (prefixed with a spanner/wrench) and choose the option to Show research tools. The tools will now appear on every person profile page.
1. Select “Hints” from person profile page
2. Choose “Review” to display the hint
3. Select all trees to review all the ancestry member trees
4. Deselect incorrect trees using the check box
5. Choose “Review selected tree hints” on the right hand column
6. Deselect “New” content using tick boxes – this content is a duplicate marriage for a second spouse
7. Option not recommended but you can select a check box to overwrite your content – this content adds the church name to the marriage location
8. Scroll down the family members included in the hint and deselect, in this case the spouse, using the check box.
9. At the bottom of the page. select “Save to your tree.” No content is being saved (unless you chose to), just the other Members researching the same individual as you.
10. Now you have Accepted hint, select “Member Connect” from your research tools bar
11. On the Member Connect page we now have 5 connections researching this person, Silas Dexter BACON, select “Connections“
12. Scroll down list of connections and review the extent of research or open the person’s profile page in their tree (in a new browser tab or browser window)
13. To view the researcher’s profile, select their user name “GreatUser2020” (in a new browser tab or browser window)
14. Before sending a message, check when they were last active, their experience, size of family tree, and if they are willing to help… this is an amazing user!

Over time more ancestry users may add the same person to their family tree. In this case you will receive additional Ancestry member tree Hints.

NB For privacy reasons, ancestry.com prevents users from Member Connect with Private Trees.

References

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