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Hi - I'm curious whether anyone has any experience in building a family tree and learning more about one's ancestors via web sites like ancestry.com? I've only briefly checked it out, but my first reaction is that the subscription is quite pricey. I realize that the information could be invaluable, but I'd like to get some first-hand opinions from anyone who's tried these sites. Thanks!
I did find the records on ancestry.com to be invaluable - and adding records to their online tree is very easy. So easy that a lot of people complain that too many people just add stuff willie-nillie without checking the accuracy.
That said, a lot of people will tell you that the online tree feature is meant to be more of a display than a builder. You'll get a lot more features with family tree building software. Ancestry.com's software, Family Tree Maker (or FTM) isn't free (for a free one, go with myheritage.com) and frankly, I find it very buggy and lacking a lot of features I expected it to have seeing as how I paid for it (the free one didn't have these features either but hey, it's free). But if you subscribe to ancestry.com, FTM works well with the website (though it doesn't sync your tree) whereas free third party software won't. Also, some FTM packages come with a free trial subscription.
I have used Ancestry.com for several years and I'm well pleased. I paid the "big bucks" so I could get UK data as well as other countries and think it is well worth the money. However, I do cross check with other genealogy sites and do not blindly accept Ancestry (or any other site) without validating what I find. It is a good way find clues to get around brick walls.
I really like Ancestry.com too. They have a lot of original reocrds, which is what I mainly look at. It is so convenient to lookup info 24/7. You do have to be careful with submitted family trees, but like others have said, they can provide clues.
I have had great success with ancestry.com. It saves your records in an orderly manner even after you stop your subscription. The way I approach it is I subscribed for about 3 months, and in that time I could research my brains out and sort of burn out. Then, I'd stop my subscription until I was ready to delve into it again. They do not have any problem with this, since there's no sense paying if you are not using it. But, like I said, it saves all your info forever, and you can access it anytime, you just can't get to any more records unless you're a subscriber.
I have used Ancestry.com for several years and I'm well pleased. I paid the "big bucks" so I could get UK data as well as other countries and think it is well worth the money. However, I do cross check with other genealogy sites and do not blindly accept Ancestry (or any other site) without validating what I find. It is a good way find clues to get around brick walls.
Ditto, I paid top dollar, but I am totally pleased with the investment. My U.S. tree has turned out to be a joke, so to speak, it is all Canadian and U.K.
I am 100 percent happy with the investment, however, I have used genealogy software for my data and not built my tree on the Ancestry.com site - I upload it to their site.
I am the lone dissenter. The website owners use a robot to scrapes your information. give you no credit and then sell it back to you in subscriptions and on CDs. So does Family History and Google. Family History does not chage bogus information and outright lies even when presented with court documents.
If you have any expectation of privacy concerting your family tree, do NOT put it on the internet. If you want accurate information use Ancestry as a reference and check court documents, Wills, Birth and Death, Cemetery rectors, etc.. Please do not assume because you found it on a website that the information is 100% accurate or the poster is honest.
I am the lone dissenter. The website owners use a robot to scrapes your information. give you no credit and then sell it back to you in subscriptions and on CDs. So does Family History and Google. Family History does not chage bogus information and outright lies even when presented with court documents.
If you have any expectation of privacy concerting your family tree, do NOT put it on the internet. If you want accurate information use Ancestry as a reference and check court documents, Wills, Birth and Death, Cemetery rectors, etc.. Please do not assume because you found it on a website that the information is 100% accurate or the poster is honest.
I'm not sure what you mean - we've already established the family trees can be inaccurate but when it comes to Ancestry.com's records, most of them come with scans of the original document. Certainly, even original documents can have mistakes, especially on censuses... but that is not ancestry.com's fault.
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