For New Members

(or potential, and existing members)

Recommended account settings:

Access “Account Setting” from the drop-down beside your name in the upper right of your myFTDNA (Home or Dashboard) page.

These setting are recommended so that you, other members, and the project will get the most benefit from your participation.

  • Under “Geneology”
    • Please include your earliest known “Ralston” ancestor and place of origin, if known.
  • Under “Privacy and Security”
    • Matching Preferences – All Levels
    • Origin Sharing – Opt In
    • Family Tree Sharing – “Public”
  • Under “Project Preferences”
    • Select “Edit” button to the right of “Ralston Project
      • Scroll down and set Group Project Administrator Access Level Settings
        for each administrator to at least “Limited”.
      • Please set also for “Future Administrators.”
    • Project Sharing - Group Project Profile – Opt In

Family Tree (Lineage):

It is very helpful if you have a family tree to compare to your matches.   Your tree can be accessed or input by clicking the myFamilyTree button from your main dashboard page.

If you do not have an existing tree, you can manually input your tree by clicking "Add Father" or "Add Mother" for each generation.

If you already have a family tree, you may be able to upload a GEDCOM to FTDNA. GEDCOM (Genealogical Data Communications) files are used to download and upload family trees. GEDCOM is a universally-accepted file format for family tree files, which usually has the file extension ".ged".

Downloading your GEDCOM:

  • From Ancestry.com
    • Log in to your Ancestry account.
    • From any page on Ancestry, click the Trees tab and select a family tree.
    • From the tree, click the tree name menu in the top-left corner and select Tree Settings.
    • On the right side of the Tree Settings page, click Export tree.
    • The button will begin spinning and say Generating a GEDCOM file. When it stops spinning, right-click (Mac: Control + click) on the Download Your GEDCOM File button that appears.
    • In the drop-down menu from right-clicking, select Save target as or Save link as.
    • In the window that appears, choose a location from a panel on the left side and click Save.
    • It’s often best to select Desktop as the location. This is the main screen of your computer.
  • From MyHeritage.com
    • Log into your family site
    • Use your mouse to hover over ‘Family Tree’ tab up the top and click on ‘Manage Trees’
    • If you have multiple trees, they will all be listed here, otherwise you will just see one
    • Move to the righthand side, and click on the ‘Export to GEDCOM’ link on the relevant tree
    • A new window opens up with a big orange button which says “Begin the Export”
    • This is will download your file, usually to your Downloads Folder
  • Familysearch.org currently is not able to export data from Family Tree to a GEDCOM file. They recommend using one of the Family Tree certified programs, i.e. Ancestral Quest, Legacy Family Tree, or RootsMagic to import data from Family Tree into one of the programs and then create a GEDCOM.
  • For trees on other sites contact their support or F.A.Q. regarding GEDCOM downloads.
  • For trees on local software programs, most will export to GEDCOM format.

To upload your GEDCOM file to FTDNA:

  • Sign in to your myFTDNA account. Your myFTDNA (Home or Dashboard) page is displayed.
  • On your myFTDNA page, click the myFamilyTree button. Your myFamilyTree page is displayed.
  • On the lower-right corner of your myFamilyTree page, click the gear wheel. A pop-up menu is displayed.
  • From the pop-up menu, click Upload a GEDCOM
  • The Uploading a GEDCOM will overwrite your current Family Tree warning is displayed.
  • Click Upload to proceed with your upload, or click Cancel if you do not want to upload your GEDCOM.
  • Browse to where your GEDCOM file is stored, select your file, and click Open to upload the file.
  • After your upload is complete, a prompt is displayed. This prompt requests that you select or search for your name in the GEDCOM file. Select your name from the list, and click This is me!

Taking the test: