British Isles DNA by County

Member Guidelines

Once you receive your test results, you can start learning about your genetic heritage and search for near and distant cousins. Here is a checklist of steps you can take to ensure you derive the greatest benefit from your membership in the project. Return to your MyFTDNA page often to find out if other testees have produced close matches to your profile. It is also recommended that you visit the results pages on this website (www.britishislesdna.com) so that you can follow developments in the British Isles DNA project.

When you log into www.familytreedna.com and enter your KIT and PASSWORD in the appropriate  boxes, you will be taken to your MyFTDNA page. There are a number of things you can do from this page. Your first order of business should be to enter your ancestral information, as follows:

1. Move your mouse over the My Account menu heading (in the dark horizontal bar near the top) and select Most Distant Ancestors from the drop-down menu.

2. Enter your Direct Paternal ancestor and Direct Maternal ancestor information in the boxes provided (Country of Origin and Name. In the Name box, try to provide sufficient detail that the information will be of help to others who may be researching the same name or location, e.g., John Doe, b. 1815, Yeovil, Somersetshire. Don't forget to press Save so the information will not be lost.

3. Under Ancestral Locations, use the UPDATE LOCATION buttons to specify the geographical information for your direct maternal and direct paternal ancestors.

You will use other menu headings to manage your DNA family history research.  For example:

Under My Projects, you can see the projects to which you currently belong and add new projects.

Under Y-DNA and mtDNA, you can check your matches, haplotree, and ancestral origins, as well as order new tests to extend  your profile or refine your haplogroup assignment.

Under Family Finder you can view and study matches with other persons for whom Family Finder results are posted.

Under Resources, you can deepen your knowledge of Genetic Genealogy and submit your results to the public databases maintained by Family Tree DNA, YSearch and MitoSearch. 

 Note: If your DNA profiles do not appear on the results pages, and you did your DNA testing with Family Tree DNA, you need to fill out the release form. You can obtain the release form from the FTDNA website (http://www.familytreedna.com/forms/FTDNA-release-form.pdf). Just fill it out and mail it back to:

Family Tree DNA

1445 North Loop West, Suite 820

Houston, TX 77008, USA

Your results will then appear on this website and your email will appear to persons with whom you have close matches.