We receive many emails each day, and many of the queries are very similar. We have compiled a Q & A below that answers the most commonly asked questions. Scroll down and see if you can find your question. If not, send us an email.
Do I have to log in to view a project's website?
No, you can view any page of a project's website without logging in. You can find the project's website by going to the Surnames page and following the links to the project's website.
You do need to log in to post on the forums and to "join" (track) the Surname Community. When your "track" the project by clicking "track" on the project's website, a link to the project will appear in the left sidebar each time you log in.
How do I register at the website?
Go to www.worldfamilies.net
Under the login button, click on "Create new account"
It will bring up a new screen that will have a box that says: "Register - Required Information" .
You can choose any username and password you would like. If you want to hide your email from the public on the website, click on the box next to the blank for your email address.
Do a "visual verification" by typing the scrambled letters you see.
Read the usage agreement below it, scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on the square by "I agree".
Click on "Register" below that. You are now registered.
Make a note of the username and password you chose in case you forget it the next time you visit the forum.
After you have registered, you can click on “Track Project” at the project website, and a link to the project website will appear each time you return to www.worldfamilies.net and log in. You can track several projects.
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I've registered before, but now I can't log in.
Go to www.worldfamilies.net and click on the “Request new password” link right under the log-in box.
Follow the instructions to receive an email to reset your password.
If you have changed your email address since you registered, you may not be able to receive the email. In that case, email us with your user name and we can reset your password for you.
Sometimes there is confusion about the Family Tree DNA website, and the Project website that is located at World Families. Your personal page is located at Family Tree DNA (www.familytreedna.com) When you log in at www.familytreedna.com, you will need to use your kit number and the password they sent you when your kit was returned. At the Family Tree DNA website, you are able to see your personal page. If you are unable to log in there, contact Family Tree DNA directly and they will help you log in. Call (713) 868-1438 or email helpdesk@familytreedna.com
The Project website is hosted at World Families Network (www.worldfamilies.net . You do not need to be registered or logged in to view any page on the website. You only need to log in to post on the forum or to click the Track Project button at the project website, so that each time you log in you will see a link to the project in the left sidebar. If you want to log in at www.worldfamilies.net, in order to post your pedigree, click on "Create new account" just under the log in box. You will be able to choose your own user name and password (please make a note of them). If you have registered at Worldfamilies Forum in the past but can't remember your user name or password, click on "Request new password" just under the log in box.
What is the relationship between FTDNA and WorldFamilies?
When Surname Projects do not have a family member to administer the project, Worldfamilies.net often steps in to administer the project until a family member is ready to take over. We provide the project's website, post results and pedigrees on the website, inform project members of any activity in the project, and answer questions from the project members. In addition, WorldFamilies also co-administers projects that have a Project Administrator who needs help administering the project. WorldFamilies has a business relationship with Family Tree DNA that allows us to provide this service. More information about WorldFamilies.net
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How do I find my surname project on this website?
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You can search for the project on the Surname Projects page of WorldFamilies.net
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You can go to www.familytreedna.com, do a search for a surname project, and follow the links to order through the project.
How does DNA testing work?
The DNA test is typically a cheek swab, which collects tissue cells. The laboratory examines these cells and uses standardized protocols to count the number of repeats of genetic patterns at standardized locations on the DNA helix. A yDNA result is a set of repeats (numbers) at particular addresses (markers). By comparing the numbers at the markers, we can determine if a man shares a common ancestor with a second sample. Typically, this is recorded as the number of exact matches and the total number of markers, i.e.: 12/12, 23/25 33/37, etc. Generally, for a greater number of markers, there is a higher reliability and for a closer the match in numbers, there is a closer relationship. MtDNA and Family Finder results are reported differently.
Once I've decided to be tested, how do I choose a test?
You have a choice of three tests in genetic genealogy:
yDNA for the male (paternal) line,
mtDNA for the female (maternal) line and
Family Finder (autosomal dna) to trace back on both sides for about 5 generations. For information on getting DNA testing: Get DNA Tested
For information on choosing the right test: Which Test?
For step-by-step guidance through the whole process, read: DNA the Smart Way.
Which yDNA test should I order?
Use as many markers as you can comfortably afford. Generally, we recommend starting with either 25 or 37 markers as a trade-off between cost and information. (If cost is a major issue, you can start with 12 markers and upgrade in steps.) If you know the surname you should match, you can probably get by with 25 markers. If you are trying to match to a different surname without a paper trail – you will need 37 markers. Most researchers who are serious about their genealogy have ended up with at least 37 markers – and many are now increasing to 67 markers. You can go in steps, upgrading a bit at a time - or buy the markers all at once.
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Which mtDNA test should I order?
If you are seeking information on your deep ancestry (1000s and 10,000s of years ago) the mtDNA test is sufficient. (This test is sometimes called HVR1)
If you wish to use your mtDNA result to confirm a maternal ancestry (you and another person share a common maternal ancestor) then you will gain by taking the mtDNA Plus test (This test is sometimes called HVR1 + HVR2)
If you wish to test your entire mtDNA sequence, then you’ll want the mtDNA Full Sequence test. (FTDNA calls this test “Mega”) FTDNA suggests this for anyone who doesn’t wish to be upgrading when they need more info – as this will give you the entire sequence.
How do I order a test?
You get the best price for a yDNA test at FTDNA by ordering through a project. Click the "order test link on the project's website and you will be taken directly to the order page for your project at FTDNA. You can also go to www.familytreedna.com, do a search for a surname project, and follow the links to order through the project.
How do I post ancestral information on my FTDNA personal page?
How do I provide my Earliest Known Ancestor for my project’s Results Page?
Click on “User Preferences” on your FTDNA Personal Page. Scroll down the page to find “Displaying Most Distant Known Ancestor”. For more information
How do I post a pedigree on my project's Patriarch Page?
At the present time, there are two ways to make your pedigree available to the project administrator for posting on the Patriarch Page:
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By E-Mail--Click here to send your pedigree to WorldFamilies.net for posting on the Project's Patriarch Page.
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On the Pedigree Forum--You must be logged in to post on the forum.
I'm female. Can I be tested?
Yes. Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) looks at the DNA that both women and men inherit from their mother's side. A mother passes her mtDNA to her children, but only females can pass it on. This represents the mother’s mother’s…mother’s maternal line. Your mtDNA result can be compared with another person’s mtDNA to see if you share a common female ancestor. Anyone can take this test. For more information about mtDNA. Additionally, you can sponsor a male from your surname family of interest. This allows you to participate in your ancestral surname DNA project. For help in choosing the right test for you,
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How can I find a male family member to test?
Sometimes you have to go back up the family tree and come down again to find the right male to test.
For example, if you are researching your mother’s surname line, ask these questions:
Did your mother have a brother? Did he have a son?
Did your mother’s father have a brother? Did he have sons? Did they have sons?
Did your mother’s grandfather have a brother? Did he have sons? Did they have sons?....and so on.
I haven't been tested yet. How do I join a Surname DNA Project?
Ordering your yDNA test through a project automatically makes you a member of a project (and gives you a lower yDNA test price).
Search for a surname project
More information on joining a project
How to order a test
I've already been tested at FTDNA. How do I join a Surname DNA Project?
Log in to your Personal Page at FTDNA, click on "Join Projects" in the left sidebar, and find your project. Follow links to join. Once you have joined the project, a link will appear on your Personal Page, and the Project Administrator will be notified.
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I tested for the National Geographic Genographic Project. Can I join a Surname DNA Project?
You can transfer your results to FTDNA and join projects. Go to the NGGP page, log in using your kit number. On the next page, click "I acknowledge". On the following page, scroll all the way down and click on "learn more". Check "I agree", then fill our the FTDNA form "Adding your Records to FTDNA" and click "Continue. Once you have joined the project, a link will appear on your FTDNA Personal Page, and the Project Administrator will be notified.
I tested at another company. Can I join one of your surname projects?
FTDNA now allows people who tested at other companies to join FTDNA's database for a modest amount. This allows you to join our Surname Projects. To learn more, click here: http://www.familytreedna.com/landing/ydna-transfer.aspx
I took the mtDNA test. Can I join a surname project?
Most Surname projects welcome mtDNA test takers - not so much for the mtDNA results, which doesn't correlate to the surname, as for the opportunity to include you in the family research.
I took the Family Finder test. Can I join a surname project?
Most Surname projects welcome Family Finder test takers - not so much for the results, which don't correlate to the surname, as for the opportunity to include you in the family research.
How do I trace my Native American Ancestry?
In order to test for Native American ancestry, you will need to have just the right connection between the ancestor you believe was Native American and the person being tested.
For a female Native American ancestor, you will use the mtDNA test. You will need to locate a person whose mother's mother's ... mother is the targeted Native American. If there is any male in the direct line between the person being tested and this ancestor, you will be testing some other ancestor's mtDNA and will not get what you seek. mtDNA is passed from a mother to her children. Men carry their mother's mtDNA, but cannot pass it on.
For a male Native American ancestor, you will use the yDNA test. You will need to locate a man whose father's father's ... father is the targeted Native American. If there is any female in the direct line between the man being tested and this ancestor, you will be testing some other ancestor's yDNA and will not get what you seek. yDNA is passed from a father to his sons. Women do not carry yDNA at all.
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How do I trace my Jewish Ancestry?
In order to test for Jewish ancestry, you will need to have just the right connection between the ancestor you believe was Jewish and the person being tested. As the Jewish tradition is handed down through the mother, you would first consider the mtDNA test, which tests your mother's mother's ... mother's maternal ancestry.
For a male Jewish ancestor, you will use the yDNA test. If there is any female in the direct line between the man being tested and this Jewish ancestor, you will be testing some other ancestor's yDNA and will not get what you seek. yDNA is passed from a father to his sons.
Here is what FTDNA has to say: "Jewish ancestry is not an exact result. By way of comparison we can see whether or not the direct line being tested is likely to be Jewish in origin. We have the largest Jewish ancestry database of this kind. This comparison is included on the recent ancestral origins page. There are 4 scenarios for individuals who think there may be Jewish origins: mainly matches who have listed Jewish origins (indicates probably of Jewish origins), some matches who have listed Jewish ancestry and some who have not (tougher to call, Bennett can help answer some of these questions), has matches, but not of Jewish origin (probably not Jewish in origin), or no matches at all. The last case, means you're not matching anyone of Jewish origins when compared against the database, but you are also not matching anyone of non-Jewish origins. This is a "wait and see" situation in most cases. There is a Cohen Modal Haplotype that we automatically compare everyone against. It is a 12 marker set of results. If you match this haplotype we put a CMH badge on your personal page which is linked to information on what that means."
We suggest that you work through the Jewish Heritage Project. But, don't click on the link to order yDNA for $149. Instead, click on "Projects" at the top of the page and then scroll down to "Dual Geographic Projects", then click on "J" then "Jewish Heritage Proj"
I was adopted. Can DNA testing help me?
As the database on those who have been DNA-tested is growing so rapidly, your chance of finding the surname group you match is growing quickly as well. FTDNA has set up a project just for adoptees. Once you are tested, here are some things you can do to make the most of your search:
1. Set your "personal page" so that your test results are compared to the entire database. This option is shown on the "user preferences" page. This will allow you to compare to everyone who has opted into the FTDNA database.
2. Upload your results to Ysearch, which is the database which allows anyone to upload his DNA results, no matter which testing company was used. This will allow you to compare to a larger group. To upload to Ysearch, go to your "personal page" at FTDNA and click on "Y-DNA Matches". The blue-boxed information will provide you with a link to Ysearch.
3. There is another public database at www.ybase.org where you can setup an account and compare to others registered there. Many results are in both Ysearch and Ybase, but it is worth checking at both.
4. Consider an upgrade. 37 markers is considered a minimum for matching across surnames, and some say you should test at 67 markers to confirm matches across surnames.
5. Once you have a very close match across surnames, contact the men you are matching and ask them to share paper trails with you.
Adoptees can also use the Family Finder test to match to male and female cousins from any of your family lines. You may be able to discover Parents, Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles, Siblings and Cousins. If your parent or grandparent was adopted, the Family Finder test may help you find their birth families.
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Are you my relative since you administer this project?
Although we each have several projects for our family lines that we administer, the majority of projects we administer at WorldFamilies.net are not our family lines. When Surname Projects do not have a family member to administer the project, Worldfamilies.net often steps in to administer the project until a family member is ready to take over. We provide the project's website, post results and pedigrees on the website, inform project members of any activity in the project, and answer questions from the project members. In addition, WorldFamilies also co-administers projects that have a Project Administrator who needs help administering the project. WorldFamilies has a business relationship with Family Tree DNA that allows us to provide this service.
More information about WorldFamilies.net
Does Joining (Tracking) a Surname Community at WorldFamilies.net make me a member of the project at FTDNA?
The "Track Project" link in the left sidebar appears only when you are logged in.
By clicking this link and clicking "Join" you are joining a WFN Surname Community (Group) of users who are researching this surname.
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Joining a WFN Surname Community (Group) does NOT make you a member of the Surname DNA Project at FTDNA--you have to be tested at FTDNA for that.
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Joining a WFN Surname Community (Group) gives
you a link to that project under "Favorite Projects"
whenever you sign in.
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Coming soon--other great features
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How do I test for Jewish ancestry?
In order to test for Jewish ancestry, you will need to have just the right connection between the ancestor you believe was Jewish and the person being tested. As the Jewish tradition is handed down through the mother, you would first consider the mtDNA test, which tests your mother's mother's ... mother's maternal ancestry.
For a male Jewish ancestor, you will use the yDNA test. If there is any female in the direct line between the man being tested and this Jewish ancestor, you will be testing some other ancestor's yDNA and will not get what you seek. yDNA is passed from a father to his sons.
Here is what FTDNA has to say: "Jewish ancestry is not an exact result. By way of comparison we can see whether or not the direct line being tested is likely to be Jewish in origin. We have the largest Jewish ancestry database of this kind. This comparison is included on the recent ancestral origins page. There are 4 scenarios for individuals who think there may be Jewish origins: mainly matches who have listed Jewish origins (indicates probably of Jewish origins), some matches who have listed Jewish ancestry and some who have not (tougher to call, Bennett can help answer some of these questions), has matches, but not of Jewish origin (probably not Jewish in origin), or no matches at all. The last case, means you're not matching anyone of Jewish origins when compared against the database, but you are also not matching anyone of non-Jewish origins. This is a "wait and see" situation in most cases. There is a Cohen Modal Haplotype that we automatically compare everyone against. It is a 12 marker set of results. If you match this haplotype we put a CMH badge on your personal page which is linked to information on what that means."
We suggest that you work through the Jewish Heritage Project. But, don't click on the link to order yDNA for $149. Instead, click on "Projects" at the top of the page and then scroll down to "Dual Geographic Projects", then click on "J" then "Jewish Heritage Proj"
How do I test for Native American ancestry?
In order to test for Native American ancestry, you will need to have just the right connection between the ancestor you believe was Native American and the person being tested.
For a female Native American ancestor, you will use the mtDNA test. You will need to locate a person whose mother's mother's ... mother is the targeted Native American. If there is any male in the direct line between the person being tested and this ancestor, you will be testing some other ancestor's mtDNA and will not get what you seek. mtDNA is passed from a mother to her children. Men carry their mother's mtDNA, but cannot pass it on.
For a male Native American ancestor, you will use the yDNA test. You will need to locate a man whose father's father's ... father is the targeted Native American. If there is any female in the direct line between the man being tested and this ancestor, you will be testing some other ancestor's yDNA and will not get what you seek. yDNA is passed from a father to his sons. Women do not carry yDNA at all.
Does Joining (Tracking) a Surname Community at WorldFamilies.net make me a member of the project at FTDNA?
The "Track Project" link in the left sidebar appears only when you are logged in.
By clicking this link and clicking "Join" you are joining a WFN Surname Community (Group) of users who are researching this surname.
Joining a WFN Surname Community (Group) does NOT make you a member of the Surname DNA Project at FTDNA--you have to be tested at FTDNA for that.
Joining a WFN Surname Community (Group) gives
you a link to that project under "Favorite Projects"
whenever you sign in.
Coming soon--other great feature
