Update Your "Personal Page" at FTDNA

Stage 2--Updating your Personal Page gives you control of your test resultsⁱ. 

When the lab finishes processing the sample and your results are returned to you, you will be notified by email. 

You will then have much more access and options, and will be able to adjust your preferences, such as determining whether you compare to results outside of the project. 

The choices you make and the actions you take at this time in the use of your Personal Page will have an impact on the success of your DNA testing, so make sure you take advantage of all the services offered to you at FTDNAⁱ.
 
Now that you have full control of your test results, you want to be sure to use all the tools provided to you by FTDNA. 
(If you have not yet received your test results, you will be in Stage 1 Access Your Personal Page.)

You will need your kit number and a password (which FTDNA will send to you) to get into your “personal pageⁱ”.

Here are the First Three Things you will want to do when you have full access to your results and the expanded Personal Page: 

• Go to “User Preferences” to
  
  • Decide whether your matches are compared against just the surname project or the entire database, and how many markers to use in displaying your matches:  12, 25, 37, or 67. (You can switch back and forth, if you wish.)
  • Post your Most Distant Known Ancestor and his place of birth.  Be sure you fill out this very important piece of information, which will be displayed with your test results and will be helpful to those you match. 
• Go to "Y-DNA DYSⁱ Values"
  • Your Haplogroup will be posted first.  To learn more about this haplogroupⁱ, click on "Haplogroup" in the left column of your Personal Page
  • You test results will be shown in "Panels", as the markers were tested in the lab.  The "DYS#" is the address on that strand of the DNA.  The "Alleles" show your own individual count at that marker.  These are the numbers that will be used to compare to other tests in the project and database to see if you share a common ancestor. 
  • Click on "Understanding your results" just above the test results to take you to information that will help you read and understand the DNA test results and what they mean.
• Go to "Y-DNA Matches"
  
  • Start with your largest marker comparisons, depending on the number of markers you had tested. (12, 25, 37, or 67)
  • Look first at your best match at the most markers you have been tested.  For example, if you were tested at 37 markers, look under "37 Markerⁱ Matches"  to see if you have a 37/37 match ("Exact Matches"), 36/37 match ("Genetic Distance-1") or 35/37 match ("Genetic Distance-2") 
  • You will also want to see if any of your close matches have (Y67) beside the name.  If so, this means that this person has been tested at 67 markers, so you may want to consider upgrading to 67 yourself to see if the match holds up.
  • Then go up to the "25 Marker Matches" category to see if you have close matches there.   Look at each name of the matches to see if they have a parenthesis after the name with Y37 or Y67 in it.  If they do, that means you have already found them as matches when you looked at the 37 marker matches, or the match did not hold up at higher resolution. 
  • If the person you closely match at 25 markers does not have a parenthesis with Y37 or Y67 after his name, this means that he has only been tested to 25 markers, and you may want to encourage him to upgrade to 37 to see if your match holds up.
  • You can then look at the "12 Marker Matches" to see if there is a match there.  However, 12 markers are not considered enough by most genetic genealogists to indicate a common ancestor.  If you find a match there who has not upgraded beyond 12 markers, you will want to encourage him to upgrade to see if the match holds up at a higher resolution.

The information provided below will help you understand and utilize the rest of your Personal Page.  Use the links provided to: order upgrades and certificates, track the progress of your test through the FTDNA labs, and upload your results to Y-search and your GEDCOMⁱ to FTDNA.

Please note that you may not see all the items that appear below on your personal page; some are for Y-DNA tests, some are for mtDNA tests, and a few are for both.)

(To see an example of a Personal Page at FTDNA, click here.)


Here are some tips for using your Personal Page :     

Groups (left column) --this box has a pulldown list that shows all the groups  (surname, haplogroup, or geographic project) you have joined.     

• Some people do not choose to compare outside of their group, so you need to be sure you have selected the group you specifically want to compare against.
• In order to join a group, click on the blue "Join" button just below the Group box.  You will be shown a listing of all the groups that include your surname, followed by a search box and alphabetical listing for surname, geographical and haplogroup projects. 
• Y-Searchⁱ  - If you have joined Y-Search, you will have a short-cut button that shows up below your Group box.
• Mito-Search - If you have joined mitosearch, you will have a short-cut button that shows up below your Group box.
• You are allowed to be in two surname, one Y-Haplogroup, one mt-Haplogroup, and one geographic project.
  
  

• Setting preferences for matching within your surname or against everyone who has opted into FTDNA's database
• Which matches to show you (you will receive an email when you have matches)
• “Displaying the Most Distant Known Ancestor” is a very important piece of information.   Here you will list your earliest known paternal ancestor (relates to your yDNA test) and your earliest known maternal ancestor (relates to your mtDNA test - if you have one).  This allows your results to be linked to your ancestor and gives researchers a way to begin building lineages within your surname project. 
  
  

• You will receive the name and email address of each reported match.  You can contact your matches by clicking on the email address.
• A 12-marker match is generally inadequate for genealogy purposes.  Most researchers will not respond to a contact about a 12-marker match, and many researchers don't even allow comparison of their 12-marker results.
• A 25-marker match should be at least 23/25.  Many researchers consider this match to be sufficient if you share a surname. 
• A 37-marker match should be at least 33/37.  We consider this to be the lowest matching level for those of different surnames (unless they have connecting paper trails.)
• A 67-marker match should be at least 61/67.  FTDNA recommends this test when comparing to others with a different surname.  This test is particularly useful in trying to better understand a large genetic family.
• General comments:
  • When you compare with another test, be sure you compare only at the highest number of markers that have been tested. 
  • The number in parenthesis in your "Matches Found" listing is the number of markers tested by that individual.  If it is more than yours, you will gain by upgrading to compare at the same number of markers the other individual has tested.

• Joining Y-Search -- This is where FTDNA has "hidden" this important option.  Uploading to Y-Search puts your results into the public database operated by FTDNA.
  
  

• If you have not reported your own paternal or maternal country of origin, and you are confident of this information, click on "Modify Contact Information" and provide this information.
• It's important to note both the number of matches you have for a country and how many people in the database (shown in parenthesis after the country's name) have reported that country of origin.  (For example, if you have 6 matches from England and 3 from France, you may want to focus more on France, as the number of people from France who have been tested is so much smaller - this means that the proportion from France who match you is much higher.)
  
  

• Most participants have a haplogroup estimate that was derived by comparing their results with others who have the same result and who have been SNP tested. (Estimated haplogroups are shown in red on our results page.)
• Haplogroups are reported in varying degrees of detail.  Each level of specificity is defined by an additional letter or number.  The longer the reported haplogroup designation, the more specific it is.  When haplogroups are reported with different levels of specificity, it can be confusing.   Here are examples of haplogroups where the men can or cannot share a recent common ancestor.
  • These men can share a recent common ancestor:  R1b, R1b1, R1b1c - as the differences are levels of specificity.  Another example:  I, I1b, I1b2
  • These men cannot share a recent common ancestor:  R1b1c, R1b1d .  Anytime the specificity is the same and the last character is not matching, these men do not share a recent common ancestor.
• Scroll to the bottom of this page for a description of FTDNA's haplogroups that are near your result.
• Some participants do not have a haplogroup estimate.  FTDNA has committed to providing a haplogroup estimate for every participant.  This will require an additional test at FTDNA's expense--which is the good news.  The downside is that you don't know how long this process will take.
• Haplogroup Test (SNPⁱ Test) - This is where FTDNA has "hidden" this important test. 

• You will choose this test if you want your haplogroup substantiated by a test.  (Haplogroups determined by SNP testing are shown in green on our results page.)
• You can order your own SNP test if you want to be sure of a timely answer if FTDNA has been unable to estimate your haplogroup and you don't want to wait.
• Most SNP tests will provide a more specific result.
• Projects have been established for most haplogroups.  It can be helpful to join your haplogroup project.
  
  

• You will receive the name and email address of each reported match.  You can contact your matches by clicking on the email address.
• Matches are reported as low-resolution matches and high-resolution matches.
  • Low resolution matches may indicate a shared common ancestor which may be recent or may date to several thousand years ago. 
  • High resolution matches will indicate a more recent common ancestry, but may still predate known paper trails.
• Joining MitoSearch.org -- This is where FTDNA has "hidden" this important option.  Uploading to Mito-Search puts your results into the public database operated by FTDNA.
  
  

• If you have not reported your own paternal or maternal country of origin, and you are confident of this information, click on "Modify Contact Information" and provide this information.
• It's important to note both the number of matches you have for a country and how many people in the database (shown in parenthesis after the country's name) have reported that country of origin.  (For example, if you have 6 matches from England and 3 from France, you may want to focus more on France, as the number of people from France who have been tested is so much smaller - this means that the proportion from France who match you is much higher.)
  
  

• Check this to make sure the contact information is correct, and update your contact information any time it changes.
• Make sure you have listed as the "additional email address" anyone whom you would like to receive all the same information you do about your test results and matches.

For more information to help you understand your test results, click here

Frequently Asked Questions about Test Results