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Learn how to build your family tree document by genealogical document using MyHeritage Record Matches.
Have you wished you could hire a professional genealogist to build your family tree? While that rates for a professional average about $50-100 per hour, you can do a lot on your own with the help of a computer genealogy research assistance known as MyHeritage Record Matching.
Overview of MyHeritage Record Matching
With billions of historical records to explore, MyHeritage's algorithms compare your search queries to documents and return the most relevant source possibilities. This One Big Family genealogy website will return results even if your ancestor appears with a spelling variation or in a different language.
You can allow MyHeritage to send you Record Match notifications to your email inbox or on platform prompts.
Since the website constantly adds new record collections, you will probably receive new Record Match notifications regularly.
How to Access Record Matches
There are three ways you can access Record Matches through the website.
Top Menu Icon
The first way involves an icon in the top menu bar on the MyHeritage Website.
Click on the icon that looks like notepaper.
On the Match Discovery Hub, you'll see Record matches grouped by record collection.
You'll now have access to a list of potential sources that may document individuals in your family tree. Use this access method when you're causally working on your family tree.
Family Tree Views
The second way to access record hints on MyHeritage is through any of the family tree views.
Open your family tree in either the Family or Pedigree View.
Click on the brown icon that appears on a profile box.
A page will open where you can review the discoveries algorithm found for a specific individual.
If you're using the Fan Chart View, you need to click on a wedge to open a left panel for your ancestor. A brown icon appears in this window if MyHeritage has found record hints for your ancestor, click on that icon to access the same page as you would from the other family tree views.
Navigation Menu
The final way to access the source hints is through the man website navigation menu.
Click the Discoveries option.
Select "Matches by source” or “Matches by people.”
Watch this video.
How to Evaluate MyHeritage Hints
Apparently, MyHeritage lists record matches according to the value it adds to building your family tree. This might explain why online family trees such as Geni, FamilySearch, and WikiTree frequently appear at the top of my results.
When you find a record such as a census, city directory, land record, or other documents of interest, click on the Review Match button. You'll then see the Review Match page.
On this page, you'll see:
extracted data from the digital document
an image of the original record, where applicable
Record Detective Results which are essentially additional record match hints
You can only view the original documents if they are part of the MyHeritage free record collections or if you have a Data or Complete subscription
Always review the digitized document because the extracted data does not always include every pertinent detail the record offers.
To ensure the record does prove your ancestor's identity and their relationship to their family, look for details beyond just their name in a specific place.
Study their relationships, occupations, property addresses, places of origin, or other details that can distinguish one person with a common name from another.
If you believe the record provides evidence for your ancestor, click the "Confirm" button.
↪️ Are you new to genealogy? Grab your copy of this FREE Beginner Guide:
Add New Information to Your Family Tree
After confirming a record match, MyHeritage will then guide you through the process of adding new information to your ancestor and any additional relatives mentioned in the source.
Manually review each piece of information from the document before you add it to your family tree.
Sometimes the document may have new information such as a:
complete date
partial or complete places, when you previously had nothing
relatives
source citation
Always mark the source citation as something you want to add to your family tree.
If you want to accept new information by either adding or overwriting what's in the tree, click on the arrows beside the fact that appear down the middle of the screen.
If you want to add a fact but do not want to overwrite what is already in the tree, you can click "Add as an alternative."
If you want to keep the fact as it already appears in your family tree, then do nothing with the data except ensuring the source citation is added.
Adding New Information About Relatives
If a resource has information on an individuals' family member, MyHeritage will attempt to find a matching person in your current family tree. They will ask you to confirm the match between the person in your tree or the records.
Or, you can use the option add as a new relative to your tree.
This can be a handy way to build your family tree record by record.
After you have manually reviewed the Record Match details, click the “Save to tree” button to update your family tree.
Note: If you have a Data or Complete subscription, you can extract data into your family tree. Otherwise, you will need to manually update your family tree with the sources.
Record by record, you can build your family tree using MyHeritage. As you make discoveries, make plans to turn these findings into written family stories. If you need help, check out our blog posts about doing just that.
More Tips on Using MyHeritage
Review the following blog posts and videos to continue learning how to use MyHeritage.