I do use the My Heritage site quite a lot. When it came time to renew my subscription the card that I had previously used had been changed due to some hacking activity. I received a phone call about my subscription payment issue. I was asked if I was renewing – I said I would think about it! Long story short – I received an extremely good deal so I now have a subscription again.
Currently, My Heritage has over 20 billion records. Their current collections contain about 7365 sets (as of March 2024).
Some of these are also available in FamilySearch, FindMyPast, Ancestry and The Genealogist. However, there is a huge emphasis on European records.
Login On.
Once you have logged into your account, you are presented with a top menu that consists of: Home, Family Tree, Discoveries, Photos, DNA and Research. (To the far right is a small icon, marked Accessibility, once clicked, the accessibility menu options are displayed. Please explore these for yourself. These options, I found, are very useful.)
Home.
Home is the default and on my screen when writing about My Heritage it displayed: A DNA promotion (which you have to pay for). Then, it displays my Site Name, next is displayed (from left to right) – My name: A list of the number of People in My Tree, the Number of Trees, the number of Photos, the number of Discoveries, and number of DNA kits.
In the centre shows a Record Match, activate a DNA kit, (When scrolling down) recent activity. On the right side, you can research your ancestors. Enter: First and middle name, Last name and then Search. There is also an advanced search that can be carried out. I shall let you have a look around on the homepage at your leisure.
Tree View.
After selecting Family Tree in the Pedigree View from the top menu your choices are:
My family tree, My photos, Import GEDCOM, Manage trees, Print charts and books, Timeline, Consistency checker and more…
By just selecting My family tree, you are presented with your tree. To the far right, you can change the way you view your tree: Family View, Pedigree (my default), Fan and List. Have a play around with the different views is the best way to see what they look like and what suits you.
You can “Find a Person” in your tree. You can change your settings i.e. Preferred Tree View, Card Display options and Name options. Again, check out what you want your options to be.
Further down on this tree view, you can use Colour Coding, Display full screen, Centre oneself to the centre (of the tree) and Change the zoom (in or out) on the tree.
Top Menu – Discoveries.
Back to the top menu – Discoveries – you can display Matches by People, Source or select Instant Discoveries. By just selecting Discoveries – matches by people are shown. This is where the rabbit holes start! I won’t go through what is displayed as a sub-menu, you can explore and discover that for yourself.
Like with any research, have a research question and know who you want to research. It is a huge timesaver.
Photos.
Next off the top menu is Photos: choices here are: My Photos, Photo Tagger, Colourise Photos, Enhance, Animate plus Deep Story and AI Time Machine (for some fun). Again, rabbit holes appear here! By just selecting Photos, will display – all media and the number of media items. Again, check out what’s on your photo display page.
DNA.
Moving on to DNA at the top menu. (Another huge rabbit hole opens). You can choose: Overview, Ethnicity Estimate, DNA matches, DNA tools, manage DNA kits, Upgrade to health, Upload DNA data and Order DNA kits. Again explore and discover.
The default will be when selecting DNA shows the menu as written above up to DNA tools. Underneath are DNA matches showing Close Family, Extended Family and Distant Relatives. Scrolling down the page (or the screen) locations are displayed.
At the bottom is family tree DNA analysis. (You have to register for this, I have not.) To me, it’s another expense which I currently don’t need.
Research.
Research is the last item on the top menu. Here you can:
- Search all records.
- AI record finder.
- Collection catalogue.
- Births marriages and deaths.
- Census records.
- Family trees.
- Newspapers.
- Immigration records.
- Hire a researcher.
Check these out and see what you find.
As you can see there is a lot to look at and take in. As I previously stated, start with the person you want to research and have a research question you wish answered.
My Take on My Heritage.
With My Heritage, I have found the site fairly easy to use. Like all other sites, the subscription can be expensive. You can do what I did (as mentioned at the beginning of this writing (which is the truth).
One thing to remember, all that I have mentioned throughout this writing can change. My Heritage makes updates to the site. So today it may look as I have described it but next month it may be completely different. Their website is: http://www.myheritage.com
Explore and Discover.
Acknowledgements: The screenshots are all from the MyHeritage website. The Subscription pic has been generated via Canva.
Ancestor Family 