Ignoring hints
I currently have a list of 92 hints. Some of them are concerning persons that are really distant from my family (3rd, 4th generation descendants from my ancestors...).
If I ignore these (i.e. click on 'ignore'), will these hints still be there for other users?
Answers
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Hi SImone
If you dismiss a record hint it dismisses it for all users.
The guidelines say to attach all accurate record hints even if they appear to be duplicates. The "not a match" button should be used only if the source does not have information about the ancestor. If you dismiss duplicate record hints, the hinting system is less reliable in finding record hints in the future about a person.
On the other hand if you find a record hint that does not apply to anyone in your tree, dismiss the hint, as this prevents others from attaching a record by mistake.
regards Anne
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Ignoring a hint indicates to the computer algorithm that it calculated incorrectly. Please don't let a number bother you. On my primary Ancestry tree, I currently have over 9,000 record hints. Some are valid; some are not. I don't worry about them - I'll go through them periodically.
Hints are meant to help, and the more you work on the tree, the more hints will be developed, as you expand and connect the branches of your family.
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To clarify my question: It is not about "not matching hints" or "dismissing hints". It's about ignoring hints in this list.
https://www.familysearch.org/de/home/tasks
There's nothing calculated incorrectly. I just don't feel I'm able to check all of them.
So, if I click on "ignore", the hints are still there for other users - yes or no?
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As near as I can determine, the Ignore option for hints on the home page has no lasting effect. All it does is very temporarily hide the hint from the hint list on the home page. It has no impact on any other user, and it doesn't even last for you. As soon as you refresh the page, all the ignored hints will appear in the list again.
So you can rest assured that you aren't doing anything permanent, but you will likely be disappointed by just how fleeting the effects are for your Ignore actions.
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I doubt if many users would be prepared to copy what I have done to avoid getting any hints - I have not connected my profile to any other individual in Family Tree. I rarely add any living persons and my direct family branches start with my grandparents. Other users have added a couple of my mother's siblings to the tree - not what I would have wished, but I can't stop that.
Okay, some of the hints I would have received might have proved useful, but I find I can pick-up on most things from the (profile) pages of my ancestors and relatives in Family Tree, or through personal research elsewhere.
I'm not recommending my method of working to anyone (they probably wouldn't want to copy it anyway!), but it does save a lot of pain in otherwise seeing a cluttered landing page (multiple hints and all) and believe it might just help a little in protecting the privacy of myself and my cousins.
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I'm testing, if the hints disappear permanently. So far, it hasn't reappeared. Maybe when I'll log in again tomorrow.
In general I find the hints useful, because they are hints to sources that can be connected. They are not hints to other people's trees. Actually, I had two cases in the last two days, which helped me to tear down brick walls and that made me happy. I might have stayed stuck there for the rest of my life.
Of course, there are always a few cases where people are wrongly matched. Just two or three in my case, and that was in a village where 50 percent of the people seemed to share one surname.
Thanks a lot for your comments!
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I realize "Record Hints" are of great value when looking for ancestors, but I really wish Family Search would allow those of us who have already gone as far back in history as we want to "opt-out" of receiving any more "hints." In my case, I've gotten the information I need on relatives going back to the mid-1800s but am not interested in going back centuries before then. However, I get "hints" going back to the 1500s for persons who may be my cousins six or seven times removed!! More and more keep popping up! I brought this up maybe a few years ago, and basically was told to live with it. I still think it would be a good idea though, if a member could choose to opt-out of hints.
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No, ignoring a hint from the list of record hints on your FS home page does not dismiss them for other users (or you) from the list of research helps on an ancestor's profile page. When you ignore one of these hints you'll get a message saying just that.
It's easy to confuse the "record hints" on your FS home page and the "research helps" on an ancestor's profile page (which, when expanded, leads you to a list of "record hints"). But "ignore" from the home page is different from "dismiss match" or "not a match" from the profile page.
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@Patrick John Kleaver, I've gone years with the same three hints showing on my home page. I just ignore them, same as I ignore the "new memory" from 2018. Or, well, come to think of it, same as nearly everything on the home page. (The only thing I ever use on it is the Recents list.) The hints aren't a requirement or even a recommendation, really, and you cannot get to the end of the list: the algorithm will just keep looking further and further out.
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Julia: Thanks for your reply to my May 19 comment!!
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