MyHeritage Destructive Sync Feature

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Robert Givens said: MyHeritage has just announced a new feature that allows users of their site to sync the people in their MyHeritage tree with the corresponding person in FamilySearch Family Tree. The MyHeritage person is the primary person in this syncing process so any sources not found on the MyHeritage person are automatically deleted from the person in Tree. Then the process goes and adds everything that is on the MyHeritage person only to the person in Tree. PLUS, and this is the worse thing, it somehow is able to remove the links for the sources from Records at FamilySearch so no sources are now showing as being used in FamilySearch. In my LDS line that I have checked my ancestor William Furlsbury Carter has 210 changes in the change log from one user. Richard Carter Sr. has 26 changes and Benjamin Carter has 46 changes. I don't even want to look further. We have worked for years to get this pedigree accurate and well documented with FS record sources and now no Record sources are linked any more. I have no clue where to even start or if it is even worth it to try to fix things. Collaboration is one thing - but this is a destructive feature that I feel should be shut down immediately.

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Tom Huber said: There are some major problems with MyHeritage.

To prevent MyHeritage from accessing FamilySearch FamilyTree

1. Log into FamilySearch.org
2. Click on your name in the upper right corner of the page
3. Select Settings
4. Select Connected Accounts.
5. Click on the Blue "Revoke Access" button next the site you do not want to allow access to your account.

Because of the way that MyHeritage is working, and given Ron Tanner's comments on what is happening with that site, I have revoked access to that site.

They are far too intrusive and destructive to allow them to continue to access the tree though my account.

Ancestry is not nearly as difficult to work with. They are more in line with the certified family tree management programs. Each person in an Ancestry tree must be linked to the person in FamilySearch FamilyTree (FSFT). Any changes you want to make from Ancestry to FSFT is one event at a time and you must provide a reason statement.

From what I understand, there is no reason requirement during the MyHeritage synchronization process. Any action like that which I understand happens to the FSFT records, must be individually controllable.

To place something like that under computer control is something that needs to stop, actually, it should never have happened in the first place.

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Chas Howell said: I don't know anything about this but Ron Tanner fielded a question about MyHeritage at about the 47+ minute mark on one of his facebook live broadcasts at: https://www.facebook.com/familyhistor...

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Tom Huber said: I hope I misunderstood what MyHeritage is doing, but I have a bad feeling that is not the case.

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Robert Givens said: Chas - Yes, he admitted that MyHeritage was able to sync with one press of a button. He even talked about the sources - but didn't specifically mention that the FS sources would lose their FS identity. He talked about this being a Slave and Master situation where the Master is MyHeritage and all changes are made byMH and FS has no say in the matter.
All I know is on my ancestors all their sources say "created by MH" - even the ones that were obviously created in source tracker. I went to one this afternoon that I knew came from FS - a marriage record from Maine. In the list of sources it had the Title of the source and the FS link in the URL - said this new patron who used MH created the source. The source had the citation and any notes/transcription had been removed. I clicked on the URL and it took me to the source and it said "review attachments." On doing that the wife was still attached as MH hadn't worked on her but the husband and person I was checking was not attached. So I linked him and the source is now at the top of the list with a FS logo in front of it. The source I had originally gone to from MH was still there as well - so I had to delete it so there wasn't a duplicate.
This is just to complicated for the average, novice, beginner user of tree to navigate. I hope no one says "Well this IS a collaborative tree" because doing this isn't collaboration it is destructive of our attempt to attach FS sources to people in tree.

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Melanie J. Fackrell said: There's been some really bad damage on some of my lines already this week. This is a train wreck and the casualties are only beginning.

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Liz said: If, as it appears, that "Official Representatives" of "Family Tree" of "FamilySearch" are monitoring this "GetSatisfaction" forum of "FamilySearch", them please pass on this request and my concerns to the Priesthood Authorities ( ie. Leadership ) of the Church responsible for "Family Tree" of "FamilySearch".

Please DO NOT allow "MyHeritage" to synchronize automatically; and / or, manually, back into "Family Tree" of "FamilySearch" in any process; but, especially NOT a "Bulk" process.

I have no problems when a User / Patron with connectivity access to, both, "Family Tree" and "MyHeritage" saves records ( ie. "Sources" ) from "MyHeritage" to "Family Tree".

I do have major problems / issues / concerns with any synchronize process automatically; and / or, manually, from "MyHeritage" back to "Family Tree"; but, I especially have extreme problems / issues / concerns with any "Bulk" synchronize process automatically; and / or, manually, from "MyHeritage" back to "Family Tree".

At best, if it must happen, any such synchronize process from "MyHeritage" back to "Family Tree" should only be done manually on a one to one record ( ie. Person ) basis from "MyHeritage" back to "Family Tree"; and, "Family Tree" should require all such changes in "Family Tree" be made on a one to one basis; and, they must all be recorded in the "Change Log" in "Family Tree" and all of those changes should be able to be reversed ( ie. "Restored" ) in a simple process.

But, more importantly, I reiterate, please DO NOT allow "MyHeritage" to synchronize automatically; and / or, manually, back into "Family Tree" of "FamilySearch" in any process; but, especially NOT a "Bulk" process.

'Thank You' in advance.

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Don M Thomas said: Did someone accidentally sale our birthright? If Ron Tanner made the statement, "...being a Slave and Master situation where the Master is MyHeritage and all changes are made by MH and FS has no say in the matter," needs an explanation Brother Tanner.

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Jeniann Nielsen said: I am complaining to MyHeritage about this as well to try to get it on their radar also to change this immediately. What careless programming to allow hundreds of changes in a single click.

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James Tanner said: This topic section shows there is a significant amount of misinformation about the MyHeritage Tree Sync feature. I suggest that those who are spreading an alarm take a step back and test the program like I have for the last month and a half or more. The trouble is with the word automatically. Those who are complaining do not understand or may not have used the feature.

I am identified with any changes made to the FS FT not MyHeritage. It sounds like most of the comments here are being made by people who do not use MyHeritage or have not investigated the Tree Sync feature and are reacting to inaccurate comments. If I am wrong and Ron is around, he can always talk to me.

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Jeniann Nielsen said: I cannot find a way to delete my comment but this is not as large of a problem as it may seem. http://rejoiceandbeexceedingglad.blog...

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Gordon Collett said: I have not tried this My Heritage syncing at all, but I've been reading through the My Heritage blog about this sync feature and if it really works the way they say it does, it may not be so bad. Here are some quotes from their blog with emphasis added by me:

Enter a password to use on MyHeritage, enter the beta program participation code, accept the terms and conditions and click Go. If you are already a member on MyHeritage, you will be prompted to log in and enter your existing password.

MyHeritage will now begin to comprehensively and accurately copy a portion of your tree from FamilySearch into a new family tree for you on MyHeritage

If you have an existing tree on MyHeritage, a new one will be created anyway. It is not possible to sync a tree that already exists on MyHeritage. The only way to begin a sync is by fetching a new tree from FamilySearch into MyHeritage.

MyHeritage will detect changes that were made in both your MyHeritage trees and in the portion of your tree on FamilySearch Tree, and will transfer any changes back and forth to keep both trees in perfect sync. New ancestors that you discovered on MyHeritage will flow into FamilySearch Tree, including names, dates, places and sources. Photos that you added to your MyHeritage tree, will also be uploaded as memories to FamilySearch for you. Similarly, changes and additions that were made to your portion of the FamilySearch Tree by you or other members, will be copied to your MyHeritage tree.

As you can see, the integration always begins by copying a tree from FamilySearch Tree into MyHeritage. Existing trees on MyHeritage which were not imported in this manner cannot be synced back from MyHeritage to FamilySearch so there is no danger of the FamilySearch Tree being changed in undesirable ways.

It is emphasized that the integration always starts by importing a tree from FamilySearch to MyHeritage. It is not possible to synchronize any other MyHeritage tree into FamilySearch. If you are a member of the LDS and already have a tree on MyHeritage, this integration will create a new family site with a new family tree for you on MyHeritage. If you are not a member of the LDS, your tree will never be synced to FamilySearch.

All this information and additional explanations are found at https://blog.myheritage.com/2018/03/n...

They also state there:

We want to hear from our users who are LDS members what improvements they would like to see so that we can deliver the best tools for our community. Please send your feedback to fsbeta@myheritage.com.

If things work the way the blog reads, it sounds like this new feature goes a long ways toward addressing how to to keep a good, privately controlled backup to ones immediate family from Family Tree.

If things are not working as advertised, then My Heritage needs to hear about it. According to the blog article, the only way to have 210 real changes on a person is for someone to have transferred a tree from Family Tree to My Heritage, manually made 210 changes on that person, then synced back.

One question, if anyone has noticed this, do FamilySearch system sources lose their tree icon and get a globe icon? This seems to be implied from the original entry on this topic. If so, does this make everything editable in the source including the link and citation? And if so, does this mean these will all show up as hints again?

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Gordon Collett said: This looks to be the William Furlsbury Carter mentioned in the original post:
https://www.familysearch.org/tree/per...
with the 210 changes.

Scanning through the change log, it looks most of the changes were not really changes. Something in the sync process appears to record in the change log that information was removed then put right back on. However, the Life Sketch was removed and not put back.

Also, when all the sources were removed and replaced, they were changed from FamilyTree sources (tree icon) to manually created sources (globe icon) and the source citation was deleted. That's not good.

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Robert Givens said: James Tanner - You need to take a step back and take a look or two at what has happened to some records at FS. I have a MyHeritage account and a large tree there but would never touch that Sync feature after what an other patron did to 4 of my ancestors in FamilyTree. Just take a look at my ancestor, William Furlsbury Carter - KWJ4-LY2. For all the good things MyHeritage is supposed to do - I can not and will not be happy that all 89 sources for this person were hijacked by MyHeritage. Only the one source that I personally restored now has a link to the Records in FS. I guess if you don't care about sourcing your person to the records in Tree then this is OK but I do care. Also all these sources recreated by MH have had the citation and any notes/transcriptions deleted in this process.
I fail to see how you can say I am spreading misinformation. Take a look. I emailed the patron who did this and he confirmed that yes, in fact, this is what he did - sync his MH tree and no he didn't intend for this to happen.

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Robert Givens said: In my case all 89 sources to William Furlsbury Carter, KWJ4-LY2 (except for the one I restored) now have the globe icon. The ones that were originally from FamilySearch have lost their link to the record in Records. The hints haven't appeared yet (as of last night).
If you click on a FS URL withing a source that started in FS like the one I restored, you will be taken to that record and if others are attached to it you will get the Review Attachment message. I did that and the wife was still attached but the husband (William) wasn't in this marriage record. Yes, I used source tracker to reattach him and the new source appeared in his list. But then I had to go back through all the sources and find the original source and delete it.
No third party program should be allowed to destroy the links within our FS sources so that we have to recreate sources we have spent years creating.
MyHeritage may have some unique features that help make more correct trees but this is not one of them.

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Tom Huber said: Hi Robert, I fully agree. did you report this back to MH? fsbeta@myheritage.com.

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Robert Givens said: The change logs when the source is physically removed and again if it is returned to FS. In the process the citation and any note/transcription on the original source is removed. Finally MH takes credit for the source.

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Gordon Collett said: I just posted this a comment on James Tanners' blog for his comments:

I've been reading through the getsatisfaction board comments, My Heritage's blog, and your post here. I have not tried anything myself.

One topic on getsatisfaction started with a Family Tree patron's concerns about William Furlsbury Carter, ID: KWJ4-LY2, having a list of 210 changes from a sync with My Heritage. The assumption is that this sync was done with their new system although I am not sure how to tell if this was the case or not.

Looking at that Change Log, it appears there are so many changes because the sync removed every piece of information from Family Tree then immediately replaced it with the same information with a few notable exceptions. This makes it look like massive changes took place in Family Tree when that did not really happen. It also makes it fairly impossible to tell when looking at the tree from the Family Tree side what really happened or what was really changed.

Two things I did see in the change log that look concerning. First of all, the Life Sketch in Family Tree was removed and not replaced. Of course, the My Heritage user may have deleted it on purpose in My Heritage before syncing although in reading the Life Sketch in the Change Log I can't imagine why he would.

Secondly, when all the FamilySearch system sources were removed then replaced, they were changed from FamilySearch system sources (Tree Icon) to manually created sources (Globe Icon) and the source citation was deleted, leaving just the title and URL link.

Besides the problem of the citations being deleted, this raises the question as to whether the Family Tree hinting system will recognize these sources as being attached or if it will start presenting all these as sources that need to be attached.

To illustrate what the Change Log looks like, here are two brief excerpts from this person's change log which are separated there by dozens of entries:

Occupation Added
11 March 2018
Occupation
Preacher, missionary, blacksmith, wagon-maker, mechanic and carpenter

Occupation Removed
11 March 2018
Occupation
Preacher, missionary, blacksmith, wagon-maker, mechanic and carpenter
Reason for Deleting This Information
Deleted on MyHeritage

(The deletion occurred first, then the information was added back.)

I also note that none of the information "Deleted on MyHeritage," such as the life sketch, has a restore button next to it as is standard otherwise. This is not significant when the information was not really changed, but is a significant flaw for information that really was changed or deleted.

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Tom Huber said: What is particularly troubling is that this is the production (live) FamilyTree that is being impacted. Whether this was an automated action or not is not known. Only the person who made those changes can report whether they manually deleted and then added the material back into the system or if they were using the MyHeritage site to initiate and complete the delete and add back in actions.

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Gordon Collett said:

I should probably test MH to verify or correct the current impression that I have. First, that the system is indeed working with the beta site and not production.... If someone has actually done testing, and verified that the current MH site does not adversely impact production FSFT, it would be a start.

In Ron's Facebook video that Chase gave the link to, Ron specifically states that the MyHeritage sync is to the actual data on FamilyTree, not the FamilyTree beta site so to not goof around with data just to test it out. He said that FamilySearch is testing it out on the Family Tree beta site so they can try all sorts of strange things to test it, but we cannot.

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Tom Huber said: I just looked at a comment by Robert Givens in response to James Tanner's comments and the person who impacted the production FamilyTree did so using the MyHeritage site.

Evidently, it is not working with the beta site, but production.

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Tom Huber said: The person verified to Robert Givens that he used MyHeritage and did not intend for the actions to take place that happened to the KWJ4-LY2 sources.

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Gordon Collett said: Ron said in the video Chas gave the link to that Family Tree is the master. Do watch his video, it is reassuring despite the fact that this beta release by My Heritage has a major problem with sources.

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Tom Huber said: I need a code to enter the test. I have requested the code from MyHeritage.

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Tom Huber said: Gordon just validated (above) that the "beta" test that MyHeritage is conducting is with the live FamilyTree production data.

This has to stop immediately, or much testing is going to be destructive to the production data and things will be even more messed up than they are now!

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Amie Renee Tennant said: I am reading through these comments and also reading over at Bro. Tanner's blog...my question might be totally off topic, but it is a real concern that I have. If we are syncing the MyHeritage Tree to the Family Search Family Tree, then aren't we sucking into our MyHeritage Tree all the wrong names, dates, etc that exist in the FSFT? In other words, once the initial sync is made, is that "it" or does it continue to sync as changes are made to FSFT? So if cousin Susie goes in and changes Grandpa's birth date on FS, will that "automatically" make that change to my MH Tree?

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Tom Huber said: Yes, MyHeritage pulls in all the existing data for those persons.

Yes, when the MyHeritage sync is initiated, any and all bad changes made by patrons in the massive tree are also moved to the MyHeritage copy. Updates to the MyHeritage copy only happens when the MyHeritage patron uses the sync feature.

The changes go both ways. The latest change (by date) is what is moved, whether it is in the copy of the tree on the MyHeritage site (which is moved to FSFT), or on the FamilySerach FamillyTree site (which is then moved to the MH copy of the tree). The two trees are made to be "in perfect sync" at that point. Note, in looking through the MH site, it appears that a list is generated with all the changes that were made. I do not see if those can be selectively "sync'd" or not, or if it is automatic in both directions.

Yes, when the sync is initiated, then cousin Susie's changes to Grandpa's birth date is moved to the MH copy of the tree.

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Tom Huber said: That is according to what I have discerned from the literature and the comments of those with experience.

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Robert Givens said: I have asked this individual to give me a full explaination of what he did. Yes, this is production.

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jimmy.zimmerman said: Please be aware that this a bug and not the intended behavior of the MyHeritage sync process.

This particular user had updated his tree on MyHeritage with the Family Tree Builder software which appears to have caused problems with the sync to FamilySearch. MyHeritage has now disabled all syncs for trees that have been touched by Family Tree Builder.

This is being treated with the highest priority by both FamilySearch and MyHeritage. We will post more updates as they are available.

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Robert Givens said: Jimmy - Thank you so much. Is there any relief for us on the FS end where our records have been affected (like the sources on my William Furlsbury Carter?)