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Flow Chart for Creating a GEDmatch-ADSA Record
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The Autosomal DNA Segment Analyzer (ADSA) was originally developed as a way to organize, visualize, work with your match list and chromosome data, and determine which of your matches are also related to each other (that is, ICW = in common with) using information from Family Tree DNA’s (FTDNA) Family Finder test. Now it can also be used with GEDmatch.
When I blogged about the original ADSA in early 2014 (Part 1 and Part 2), I indicated the following: "ASDA is an amazing tool developed by Don Worth and really fills a niche, in that it is incredibly useful for both novices (and those not wanting/able/prepared to spend hours and hours working with spreadsheets) as well as those who are more experienced and have elaborate and sophisticated Excel spread-sheets to work with their DNA data." Rob Warthen from DNAGedcom has worked his programming magic to create a GEDmatch loading tool, allowing us to create GEDmatch-ADSA reports in the same way as those of us on FTDNA have been able to create FTDNA-ADSA reports. |
If you are a Tier 1 member at GEDmatch, the GEDmatch Load Tool on DNAGedcom will combine the Matching Segment Search and Triangulation outputs from GEDmatch, so you can run various tools on DNAGedcom, including ADSA. Once your GEDmatch data are in the system on DNAGedcom, you run a GEDmatch-ADSA report in exactly the same way as a FTDNA-ADSA report.
This blog posting provides detailed instructions for both having access to the Tier 1 tools on GEDmatch, and also for how to upload your GEDmatch data to DNAGedcom and create a GEDmatch-ADSA file. You have to go back and forth between the 2 websites, as shown in the Flow Chart above. This Flow Chart may be a useful Cheat Sheet when you don't need the detailed instructions, but you can't quite remember a step.
Step-by-step instructions are given below, and are also available as a downloadable PDF file (click HERE to download), which includes some additional information, which may be useful if either GEDmatch or DNAGedcom are new to you. Just skip over sections that you are already familiar with. Click on any of the images below to see a larger version.
This blog posting provides detailed instructions for both having access to the Tier 1 tools on GEDmatch, and also for how to upload your GEDmatch data to DNAGedcom and create a GEDmatch-ADSA file. You have to go back and forth between the 2 websites, as shown in the Flow Chart above. This Flow Chart may be a useful Cheat Sheet when you don't need the detailed instructions, but you can't quite remember a step.
Step-by-step instructions are given below, and are also available as a downloadable PDF file (click HERE to download), which includes some additional information, which may be useful if either GEDmatch or DNAGedcom are new to you. Just skip over sections that you are already familiar with. Click on any of the images below to see a larger version.
Tier 1 GEDmatch
Although most of the GEDmatch tools are free, in October 2014, GEDmatch introduced an enhanced Tier 1 membership, which provides additional, server-intensive tools. If you have donated to GEDmatch in the past, you will have access to the Tier 1 tools for “a period of time equal to 1 month for every $10 donated.” So basically, Tier 1 GEDmatch membership costs $120 for a full year. But you can take out membership on a month‑by‑month basis (without any commitments), so you can try it out for a month and then come back again whenever you donate another $10.
Figure 1: GEDmatch Home Page for a Tier 1 Member
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You can tell whether you are a Tier 1 member from your GEDmatch Home page, which is the main page that opens when you log‑in to www.GEDmatch.com. If you are a Tier 1 Member, this will be shown at the top left (red oval) and the Tier 1 Utilities are in the box at the bottom right (Figure 1). If you aren’t a Tier 1 Member, your Home page will instead show you as a Registered User (Figure 2) and the block of Tier 1 Utilities won’t be shown.
Figure 2: GEDmatch Home Page if NOT a Tier 1 Member
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If you already have Tier 1 Utilities at GEDmatch, you can skip this section.
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Log‑in to www.GEDmatch.com using your email address and password. If you aren’t registered at GEDmatch, use the same URL, then left‑click HERE at the red arrow in Figure 3 to register. You will need to upload your raw DNA data from either AncestryDNA, 23andMe, or FTDNA – instructions are provided at the top of the GEDmatch upload pages for each of the companies.
Once you have logged in, scroll down to the bottom of the Home page to the Donate section (Figure 4). For a one‑off payment, left‑click on the “Donate” button, or if you want to set up a regular monthly donation to ensure you always have Tier 1 membership, left‑click on the “Join GEDmatch” button. Payments are made through Paypal or you can send a check. In order to have access to Tier 1 Utilities, the minimum donation is $10, which will give you access for a month. After payment through Paypal, you should have access to Tier 1 Utilities within minutes – try reloading the page if you don’t see them. If you have the option of paying via Paypal using the same email address as you use for GEDmatch, use that, to minimize the chance that they can't link your Paypal payment to your GEDmatch account. |
Figure 3: GEDmatch Log in or Registration
Figure 4: Donate to GEDmatch
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Once you can see the Tier 1 tools on your GEDmatch Home page (Figure 1), you are good to go. If you have made an appropriate donation and Tier 1 doesn’t show up on your GEDmatch Home page within an hour, contact GEDmatch@gmail.com, letting them know your GEDmatch number and email address, as well as the email address used for the Paypal payment, and they will straighten it out. Please remember that GEDmatch (like DNAGedcom) is run by unpaid volunteers who have other commitments.
Step by Step Instructions for Creating a GEDmatch ADSA Output
Update (14 Apr 2015): A few people have reported issues when using Firefox as their browser. So if you have any problems when following the instructions precisely, try another browser. Google Chrome and Internet Explorer seem to work fine.
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Step 1
Log‑in to www.dnagedcom.com. If you don’t already have a Username, left‑click on Register (Figure 5) to create a new account. |
Figure 5: DNAGedcom Log-in Screen
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Step 2
Hover over the menu for DNA Kits and left-click on “Upload GedMatch DNA Data” (Figure 6), which opens a screen for uploading your GEDmatch data (Figure 7). 
Figure 6: Upload GEDmatch DNA Data Link
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Figure 7: GEDmatch Upload Screen
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Step 3
Leave the DNAGedcom screen open and open a new window or tab in your browser. Log-in to GEDmatch (Figure 3), then go to the Tier 1 Utilities block at the bottom right of the main menu screen. Left-click on Matching Segment Search (Figure 8). |
Figure 8: GEDmatch Matching Segment Search Link
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Step 4
On the GEDmatch DNA Segment Search screen, enter your Kit Number in the top box and at the bottom, change the default radio button to No for Show graphic bar for Chromosome (Figure 9). The other boxes can be left blank unless you want to change the default settings. |
Figure 9: GEDmatch Matching Segment Search Screen
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Left-click on the “Submit” button and then you need a little PATIENCE! It looks as though nothing much is happening, but you may see “Waiting for www4.gedmatch.com” at the bottom left of the browser window, which then disappears; you may see a series of asterisks showing the progress, but you may not. You should expect to wait at least 10 minutes for the output (and often much longer), depending on how busy the server is. Unless there is a message that server capacity has been exceeded, resist the temptation to either click on the Submit button again or try to run in a different tab – this will slow everything down.
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Step 5
Figure 10 shows the output once the DNA Segment Search has finished running. This lists your matches ordered by Chromosome and Start Position. [Note: As GEDmatch handles the X chromosome separately from chromosomes 1-22, this output excludes the X chromosome.] |
Figure 10: Matching Segment Search Output
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Copy the whole of this page (including everything above the table and everything below the table) as follows. If using Windows, left-click anywhere in the GEDmatch window, then press [Ctrl]+A (Control key plus "A"), which will select All (everything will show as blue), then [Ctrl]+C (Control key plus "C"), which will Copy everything selected. If using Mac-OS (Apple), the equivalent commands are [Cmd]+A (Command key plus “A”), then [Cmd]+C (Command key plus "C"). Each browser also has ways of selecting and copying, which can be used instead.
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Step 6
After copying the Matching Segment Search output from GEDmatch, go back to the DNAGedcom tab, which should have the GEDmatch Upload Screen open (as shown in Figure 7). Left-click in the blank space in the box, then if using Windows, press [Ctrl]+V (Control key plus "V"), or if using Mac-OS (Apple), press [Cmd]+V (Command key plus "V"). This will paste everything from Step 5 into the box, as shown in Figure 11. Then left-click the “Load” button. |
Figure 11: GEDmatch Upload Screen in DNAGedcom after Pasting Matching Segment Search Output
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Step 7
It takes <1 minute for the data to load to DNAGedcom – you may see “Waiting for response from dnagedcom.com” at the bottom left of the browser window. After the upload is complete, the box will scroll back so that the top of the pasted data is visible and the kit that was loaded will be in the table at the bottom of the screen, with the Match Count (number of matches from GEDmatch) and Chromo Count (number of matching segments) shown (red rectangle) – see Figure 12. |
Figure 12: GEDmatch Upload Screen in DNAGedcom after Upload of Matching Segment Search Output
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At this stage, ICW Count (at the bottom right) shows 0 if this is the first time you have uploaded a particular kit. [Note: If you are uploading a kit that is already in the system (to add new matches), it will overwrite the previous data. You don’t need to delete the old kit.] After you have verified that the Match Count and Chromo Count are in the system, left-click the “Clear” button (red oval) and the large box will be empty again.
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Step 8
Go back to the GEDmatch tab. You may need to log in again due to a time-out. Return to the Tier 1 Utilities block on the Home page, and this time left- click on Triangulation (Figure 13). |
Figure 13: GEDmatch Segment Triangulation Link
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Step 9
This will take you to the Segment Triangulation screen (Figure 14).Insert your GEDmatch Kit Number in the top box. Change the radio button from the default (bottom option) to the middle option ("Show results sorted by kit_number, chromosome, segment start position”). Leave the Upper Segment Threshold Limit at the default of 3000 cM. Then left-click on the “Triangulate” button. |
Figure 14: GEDmatch Segment Triangulation Screen
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You need to be REALLY PATIENT with this tool – even more patient than with the Matching Segment Tool! GEDmatch warns that it can take up to 45 minutes. As with the Matching Segment tool, it looks as though nothing much is happening, but you may see “Waiting for www4.gedmatch.com” at the bottom left of the browser window, which then disappears; you may see a series of asterisks showing the progress, but you may not. Don’t click on the Triangulate button again or try to run in a different tab – this will slow everything down.
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Step 10
Figure 15 shows the output once the Segment Triangulation tool has finished running. Presumably because of the server requirements to run this, it includes only the closest 400 matches. |
Figure 15: Segment Triangulation Output
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As in Step 5, copy the whole of this page (including everything above the table and everything below the table) as follows. If using Windows, left click anywhere in the GEDmatch window, then press [Ctrl]+A (Control key plus "A"), which will select All (everything will show as blue), then [Ctrl]+C (Control key plus "C"), which will Copy every selected. If using Mac-OS, left click anywhere in the GEDmatch window, then press [Cmd]+A (Command key plus “A”), then [Cmd]+C (Command key plus "C"). Each browser also has ways of selecting and copying, which can be used instead.
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Step 11
After copying the Segment Triangulation output from GEDmatch, go back to the DNAGedcom tab, which will have the GEDmatch Upload Screen open. If the large box in the center isn’t empty, it means you forgot to left-click the “Clear” button in Step 7, so go ahead and do that now. Left-click in the blank space in the box, then if using Windows, press [Ctrl]+V (Control key plus "V"), or if using Mac-OS, press [Cmd]+V (Command key plus "V"). This will paste everything from Step 10 into the box, as shown in Figure 16. Then left-click the “Load” button. |
Figure 16: GEDmatch Upload Screen in DNAGedcom after Pasting Segment Triangulation Output
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Step 12
It takes <1 minute for the data to load to DNAGedcom – you may see “Waiting for response from dnagedcom.com” at the bottom left of the browser window while it is running. After the upload is complete, the box will scroll back so the top of the pasted data is visible and the record that was loaded will be in the section at the bottom of the screen, this time with the In Common With (ICW) Count shown (red rectangle) – see Figure 17. [Note: If you are uploading a kit that is already in the system (to add new matches), it will overwrite the previous data. You don’t need to delete the old kit.] |
Figure 17: GEDmatch Upload Screen in DNAGedcom after Upload of Segment Triangulation Output
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Step 13
Now that the Match Count and Chromo Count (from Step 7) and the ICW Count (from Step 12) are in the DNAGedcom system, ADSA can be run – and you can go back to ADSA whenever you like without having to run everything again from GEDmatch. (You will want to repeat the steps above from time to time to pick up new matches that have been added in GEDmatch, however.)
Now that the Match Count and Chromo Count (from Step 7) and the ICW Count (from Step 12) are in the DNAGedcom system, ADSA can be run – and you can go back to ADSA whenever you like without having to run everything again from GEDmatch. (You will want to repeat the steps above from time to time to pick up new matches that have been added in GEDmatch, however.)
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To open the ADSA screen, hover over the menu for Autosomal Tools and left-click on Autosomal DNA Segment Analyzer (Figure 18).
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Figure 18: Link for Autosomal DNA Segment Analyzer on DNAGEDcom
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Step 14
The screen for creating the ADSA report is shown in Figure 19. If you have previously used the ADSA for FTDNA’s data, this will be familiar to you, as both FTDNA‑ADSA reports and GEDmatch‑ADSA reports are created using the same tool. Select the kit number from the box at the bottom of the screen. IMPORTANT: If you already have one or more FTDNA kits in the system, you can differentiate the GEDmatch kits from FTDNA kits by the GEDmatch kits starting with an A, F, or M – in contrast, FTDNA kits will either start with a number or a different letter (e.g., B, H).
The screen for creating the ADSA report is shown in Figure 19. If you have previously used the ADSA for FTDNA’s data, this will be familiar to you, as both FTDNA‑ADSA reports and GEDmatch‑ADSA reports are created using the same tool. Select the kit number from the box at the bottom of the screen. IMPORTANT: If you already have one or more FTDNA kits in the system, you can differentiate the GEDmatch kits from FTDNA kits by the GEDmatch kits starting with an A, F, or M – in contrast, FTDNA kits will either start with a number or a different letter (e.g., B, H).
Figure 19: Screen for Creating ADSA Report
There are many options for creating an ADSA report, which are covered within the ADSA Manual (link also available on the ADSA screen at the red rectangle). Note there are special instructions for those with Ashkenazi ancestry (link also available on the ADSA screen, at the blue rectangle). If you are new to using the ADSA, try just changing the minimum segment length to 10 cM and run using all the defaults (leave all the other boxes blank) – you can try different options when you are more familiar with it. This is one step where you don’t need patience, as the ADSA report is created really quickly.
Step 15
Figure 20 shows the top part of the GEDmatch‑ADSA Report, which was run to show all chromosomes. The arrow indicates that this report is from a GEDmatch Kit. The rectangle indicates the minimum segment length (in cM) that was selected in Step 14. GEDmatch kit number is shown in the left‑hand column (see oval).
Figure 20 shows the top part of the GEDmatch‑ADSA Report, which was run to show all chromosomes. The arrow indicates that this report is from a GEDmatch Kit. The rectangle indicates the minimum segment length (in cM) that was selected in Step 14. GEDmatch kit number is shown in the left‑hand column (see oval).
Figure 20: GEDmatch ADSA Report
The GEDmatch‑ADSA report is very similar to the FTDNA‑ADSA report. For more information about how to use the report, identify triangulated groups, interpret your results, as well as troubleshooting, read the full ADSA Manual.
There are a few differences in the GEDmatch‑ADSA report:
There are a few differences in the GEDmatch‑ADSA report:
- There are a lot more segments, so setting the minimum segment length to 10 cM (as suggested in Step 14) is recommended
- The ICWs are only available for the top 400 matches (which is a limitation of GEDmatch’s Triangulation tool)
- Segments from close relatives aren’t shown (which is a limitation of GEDmatch’s Matching Segment tool)
- The GEDmatch‑ADSA doesn’t include the X chromosome
- Certain fields in the pop‑out windows on the FTDNA‑ADSA report (on hovering over the Match Name and Segment blocks) aren’t available on the GEDmatch‑ADSA report: Match Date (which shows as “12/31/1969” for everyone), Relationship/Relationship Range/Known Relationship, Total Shared and Longest Block (which show up as 0 cM), Notes, and Haplogroups
As indicated above, these step-by-step instructions are also available as a downloadable PDF file (click HERE to download). Rob Warthen and Don Worth continue to look for other improvements that can be made, so there may be minor changes to some of the screens and additional fields added over time.
Lastly, although DNAGedcom is free, donations are welcomed, to help defer server and other costs. The more people who donate, the more great tools we are likely to have!
Lastly, although DNAGedcom is free, donations are welcomed, to help defer server and other costs. The more people who donate, the more great tools we are likely to have!
Acknowledgements
Thank you, thank you, thank you to Rob Warthen and Don Worth for developing these wonderful tools – you are amazing and we are all incredibly grateful. Thanks also to Karin Corbeil and Jim Sipe, as well as Don and Rob, for reviewing the documentation for GEDmatch-ADSA, which has been duplicated in this blog posting.
Thank you, thank you, thank you to Rob Warthen and Don Worth for developing these wonderful tools – you are amazing and we are all incredibly grateful. Thanks also to Karin Corbeil and Jim Sipe, as well as Don and Rob, for reviewing the documentation for GEDmatch-ADSA, which has been duplicated in this blog posting.
