In February 2019, about 6 months after I introduced the Leeds Method, AncestryDNA introduced their Custom Groups or “Colored Dot” system. These colorful dots worked wonderfully with the Leeds Method!
Over the years, I’ve used them in various ways. Earlier this month I presented at CeCe Moore’s i4GG (Institute for Genetic Genealogy). And one of my new methods uses these dots in a slightly different way. But I was frustrated that, despite trying to create a “beautiful” and useful dot labeling system, the dots were getting scrambled! What was happening?
Messy Dots
Here’s an example of my mom’s DNA results on Ancestry. On the right you can see I’ve created 8 groups for her 8 great grandparents. My method was to use cool colors (blues/greens/purples) for paternal ancestors and warm colors (reds/oranges/yellows) for maternal ancestors. I labeled her 8 great grandparents from G1-G8 in order from her dad’s dad to her mom’s mom. I think the chart looks great!
But, as you can see above, when I add all 8 dots to my siblings & myself, the dots get all “scrambled” and messy. So how do I make the dots show up in the order I want them to show up?
Discovering the Order of the Dots
The Order of the Dots
After some trial and error, I discovered the order these dots show up! If you were to use all 24 dots, they’d show up as follows:
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- The dots on the top row from right (green) to left (yellow)
- The dots on the bottom row from right (green) to left (yellow)
- The dots on the middle row from right (green) to left (yellow)
Orderly Dots
For one of my uncle’s, I used the middle row of dots starting on the right (green) and going to the left (yellow). Then I marked two of his brothers—”Do” and “JR”—as sharing all 8 great grandparents in common. These dots now show up exactly as I wanted them to! The cool colors representing the paternal ancestors are first; the warm colors representing the maternal ancestors are second.
Orderly Dots
Now I can quickly see DNA matches that are parental (top of key) vs maternal (bottom of key).
Paternal vs Maternal
I can also quickly identify a paternal relative (top) from a maternal relative (bottom).
Potential Issues
I can also quickly identify potential issues like Randy below. Since I know the order of the dots, I can see he has G5 & G8.
Potential Issues
These dots highlighted a potential issue! And Randy is related to my dad in two different ways. My dad and Randy just happen to have two sets of common ancestors. And my dot system visually shows me this issue.
Give It a Try!
Even if you already love your dot system, you might try changing the colors based on the order the dots show up. It might help you to more quickly see both patterns and potential issues.
If you give it a try, please let me know how it works for you! And, if you missed i4GG, you can now purchase individual or all of the videos at the i4GG website.
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