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Losses when exporting from Geni into MyHeritage -- solutions?

Stephen Richard Grice

June 05, 2013 20:33

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I've noticed that when I export via a GEDCOM from Geni and then import into MyHeritage (desktop) some info is lost --

     1. Custom-titled events from Geni don't seem to show up anywhere in MyHeritage.  They are not in the MyHeritage "Events" list.

     2. Small sections of photos in Geni used as profile photos for a person are lost.  In MyHeritage, photos and their associations with each person are brought in with the GEDCOM import, but the photo used for the profile is not the "cutout" set up in Geni.  The photo used in MyHeritage seems to be the whole photo from Geni most recently uploaded and associated with that person.

Possible solutions --

     1.  Custom events could be just added as notes, under "About" in Geni.  But then they would not show up in the Geni "Timeline" or in MyHeritage "Events".

     2. Photo cutouts could be made on the desktop, uploaded into Geni, and then linked with a simple photo-to-person association.  But how to solve the latest upload problem?

Has anyone noticed other losses?  Have you found better solutions?

3 comments

• 0
  
  Jeff, Geni Curator June 06, 2013 13:11

  I believe MyHeritage has the best import ability for Geni GEDCOM files of the various programs, but I can't recall if that is their website or their FamilyTree Builder software (or if it's the same).  It's difficult because some of this stuff is not standardized, so they have to customize imports for the various exports.  I'm wondering if this would be better directed to the MyHeritage team.  I'll try to pass this information on to them.

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  Bjørn P. Brox June 07, 2013 05:32

  GEDCOM is a text file and does not contain any photos and documents itself, - it contains only the reference URL's to the photos and documents in Geni.

  MyHeritage, as one of the few genealogy programs, are able to resolve those links and download the data, but you might not be able to import private photos and documents since MyHeritage does not have a connection/login to your Geni account. Secondly there are other security issues in Geni that blocks a connection, for example if getting too many unauthorized requests to public data within a ten seconds period (this is for example an issue when using their API), so you might not get some photos if hitting that limitation. You should check if you have a retry option for downloading external data into MyHeritage.

  As far as I understand MyHeritage are working on an "account bridge" between Geni and MyHeritage, making it easier to transfer data between the sites, where the requirement, as partly today with profile matches, is that you are using the same email address on your MH and Geni account.

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  Stephen Richard Grice June 07, 2013 22:50

  Re Events: In MyHeritage, as in Geni, events can be added to a profile.  In MyHeritage I can choose from lists of pre-named events or make up my own event title.  Geni doesn't seem to have such lists.

  The custom event I make up and add most often in Geni is "Immigration from... to ...".

  Re Photos:  MyHeritage does import almost all my photos with Geni GEDCOMs.  These imported photos are limited in maximum size, and MyHeritage puts them into a separate photo folder.  This is more than many other geneology programs do.

  In MyHeritage, as in Geni, I can make a "cutout" from a larger photo for a person's profile photo.  In MyHeritage, when I look in the MyHeritage photo folder (in My Documents/MyHeritage...), these cutouts appear as new, separate, small photos.

  I think a closeup face photo adds life to a profile, and making a cutout from a larger photo seems like a good way to get such a closeup.