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  5. It's easier than ever before to check your entries from the 1881 Census - more details here

How You can Help Yourself to Taste Success!

Discussion in 'How to decide who to enter' started by Red Dragon, May 10, 2013.

  1. peter

    peter Administrator Staff Member

    Well done!
     
    • Thanks! Thanks! x 1
  2. Britjan

    Britjan LostCousins Star

    I'm on a roll because I reported my experience using the library on my Twitter account and then realised they have made Ancestry accessible remotely rather than only at a library branch. I reposted to mention that I had found a new connection by marriage and improved my family tree as a lockdown activity!
     
    Last edited: Jan 19, 2021
  3. Red Dragon

    Red Dragon LostCousins Megastar

    Hi Everyone!

    Here's a weekly update on how well people have been doing over at LostCousins.
    • 55 new members joined the LostCousins site
    • 16,836 new entries have been added and
    • 1,043 relatives have been matched.
    Always good to see New Members joining. Only New Entries up this week, but all the numbers are still very high and well above the running average. Peter's end of year competition is still running, with some pretty amazing prizes.
    But the best prize is making those new matches with other members researching your ancestors.
    Good Luck everyone!

    My match potential is still increasing over this period, how has yours been doing?

    There's never been such a good time to stay safe and enter your relatives over at Lost Cousins. It's simple and quick, so enter those relatives and match with your cousins.

    Thoughts go out to families who have lost loved ones too early. Remember to stay at home, social distancing and wear masks. #Staysafe

    New Members mean New Entries, and New Entries mean New Matches. Everyone wins.

    Good Luck Everyone!

    Here's a graph showing the activity over at the Lost Cousins site
    upload_2021-1-22_10-3-14.png
     
    • Thanks! Thanks! x 1
  4. peter

    peter Administrator Staff Member

    If anyone is wondering why some members of the forum are shown as Star, Superstar, or even Megastar it's not because they've posted a lot of messages, it's because they've added lots of relatives to the My Ancestors page, increasing their Match Potential well beyond the level of 1 that entitles mere mortals to join the forum.

    As RedDragon has reminded us, the New Year Competition is still running - but you've only got until 31st January to enter, so now's the time to reach for the stars!
     
  5. Tim

    Tim Megastar and Moderator Staff Member

    How many relatives do you need to add to become a MegaStar?
     
  6. peter

    peter Administrator Staff Member

    It currently requires a Match Potential in excess of 30 - very challenging! But becoming a Star is much more achievable - most LostCousins members should be able to get over the threshold (4).
     
  7. Tim

    Tim Megastar and Moderator Staff Member

    Thanks Peter, so I still have a bit to go then, but I have a target now :)
     
  8. peter

    peter Administrator Staff Member

    As a guide for those who are aiming for Star status, 400 relatives from the 1881 E&W census will be sufficient once the competition is over.
     
  9. Tim

    Tim Megastar and Moderator Staff Member

    That's good to know, thanks Peter.
     
  10. canadianbeth

    canadianbeth LostCousins Star

    Oh dear, I only have 279, and as long as I do not have that fourth branch of my tree, that is probably all I will have.
     
  11. Pauline

    Pauline LostCousins Megastar

    Not necessarily - it’s just a matter of spreading the net wider with the branches you have.
     
  12. CeeJay

    CeeJay LostCousins Star

    I'm sure there is a good reason but why are Scottish relatives excluded from the 400 required? The paternal half of my tree is Scottish, and those who had not already emigrated were based in the central belt, Glasgow through to Edinburgh in 1881.
     
  13. peter

    peter Administrator Staff Member

    Exactly - that's why you're a Superstar!
     
  14. peter

    peter Administrator Staff Member

    They're not excluded. But entering 400 relatives from any other census wouldn't bring you anywhere near a Match Potential of 4 - for a long time the Scottish census wasn't free online, so proportionately fewer relatives have been entered.
     
  15. peter

    peter Administrator Staff Member

    Hopefully members with Scottish ancestry will rectify this over time.
     
  16. Red Dragon

    Red Dragon LostCousins Megastar

    Hi Everyone!

    Here's a weekly update on how well people have been doing over at LostCousins.
    • 37 new members joined the LostCousins site
    • 10,100 new entries have been added and
    • 580 relatives have been matched.
    Always good to see New Members joining. All the numbers are down this week but still very high and well above the running average. It's the last few day's of Peter's end of year competition so make sure you're in with a chance by entering your relatives.

    Good Luck everyone!

    My match potential is still increasing over this period, how has yours been doing? Peter has explained what you need to become a Star and a Mega Star, so improve your score by adding your relatives.

    There's never been such a good time to stay safe and enter your relatives over at Lost Cousins. It's simple and quick, so enter those relatives and match with your cousins.

    Thoughts go out to families who have lost loved ones too early. Remember to stay at home, social distancing and wear masks. #Staysafe

    New Members mean New Entries, and New Entries mean New Matches. Everyone wins.

    Good Luck Everyone!

    Here's a graph showing the activity over at the Lost Cousins site
    upload_2021-1-29_10-46-7.png
     
    • Thanks! Thanks! x 1
  17. I have 523 but I don't know how long ago I accumulated them.
    I haven't done my Irish ones yet, what do I get for that?
     
  18. Tim

    Tim Megastar and Moderator Staff Member

    You're a star!

    upload_2021-1-30_18-16-35.png
     
  19. Britjan

    Britjan LostCousins Star

    Thanks Peter for this summary of my entries , very revealing.
    England & Wales 1911 710 England & Wales 1881 632 England & Wales 1841 178
    Scotland 1881 20
    Ireland 1911 14
    Canada 1881 59
    Newfoundland 1921 0
    United States 1880 5
    United States 1940 6
    TOTAL1624
    My recent additions are mainly based on a more in depth review of the 1911 census. My match potential is a paltry 8.4!!
     
  20. Bryman

    Bryman LostCousins Megastar

    I don't know what the formula is that Peter uses to calculate the Match Potential but there is not a lot of information that he can use. It is not important how long ago entries were submitted. The Match Potential is calculated from the current number of entries. For each census there is . . .

    1. Total number of records contained. This is a fixed number.
    2. Total number of entries made by all LC members.
    3. Number of entries made by each LC member. The only figure that can be modified by an individual, by submitting entries on their My Ancestors page.

    I expect the overall Match Potential for each member is the sum of calculated potential for each of the censuses, along the lines of . . .
    Value 3 * (Value 2 - Value 3) / Value 1

    An increase in value 2 will give rise to the small regular uplift in the Match Potential for all members, regardless of whether an individual has added new entries. There are more entries submitted by LC members for the E&W 1881 census than any other and hence that census has the biggest effect on each member's calculated potential.
    An increase in value 3 is the fastest way for someone to increase their own Match Potential and is completely under their own control.

    Most members will have very few entries for the Newfoundland 1921 census so anyone that does submit a lot of entries from that census will get less of an uplift to their potential than if they submitted the same number of entries from the E&W 1881 census. Similarly, don't expect entries for the Ireland 1911 census to make a big difference to the Match Potential.

    A Match Potential of 8.4 is NOT paltry. If all members had that value then we would probably make matches every time that we submit entries.
     
    • Thanks! Thanks! x 1

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