SideView

That support page is found in the "by parent" page (if you have it), in the section labelled "both sides". Over on the right is a box containing:

"Why are some matches related to both parents?

They could descend from both parents, be distant relatives who have segments matching both sides, or come from a small population (like an island) that both parents belong to.

Learn more"

That learn more link leads to the explanations (such as they are).

 

For me, the 'i' appears against all the matches I'd previously assigned as Father's or Mother's side. These are each shown as Paternal or Maternal side, and when I click on the 'i' beside them, I'm invited to change all Parent 1 to Paternal side and all Parent 2 to Maternal side, which I haven't done as yet. The 'i' never appears where Ancestry has assigned them as Parent 1 or Parent 2 (or Unassigned) without my prior input.

 

Having redefined parent1/2 as paternal/maternal the "i" responds with "This is a label you selected for this match" - except for the one case in my maternal matches where the text is Paternal side, and it says
"We think this match is on your Maternal side, but you labeled them Paternal. Do you want to keep your label or update it?".

 

When mine don't have the "i" it is where the option selected by Ancestry disagrees with mine.

 

That's the complete opposite to my experience.

 

In my list, all of the matches I had labelled myself have the 'i', except for my maternal first cousin, who is also the only one of my matches that Ancestry thinks is 'both sides'.

In my maternal first cousin's list, though, I am identified as belonging to their father's family, which is correct as their father was my mother's brother. Note that I manage this cousin's DNA.

In my maternal first cousin's list there is also only one match that Ancestry thinks is 'both sides', and it's a fairly close cousin match that we share, and they are labelled in my list as 'parent 2' and my 'parent 2' is clearly my mother.

So, something has suggested to Ancestry that my maternal first cousin shares some DNA with my father's side and also that another of my maternal cousins shares some DNA with my maternal first cousin's mother's side (which is not my side)?

I have spent some time looking at shared matches for some further clues but soon reached a point where I was overwhelmed by all the data!

 

I think that's reasonable too, although to be honest my brain is so scrambled now that I'm no longer sure about anything.

 

Which display is that on - the maternal/paternal or custom labelled equivalent? (I'm assuming you still get both after identifying parents 1 and 2).

 

Having looked closer if the two options disagree there is no "i" and if they agree there is no "i" e.g. Me = Maternal side Ancestry = Both sides OR me = Both sides Ancestry = Both sides - then there is no "i"
If my entry = Paternal side and Ancestry = Parent 2 then there is an "i" asking me do I want to make Parent 2 = paternal, likewise Maternal and Parent 1

My interpretation is that if a suitable alternative can be offered then it is there but if not there is no option to offer.

 

Using your reasoning, the larger the match the smaller the likelihood that it is accurate. So if you take the opposite, the smaller the match the greater the likelihood that it will be correct. Whilst I understand your explanation for the large amount = larger percentage value it makes me wonder if a small amount increases the possibility of error - i.e. the smaller amount is possibly within the inaccurate 5% of the total. This makes me nervous about making any rash decisions from the relationships offered by Ancestry. Despite my caution I can say that the majority of my known connections are confirmed by Ancestry - or am I just lucky?

 

I did see a post elsewhere from someone who said they'd been told by Ancestry support that this new feature would have been rolled out to everyone by the end of Thursday (the one just gone). However, here's no sign of it in our account as yet, and since the Chromosome Painter has yet to show there, I can't say I feel that optimistic about it showing up any time soon. Hopefully I will be proved wrong!

 

Like I said, we seem to be among the last to get any new features on our account which can be frustrating, though as you say, we haven't missed much with the Chromosome Painter.

 

Two points, based on how I think this SideView thing works:
1. It doesn't know what's in your tree - even your DNA linked one - it doesn't even look.
2. If Ancestry is using the labels maternal/paternal rather than parent 1/2, then either there is a parent's DNA test, or you've told it which parent is which.
Is that right?