Very accurate with lots of errors! ;-)
It is very possible to multiple paths to an individual.
Also, for a profile such as Prince William who is very much in the public eye right now, a lot of work/clean-up will be happening.
As time passes, relationship are getting clearer and closer. I have several 'Curator Cousins' who have gone from 22nd 3x removed to 14th 2x and recently 12th 1x. And, periodically, as 'someone' works 'somewhere' in 'The Big Tree', the path is severed entirely for a while!
Clear as mud!
I am not sure that the "recycle ring" means that a new path is available. I think that it means that a certain amount of time has passed (I am not sure how long) since the path was calculated, so there MAY be a new path available. The new path is not necessarily any different from the old path.
It can be annoying when after a merge the "recycle ring" is not there, and the path therefore cannot be re-calculated. Then you just have to be patient to recalculate the connection when the "recycle ring" reappears.
I thought what you thought Yaacov but I have repaired damage to my family lines as recently as last night and still get the cached relationship calculation with no possibility of recalculating until the recycle symbol appears, which takes days or longer. Or shorter. I assume it's dependent upon Geni operations.
My experience matches Hatte's.
Yaacov: you could try a feature request - though I suspect this one may have already been requested, given the number of times that relationship calculation issues are raised in public discussions. This discussion thread is one of many that have started on similar lines.
Yaacov - I used to be impatient and annoyed by the caching, but the more I work with the Geni trees and see how much data is involved and how often some of it changes, the more I realize that for a small company they are doing a good job maintaining, updating, and providing user friendly, fast analytical tools on complex and evolving data.
Brian - you are not asking about geni lines. you are asking about the data itself.
given the assumption that the data is correct - geni lines are the shortest path between two people *ON GENI*
If you think the data itself incorrect- there are curators and many reliable users that can improve the data.
Geni is till a work in progress. As more facts come in (as different branches have different pieces of a puzzle) the more clear the connections get. Geni will also only show the closest relationship, I know for example, a de Vere is my 18th, 19th, and 20th grandfather through different lines but only the line saying 18th will show up on a relationship path. geni is good for putting it all together but official is only in each piece of proof for each person. ie. copies of birth/death certificates.
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geni is good for putting it all together but official is only in each piece of proof for each person. ie. copies of birth/death certificates.
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Excellent clarifying distinctions, Corey.
- One's direct lineage for instance for membership in a lineage society is one's own responsibility.
- As a research tool for that lineage (among many other uses!) geni is fast moving and improving daily.
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re: it's not commercial data mining tools ...
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I presume that's one reason Yaacov is a member of the Project: http://www.geni.com/projects/The-Geni-API