Getting Started
Capturing your DNA match data with DGBrowser takes three steps: check your settings, sign in to your
testing site, and browse your matches. That's it — capture happens automatically as pages load.
When DGBrowser starts it offers a Sign in to DNAGedcom window. Use the same username
(or email) and password as on the DNAGedcom website and in the DNAGedcom Client.
- Signing in is optional. Click Continue without signing in to skip
it — every capture feature works without an account. Tick Don't ask me again at
startup if you don't want to see the window again; you can still sign in later from the
account button in the toolbar.
- Keep me signed in on this computer remembers your sign-in between sessions.
DGBrowser never stores your password — it keeps a sign-in token that expires after about a
week of not being used.
- Once signed in, the toolbar's account button shows your username. Click it for your membership
level, Manage account…, and Sign out. If your membership can
be upgraded, an Upgrade button opens the DNAGedcom subscription page.
1. Check your settings (optional)
Click Settings… in the toolbar. The defaults work for almost everyone:
- DNAGedcom database — where captured data is written. By default this is a
dnagedcom.db file in a DNAGedcom folder in your user profile. You only need
to change this if you want the database somewhere specific, such as a synced folder.
- Vendors — which testing sites DGBrowser captures from. All are enabled by
default; untick any you don't want recorded.
- Use the DNAGedcom Client's database — if you also use the DNAGedcom Client,
this button points DGBrowser at the Client's database, so everything you capture appears in the
Client without any extra step. See the FAQ for the one
thing to avoid.
- GDAT database — used later by Sync to GDAT; you
can leave it empty for now.
- Send diagnostics — lets DGBrowser report errors in the app to DNAGedcom so
problems can be fixed. Untick it to turn this off. Your DNA data is never included; see the
FAQ.
The status bar at the bottom of the window shows the database DGBrowser is writing to.
2. Sign in to your testing site
Type the site's address into the address bar (for example myheritage.com) and press
Enter, then sign in exactly as you would in any browser. DGBrowser identifies itself as Chrome, so the
sites behave normally. DGBrowser remembers your testing-site sign-ins between sessions, just as a normal
browser does, so you usually only need to do this once per site.
Pop-up sign-in windows open as new tabs. Some sites open their sign-in
form in a separate window; DGBrowser opens it as a new tab instead. Complete the sign-in there, then
return to the site's tab.
3. Browse your matches
Open your DNA match list and browse. As each page loads its data, DGBrowser recognizes it and records
it to your database in the background — there is nothing to click and no gathering step.
To capture thoroughly:
- Scroll or page through your whole match list, not just the first screen — most
sites load matches as you scroll or move between pages, and DGBrowser can only capture what the site
loads.
- Open individual matches to capture their details, such as shared matches and
segment data, where the site provides them.
- For long, repetitive capture sessions — visiting many match pages one after another — use
the URL List feature to have DGBrowser visit each
page for you.
4. Confirm the capture
Click Sync to GDAT… in the toolbar: the window lists every kit DGBrowser has
captured so far, by vendor and name. You can close it without syncing — it's the quickest way to
see what you've collected. When you're ready to analyze the data in GDAT 4, follow the
Sync to GDAT guide.
Use tabs like a normal browser. Click + above the page
for a new tab — for example, one tab per testing site. Capture works in every tab at once.