Hi Kirst
I am from the HOGG side of the family, so we wont share any DNA, unless more cousins married cousins than I am aware of!
With regards which DNA test to get...I have figured out that its probably best to get the Ancestry test as this test can be loaded up to other DNA sites for free ( mostly ) whereas Ancestry will not accept other companies tests.
I took 2 before I knew what I was doing..Ancestry and My Heritage. Both have their advantages and disadvantages. Always make up a Tree for any of the sites as this helps in all sorts of ways.
Ancestry has ' Thrulines' which pulls up DNA matches that look like they belong to a particular ancestor...however, this is only as good as the Trees online..I have hundreds of DNA matches but they haven't got a Tree on ancestry so they don't get into Thrulines...or they have made a big mistake in their Tree etc...but for those with good research, its rather exciting to see my ancestors siblings descendents all set out in a Tree as done by Thrulines. Also Ancestry has, generally, the better Trees to research. It seems to like to frustrate researchers though ( eg, won't count how many matches they have found, whereas MH does! Won't give us a chromosome browser, a basic genealogy tool etc)
My Heritage groups your matches per genomic position on the chromosome. This is really a great tool, however, lots of work always needs to be done on a person if you want to get right into the nitty gritty...I am too old to bother LOL...Trees on MH are usually a disappointment. I usually grab whatever clue is available and head back to Ancestry to research the person.
Gedmatch has some great tests to run for fun ( in my case) and will match your DNA matches with you...MH & Ancestry often fail. I have found many DNA matches on Gedmatch who are also on either Ancestry or MH, yet do not come up as a match on those sites. I trust Gedmatch more
If you need further help, feel free to PM me.
Cheers
