I don't disagree about disaster, if you screw things up.
Merging is 99% preparation and 1% doing it. Good back ups of both files is mandatory before you start.
Things like making sure that the sources in both files referring to the same thing are identical. e.g. "State of Victoria, Birth Certificate" is different to "State of Victoria Birth Certificate"
Practice on a couple of dummy files is highly recommended if you are new to it.
It can be done very well but it all depends on how good your preparation is. I sometimes get amazed though that relative newcomers to FTM will happily try to merge without really understanding what they are doing.
This article in the FTM Knowledge base is worth reading and understanding
http://ancestry.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/1330/kw...
John D
Merging is 99% preparation and 1% doing it. Good back ups of both files is mandatory before you start.
Things like making sure that the sources in both files referring to the same thing are identical. e.g. "State of Victoria, Birth Certificate" is different to "State of Victoria Birth Certificate"
Practice on a couple of dummy files is highly recommended if you are new to it.
It can be done very well but it all depends on how good your preparation is. I sometimes get amazed though that relative newcomers to FTM will happily try to merge without really understanding what they are doing.
This article in the FTM Knowledge base is worth reading and understanding
http://ancestry.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/1330/kw...
John D