WikiTree Community Blog

WikiTreers,

Many of you have suggested adding more name fields. In particular, we needed fields for Prefix (e.g. Dr., Sgt.) and Suffix (e.g., Jr., III). These have now been added.

We’ve also added a field for Nicknames. This way nicknames can be distinct from the Preferred First Name (e.g., my brother is Theodore; more commonly known as Ted, nicknamed T.D. when young).

Thanks, especially, to my brother, to Omar Wasow, and Lester K. Jr. for suggesting these additional name fields.

Another change this week: a half-dozen optional fields such as birthdate and deathdate can now be entered when you create a person. The way we’d initially set things up you could only add the First Name and Last Name at Birth when you create a person. Everything else can be added and edited later. Somehow I thought this would be easier.

Beta tester Karen W. convinced me that additional fields are a big convenience when you’re adding a number of people at once, e.g. more than one sibling or child. Thanks, Karen.

One more change of note: we made inputting dates easier. Peter H. pointed out that our system accepted the US date format, e.g. “September 26, 2008″, but rejected (”the more rational”!) UK/EU format, e.g. “26 September 2008″. Both are now accepted. Other acceptable inputs: “26 Sept. 2008″, “Sep 26, 2008″, etc.

Onward and upward,

Chris

WikiTreers,

This week a dozen new early beta testers have joined our group. I’ve been getting some great feedback. Thanks especially to Swedenc, Tinman, Peter H., and Suzanne B.

Three notable improvements to report:

First, you can now create pages for people who aren’t directly related to you. This is handy when:

• you’re not sure of the relationship to someone but you have information to record,
• you want a page for a close family friend, or
• you want to do pages for historical figures.

For example, Crystal has started some great pages for Queen Elizabeth I, William Shakespeare and brewer Arthur Guinness. I started pages for one of my personal heroes, Benjamin Franklin.

To create a page for someone who isn’t directly related to you, click here.

Second, you can now delete memories, bulletin board posts, and photo comments. Lots of people have asked for this, since it’s easy to make a mistake in a post.

You can only delete if it’s your post, on your page, or on a passive person’s page for whom you have Trusted List powers. If it’s your own post you can also make modifications without deleting.

Third, if a person has more than 30 photos the images now run to additional pages instead of weighing down the main Person Page. This was a problem in my own family because my brother has uploaded 109 pictures of me, 156 of our mother, 57 of our father, and thousands more. (They’re all treasures. Thanks, Ted!)

Keep your comments coming!

Chris

P.S. In a couple hours I’m off to Nova Scotia for a long weekend. At least seven of my 16 great-great-grandparents were born in N.S. before moving to Massachusetts, so I’m going to combine some family history with my beachcombing on the Bay of Fundy.

It’s been awhile since I’ve posted about my personal historical journey. But I can assure you that I have been busy trying to dig up information from the trenches. To date, everyone I have approached (other than my mother) simply shrugs their shoulders and tells me to ask the next person. Now with all this pass the buck stuff going on, I’m starting to wonder if I really am the milkman’s kid and that everyone is covering up some dark family secret – but then again, I look just like my sister who is fourteen years my senior. This would have been one dedicated milkman. Realizing yet again that my family has no idea where we actually came from, I decided to call the State of New Jersey’s vital records department and order a copy of my father’s birth certificate – not that easy. I was directed to their Web site where it details the documents required to obtain such a record from their state. I was pleased to learn that for genealogical purposes, you don’t need to establish proof of relationship – which is good, since I could be the milkman’s kid. Here’s what I did need to provide:

• Full name on the record
• City or county where the event occurred
• Year the event occurred
• Copy of my driver’s license (with photo)
• Completed application form (printed off from Web site)

To be safe, I also included a copy of my marriage certificate which lists my maiden name. I’m assuming that most states function in a similar manner. Now, if you don’t have a license or your license does not include a photo, here are some alternate forms of ID that you can use:

• Vehicle registration
• Vehicle insurance card
• Passport
• Voter registration
• Green card/Immigrant visa
• Federal/County ID
• School ID
• Court documents
• W-2 for current/previous tax year
• Utility/bank statement from within the last 90 days

New Jersey offered an expedited service through VitalCheck, which I’ll talk more about in an upcoming post. I opted for the non-expedited service, because I’ve already waited 34 years to learn about my roots. I think I can wait another…16 WEEKS! Wow… This is worse than waiting for a passport.

So here’s my plan… Get my father’s birth certificate and confirm his parents’ names and places of birth. Order their birth certificates and follow the same process. I’ll do the same on my mother’s side once I get a feel for things. If I am doing anything terribly wrong, please point it out to me. Ideas, suggestions and tips are welcomed! Oh, and if you know anything about the milkman…please keep it to yourself.

This week I’m starting to invite in more beta testers to put WikiTree through the wringer. Up until now it’s mostly been my own family and a few close friends.

One of the first users has been my old friend and WikiAnswers colleague Crystal Williams. She’s been blogging here about her experiences exploring family history and using the new site.

Another beta tester, Laary, suggested that I start using the blog to keep beta testers up-to-date about progress on the site. What’s been added. What’s on the way. Etc. She made a good point. So, here goes.

One big feature we completed recently is the ability to make Biographies public. This is something that my friend Omar Wasow has asked about. (Omar happens to work with Henry Louis Gates Jr., of African-American Lives TV fame, at Harvard and has shown this site to Gates. Very cool.)

By making a Biography public you allow anyone to see that portion of a Person Page. It makes the person, even if they’re living, an open part of history. It’s like having a Wikipedia page about yourself except that only the people on your Trusted Family & Friends List can make additions and changes.

Some other recent additions:

• When you upload a photo that item now appears in the Activity Feed on the Person Page, along with a thumbnail image.
• People are now considered living if they don’t have birthdates. Before, you were an “Open Person” if you’ve never been born, i.e. if you didn’t have a birthdate in your record. My friend Danny pointed out that since people don’t have birthdates at the instant you create them this opened up too many people who should be kept private.
• You can now add people to the Trusted Family & Friends List of a new person at the time you create that new person. This will save lots of hassle in requesting permission via e-mail.

Some things on the way:

• Beta tester Lester suggested adding name fields for prefix and suffix, e.g. “Dr.” or “Jr.” This is something my brother suggested too. On the way soon!
• There are some quirky display problems. When you see the “Changes saved” status message it looks like changes haven’t been saved, even though they were. Gotta locate and squash this bug.
• You still can’t delete or edit memories, bulletin board posts, or photo comments. Coming soon.

As always, keep me posted about your questions, comments, or ideas. You could post things here or e-mail me at chris -at- wikitree.com.