571 FindAGrave - Link without Grave ID

Question

I'm getting a lot of "571 FindAGrave - Link without Grave ID" errors in my suggestion list. Since FindAGrave seems to have more than there fair share of errors, and even more worrisome fake tombstones are recently popping up, should I even bother using FindAGrave as a source of info? I'm contemplating removing all the FindAGrave links from my profiles, unless absolutely needed, in order to keep my suggestion reports to a manageable level.   

Comments

If you used an Ancestry.com GEDCOM to create profiles then that is the source of the error, not Find A Grave.  Ancestry.com endeavors to draw attention to their pay-to-play website and not to their free website Find A Grave.  Better to add a link directly to Find A Grave and delete the link to Ancestry.com. for Find A Grave.  I have many Find A Grave links and no suggestions.

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Sorry to see that you have such a dislike of Ancestry.com that you introduce the site replying to a question that does not even mention them

GEDCOM in an of itself does not introduce errors, that process takes data from one genealogy program and creates a file that can import that data into another genealogy program.  as with all things, garbage in - garbage out applies, and with this case, the old program export or new program import routines can also create problems

on the wikitree 571 error page it lists the possible reasons as

• Memorial number was not entered in recognizable way.
• Member added the Find A Grave citation which has a generic FAG URL but no link to the memorial.

this means that the report found something like www.findagrave.com or {{FindAGrave|John Smith}} instead of {{FindAGrave|12345}}

 

 

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Fake tombstones?

Also I find that this error is often triggered by having the incomplete url http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi. in the ancestry cite.

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i get the feeling that it is not a case of fake tombstones to mislead, but the person has no stone, or location cannot be found, so someone went to a site that lets people create a tombstone image to see what it looks like before purchase/ordering, but instead used that image with the data and posted the stone on the FAG record of the person with the missing stone

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https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Help:Sources_Style_Guide

Commercial Web Sites as Sources

Links to sources on paid subscription sites such as Ancestry, FindMyPast, and MyHeritage can be frustrating for WikiTree members and visitors without access to these sites. We recommend searching for a freely available copy of the source document on sites such as FamilySearch, USGenWeb, Archive.org, or HathiTrust.

If the source record is only available to paid subscribers, when providing the URL please also extract as much information as possible, such as relevant names, dates, and the source of the original data.

Answer 1

Hi Alex, I'm looking at your Suggestions and see those listings. That can be frustrating.

One example is:

Source: <span id='S134'>S134</span> Ancestry.com U.S., Find A Grave Index, 1600s-Current Publication: Name: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.; Location: Provo, UT, USA; Date: 2012; Repository: [[#R4]] NOTE<i>Find A Grave</i>. Find A Grave. http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi. 

This uses the generic FindAGrave link, not one to the actual memorial. That is what is causing the error. There are two ways to combat this:

1) Use the FamilySearch citation, and add in the WikiTree template:

"Find A Grave Index," database, FamilySearch(https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q2SM-BBZH : 11 July 2016), Nicholas Curry Waugh Bruce, 1912; Burial, Odebolt, Sac, Iowa, United States of America, Odebolt Cemetery; citing {{FindAGrave|74297174}}

2) Use the citation from FindAGrave, and add in the WikiTree template:

Find A Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com : accessed 03 February 2018), memorial page for Nichols Curry Bruce (7 Jan 1824–9 Sep 1912), {{FindAGrave|74297174}} citing Odebolt Cemetery, Odebolt, Sac County, Iowa, USA ; Maintained by Kelly Hunsaker (contributor 47968366) .

I prefer the FindAGrave citation (look at the bottom of the memorial, and click 'Source Citation'). This one has a tombstone, so I wouldn't leave it out of the profile sources.

Comments

Thank you for Best Answer Alex. Best of luck on your research!

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Remember to copy and paste that FindAGrave template into the source (the blue text). Just change the memorial number to the correct one.

Thank you for working so hard on your suggestions!

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Thanks Mindy ... I've corrected a bunch so far. Hopefully I'll have them all cleared soon.

Also, not that it really matters, but I have nothing against FindAGrave. I view it as any other genealogical research tool, it has it's benefits, but still needs to be viewed with healthy skepticism. I'll probably use it more, especially the well maintained/documented FindAGrave profiles, now that I have a better idea of how to reference it and stay within wikitree guidelines.

Thanks again!

Answer 2

That is a way to deal with the issues. The other way is to directly link to the profile memorial number which would clear the error as well.'

If you feel that the FindAGrave site is generating too much False Information then I suggest removing the info from the profiles you manage. If you have concerns about the accuracy then don't put the link onto Wikitree. The error 571 only comes up when there is no memorial number or the database search Bot can't identify the memorial number is for the FindAGrave site.

Answer 3

There has been a lot of discussion over time about Find a Grave and its value/accuracy as source material. I have found that for the most part Find a Grave data to be accurate and often the profiles to be rich in biographical detail. In the early days of the development of a WT profile you may want to consider placing the Find a Grave info in the Biography section rather under Sources.

Comments

One of the neat things about FAG is the images.  A gravestone (generally, but not always) provides a contemporary set of facts--name as the person used it, and the dates or DOD and age.  It also aids in finding related individuals.