When you import a gedcom file, do skip all matches and enter all source citations by hand?

Question

This is my first time trying to import a gedcom file and am trying to figure it out . I uploaded my gedcom from Legacy with source citations and photos of people and documents. None of the matches have any citations, photos or documents, and most of the matches are on people that i have entered. So what do i do, go ahead and create all new profiles and merge them or skip them all and enter the photos, citations and documents by hand?

Comments

I would suggest the same as Kitty as well. Only difference is my experiences with the photos and such. In order for you photos and other details to end up in the wikitree system you need to have them all on your computer with the same id/file name as those in the GEDcom file. It will still take some manual work afterwards.

There will be clean up to be done no matter what. As you are doing the clean up it is fairly easy to attach and upload the information from your computer if the file names are the same. No real searching just start typing the original file name and the computer will find it.

Answer 1

Hi Clarence,  we are so glad you joined us!  I would skip them and enter the new details manually.  This gives you better control over what you enter, and all of your gedcom additions will need to be cleaned up manually anyway.  The Gedcom import process brings in the data, but it isn't usually very readable or well organized in the biography section.

We suggest that you start with a very small gedcom import to see how it works.    Try an import of about 25 records and then clean them up after the import. Here is some information on Gedcoms and a link to splitting a gedcom into smaller pieces.   http://www.wikitree.com/wiki/GEDCOM#Uploading_a_GEDCOM  

Comments

Seconding Kitty's suggestion (Clicking the +1 just wasn't enough!). I followed that advice (starting with about 25 people) and I'm really glad I did. I hated the way the Gedcom data imported so it took a while to clean up. And I don't believe the photos and documents will import anyway, so they'll need to be added.

After my first Gedcom import I decided that I'd rather enter the information manually. I tackle one family at a time (both parents and all their kids) and write profiles as I go. Much more enjoyable that cleaning up Gedcom-imported profiles.