R. Hutchins
Honor Code SignatorySigned 22 Feb 2014 | 4,641 contributions | 177 thank-yous | 603 connections
As of April, 2015, I have suspended work on WikiTree Profiles. For the foreseeable future, I will be working privately and not on the Web. I have orphaned profiles who are not direct ancestors, completed my pending merges, and winnowed my list of possible ancestor matches to a minimum. I am still monitoring my watchlist and will happily respond to messages or e-mail and will gladly assist in any merges or additional work if requested.
I have no single reason for doing this; several factors are involved.
Quality: Quality is losing out to Quantity. It's fine to say that unsourced profiles are a relic of the old days when GEDCOM's were imported without any controls but look at a few of the newly created profiles on WikiTree's Activity_Feed. Some good work is being done but it's lost beneath a flood of Geni World Families, IGI's, Ancestry Family Trees, Ancestral Files, Pedigree Resource Files, and the old favorite, "First-hand Information". (I am aware that my own profiles often fall short of the ideal but I have made a concerted effort to provide at least one source substantiating each person's existence.)
Security: I have concerns regarding the vulnerability of information posted on WT. I have encountered more than a few profiles which were defaced in the past. Since it's difficult to maintain & synchronize a public and a private tree, I have opted to keep my records to myself. The recent addition of multiple eyes in the form of Rangers is good. A system to roll back destructive activity is needed and the issue of Orphans needs to be dealt with. Whatever they are called, it is inevitable that many profiles will, by and large, become forgotten and ignored. Many will be "finished" in the sense that no additional information is now, or perhaps ever, going to be available. Real orphans have "Protective Services" provided by the State. WikiTree's orphans are liable to suffer the fate of "Oliver Twist". To belabor the metaphor, a system of orphanages and foster homes is needed; a system to protect the unwanted. At the least there should be an intermediary in the Find>>Orphaned Profiles process so that profiles are not adopted wholesale without at least a cursory approval.
Life is short: I appreciate WikiTree's underlying message, that we are all one, but I confess that my interest in Genealogy lies mostly in a curiosity about my own ancestors and the lives that they led. I never anticipated spending significant amounts of time merging profiles devoid of data or cleaning up messes of which no one is aware. It's really just a lot of busywork. The social media aspect of WT (Badges, Points, Projects, Categories, etc.) is engaging and possibly useful to some but not to me.
Random Thoughts: The "one page" = "one person" concept is one of WikiTree's best features. Seeing the information AND the sources in one place is much easier to understand than a myriad of pages and links. Further improvement is possible however.
In 2014 you said "Wedgwood-22 and Wedgwood-138 are not ready to be merged ..." because ambiguity re parents.
Well I think the correct father is Wedgwood-17 (b. 1510) rather than Wedgwood-70 (b. 1505) as the former was born and died in Biddulph, same as his son.
Wedgwood-70 seems to be different person from Wedgwood-17, as he has different birth-date and parents. They have the same death-date and wife on WikiTree, but that may be a mistake.
In 2014 Wedgwood-70 got Wedgwood-138 added to him as an offspring, but this may also have been a mistake.
Can I suggest (1) removing Wedgwood-138 from Wedgwood-70, and (2) going ahead with the merge of Wedgwood-22 and Wedgwood-138?
This would help me a lot!
Ruth Hutchins (2476), daughter of Benjamin Hutchins and Ruth Smith, is my 3rd great grandmother. I have not had any luck finding information on her mother, Ruth Smith. Do you have any information on her? Thanks.
Please send me the profiles URL / web address and complete name of the profile as it is time consuming to try and look up profiles by the ID. For Hutchins-2384 and Hutchins-2386
Thank you, David
Not to mean or anything,, Please remove yourself as manager on my tree.