Wiki Genealogist Honor Code

WikiTree is free, but it's not a free-for-all. Our wiki genealogy community is creating something special: a worldwide family tree that will make genealogy free and accessible for everyone. This grand project requires mutual trust and a common understanding of how the community works. If you were invited by a family member and are just creating or editing a few private family profiles, this isn't critical, but those who participate at a higher level must agree to this shared code of ethics and principles.

Our Honor Code

1. We collaborate. When we share ancestors we work together on the same ancestor profiles.
2. We care about accuracy. We're always aiming to improve upon our worldwide family tree and fix mistakes.
3. We know mistakes are inevitable. We don't want to be afraid to make them. We assume that mistakes are unintentional when others make them and ask for the same understanding.
4. We know misunderstandings are inevitable. We try to minimize them by being courteous to everyone, even those who don't act accordingly.
5. We respect privacy. We privacy-protect anything we think our family members might not want public. If that's not enough for someone, we delete their personal information.
6. We respect copyrights. We don't knowingly copy information that's owned by someone else. If we ourselves want to preserve a copyright, we're clear about what's copyrighted so others don't accidentally copy it.
7. We give credit. Although most genealogy isn't copyrighted, researchers deserve credit for the work they've done.
8. We cite sources. Without sources we can't objectively resolve conflicting information.
9. We are united in a mission to increase the world's common store of knowledge. We always respect copyrights and privacy, but we keep information as free and open as possible.

Signers

Please join the list of signers. To sign, you need to login (or register if you're new).

Gary O'Hare, May 19, 2013. Michelle Scott, May 19, 2013. Amanda Moyer, May 19, 2013. Sharon Bond, May 19, 2013. Zvi Amir, May 19, 2013. Christine Foley, May 19, 2013. Christian Fleming, May 19, 2013. Benjamin Bruins, May 19, 2013. Jeff Webb, May 19, 2013. Terri French, May 19, 2013. Courtney Higgins, May 18, 2013. James King, May 18, 2013. Javier Mascaro, May 18, 2013. Margaret Bell, May 18, 2013. John Giles, May 18, 2013. Edith Thomas, May 18, 2013. Chris Goff, May 18, 2013. Frances McNair, May 18, 2013. Bob Silver, May 18, 2013. Bob Liddell, May 18, 2013. Andre Hamon, May 18, 2013. Howard Holderness, May 18, 2013. Teri Brinker, May 18, 2013. Danielle Genet, May 18, 2013. Ted Smith, May 18, 2013. Carol Phillips, May 18, 2013. Anonymous Anonymous, May 17, 2013. Terry Gill, May 17, 2013. Kevin Hanning, May 17, 2013. Jenny Yancey, May 17, 2013. Miriam Jarvis, May 17, 2013. Catharine Stone, May 17, 2013. Paul Zimmerli, May 17, 2013. Rachel Wilson, May 17, 2013. Carolyn Maxwell, May 17, 2013. Anonymous Odom, May 17, 2013. Michelle Mizerek, May 17, 2013. Edgar Lopez-Martinez, May 17, 2013. George Wehmeyer, May 17, 2013. Jill Reyna, May 17, 2013. Joan Snell, May 17, 2013. Bill Irving, May 17, 2013. Teresa Coffman, May 17, 2013. Allan Gurowski, May 17, 2013. Gabrielle Barlow, May 17, 2013. Mary Alverson, May 17, 2013. Daniel Gross, May 17, 2013. Bill Jones, May 17, 2013. Kendra Baker, May 17, 2013. Frank Nolan, May 17, 2013. Richard Spivey, May 17, 2013. Carolyn Govan, May 16, 2013. Jacqueline Cowie, May 16, 2013. Carole Webb, May 16, 2013. Michael Coffaro, May 16, 2013. Leona Lake, May 16, 2013. Michael Moyer, May 16, 2013. Timothy Giles, May 16, 2013. Adam McQuery, May 16, 2013. Robb Brinkley, May 16, 2013. Elaine Bailey, May 16, 2013. Thomas Crossman, May 16, 2013. Jeff Taylor, May 16, 2013. Cody Moreland, May 16, 2013. Jeffrey Morris, May 16, 2013. Peter Thorn, May 16, 2013. Heather Laird, May 16, 2013. Garett Pelati, May 16, 2013. Sandy Bain, May 16, 2013. Larry Naramore, May 16, 2013. Bohdan Maksymyuk, May 16, 2013. Dianne Matheson, May 16, 2013. Denise Bell, May 16, 2013. Edward Rutledge, May 16, 2013. Valerie Boyd, May 16, 2013. LeAnn Gossett, May 16, 2013. Mike Gill, May 16, 2013. Shirley Adler, May 16, 2013. Cathy Nelson, May 15, 2013. Gayla Freeman, May 15, 2013. Mary Butcher, May 15, 2013. Dale Brewer, May 15, 2013. Norbert Jankowski, May 15, 2013. John Hebert, May 15, 2013. Tim Campbell, May 15, 2013. Leann Smith, May 15, 2013. Doug Price, May 15, 2013. Teresa Cherka, May 15, 2013. Rod Schultz, May 15, 2013. Eric Chalifoux, May 15, 2013. Mark Jones, May 15, 2013. Clarence Briggs, May 15, 2013. Richard Tapp, May 15, 2013. Tomáš Hanyk, May 15, 2013. Robert Stevens, May 15, 2013. Irvin Boonzaier, May 15, 2013. Rob Guay, May 15, 2013. Stephen Kirby, May 15, 2013. Bob Holt, May 15, 2013. Gwen van der Walt, May 15, 2013.

Click here for the complete list of signers.

You can discuss this Honor Code on our community's "G2G" discussion forum, on Twitter (@WikiTreeOnline), Facebook, or Google+.

Here is more about WikiTree including its mission and organization. Here is more about the community.