Suggested Changes to Profile manager

Question

Hello,

I am new to Wikitree. I have been working hard putting information into the profiles I have created.

It would be helpful to have all changes first be sent to the Profile Manager before any changes are made. It is the respectful thing to do.

Find a Grave has this option and it works great.

Thank you, Carol Ann

Answer 1

Here's the WikiTree guidance, which suggests contacting the profile manager before making major changes, but says "Here are some changes where it's normally not necessary to post a comment on the profile or contact the Profile Manager in advance."

• Correction of obvious misspellings, or grammatical or typographical errors. In your comment on the change say something like "Small typo fix."

• Addition of new factual data that is supported by a valid source. Be sure to add the source!

• Addition of a new source citation that supports existing factual data.

• Replacement of a small amount of unsourced data (for example, a date or a place name) with different data that is supported by a valid source. It would be best to preserve the incorrect information, e.g. with a footnote that says "This date has been published as X. The source of this date is unknown." In your comment on the change say something like "Adding sourced date. Where did other date come from?"

• Integration of any redundant content that may have resulted from an earlier merge (assuming no data is lost in your edit, just integrated).

• Non-destructive editing of GEDCOM-created biographies, including deletion of redundant factual data or data that is not meaningful or useful to a casual reader.

• Any change to an orphaned profile (where there is no Profile Manager).

In my opinion, that strikes exactly the right balance.

Answer 2

That proposal is inconsistent with the premise of WikiTree. It's a wiki. Wikis are intended to make it easy for users to make changes, but to also provide means to roll-back bad changes. PMs are not intended to serve as gatekeepers for changes but as persons willing to monitor and reverse bad changes and mediate disagreements.

Answer 3

It is hard when starting here on Wikitree to come too understand it is a worldwide site.

You will find that lots of other people may be related/connected to a particular profile.

I hope you can come to appreciate and welcome the help and changes to profiles you manage. You can always send a private message to a member if you have a query about a change. If it is a major change most members will ask a question or add info and sources to Research Notes.