Shouldn't it be possible to approve a pending merge from the merge compare page?

+15 votes
257 views

I ran into unexpected software behavior while trying to complete a merge, and I believe that the behavior I encountered needs to be changed.

After reviewing the list of pending merges waiting for approval from me, I used the "merge compare" page to look for inconsistencies needing to be ironed out. Then I clicked on the "merge them" link on that page, in "If these two profiles represent the same person merge them," with the expectation that I would be completing the merger (which had been approved by the manager of the other profile). Instead, I was surprised to see a screen indicating that the merger couldn't be done until the other profile manager approved it, and even more surprised to discover that my action had reset the clock on the merge proposal.

It is not intuitively obvious that I can't approve a merge and complete it from that "compare" page.

In this case there were 4 different profiles for one pre-1700 person (3 different pairs of profiles) needing to be merged, and I thought it was important to use the "compare" tool to help me avoid confusion about the details of the different profiles (I opened the three sets of comparisons in three different browser tabs). It should not be necessary to go back to the list of pending merges to approve a merge. It should be possible to approve a pending merge from that "compare" page -- and when I click on "merge them" for a pair of profiles that are pending a merge, my action should not reset the clock on the pending merge.

Can this software behavior be modified?

in WikiTree Tech by Ellen Smith G2G Astronaut (1.5m points)

2 Answers

0 votes
Ellen can you provide the profile ID's please?
by Michelle Hartley G2G6 Pilot (166k points)
The merge that could not be completed is Winne-23 to Winne-19.

(I completed the other merges for profile Winne-19. After the unexpected result of my attempt to do the Winne-23 merge, I didn't touch those others until after I was advised by PM* about what I had done wrong, so I was able to complete them successfully.)

*In this instance, PM means "private message."

Ellen it would be helpful to others who might have the same issue to explain what happened.smiley

These profiles have been project-protected, but had been unlocked to allow merger. Did that affect the merging behavior?
I unlocked Winne-23, Winne-135, Winne-86  on 10 Nov before the merge proposals were made.
+2 votes
The time that you see is the timestamp. Indicating the last change or edit. It's not the date the merge was proposed.
by Michelle Hartley G2G6 Pilot (166k points)

The "changes" history shows that this particular merge was proposed (most recently) on 10 November 2014. If the clock on the merge had not been reset, the merge (which had been approved by the other profile manager) would be default-approved by now.

The profile manager for Winne-23 had approved this merge, and I (as profile manager for Winne-19) was trying to process the three different merges for Winne-19 that had been approved by the other profile managers. I clicked on "merge them" on the "compare" page, expecting this would have the effect of approving the merge and I would next see the merge page. Instead, however, I saw the same screen I would see if I had just initiated a brand-new merge for a profile I manage.

At the moment, the "pending merges" queue has this particular merge (the one that was proposed on 10 November 2014)  here  (that URL is subject to change, of course!), among merges proposed on 6 December 2014. That page lists it with a date stamp of Last updated 2014-12-06 04:07:36This is consistent with the impression that my attempt to approve and complete the merge resulted in resetting the clock.

Did you propose the merge when you got to the merge proposal screen?
My recollection (from several days ago) is that I never saw the merge proposal screen. Rather, when I clicked on "merge them" on the "merge compare" screen, I got the message that there was already a proposed merge that could not proceed yet because it was awaiting approval from the Winne-23 side. I was surprised -- because minutes earlier the system had indicated that the manager of Winne-23 had already approved the merge (and I briefly wondered if I was losing my mind).

The next morning, I got email from another user (who had apparently seen this sort of thing happen before) that informed me that my action had the effect of taking the entire proposed merge back to the starting gate, including resetting the clock on it.
I thought it was normal procedure for the clock to reset if proprosed merges are compared.
Comparing proposed merges shouldn't reset the 30 day clock. I tested numerous profiles lastnight & couldn't produce the clock resetting the timestamp for most recent update.
Then when the date on the bottom of the merge changes... that has nothing to do with the " merge clock"
I believe that this peculiar behavior occurs only when the proposed merge is ready to go, except for needing approval from the user who is attempting to complete it.

That's a rather specific situation. To experiment with that situation, it probably would be necessary for two users to collaborate in setting up the experiment: one (who has access to one of the two profiles) to set up the merge and approve one side of it, and the other (a user who has access to the second profile) to attempt to complete the merge.
Sorry didn't mean the 30 day clock. I meant the timestamp.

It's not normal procedure for the clock to reset if proposed merges are compared.
Tried your suggestion. Worked ok for me.
Glad to hear that the approval-and-merge process worked like it ought to! I'm still going to be cautious when this situation arises in the future, though... (Once burned, twice shy!)

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