Duplicate profiles and merging

Question

I received an email to merge.

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Reynolds-21247

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Reynolds-14847

 The merge isn't a problem, it happens from time to time. The thing I wonder about is why the older profile didn't show up when the new one was created 3 days ago. If it did show up why did the PM go ahead and create the new one? I know the PM is a new member, maybe some need to be trained what to look for when creating profiles. 

Comments

The death dates are different, and one has Co in the birth place, so it may not have picked up that they were the same.

Died before 12 Aug 1787 and Died 17 Sep 1793

Born about 1749 in Caroline Co. Virginia and Born 1749 in Caroline, Virginia

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There are examples of more difficult undetected matches at this recent G2G discussion. But your case seems very clear-cut: the name is identical, and birthdate only differs because one is certain and the other uncertain. Maybe indeed the profile manager missed it.

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@Melanie I thought the same after I posted.

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I don't think birthplace is taken into account in generating possible matches, because it's a field in the optional section 3 lower down, not part of the "basic information above" the suggestions. But the death date is indeed used for matching, and a 6-year discrepancy is a lot. My comment above missed that sorry.

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I have had possible matches show up with larger discrepancies. The only thing close to a match was the name. Then again I have had the birth years close to matching and the name completely different and the birth place. I guess it's what ever the program is in the mood for that day, 

Answer 1

I just merged a few profiles, where no duplicate came up when I created new ones.  Is there a bug?

Comments

Happend to me in the past too. Since than I always look actively for the name I want to create a profile for. That way I prevented quite a few doubles.