How are Citations handled in Wikitree

Question

How does Wikitree handle the concept of a citation?  In my database, citations are contained within a source so when I want to add the source of where I get a birth date, I must first add a citation and then the source of that citation.

Citation: Date, Volume/Page, Confidence (low, medium, high)

Source: Title, Author, Pub Info, Abbreviation.

Answer 1

Hi Bill, we follow the Evidence Explained format as an ideal, but anything is better than nothing (see https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Help:Sources_Style_Guide). Sources are not held in the database anywhere on wikitree, you can create a "free space page" for a particular source if you wish, but best practice is to include the source information in the citation as much as possible. This allows for export of that profile into GEDCOM format without losing any of the data that might be present at the end of a hyperlink or template (You'll see templates used for FindAGrave, sometimes Ancestry, DAR records, etc. It's a better idea to include the full citation AND the template so you don't accidentally lose it on export)

Lastly, there is no current way to record confidence. Some of us have ideas (see https://www.wikitree.com/g2g/1220648/do-we-need-a-classification-of-sources ) but nothing official exists. 

Hope that helps, reply with any questions. 

Comments

This was an excellent response.  Thanks!

---

I gave him the star for you, Bill. I would just add that there is no reason you cannot include a comment, such as how reliable you find a source to be, in parenthesis after the source.

Answer 2

There are a couple of help pages that may answer your question. Start here:

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Help:Sources

Hope that helps.