Did you see the new way to request categorization help?

Question

Hi WikiTreers,

Categories are becoming an increasingly important part of our single family tree project because of My Connections.

If you haven't played with My Connections yet, click to 100 Greatest African Americans, Featured Royalty, Mayflower Passengers, Magna Carta Barons, or another featured category and then click the My Connections button in the upper right corner of the page. That one click initiates dual Relationship Finder and Connection Finder searches through millions of relationships. It's incredibly powerful.

Since this tool works for any category, WikiTreers are discovering valuable uses in One Name Studies, One Place Studies, and more. Imagine being able to see how you're related to everyone in a cemetery. Imagine giving anyone that power ... to stand in a cemetery and click one button on their mobile phone to see how they're related to everyone buried beneath their feet. That's what your work on WikiTree is enabling.

This all depends on profiles being categorized. And although any member can create a new category, we have to use the same naming scheme and hierarchy. You might have no idea how to name a category for your ancestor's neighborhood, cemetery, military unit, etc.

Before today, we had a form for submitting questions to the Categorization Project. That worked, but it puts a large burden on a small group of members, and it could take days for you to get your answer. There are now so many WikiTreers who understand categories that asking here in G2G is more efficient. You might get an answer in a few minutes or hours.

We've now added a link on Edit Person pages, right next to the Edit Text box, for requesting a new category or for asking for categorization advice. It opens a G2G question form. Click here for an example or look on any edit page.

If you have any questions or comments, please ask them here. Please post as an answer. Comments at the top will be hidden after they are read once.

Onward and upward,

Chris and the WikiTree Team

Comments

For a bit advanced users, who "just" want to insert a category in an existing hierarchy this video about creating location categories from Wikipedia articles about the place might be useful:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=okOe7sHjuQs&t=47s

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It is not about how to do it, it is about when to create a new category. Yes, I could create the category and do everything I want, but it is a community, and what you create should work for everyone.

Answer 1

Sorry - where exactly is it? I can't see anything with the word 'Categories' on it.

Comments

Melanie, as Chris mentioned, that original form worked great for a while, but started to become a very large burden on a very small group of members - whose numbers are dwindling still. So this new option has all the benefits of the original request form, but goes to a much wider audience.

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I agree with Ros. Not using BEE, and it's only in the text in the right-hand column not "next to the Edit Text box". Might need to reword that in your post if Melanie's example is the correct one. Or perhaps it's not working properly.

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Thanks for the explanation, Steven.  I guess you folk will be "hearing" from me a lot less in the future.   Methinks I'll stick with existing categories. 
(Funny, really, how I went from never adding them, to adding only military ones, then to adding whatever seemed relevant.  They still scare me stupid, though.  )

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Uh - how is it not next to the "edit text box"?

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Seems right next to it to me.

Maybe it's a device thing?  I'm on a laptop.

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Interpretation. To me, that means "grouped with the other icons related to the Edit Text box", which it is not. On mobile especially, that gets pushed all the way under the Edit Text box, so you have to scroll way down to see it.

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Those "other icons", though, aren't "next to", they are above.

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I agree with Melanie, I think the wording is fine.

The majority of visitors to the site (who may or not be members) are using devices large enough to show the right panel where this is located - tablets, laptops, desktops, etc. - and only a small fraction of visitors (less than 15%) are using devices where the screen resolution breaks the page into a single column.

When we look at the majority of members (based on session length), that number is even smaller.

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Wikitree BEE isn't altering it. I can see the categorisation info quite clearly.

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I think you have to be on a laptop or desk top as using my phone and tablet for everything makes it very difficult...it could be the same for some other users?

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Nevermind I see where that is addressed and I am one of those small percentages who contributes everything via my Samsung Android Galaxy phone... oh well

Answer 2

Oooh! Really cool! I just clicked on the last link in the paragraph of text under "How to Add Categories" in Edit view and was gifted with a ready-to-go G2G post!

Repeating myself, but that is Really cool!

Cheers, Liz

Answer 3

It looks like this is going to create more work for the volunteers, not less. Previously I could just scan the e-mail notifications and pick up requests needing England Project attention. Now I'm going to have to proactively search for every G2G post in the format "Advice for categorization of ...." and open it to see if it relates to England. Requests are going to be missed.

Comments

With the assistance of moderators and the community that we already enjoy now, requests for assistance will likely be tagged quickly to draw attention to them. So a request for categorization assistance in England would be tagged with both England and Categorization so they are easily identifiable. These types of requests are already handled in G2G outside of the old request form, and they are typically handled within hours now, while the old request form could take days.

In addition, you are currently the only member from the England Project helping to monitor the requests now. With this global member-driven approach, the entirety of G2G can assist in helping members - leaving less work for one person or the already small group of members.

So while it may be a slight inconvenience at first while we all adapt to the new system, I am sure you will find that it offers greater flexibility and collaboration than we have now with the secluded form.

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The pre-compiled form ought to prompt the member submitting the request to add a meaningful tag, such as the relevant topic or country - rather than relying on moderators to add the tag afterwards.

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I agree with Stephen. A prompt within the prefilled text to add a tag would help everyone. For instance, we have people in Black Heritage who we prefer to create our categories because they know how to do it following our standards--for how to name the category, whether we should have that newly requested category at all, and what goes on the category landing page. If the request is tagged black_heritage it's going to more quickly pick up one of those people so others aren't fumbling around looking for our standards. The end goal being that we (USBH) don't have to go clean up later.

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I think that people should add tags to alert projects if the category being requested falls under a project purview. I've seen some already that should have an Ireland tag because their location naming is quite specific.  Perhaps that should be part of any instructive paragraph with regard to the request.

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Adding a tag for the profile surname only is useless, if they are only tagged with categorization and a surname tag, that restricts the people seeing the posts. The majority of the categories requested under the old form were US cemeteries. The post needs a project and/or location tag or no-one will look at them. As Natalie mentioned, I've seen 6 posts already, all for Irish locations, but not tagged "Ireland".

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I just looked at the function on my profile, works great, and terrific idea. But it add the default tags of Categorization and surname, and even when I add the proposed name including Australia or England or a cemetery, it doesn't suggest that tag. Needs something to prompt people to add a meaningful tag.

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I agree, there needs to be a tag choice given, and not the profile ID, which I am seeing in these right now on e-mail.  I mean really, tags: Categorization, Blow-666 don't tell me zip about what the category they want to add relates to.  Is it a location, a military unit, what?

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@Stephen - the rollover feature on WikiTree Bee will give you an idea of the G2G post content just from hovering over the title. Not an ideal solution, but a work-around, and you can filter out a lot of the posts which aren't relevant to England that way.

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Hi Stephen, Australia project has a free space page to track category requests (https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Space:Categories_Waiting_to_be_Added_or_Renamed) - maybe something similar would be helpful to England project as well (eg volunteers that are not confident to create new categories could add links to the g2g posts etc). 

Answer 4

Hi Chris. Thank you for this interesting innovation! But like others I'm not sure about the wording: it's ambiguous. It says, in the right margin,

Select the  icon in the toolbar above the Edit Text box to choose an existing category or request a new category or advice. 

It sounds as if you're supposed to use the  icon to request a new category or advice as well as to choose an existing category, whereas really if you want advice you don't click the icon but instead use the link request a new category or advice just next to the question mark.

It might be better to say

Select the  icon in the toolbar above the Edit Text box to choose an existing category. Alternatively, you can request a new category or advice. 

Comments

I think the suggestion to separate the wording into two sentences is a good one.  It'd certainly help those who are unfamiliar with the process.

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Thanks, Jim. We are updating the wording with the next round of changes.

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I realize I am in the minority and I apologize for being an annoyance or nuisance. I am that small percentage who sees one column because I work via a smart phone but am on here every day, usually hours at a time and I am now more confused by this thread. I've been adding Categories to my profiles but of the two times I tried asking how to categorize something I was once left feeling a bit chastised and the second time must've fallen in to the cracks.

Having said that I don't want to give up and would like to know if there is a "best method" for adding categories? Are we able to do this as individuals as one comment suggests or is the thread stating there are more people to reply to requests? I haven't tried asking since the Civil War question I asked but an issue I've had recently arose when the cemetery app or extension was recently redone ... so I focused on trying to add those places aas categories and found several cemeteries not in the drop down menu despite trying multiple ways of spelling (or misspelling) words - e.g. "Saint" v "St." I was able to Google the cemetery to confirm it's existence and had more than one relative entered there (my apologies as I wish I had my notes in front of me to give the name but I don't) but I can recall similar names but in completely different countries or states. So for this specific example, on my Galaxy Android S10 smartphone, what should I do? Move on, submit a request, leave a note and hope someone sees it or is there something more efficient? Please note I am asking with full sincerity and intentions of learning more about wikitree and integrating the same things as everyone else does to make our ancestors all have wonderful profiles.

  Cheers! Becky Elizabeth (Simmons-11603)

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I can't answer your main question, but I can help with finding a cemetery named for a saint. Start the search with the letter S then a space and the name followed by the town or  county (not both at the same time), then state or province. Like so: S John Lafayette, Louisiana. The idea is to use only the parts of words that you know will be included. Hope this helps.

Answer 5

I saw it and I used it this morning. The categorist, Natalie Trott, responded by creating the cemetery category very quickly. I hope it continues to work as well in the future.

Comments

Thanks Nelda for adding a meaningful tag, (Cemeteries), it gives us an idea of the relevant project or category area, and brings it the attention of those members best able to create the category.

Answer 6

This sounds like it could be interesting, but I have no idea what to do or how to do it. What categorisations are there? How do I add them? How do they work?

Comments

Karen, you can learn more here:

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

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*****

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Karen, I've been on the site for ten years and I rarely add categories.  Just focus on what makes you comfortable.

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Thank you. I don't think 'comfortable' is a word I can apply as I don't get any feeling of understanding how anything much works. I keep trying things out and looking for information, but then feel I'm following a chain of equally incomprehensible stuff. Too much of a learning curve alongside everything else going on in life.

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Categories are an optional way of grouping people with the same sorts of attributes together. The ones I add to profiles most regularly are cemetery names, migration ships, and a personal category I've set up so I can find the profiles I want to go back and work on a bit more.

The categories for that person show at the bottom of the page as links, and if you click on one it will show everyone else who've been given that category. You can also see who in that category is related to you - that's quite nice with cemeteries, for e.g.

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Thank you, I understand the concept of categorisation completely, which is why it appeals to me. I just don't have any understanding of how to apply it to profiles or how even to find out what categories there are. I will just return to basic bios and referencing.

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Fair enough. If you ever want to find out if there's a category for a place, cemetery, type of job, etc, you can just click on the category icon above the edit box and start typing - it brings up matching categories you can insert.

Answer 7

Do the categories go above the Bio heading or at the bottom of the profile page?

Comments

Categories go above the Biography header in edit mode.  They appear at the bottom of the profile view page.

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See: https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Help:Biographies#Proper_order for the proper order.

Stickers of any sort go below the ==Biography== heading and only. Categories go above it.

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Thank you both, Melanie and Natalie. I'm heading off to add some categories to my family's profiles armed with your instructions.

Answer 8

I hope his solves the problem of having new categories created.

I have been trying to attach cemetery categories to all on my large Olmste(a)d family watch list. Last September I was told that I was requesting too many new ones as the committee was overloaded and thus I stopped requesting,

I didn't want to try to create them myself as I didn't want to add to the confusion of inconsistencies that I saw -- sometime the community name other times just a county or St. versus Saint, sometimes a short name or "nick-name" and sometime the full name that does not match the FAG master name list.

I was keeping a 'to do" list of those that I had identified but stopped that in November. If I had continued that it would easily be over a hundred cemeteries that need categories.

I have one family group where there are over 20 members in one cemetery that was not previously categorized.

Hopefully this new system of getting help (and WT is great for members helping members) will solve the problem.

Answer 9

Chris,

Fantastic.  Finally we are able to actually use categories.

I have applied categories heavily to profiles, I try to include one for place of birth, marriage, death, burial (Cemetery) and any other that seems important.

I finally took the time to look carefully at My Connections -

Just one suggestion - can we add a count to the list?

I have many Ancestors and Cousins at a cemetery but the list is long - it would be nice to know exactly how many.

Comments

Hi Philip,

Do you mean a count on My Connections, e.g. https://www.wikitree.com/index.php?title=Special%3AMyConnections&c=Featured_Connections&w=Smith-40964 would say how many are displayed on that page? I'm sorry to say it could only do the one page, which parallels one category display page, which only includes up to 200 people at a time. Two hundred CF and RF searches is actually a huge, huge number of calculations. We can't do more than that at once.

Chris

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Chris,

Thank you looking at this.

My interest was a count when I looked at a specific category - There were about 25 or 30, just more than enough to count visually and a count would have been nice.  Now I have looked at several more listings - and I see many names and it looks like there are so many that adding the count is not of great value.

It would be better to put the resources into doing something else.

Answer 10

Thanks for the efforts.

Q - "My Connections" only work in the smallest sub-categorization? For instance, I looked for "My Connections" in "California Cemeteries" and no button until I get to an individual cemetery. Not sure if anything can be done about it but being able to use it at a higher level would be really helpful.

Comments

California Cemeteries is a high level category and does not hold profiles, so there will be no connections available to view. You have to go to the individual cemetery to find profiles and see connections to them.

Answer 11

I’ve already requested new Categories on the webpage form before today.  Will those still be processed, or do I have to resubmit them?

Answer 12

For those having trouble finding the button I think it is only visible on desktop viewing...as in not readily on smart phone and certain tablet screens unless you change the viewing to "Desktop Site"... Cheers! Becky Elizabeth

Comments

Hi Becky,

The "How to Add Categories" section should appear below the text editing section on mobile devices. Everything should be a single column, unlike on wider screens where there are two columns.

Chris

Answer 13

Chris,

I see these requests are posted in "Policy & Style," which is now dominated by them, making it difficult to find other "Policy & Style" topics. Would you consider creating a new g2g (ahem) category called "Categorization" ?

Comments

Hi Jillaine,

That's a possibility but let's give it some more time. The volume may be higher right now because this is brand new, it's pinned to the top of G2G, and it was promoted in this week's newsletter.

Chris

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I strongly endorse the idea of a new G2G category for these requests. "Policy and Style" is normally a low-traffic topic within G2G, used mostly for thoughtful questions and discussions about Policy and Style. These questions typically are not questions that get resolved quickly and the threads do not have a high rate of activity. This G2G category has been one that a member could usefully peruse to find conversations about topics they are wondering about.

Today when I perused the category to see if there were questions needing retagging, recategorization, or other attention I could give, I was met with a large number of category requests. I had to check to make sure I was in "Policy and Style." In the couple of days since this new request feature was introduced, it seems that there have been about 25 category requests and questions, accounting for almost all of the activity in "Policy and Style." (There appear to have been no more than 5 non-categorization questions in this time.)

Having a separate G2G category for these items would make things easier for (and increase the efficiency of) both Categorization volunteers who monitor requests and G2G Moderators who patrol the forums.

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We normally got about 4 or 5 requests per day before the change, so I also think it will "settle down" once the newness wears off. I guess only time will tell though.

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Even 4 or 5 requests can make it harder to see discussions about policy and style. I support a new category for categorization posts.

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It's been a couple of months, and the Policy & Style category in G2G is still overwhelmed by categorization-related posts, drowning out actual policy and style posts.

I'd like to renew my request for a new g2g category called Categorization and have the requests for categorization help posted there. Or if you don't want to create a new category, move them to Wikitree Help because they really are not about policy and style.

Many thanks.

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I agree with Jillaine on the need for a separate G2G category for Categorization. Due to the new feature, this has become a much more frequent topic in G2G, mostly but not entirely in the Policy and Style category. The vast majority of them are very focused on a specific topic, and are likely to be quickly resolved. In contrast, the subject matter that used to dominate the P&S category (but is increasingly swamped by category questions)  was nonspecific and of longer-lasting interest to the whole community -- for example, proposals for policy changes and "evergreen" topics like naming conventions..

But I don't agree with moving these to WikiTree Help. It appears to me that more than a few of the questions are about Policy, specifically policies of the Categorization project, and others are about Style, specifically style conventions for category names. Some of them can be considered Genealogy Help questions or more generally as requests for help with Wikitree, but since categorization is a common theme, a Categorization category would be a clear fit for all of them. Also, many Wikitree Help questions are handled by experienced Wikitreers who are knowledgeable about WikiTree in general, but are not necessarily knowledgeable about Categorization project policies and procedures, and may unwittingly give incorrect guidance if we attempt to respond to questions intended for that project. It's better to clearly label these questions by putting them in a Categorization category.

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I concur with Ellen; preference would be a separate Categorization g2g category.

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Currently, 28 of the 50 most recent questions displayed in the Policy and Style category are about categorization (and that representation will be higher after I recategorize a few questions that clearly are neither Policy, Style, nor Categorization).

Edited 30 minutes later: The count is up to 31 out of 50 now.

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And another three months later, the Policy & Style category in g2g remains dominated by categorization requests.  Could these please be removed to their own g2g "category"?

Many thanks.

Answer 14

I agree with the change. I have been helping several people with categorization when they show up on G2G.  For the areas I know well, it is easy to jump and quickly resolve the request without burdening the Categorization Project. I also look forward to what else they can do while we are assisting with these type of site maintenance issues.

Answer 15

OK. Might I request a Wittbrodt One Name Study category here?  I'm at the point of recruiting cousins to WikiTree and it would be cool to have that category, if that's a thing, which it seems to be.

Comments

Hi Deborah. You're more likely to get a response if you start a new G2G question.

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You can contact one of the leaders of the One Name Studies Project here: https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Project:One_Name_Studies .