Have you heard about the WikiTree Academy?

Question

Hi WikiTreers!

We are pleased to announce a new and exciting companion to WikiTree: WikiTree Academy.

The Academy is operated by and for WikiTree community members to meet the demand for a simple, friendly learning environment.

The first available course is "New Member How-To." It enables members to learn or refresh their knowledge of the different aspects of WikiTree through a series of simple learning modules.

The vision for the future is that members and projects can expand the offerings of the Academy by layering more informational content and "orphan trail"-style learning programs on top of the WikiTree basics. This way, each project doesn't need to reinvent the wheel in terms of teaching their members how to use WikiTree.

Projects are now developing courses on basic and advanced topics. Do you have thoughts, suggestions, or questions? If so, please post an answer below. Comments at the top here will be hidden after they are read once.

Steve and the WikiTree Team

P.S. The Academy does not have access to your WikiTree email or password. Please create an account by clicking on the 'Log In / Create Account' link at the top right of the page and then clicking the 'Sign Up Now' link.

Answer 1

Steve,

Great project.

Wish I could log on.  I was not able to log on to the site.  AND yes, I verified that I was using my Wikitree email and pass word.

Why not set it so if someone has an account they are automatically able to enter? - just as I could edit an profile.

Comments

Hi Phillip. You will need to create a new account. It does not use WikiTree credentials and authentication.

Answer 2

Suggest you make the password visible upon request, i.e. "eye symbol," so those of us that with limited eyesight and big fingers on small key boards keys can see what we are typing.

Comments

And please require typing it twice, just like the email address

---

Agreed. Requring re-entry of your password is super important.

---

Password visibility on login form is now implemented.

---

Thank you!

---

I'm in the opposite camp. If I can see my email address and password while I type, I don't want to enter them twice. To each their own!

---

I agree with Karen. I hate having to type both email address and password twice. And most people I know use either the browser to remember the password or use apps like 1password to manage them.

Answer 3

Steven:  This is a great addition and will be one more resource to point new members to.

I totally agree with Walt's comment to make the password visible.  Additionally -- it might be worthwhile to note that user names have to be in all lower case and the WikiTree ID is the surname-# that we all frequently use.

Comments

WikiTree-ID should be self explanatory for most users. I am hoping to create a Help page soon that will detail some of this information for new users instead of overloading the Signup/Login form.

---

Then again, when you're new, nothing here is self-explanatory. I might have confused this with my email address, which is actually my User ID.

---

I totally agree, when you're new, everything seems harder. And, we were all new once.

Answer 4

I think this is a great idea!  There is such a learning curve on WikiTree.  I'm slowly learning how to do things all the time.

Answer 5

I think this is a great idea. I’m still not fully on board with everything when creating a profile

Answer 6

I have been attempting to educate myself but life takes me in 100 directions lol I timed out. oops will do over lol great idea love it hoping it will bring me up to speed casey jones...

Answer 7

I hope it gets prominent placement on the main page(s) and on the menu!

Also, would be great if it was part of the welcome package and message(s) to new members!

Answer 8

Really good idea. Hope the international versions get supported and better translation.

I do think there should be a short explanation how to sign up/why you need to sign up as the first message you see on the first page.

Comments

Yes, Michael. An simple explanation at the beginning and that the sign up is separate from your WikiTree sign up.

Answer 9

When you're in a module, the arrows at the bottom of the page next to "Previous activity" and "Next activity" should be clickable. So should those words.

Answer 10

Unfortunately, I am unable to log in on Firefox using a Mac Air laptop.

Comments

Hi Gina, have you created an account? The Academy does not use your WikiTree credentials.

---

Ok. That wasn't clear in the G2G announcement. Thank you.

---

Hi Gina, go ahead and try to create a new account.

---

It worked! Thanks!!

Answer 11

Maybe a good source for guiding newbies. Could a freespace page be set up with instructions/general information. Maybe with a pdf file to help clarify potential access/usage issues.

Answer 12

A wonderful idea.  We do Zoom meetings for new Data Doctors and would love to develop a general course for new and advanced Data Doctors -and could also develop one for new WikiTree members - Suggestions 101 with other courses for more skilled members if this is also helpful.

Answer 13

This sounds like an excellent idea Steve!  Congrats on this to you and the team! I can see DNA Confirmation definitely being a module that would be worth developing (maybe you already have ?).  Kudos!

Comments

Thanks Greg!

I am a dummy when it comes to DNA. Hopefully someone will take up that challenge to create a DNA course. I will be one of the first to enroll!

Answer 14

Great stuff. I completed the course, but could not get the backpack thing to work. I got the verification email, clicked on the link, and got a error page stating that the verification was pending! Stuck in a loop it seems. Anyway, not linked to badges here it seems, so probably not worth the effort to figure out.

Comments

Hi Dana, backpacks are optional, you don't have to worry about those. If you are logged into the site, go to https://academy.wikitree.com/user/profile.php to see your profile and any awarded badges.

Answer 15

As usual, designed by those who already are experts at WikiTree, and totally not usable by newbies.  I had to read all the way down the answers, and tried using my email and WikiTree ID and it still will not let me sign up.  If you expect new users to do this , PUT THE INSTRUCTIONS ON THE SIGN IN PAGE!!!  Must I use a DIFFERENT EMAIL than the one I always use for my genealogy work?  Is my "username"  my name as shown on WikiTree?  If I ever get signed in, will I have to go out of WikiTree, open another window or tab?  Totally unusable if I can't use it while I am in WikiTree.  

I wish that the folks who really are trying to make WikiTree more user friendly, would actually try to approach it as if they didn't know how to use it already.

1 second ago 

Comments

Ok, I finally figured out how to sign on.  Some suggestions?  Yep, make the SIGN ON button LARGER.  Also, how many times have folks on G2G asked for ways to make WikiTree more useable for those of us who can't read the teeney tiny font?  I know it would take time to do it,  but please use a larger font for all of the instructional text.  Even the default font here on G2G is hard to read, without using the Chrome button to increase the size.  Content is probably good for the brand new user, but as already mentioned, a link to this needs to be added as part of the Greeters message, and perhaps also to the steps to upgrading to the Family Member and Honor Code.  It does cover the basics, and I did learn some things about the stuff I usually don't use.  For the things that are still not explained well in the Help pages, I shall keep hoping for detailed videos done sometime hopefully soon, by Mindy or Julie or one of our other brave WikiTreers.

---

Thanks for the feedback Willodene. We are working on documentation/help pages, but a quick hint: You can turn on accessibility settings.

Click on your profile icon on the top right of any page, and then click on accessibility. You will have an option to  change the font to a dyslexic friendly version, and enable a full accessibility toolbar. Once enabled, you can change font sizes natively through the toolbar located at the very top of the page, before the site headers.

---

Thanks for your response, Steven.  Sorry, I can't even find what you are referencing.  I have checked all of the drop down menus on what might be "my profile icon", and found only an Accessibilty Angels project.  Even if I had found what you suggested, would it work on the Academy pages?

---

Willodene, sorry for the confusion. The Academy and the WikiTree site are two very different platforms. They do not 'talk' or share information with each other.

My message above was for the Academy (enabling accessibility settings).

---

Thanks for your help, Steven.  WikiTree has been changing rather quickly this year, and I'm hoping that it will become much easier for those new to it.  I have a cousin that I would love to have on here as we have collaborated for years.  Unfortunately, she just finds it too intimidating.  I have added as many connections for her as I can, so maybe someday she will join us.

Answer 16

As usual, designed by those who already are experts at WikiTree, and totally not usable by newbies.  I had to read all the way down the answers, and tried using my email and WikiTree ID and it still will not let me sign up.  If you expect new users to do this , PUT THE INSTRUCTIONS ON THE SIGN IN PAGE!!!  Must I use a DIFFERENT EMAIL than the one I always use for my genealogy work?  Is my "username"  my name as shown on WikiTree?  If I ever get signed in, will I have to go out of WikiTree, open another window or tab?  Totally unusable if I can't use it while I am in WikiTree.  

I wish that the folks who really are trying to make WikiTree more user friendly, would actually try to approach it as if they didn't know how to use it already.

Answer 17

Good solution! As WT grows it gets more cumbersome and complex. The academy may make the learning curve flatter.

Answer 18

I love this idea. I hadn't heard about it.

Answer 19

Steven, there appears to be an unfortunate bug in the Acadamy answer recognition. If you answer all three questions correctly, and choose the option to answer another question, it seems to forget that you have answered the third one.

When I continued, and answered the third one again correctly, it had forgotten that I had answered the first one correctly.

Comments

Hi Stephen, the system we are using is worded a little funny. The Answer another question option is a little unintuitive since it comes before you formally submit the answers (lock them in). I have disabled this in the first quiz. No other quiz had this enabled, so this should no longer be a problem.

---

Thanks, so a misleading feature, not a bug!

Answer 20

https://share.icloud.com/photos/09ae2hzLaUYXmGK1iowMf-skw

Is this me making the incorrect dates? I did this last week. Dec 2022 lol 

Comments

You can ignore that Diane. That is when the activity/quiz was  "opened" for submissions. It is a control used when building a course that we will not be taking advantage of when working in the Academy. I have to figure out a way to hide those labels :)

---

thank you!

Answer 21

The confirmation email has not been sent to my email address--the one that I used to register.  I've tried three times.  No joy.

Comments

Hi David, did you check your junk/spam emails? The emails will be coming from a no-reply@academy.wikitree.com email address.

---

I do not find a reply in the spam folder or in the deleted file.  The spam file on my desktop computer is a little wonky, however.

---

Mine went directly to the spam folder. For some reason, Gmail believes it is spam.