Any trouble with the new system for creating profiles (version 3)?

Question

Hi WikiTreers,

As many of you know, we have been testing a new system for creating profiles. If you're not already using it, click here and check the box that says "Turn on Beta test," and then save your settings.

We're expecting to switch everyone to the new system on Friday.

[Update: As of Friday, March 24, the new system is live for everyone.]

The only problems that we're currently aware of are with the old WikiTree X browser extension.

If you're experiencing a problem with the new system, please let us know here. (Please post an answer instead of a comment. Comments at the top will be hidden after they are read once.)

Thank you!

Chris and the WikiTree Team

Comments

I absolutely love the new system with all the extensions. WikiTree Sourcer is my favorite, and once one tries using it on any profile, you will be amazed at just how much time it saves.

Keep up the amazing work Chris and the WikiTree Team

Answer 1

I am finding the new system very convenient and smooth: thank you to everyone involved in developing it.

There is one exception. The number of possible duplicates presented in the case of a married woman can be overwhelming, with a large number of the suggestions completely spurious.

This is because matches seem to be generated both against last name at birth and current last name, indiscriminately. If I am creating a profile with LNAB Smith and CLN Jones, I only want to see possible duplicates with LNAB Smith or CLN Jones, not ones with LNAB Jones or CLN Smith. (The over-supply becomes even worse when similar instead of identical names are added in.)

I think it's been said that duplicate checking will be reviewed later. But how hard would it be to handle this particular issue separately and urgently? Doing so would be a big time-saver.

Edited to correct punctuation.

Comments

Our next project is working on improving search / duplicate checking, but I'll take a look at this right now.

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Great, thanks very much Jamie!

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Although the size of the duplicate list can be overwhelming, there will be the occasional situation where Mary Smith married William Jones but it was actually her second marriage, so a profile already exists where Smith is her CLN not her LNAB. Similarly where you are entering her first marriage but she then remarried, so somebody has already created a profile based on her second marriage with LNAB Jones not knowing that was actually her married name. So it needs to be weighed up whether the convenience of having a shorter list to check is worth the (slightly) increased risk of accidentally creating a duplicate.

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Sorry Paul, I don't understand your first case. If Smith was her LNAB, she will still appear in the list after the change I propose is made. If Smith was not her LNAB, she is not a possible match.

I see the point of your second case, but as you say it is rare. There will be other cases where an existing profile which is an actual duplicate has been created with the wrong LNAB. We can't hope to cover all of those, and attempting to do so would generate such long lists of potential duplicates that members will find it hard to concentrate when scanning through them and miss something, or be tempted to ignore the list altogether.

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My first example really depends on how much research has been done before creating the profile. If somebody has found both the marriage record and the birth record and knows that her LNAB was Smith then that's fine. But if they are creating the profile based just on a marriage record not realising it is a second marriage, then they won't be presented with the existing profile because that profile has Smith as her CLN not her LNAB.

As I said it's a balancing act - the increased risk of creating duplicates is small, but it isn't zero.

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It would be a shame if people who do do their research were expected to wade through vast lists of irrelevant duplicate suggestions for the benefit of people who don't.

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Btw, I'm gathering suggestions on how to improve matching/search if you want to add them here: https://www.wikitree.com/g2g/1562250/what-improvements-would-you-make-to-search-matching

Answer 2

No Thank You, I Hate New Editor

* It takes more clicks.
* Can't enter middle name until more clicks and already has (no middle name) already clicked
* I don't see a way to choose to edit the old way that I was using this morning before forced change to new editor.
* Sorry but if each profile is going to take me longer I will not be adding more profiles.
* One nice thing is light text telling you what needs to be in field you are going to type in.

Here are my last 2 profiles if someone wants to take over add some of the 23 children.

Clark-80618 ( See video on profile )

Williams-124047 ( See video on profile )

Send me a email of how I can work on profiles the old way or I will not waste time trying to make 1000's of profiles this way.

I will only work on my tree if needed from time to time with the new editor.

Comments

Can't enter middle name until more clicks and already has (no middle name) already clicked

If you go to https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Special:Settings , you can uncheck the "Hide Middle Name field when creating profiles and automatically set "no middle name" selector" setting to get the middle name field back. That setting used to be for the middle name warning.

I don't see a way to choose to edit the old way that I was using this morning before forced change to new editor.

The old add person form has been completely replaced with this new one -- there is no option to use the old form.

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Why when I start a profile do I have an extra click to choose "Create new profile" or "Connect existing profile" because how do I know if it is a existing profile until I start entering data and matches show up? That is a dumb question to ask every time I try to add a family member to a tree.

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On the old form, there was Part A and Part B on the same page. Part A allowed you to enter an existing WikiTree ID to attach an already existing profile, while Part B allowed you to enter information to create a new one. "Create a new profile" is the same as the old part B, and "Connect existing profile" is the same as the old part A, where you can enter a WikiTree ID.

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Hi Doug, Ian has added a setting to the WBE to make the form look a bit more like it did before: https://www.wikitree.com/g2g/1563396/wikitree-browser-extension-new-features . You may want to try that out.

Answer 3

I'm finding it terrible. Way more unnecessary clicking than the previous all-in-one profile creation.  It is now harder than ever to remember to add details like middle names.

Comments

If you go to https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Special:Settings , you can uncheck the "Hide Middle Name field when creating profiles and automatically set "no middle name" selector" setting to get the middle name field back. That setting used to be for the middle name warning.

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Thanks Jamie!

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Sean, here is more explanation about the Middle Name changes: Did you notice the Middle Name field changes?

Answer 4

I would like more information when comparing duplicates. If I enter someone's information then and matches pop up, I am only shown the years for the person I just entered and not the complete birth and/or death dates.  If someone looks similar I have to page back and see what dates I just entered.

Answer 5

What a bunch of extra work y'all have created!  I used to start a new profile by pasting my citation into the source box at the bottom of the page. Then I scrolled up and filled in everything else. Now I'm prevented from adding the citation until five pages into the profile. What a waste of time and effort!  I'm doing a One Place Study and sometimes write 10 or 15 profiles in a day. This new method is hugely time consuming.

Comments

Agree. I also began with pasting the sources, which often have clues to dates, places, names, etc. in the citation so would scroll up and down, typing in the data from the citation clues.  Now will have to create a word doc with the info and pop back and forth between screens, while slowly advancing through the profile creation pages on my very slow internet.  

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It's interesting seeing the different ways people were using the old form to add information.

So you would first add the source citations, then fill in the profile from the text of citations, not by looking at the actual document?

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That is correct, Jamie. I work primarily in 19th century Irish record sets which do not offer ready-made citations. I write my own citations, with the guidance of "Quick Sheet-Citing Online Historical Resources" by Elizabeth Shown Mills. I have made my own templates for birth, baptism, death, marriage, and census records. My routine had been to paste, for instance, a baptism template for a handwritten parish record into the Profile source box. Next I would modify the template for this new individual, refering to the original record set. Then I would scroll up and down, filling in the WikiTree profile screen while checking constantly to be sure spelling and dates matched what I had in my citation at the bottom of the screen.

In Irish families of the era there were often ten to twelve children. Typically, I first compose all the birth/baptism citations in the mother's existing profile, then copy/paste those one by one into new children's profiles. Quite an efficient method--now disrupted by the placement of the source box in the fourth or fifth screen of the new profile.

Thanks for asking!

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I'm not as organized as Terry, and the profiles I add are diverse, but do copy to my clipboard all the info and sources I need to fill in the fields on the profile then paste it all into the bio and source sections, as appropriate. So by scrolling up and down I could get the info entered correctly.  Now have to keep going back and forth to the screens and the anxiety seems to freeze the memory cells, so takes many trips back and forth to get the data entered correctly.  

Back when I first joined WT I could have screens split and see two pages side by side and copy from one to the other, but we lost that when the screens changed to accommodate phones or something and the pages now shrink to about 3" across with a whole lot of white blank space.  When I expand to get full width of text the page is so large it covers half of the other page so can't see what I want to copy.  

Some changes do bring great stuff, but others kill how some of us function.  The reduced screen size was when I quit as a greeter because I would watch the feed on half of the screen and work on profiles on the other.

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Ian added a feature to the WBE to make the form one page again, you may want to try it out: https://www.wikitree.com/g2g/1563396/wikitree-browser-extension-new-features

Answer 6

Hi

I created a new profile I ticked the Source will be added my user by a date option.  But when I created the profile it showed <ref>

Unsourced family tree handed down to [[Mason-3017|Carol Ann Mason]].

</ref>  and did not put the {{unsourced}} category as it before.  

Thanks

Carol Ann

Comments

Thanks for reporting this, Carol!

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I believe this is fixed now.

Answer 7

Was directed to the new system for the first time just now. Chrome, advanced box ticked and I rejected one close match. I normally have my sources ready to go from the onset so I pasted them when instructed. However, the profile was created without the Biography/Sources separators, just the list of my sources with nothing else. I'll leave it as it was generated for now in case someone needs to see it. I'll manually enter the Biography/Sources separators later, I won't have to do that every time will I? Keeping an open mind . . . .

 https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Coker-3095

Comments

Whatever is put into the advanced sources box will end up on the profile, so if you remove the boilerplate that is in the text box (== Biography == , etc) it won't be included when the profile is saved. If you just want to past a list of sources, you should use the basic source option.

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I didn't remove them and want them included so that I won't have to add them manually, that is precisely the problem.

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There should be four pre-populated lines (the Biography heading, one blank line, the Sources heading, and <references />) in the advanced text box to start with. You need to type or paste text in starting at the blank line (not select all then paste).

Jay, are you saying that when you get to that screen, the box is already entirely empty? Or does it have some faint grey instructional wording in it, and if so, what does that say?

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If you're talking about this box (link to screenshot below), yes. Sometimes it has an FS cite prepopulated but none of the headings.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/eo8vxgngem2evgs/2023-03-24%2019_33_59-Window.png?dl=0

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Thanks for the screenshot, Jay.

Whenever I see that Text with Source(s) box appear, it is not empty, but has the four lines I described.

Are you using any browser extensions? (I am not.) Only a browser extension could put a FamilySearch citation in that box. Maybe an extension is also clearing out the four lines.

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It looks like maybe one of the browser extensions is interfering with the text -- if you disable them, does text show up in the box?

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Addendum: Actually now I look again there are only three lines. The blank line isn't there. Either I was mistaken, or the blank line was present in version 2 (beta) but has disappeared in version 3 (production).

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Yes, I will disable and try again. Thanks

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@Jim: You were not mistaken, the Beta version had a blank line there, which is gone now.

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Thanks for confirming, Eva!

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 You were not mistaken, the Beta version had a blank line there, which is gone now.

Thanks for pointing this out. 

Answer 8

I'm issues with adding parents to a profile.  It seems to copy the child's information when you're creating a new father (no previous profile).  When I clicked add father, it populated the screen with the child's data.  I didn't trust it since it seemed like I was editing the child's profile vs. creating a new one.  My workaround was to just do an add new and then link them afterward

Comments

Hi D,

Do you have any of the WikiTree-related browser extensions installed? There may be a bug with one of those.

If not, what browser are you using?

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Chrome browser 111.0.5563.111 with McAffee and wikiTree Sourcer extensions

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If you disable WikiTree Sourcer, does it still autofill the information?

Answer 9

Why when I start a profile do I have an extra click to choose "Create new profile" or "Connect existing profile" because how do I know if it is a existing profile until I start entering data and matches show up? That is a dumb queston to ask every time I try to add a family member to a tree.

After you have goto settings (not new user frendly) to get middle name field to show why do we have to click "NO Middle Name" and we can't choose a "Unknown button" and leave it blank because we don't know.    

Why don't I see other last name field until I click continue (That's another click).

Then click none of these match (That's another click).

Is name the other parent back/continue (That's another click).

Sources (That's another click).

NOW I can add other last names. (That's another click).

HOW IS THIS BETTER THAN BEFORE? I'm out of here in 6 clicks per profile.

Not counting adding stickers or extras. Can't wait to see any-A-Thon numbers.

Comments

Re your first question, Doug, Jamie explained the reason for this earlier, at this comment.

There is a case where you do want to add an existing profile with a known WikiTree ID as a relative. This is different from adding a profile you think is new which may or may not turn out to be a duplicate. As Jamie says, the initial screen with three radio buttons is to distinguish between these two cases (and the third case: disconnection of an existing relative).

Personally I do not find it onerous to click to select a radio button then a Continue button, when that screen gives you the power to achieve any one of three different operations.

Re your second point, I agree it might be better if the default setting were to show the middle name field, not hide it. While WikiTree retains its Anglo-American preponderance, more new users are likely to want to use middle names than not.

Even better, instead of either setting being the default, the ideal might be an onboarding dialogue with new users which asked them questions, in this case whether their culture uses the middle name concept, then made the appropriate setting automatically.

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Re your comment

Then click none of these match (That's another click).

it's not clear that's only one click until you've checked whether any of them do match. It's important to go through and check each possibility. If one of them does match, the "None of these match" button is not the right thing to click.

Similarly, for your next point, what if the other parent is someone else? You have to select or deselect the radio button then Continue so the software knows which is the case.

A great deal of information is being gathered here. In my view it's being done systematically and carefully, and I find the approach done step by step helpful in making sure I've thought of everything before creating the profile and I'm not omitting something or jumping to conclusions.

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Using the advanced text box, you can add categories before the biography header from the start, without an extra edit. You couldn't do that with the old system. You were able to add stickers after the Biography header up front before, but you can still do that using advanced text now.

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Finally, I agree with you about Other Last Names. I think there's room for that on the second screen (with LNAB, CLN, etc), and if it were present there an extra edit step could be saved in cases where an OLN does exist.

Answer 10

In creating a new profile, the middle name field is no longer on the first screen. After the new profile is saved the edit screen comes up and the middle name filed is there AND THE STATUS is set to no middle name. This forces you to select one of the status options when a name is put in the field.

Comments

Hi Walt, the explanation is here: https://www.wikitree.com/g2g/1556781/did-you-notice-the-middle-name-field-changes

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Thanks.

All of the profiles I create are for people in the USA and most have "middle" names.

 I changed my settings as suggested.

Walt

Answer 11

My Auto Bio is greyed out.  I presume it is in relation to the old extension or something but how do I get that feature back?

Comments

The browser extension needs to be updated.

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Kylie,

Also the BioCheck extension needs to be updated. So does WT Sourcer

Answer 12

I don't have access to my clipboard/notes when adding a new profile with the new system.  This is a step back for me and the multiple different screens makes it more disjointed.  I'm ending up with multiple tabs etc just to have access to my info, previously I would paste it into the sources and enter the data on one screen.  A whole new screen to go through just to add 'optional' explanation when adding a marriage date for instance.  So sad and a little angry tbh.

Comments

Hi Kylie, I've fixed the conflict that removed the clipboard/notes from the new profile page(s).  I hope that helps.

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Ian, for the avoidance of doubt and possible confusion, is this regarding your extension WikiTree Bee, and therefore only relevant for people who have it installed? (It hasn't actually been named in this sub-thread.)

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It's in the official extension.

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I've restarted Firefox and WT and created a new profile but still no clipboard or notes above the source box.  I have it in edit mode but not when creating a new one.

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I put it at the top of the page. Sometimes, Firefox doesn't automatically update... I'll take another look myself later, but I think it's OK. The latest Preview version ends with a '10'. Actually, I've just realized that you may not have the Preview version... I imagine the stable version can have a bug fix update soon.

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Still no clipboard. I'm back to having to use Sticky Notes.  Serious step back for me.:-(

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Kylie, you can either install the Preview version or be a little patient.  We need a bug fix for the stable version of the extension to deal with the various problems that the changes have caused, but as it's affected a few features handled by different developers, I need to wait a little before doing that.

Answer 13

I hate this new system because it does not allow me to enter info the way the info is available to me and thus convenient for ME. I first do the bio and then I add inline sources to it.

I find this new system very cumbersome for many reasons.

It shows me way too many unreasonable matches that I don't want to waste my time on ... like matches for married names when I am creating a maiden name profile.

The old system allowed me to compare dates I entered with the dates on the possible matches, on the SAME screen. The new system does NOT do this. So I just moved on to the next screen. This will result in duplicates being created.

Before I could create a total profile in one step. NOW after EVERY profile creation I have to rearrange the info so it makes sense ... I have to take the bio out of the sources section. Now after EVERY profile I create I HAVE to do a cleanup. Just extra work for me!

This means the wikitree system will have a lot more edit steps ... which hopefully it can handle.

Comments

N, I sympathise with some of your points. I've mentioned the maiden/married name match issue myself.

But you say "I have to take the bio out of the sources section." Are you using the advanced text with sources option? That way you can input a biography including inline references in one go.

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Hi N, our next project is going to be improving the search/matching process (although first, we are working on fixing a couple of bugs that were the result of adding middle names to the match search).

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Ian has added a feature to the WBE to make the form look a bit more like the old one: https://www.wikitree.com/g2g/1563396/wikitree-browser-extension-new-features

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I can’t use browser extensions on my computer because it gives me memory problems that make it not work.

Answer 14

I was dreading this day, when the new system was enforced. I know it's easy to brush off complaints and say "people dont like change" is the reason for negativity, but I am struggling to see the up-side for anyone but newbies who don't intend to use Wikitree for more than a short time.

The profile creation is genuinely longer and will without a doubt slow experienced Wikitreers down. In another 'answer' thread, I read an analogy about the new profile creation being like bicycle trainer wheels that you can't remove, and this rings true to me.

As well as being slower, I am struggling with my own memory as an enemy. I like to cut-and-paste and develop text into the bio first, and then fill in data points, which I can no longer do. I need to remember all the bits and pieces I am not allowed to paste until screen 4 or something.

I am concerned that the Connect - a - thon may not be much fun with the new system...

Comments

We have used a similar technique for creating profiles, by pasting all the clues into the Bio and Source sections, then scrolling up/down while filling in the data fields. Frustrated that this is no longer possible. Over time, I will likely find another way to get data entered correctly, but no looking forward to the struggles ahead.

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Totally agree with this

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I agree with you. The new system is like a series of "dialog boxes" on Windows systems, that holds your hand and walking you through a process. It's only useful to new users who don't know how to fill out a single form.

Advanced users need to be able to have a single form that has everything on it. Kind of like what what we had before. The only thing that we needed on the single form that we had before is just some light rearrangement of the fields.

Oh, and it would be great if we had a checkbox in the settings, so we can change between using the Simple, dialog-box-way of entering the data, or the Advanced form. Kinda like how we already had that during the beta testing.

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I agree entirely with Claire Spring!!!! Could somebody tell me why this awkward change has been made? Quite frankly it's AWFUL!!!!!!!

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I agree with the many people who have said that separating the name fields and the biography box onto different screens can make some work methods difficult. But in answer to Margaret Ann, here are some advantages of the change.

1. The new system emphasises the check for duplicates. Merging duplicates is a major task, much more difficult than creating unique profiles in the first place. It is worth spending more time avoiding duplicates up front rather than involving multiple people in negotiations to merge them later.
2. It corrects the problem where many potential duplicates were not listed if a Current Last Name was specified at the start.
3. It reminds you clearly to check that you are specifying the right parents.
4. The advanced text option allows you full control over the contents of the biography box, including inserting (a) categories and research note boxes above the Biography header, (b) inline references in the middle, and (c) additional sources below the Sources header. Only (b) or (c) was possible before, not (b) and (c), and (a) was not possible at all without a subsequent edit.

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For #1: If the issue is really the creation of duplicate profiles, then that could be fixed by having a better search along with the ability for the user to set different levels of exactness (such as LNAB spelling, exact locations, etc.). If the issue is really dealing with the situation after a duplicate has been created, then that can be fixed by decreasing the waiting period of default approvals from 30 days to something shorter, like 2 weeks. Also, just understanding that duplicates are not a problem to be gotten rid of. They happen, and they will continue to happen, even with the best of intentions. But other things can be done to improve the management of them without changing the base input form.

For #4: We had this feature already with the exception of (a). But with the advanced text option that does indeed fix all of those items, and I agree that that is a great improvement. But again, that has nothing to do with changing the base input form from a single page to a dialog-box-style of multiple screens. That's the main issue that many of us have.

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It might not be difficult to provide an option either in the main system or in the official extension to move the sources/text box from the final screen to the bottom of the screen with the name fields on it. That could address the main issue described, without diminishing the other advantages, including the separate screen emphasising the checking for duplicates.

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But that's not my main issue: I still don't like having to walk through multiple screens to enter all the information. It causes way too much clicking through for advanced users.

Another issue:

With the middle name changes, we're not allowed to enter a middle name, but that can still be a vital field to search on for duplicates. When the profile is finally created, it defaults to the radio button on for "no middle name". I have to uncheck that and add a middle name. So while this is fine for other countries that don't have a middle name, for those in the U.S., where there is a middle name, it now takes much longer for data entry. If we could have the middle name field available on the first screen, even if the default is "none" and we have to change it, then we can add it there and use it to search for duplicates.

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You will be able to enter middle names on the first screen if you uncheck

Hide Middle Name field when creating profiles and automatically set "no middle name" selector

at

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Special:Settings#Misc

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Ah perfect! Thank you.

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Yes,,, all good points Jim... but couldn't that have been simply controlled on the original format by adding WARNINGS as with what existed when forgetting to name a Gender, or Conflicting Dates between Birth and Relatives Dates of Marriage/Birth & Death. Controlling the creation of fewer Duplicates is good idea,,, but believe the method could have been  better by the WARNING rather than a whole new Input process!!

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Agree entirely Eric!!! The dialogue box input system seems totally unnecessary to control the problem it is intended to correct!!!

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Ian has added a feature to the WBE to make the form look a bit more like the old one: https://www.wikitree.com/g2g/1563396/wikitree-browser-extension-new-features

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Thank you Ian and Jamie, this is very much appreciated. And good timing, too, before the connect-a-thon.

Answer 15

I can see why this is super helpful to keep data quality up for new users. However, it's purely a pain in the neck for experienced users. Generally when I create a profile I have a piece of text from, say, the parents which includes some description and sources. I then used to paste this into the notes section, change it a bit to make it relevant, then copy and paste all the relevant data from their into the name/date/location boxes. I now have to go through several pages to get to this point and have to paste into a text document and have to keep flicking back and forth between different pages to get it done. It would be great if this was optional. Thanks for all your hard work!

Comments

Ian has added a feature to the WBE to make the form look a bit more like the old one: https://www.wikitree.com/g2g/1563396/wikitree-browser-extension-new-features

Answer 16

I don't like it. It slows me down.  How to turn it off? I need also the middle name on the first page with the rest of the name fields.

And the place matching is still not working properly. If I enter a birth or death location before I get to the second screen, the results are profiles for other non-matching places. So irritating.

Comments

You can't turn it off: the new system is now permanent. But to get the middle name field to appear, go to

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Special:Settings#Misc

(the bottom of your Settings page). Uncheck the button next to

Hide Middle Name field when creating profiles and automatically set "no middle name" selector

and click  SAVE SETTINGS  .

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Sorry, Jim ...your comments aren't helpful and nothing is permanent, it's an evolution.

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Fair enough for my first comment, Judi. But the second comment should fix the middle name issue.

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Ian has added a feature to the WBE to make the form look a bit more like the old one: https://www.wikitree.com/g2g/1563396/wikitree-browser-extension-new-features

Answer 17

No problems, I really like it! :)

Answer 18

I'm lucky that Sourcer still works for me at all on my Mac/Chrome...

If I use it at all to create a profile the last page is always set on Advanced Option (that's not checked or turned on as default). I can switch to the other mode but then the source disappears, have to paste it in so the short bio will be created. If I use what it takes me to (Advanced Option) then the final screen has no bio, gotta make one or click to! Either way it's messed up...

Answer 19

FULL SAVE button not working.  Case-7886 (Mary Ann Case, 1840-1857) is a saved draft, but the Full Save button on https://www.wikitree.com/index.php?title=Special:EditPerson&u=38111100&dd=6801138 is grayed (not dark green like the "SAVE DRAFT" button).  I do not know what to do to complete the save.

Comments

Hi Gary. This is a separate issue, not related to the topic here of the system for creating new profiles, and if it persists I recommend that you ask a new G2G question about it. But in the meantime:

1. make sure you have entered a reason for the edit change in the "Change explanation" box
2. check at the bottom of the page to make sure there isn't an error message displayed (usually in red or pink) with instructions on what is wrong
3. try making a trivial change in the biography box, for example add an unnecessary space character somewhere.

Answer 20

I'm very happy with the changes made regarding the middle name field, as it is a concept that simply does not exist for most peoples. I still take issue with not being able to insert other/alternative names during profile creation, however. I explained this on the last g2g post, but received no response, so I'm going to quote myself here:

"My only complaint is as someone who spends a lot of time trying to add profiles with names in non-Latin scripts- given our issues with search capabilities in non-Latin scripts, being able to add the various transcriptions of a name in the "other" name fields at the time of profile creation is very useful & helps ensure that a profile will, at the very least, appear in search results under the various transcriptions, hopefully preventing at least some duplicates. The new system appears to remove the 'other' fields until after the profile is created, limiting us in creation to only the very Anglocentric first [&] last naming fields, which to me makes no sense at all."

Comments

I think the idea - as Jamie has mentioned a few times - is to get the bare minimum details before looking for potential matches. At the end of the process, you're thrown directly to the edit page, where you can add the other last names. I think that in the majority of cases, for most people, the bare minimum does not include 'other last names', and I don't even think the other last names are currently used in the search which gives you the potential matches (though I could be wrong), so it's not necessary for that (if I'm not mistaken). I understand the frustration that this works a little differently now (it seems to be frustrating a variety of people), but you can still enter the other last names - they're just at a different place in the process (at the end of it).