What is ahead for WikiTree in 2024?

Question

Hi WikiTreers,

As we wrap up another year (our 15th!) we'd like to share some thoughts on what's in store for 2024.

This post is mainly about the core technology and operations of the website. Our community becomes more decentralized every year. Energy and leadership in projects and challenges comes from volunteers like you. Even our technology is becoming decentralized with the rapid growth of Tree Apps and the WikiTree Browser Extension. So, perhaps others will post here about exciting things being planned in their domains. Maybe you will.

The big item on the WikiTree Team's to-do list is a redesign. We start on this in earnest in two weeks. WikiTree's look and feel hasn't been updated since 2014. Ten years is a long time. We want WikiTree to be more accessible and responsive. The default font size will probably increase. Navigation menus will be improved. Page layouts will be wider. It's likely that profile pages will appear in a single column for everyone.

Redesigning a huge, 15-year-old, community-driven site is a major undertaking. It will be disruptive and contentious. It will consume most of the tech team's resources for early 2024. Just as the infrastructure upgrades in the latter part of 2023 made it difficult to get other things done, the redesign process will prevent us from improving and adding features and functions for months.

Before the redesign locks us down, in the next couple weeks, we are hoping to push these through:

• The pre-1700 quiz will become a questionnaire.
• A batch of minor search and matching improvements.
• Images on profiles will be displayed in a slideshow.
• Significant policy and technical changes to how we invite living family members to join us on WikiTree.

Looking out further, after the dust settles from the redesign, here is some of what is on our to-do list:

• Significant search improvements.
• Improve connections between the WikiTree core and Tree Apps.
• Devise some means for tracking the completeness of a profile or research, or facilitate this in apps.
• Enable creating profiles for close family members with a GEDCOM without using GEDCOMpare for everyone in the file.
• Allow for more direct editing of name variants.

Although it doesn't directly impact members, we are also doing a lot of work on the advertisements that non-members see. These pay all our bills and enable WikiTree to be free, so they're important. We want them to be genuinely helpful for visitors who might want to pay for a research subscription or buy a DNA test, and not be annoying or intrusive like most advertising on websites these days.

There is something else that we may be able to announce later in the year that we think is very exciting. It concerns the long-term security of our tree and the promise that it will always be free and accessible to everyone. But, it's premature to discuss details so we'll have to leave it there.

What about you? What are you and your WikiTree friends planning for 2024?

Post your news, questions, suggestions, etc., as an answer below. (Comments at the top will be hidden or moved once read.) You could also post them as an answer to the Question of the Week: "What improvements would you like to see on WikiTree in 2024?" 

Onward and upward,

Chris and the WikiTree Team

Answer 1

Images on profiles will be displayed in a slideshow.

This refers to cycling through the images, such as a new image every fifteen seconds or so? If my interpretation is correct my reaction is how might I turn that off? I find cycling images to be highly distracting and annoying.

Perhaps instead it could mean different ways to choose the primary image of a profile or cycle through which image gets displayed, but once displayed it remains static.

Answer 2

I have put on my goals list for 2024 to share my Dresden Cemetery project with my community. I’m going to start a Facebook page to share things about it throughout the year. I’m hoping to get collaboration with people (photos, obits, info) and maybe some local people will join WikiTree.

Answer 3

I'm very much looking forward to the improvements for 2024! My goal for the year is not so much to add people as to "beef up" the profiles I already manage. I plan to write or expand their biographies, add more sources, photos, etc. I'm excited about doing this and have a plan!

Answer 4

As an older user of WT, I can understand the need for updates and am very thankful for those who are knowledgeable enough to keep things updated. I still struggle with adding new people and information correctly but I know there are people here who can help. In my opinion WT is the best genealogical asset we have for sharing our trees.

Answer 5

C'est Bon Magnifique ! Tres Bien !! Tres Bien !!!

Answer 6

Best of luck! Been there, done that. Do require that everything meets WCAG 2.1 accessibility standards per W3C

Answer 7

"Images on profiles will be displayed in a slideshow."

This I do not like.

I believe that a profile manager who is a blood relative (or, otherwise, a blood relative) should be able to choose a single image as the primary image associated with the subject person of the profile, and, for other images associated with the profile, to be displayed a thumbnails linking to the images, as exists now.

Having flashing imagery may put people off Wikitree - not everyone likes flashing imagery or similarly stroboscopic displays.

And, depending on the implementation, if it involves GIF files that have to be downloaded, or, continuous downloading of images to be displayed through cycling through the images, that may also put people off Wikitree.

Why break something that works, for the sake of change?

Comments

I did not understand that this change referred to the Profile Thumbnail but to the images tab on a profile.

if it is the former then I would not like it unless it was optional. Some images, eg source documents, are not suitable for a profile thumbnail.

If it is the later then it would presumably be optional.  it is an easy way to review the images without having to click on next page buttons. The ability to drop out of slideshow and enter edit would be needed I think.

Answer 8

I hope the new design fixes these problems associated with editing parental relationship indicators:

1. It should be possible to "uncheck" a relationship indicator without requiring the choice of a different indicator, allowing none to be selected but not allowing more than one to be selected.

2. The selection of a "confirmed with DNA" relationship indicator should be conditioned on the presence of an associated maternal or paternal (or parental) DNA confirmation source citation in the Sources area, as required.

John Kingman, a DNA Project Coordinator

Answer 9

Sounds like 2024 is going to be a banner year for WikiTree! Looking forward to all the changes (and even the bumps along the road which will inevitably happen ... technology growing pains!). Quite excited about the facelift to come!

As for my plans, I am looking forward to officially releasing soon a  version 1.0 of the Super Tree app (I shortened the name from my original Super Big Family Tree app .... which was a bit of a mouthful) - and there are lots of features that I (and other testers) have dreamed up, so this will be a very flexible and interesting way to view your family.  Coming soon to a Tree Apps tab near you ....

Answer 10

This is great news!

I’m a Data Doctor who works on Names. I have a fervent wish for changes that prevent users from entering information that has to be (or can’t be) corrected later.  I have no idea if any of this is practical or even doable.

Here’s an example of what I mean. Let’s say you entered ‘Smith or Jones’ for an LNAB. This would trigger a pop-up explaining the need for a change, and the system wouldn’t allow you to create the profile until you corrected the problem with the name. 

I think the stop is needed because (for example) people enter ‘Anonymous’ for the Preferred Name and breeze past the pop-up that explains when the use is acceptable.

Another example is to prevent the use of question marks (and other separators) in name fields.

Here’s hoping!

Laura

Answer 11

Maybe throw in a few minor bug fixes? When merging 2 profiles, if one has a marriage date 'Before xxxx', the Before disappears in the merged profile and you are just left with the date, which is then in error.

I thought that additional surnames were indexed and would be found in a search. I've noticed a few times that alternate surnames beginning with Di  (Di Prima, e.g.) don't show up with I search on Prima.

In the auto-generated biography produced when creating a new profile, the text uses just the year and not the exact date. For example, someone who died before December 20 1900 is described as having died before 1900.  If he/she died Dec 1 1900, this is wrong data and I find myself constantly having to modify the generated biography.  Using the exact date on before/after dates would fix this.

Answer 12

Will the search improvements provide a field for spouse's name?  This would be very helpful.

Answer 13

I would find migration and lifeline Mapping Tools (or apps) to be very helpful. Thanks for all you do. Kristi

Comments

Thanks, Kristi. Ales has done a lot of work on mapping in WikiTree+, so a lot of what we need to do is just connect it better and simplify the access.

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Thank you for directing me to more information, looks promising. I agree, access is very confusing.

Answer 14

I don't have a specific suggestion, but would like to see better handling / management of unconfirmed/ disputed connections. The majority of the "featured connections" that show up in my inbox every week are invalid because there is one pre-1700 connection involving a notable ancestor that is not valid. There has been lengthy discussion on the board about the fact that the connection in question is entirely speculative, but yet the connection stays in place. Among other things, it creates a barrier for getting my other family members excited and involved, because I have to tell them that most of those featured connections are false.

Comments

Lori, if you haven't seen it, check out Connection Combat. https://www.wikitree.com/g2g/1682479/connection-combat-1-paul-revere

This may become integrated with the Featured Connections as a way to encourage verifying paths.

Answer 15

I'm looking forward to the significant search improvements. I would love to get a better search result instead of having to wade through a pile of names I don't need. Thank you in advance for this!

Comments

Yes! when using gedcompare it's nuts to wade through numerous profiles from different countries. If I'm looking for a guy who lived in Tasmania he's not going to match somebody in Idaho.

Answer 16

Is it POSSIBLE to add information about editing the marriage of individuals when you go to edit the biography, instead of having it in a separate link?  I think this would help out immensely for ALL Wikitree folks.  Thank you for all that you do!

Answer 17

Is it possible to implement scrollable tables on Wikitree? I'm working with tables on space pages that contain extensive lists, and they tend to grow quite large, occupying a significant portion of the page and necessitating scrolling for users.

Answer 18

Photos, documents, other images: It would be good to have a formal/standardized - and required - way to include attribute/source/provenance of photos (and other documents and images as well). Images of our ancestors are a precious gift to share with others, and as with other information shared on WikiTree, a credible source should be required - more than just a note in the comments - so that there is some assurance the photos depict the persons they're attached to. Having a standardized format, with specific fields for entering information, would help other people judge the authenticity of the photo or image. Thank you!

Answer 19

Thank you Chris and the WikiTree team.  I do have a brick wall and am an Elf.  I don't think that brick wall can be broken quickly but if I go there, I know the house, the story and it was passed on.  Thank you for keeping us involved and informed.

Answer 20

Hi I’m new to WikiTree and need help uploading my dna data file from Ancestry to here? Can someone please guide me through?

Comments

Hi Amber. You don't actually upload your raw DNA file here. We decided not to store that data on WikiTree for privacy reasons. You just record that you have taken the AncestryDNA test here: https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Special:DNATests

We then connect the fact that you have taken the test to family profiles where others may see it and compare with you on Ancestry or GEDmatch.