How to clean up imported GEDCOM

Question

Hi everyone. I've recently imported my GEDCOM file and now I'm looking at the profiles of the people I imported. An example is Daniel O'Connell.

I can see the Biography has autopopulated based on my GEDCOM file, however I'm not sure what's the best format to use when cleaning this up, and what I should do with the sources which don't seem to make much sense outside of my own family tree software.

Keen to get some guidance before I go through and start fixing up all these profiles.

Comments

There are some guidance and discussions. My lesson learned is that Gedcom import maybe adds more problems than it solves.... I suggest create profiles from scratch

• G2G discussion if timeline is good/best...
• Styles and standard
  • Gedcom created profiles

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Thanks Magnus. The 'Styles and standard' page and 'Gedcom created profiles' link are both very helpful.

In hindsight I might have been better adding people manually, but it's done now so I'm just going to work through and clean them up. I also discovered I need to link some of my existing Wikitree ancestors to the imported people in order to have it piece together correctly - no doubt matches which were identified during the import that I instructed it to skip.

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@Derek: In hindsight I might have been better adding people manually

Yes indeed. I wish I had considered that way and I guess many others probably do also. It would be great if everyone could stop and consider that before zooming in an uploading, but the temptation to get going is too great!

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I've started working through the individuals I imported and although there's a bit of work to do, it's a good way to motivate me and keep track of who I've added and cleaned up.

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You are welcome....

You also have new meny option Error report that helps correcting many errors.... Its run every weekend so I think you need to wait to next week to be part of the party ;-) 

http://www.sdms.si:92/function/WTWeb/errors.htm?WikiTreeID=Whitten-747

Project:Database_Errors

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Excellent! There's one error now, and I'll check again next week once it's run again. Thanks.

Answer 1

This page might be helpful.  It is part of the Project on Profile Improvement:

Gedcom cleanup

Comments

Thanks Ros, that's a very helpful page! I think I'll pick a couple of ancestors and work through their profiles, referencing that page.

Is there an easy way to identify imported ancestors which have been reviewed?  This is something that will take time to work through, and it would be good to be able to keep track of progress within Wikitree.

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My suggestion: Go to your Watchlist (see top-right where it says My Wikitree, and Watchlist is near the bottom of the drop-down list).  When you arrive on your Watchlist page, there is a link to make a To-Do List.  List all your Watchlist, and then mark them as 'Done' when you have reviewed a particular profile.

Have a look at this to-do list help page for further info.

Or, even simpler, when you arrive on the Watchlist page, simply sort the table by 'Edit Date' and you will see which ones you have worked on recently.

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Thanks Ros, that's a great idea! I've created a list and think I just need to start editing and see where it takes me.  Wikitree is a great site, but there's a lot to take in initially!  Thanks for your help.

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You're very welcome.

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This is a very simple example of what i call a sectioned timeline (because the sections are dated and in order). It may not be everyone's cup of tea.

http://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Meredith-1405

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Love that, David! I do timelines for a lot of the profiles I work on, and I had seen someone else using the dated headers and may try that out on a few of them. Creative idea!

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I have some that have a biography followed by the timeline - a style you might also like.

http://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Loring-4

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Good examples David! I'm starting to get an idea of how the biography section can be used. For the moment I'm going to clean up my imports to remove some of the junk that came with my GEDCOM then I can expand on biographies where I have enough information.

Answer 2

I have to admit that I uploaded a small GEDCOM originally and then spent ages sorting it out. Since then I have stuck to manual entry. I create a text of key items that I can cut and paste in from my Family Historian program.

Comments

I'm about a third of the way through reviewing the import.  Initially it seemed tedious, but a bonus is that it's forcing me to review everyone in my tree and as I go I'm searching Trove and other online repositories and uncovering additional information!

Now I have my tree in there though, in future I'll be adding individuals manually I think.

Answer 3

In case anyone is interested, I have found a way to clean-up my gedcom files.  I use the anniversary list that comes out each week.  I change those that need updating each week, usually about 5 or 6 family members of the 50+ that I manage.
I copy much of the basic items from my gedcome source and write a few lines for the Biography, and at minimum the FAG source along with a few pictures.
This will still never be completed as my Ancestry Tree was started many moons before I discovered WikiTree, but it is getting there.  The watchlist in my case has far too many non-family members
Dar I list just one?  [[Schindler-294|William Schindler]]