guests who dont contribute

+4 votes
237 views
Is it time for Wiki Tree to delete all these Guests that join and then contribute absolutley nothing, even after being offered help.
in Policy and Style by Nola Moses G2G6 Mach 1 (12.9k points)
retagged by Ellen Smith
Why?

Are they getting in your way?
Not at all, I just get disappointed when I reply to them and try to help by sending them information or suggesting they add it to their tree. Then they just leave their profiles empty  ☺
Today's guest is tomorrow's wikitree genealogist!

3 Answers

+9 votes
Maybe life got in the way and they are planning to contribute later. What criteria would you use to decide who you want to delete? As long as they are not being counted to inflate the user statistics I don't see why they need to be kicked out. Am I missing something in my understanding?
by Lynda Crackett G2G6 Pilot (666k points)
A little thanks would be nice when people have gone to the trouble of handing over information and they don't use it !
Someone might be sick, have a family member who is ill, or might be snowed under at work. Giving a thanks on Wikitree is not something I would expect them to put at the top of their priority list.

Lynda, are you sure that they are not counted in the user statistics? I find that the statistics for members is way out of line with the number who are actually contributing and agree that at least the guest members should be deleted if they do nothing after 6 months.

Dale, I think you may right in thinking they are counted. Have to confess that I have not paid much attention to the user statistics other than wondering when I first joined why the average contribution rate is so low.

Just acquired my first flag so it looks as though I may have upset someone with my comment that a person can have other priorities in life than Wikitree.
+5 votes
I actually just added a distant cousin to my husband to the tree today and then discovered that she seems to have added a guest profile way back in 2014 - more than 2 years before I joined Wikitree. I'm pretty sure that this guest profile is the same as the cousin for whom I made a new profile - and now I guess I will have to MERGE them?

Can we merge a guest profile with a regular profile?

I also know for a fact that in 2014 and 2015, this cousin was finishing off her PhD, was pregnant and was also moving house and possibly even moving countries (ie from France back to Canada) at or soon after the time she signed up. Now that she does have a toddler in the house plus a pretty demanding full time teaching job, I dont think she has time to do any genealogy. She is however quite happy to answer my emails whenever I send her questions.

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Duclos-116
Old profile - dated 2014

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Duclos-270
New profile I just made today

I might send her another email just to confirm if this was her or not - that is - if she remembers. LOL
by Robynne Lozier G2G Astronaut (1.2m points)
Yes, Robynne, you can merge a guest profile with another profile. But you'll need her approval to do that, since she's the profile manager for the private profile she created. This is a good excuse to get in touch with her!
Thanks Ellen.
+7 votes
It's not just guests, Nola. Full members do it too even if they are sent the sources. If it's an open profile and its well-sourced information in the public domain, I add it anyway. I haven't seen anyone remove things yet. I think some people get tied up by the formatting, especially if they don't add to profiles very often, so just can't be bothered!
by Fiona McMichael G2G6 Pilot (208k points)
I do the same as you. If the information is public domain, then I add it myself. I have actually had a few thank-yous from cousins who appreciated me adding information.

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