Just spent hours editing a GED file only to find it is too large to upload anyway!

Question

It would be much better, and less frustrating if there was not an option to match, reject or skip individuals in the GEDCompare Report. I've just spent hours going through them only to discover later that the file is too large for importing and will be deleted anyway. Why give us this option.....such a frustrating waste of time.

In addition - the ask a question feature asks for a wiki tree id but does not recognise mine! https://www.wikitree.com/genealogy/Eaton-Family-Tree-1930

Comments

Hi Sharon, I hear and feel your frustration among other things...I'm sorry we ended up in this spot.  I'd like to help if I'm able.

I'm not sure exactly what happened yet, I'll have to click around more to know specifics, but I can share a couple thoughts in the mean time.

We do have 2 different things you can do that people might consider uploading.  One is to compare your gedcom profiles vs those that already exist on WikiTree.  We allow this one to be large as a convenience to you instead of needing to upload many smaller gedcoms.  It's an option to do a large one, it can be as small as you wish.

The second thing sometimes called "uploading" is to create profiles on WikiTree. This is done by first uploading a gedcom that fits a little tighter criteria such as ages of profiles and overall size.  This is done fore good reasons, some obvious now some later.  Then after comparing them to set matches and rejections, you click to create new WikiTree profiles.  

The instructions along the way explain in better detail than I am able, my apologies on that count :)

Someone will likely jump in soon with great advice for you, but I'll try to see what happened too and check back with you to make sure it all pans out.

- Keith

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When posting in G2G and providing the WikiTree id# in the area below the text box, it can be a WikiTree profile or free-space page.  It can't be help-pages, family-trees, other sites, etc.

I hope this is helpful. I'm trying :)

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I'm trying to understand what happened. It sounds like you uploaded a gedcom for gedcompare, you went through the process of marking the matches and rejections, and then you got a message that said the file was too large to import. I'm guessing that your file had more than 2,500 people (the upper limit for importing) and less than 5,000 people (the upper limit for gedcompare).

I feel your pain about the wasted effort going through the file and marking matches, but I also believe that if you had been able to import  such a large gedcom, you would regret it -- because many of us have found that the post-import cleanup process was more work than the process of gedcompare review.

Sorry that you didn't see a Help page that warned you about this. Just now I found the import limit on Help:GEDCompare. Can you suggest other places where it should be prominently announced?

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To clarify, I was going through the GEDCompare list evaluating each individual for a long time before I noticed the banner at the top informing me that it was too large and would not be uploaded. I also discovered that the file will be deleted anyway as it is too big.

I don't understand why I was given the option to do the comparisons if it was all going to be scrapped anyway. I understand that it was my fault that I did not notice the banner but I was keen to get on with the matching. I should not have been allowed to do any matching at all if it was not going to be of any value to anyone.

I'd also suggest that it is strongly recommended that the GED files uploaded are very small. I uploaded a file of 3400 people and this was a waste of time. I will have to learn now how to split my tree in FTM into tiny tiny pieces before trying again.

I want to help but it really is difficult.

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Hi Sharon,

Maybe during the process a box stating the deal could come up that needs to be read and checked before continuing to the gedcompare. Something like "I understand that this gedcom is too large for import to WikiTree.  Click to continue to use gedcompare for research purposes".

It would be a shame to remove the option to use the report though.  It is not a waste of time and is quite valuable to some.  A large one can be used to scout the tree and see who already exists and who to add.  After doing so, then either upload small gedcoms or better yet create the profiles individually.  Most experienced members recommend the latter.  

Hang in there and I'm sure it will work out.

Thank you for sharing your frustrations and improvement ideas...it's important to our continual improvement :)

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Hi Keith

Thanks for your help, it is appreciated. As a fairly new user, it is not immediately apparent why I should have uploaded smaller GEDs. If this was clear, I would not have spent so much time trying to get the big one in!

Kind Regards

Sharon

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Hi Ellen

In this page: https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Help:GEDCOM

There is indeed a list of things you cant do.

What I would have found helpful is a recommendation, to new users at least, to upload small GEDs and a reason why. It was not until I had uploaded my GED of 3500 people that I discovered that it was going to be difficult / impossible to add them to WikiTree.

Some people learn by trial and error without reading manuals and some prefer to read the whole manual first. I jumped right in - usually this works for me.

Limited text explaining that small GEDs are the best way to go would have been helpful.

We would also need a link on how to do this as I have been researching this for several days!

Kind Regards

Sharon

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Hi Keith

As a new user, I couldn't see the value in it but I understand that it can be useful for more experienced users. Your suggestion to check understanding of what can and cant be done would be helpful.

Kind Regards

Sharon

Answer 1

Hi Sharon,

I'm sorry for the inconvenience. GEDCOMs (Up to 5,000 people) can be uploaded just to check which family members might already exist on WikiTree. The limits for importing GEDCOMs are listed here:

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Help:Splitting_a_GEDCOM#Why_GEDCOMs_need_to_be_split

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Your WikiTree ID is Eaton-1930. The "WikiTree ID/URL ..." field on the Post/Ask form is used if your Post/Question is regarding a particular profile. There's no need to ener your ID.

I hope this information might be of some help.

Comments

I just don't understand why the facility is available when all the info is going to be deleted anyway. Why offer the option to check and decide what to do with each person when it will never be of use to anyone?