Arborists need guidance.

Question

Is there a way to verify that no one is working on a profile when I am merging two profiles?

Twice I've stepped on someone's toes while editing biographies of just merged profiles. and twice I've been slapped on the wrist for changing something.

Comments

Next thing you know, you'll be put in time out!

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Sniff...Arborists have feelings too.

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So true.

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I agree with Tom. If you don't clean up a merge, there are unpleasant comments but if you do then there are unpleasant comments.  It can be quite discouraging.

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Now Tom, when we ended up working on the same profile at the same time, I was just surprised.  No violence on my part.

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'Twasn't you, Vic, someone else.

Answer 1

Tom, I paste a message at the beginning of a messy profile before I work on it. Something like:

<B>Nov 2, 2013 10:30AM Toby Rockwell is working at cleaning up this mess. Please do not edit. Thanks </B>

Also, if I recognize the person that did the merge, I sometimes message them to see if they are finishing up the profile before tackling it myself.

Comments

Good Idea, Toby, I'll gin something up to  do just that.

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Yes, good idea.  And be sure to post which time zone you're in.

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=UNDER CONSTRUCTION=

Do not attempt to edit while this message is here.

Posted 2/11/2013 - 9:13 P.M., Eastern Daylight

 

This is what I've been posting for the last two hours. 

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Great and visible!

Answer 2

I believe folks need to take a deep breath and realize this is a collaborative project - as such help should be appreciated in guidance provided.  We all seem to have our own style of cleaning up a profile.  

Some of us like to stick to bullets with dates - while still others enjoy writing all the information in a paragraph. Some of us like to use as many pictures as possible.

But in reality - nobody owns the profile - and thus respect, patience and guidance should be what is strived for and not a "slap on the wrist".

I believe that the answer is for the arborist or person that is working a specific profile to indicate this on the profile... Like -- PROFILE IN PROGRESS contact XYZ before editing...  Could be that would help???

Terri

Comments

That's so true, Terri . I do put sort of a " works in progress "  stamp on my serious profile merge projects.

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That's an excellent idea but a merge means there will be another person involved who may be irritated at any number of things.  Even though profiles belong to all of us, it makes sense that the managers should work out for themselves what goes in the bio.

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True, profile managers need to collaborate between themselves.. But I thought the question was about an arborist working on cleaning up a profile they either merged or was merged and another arborist unintentionally working on that profile. Nothing was mentioned about the arborists being the profiled managers.

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Paula arborists are cleaning up due to the merge. They really shouldn't be making decisions on info to include or remove. Although, they should be following the basic rules about what to keep and remove. Usually they remove duplicate info and just make the order nice.

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Thank you. That is helpful. Jillaine also instructed me yesterday to keep the duplicate info with the best sources.  The bio instructions on the help page are excellent!  Reading them over always helps when I'm trying to figure out what to do.

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If in doubt you can always leave the info in the profile. It's better to leave something than to delete it if you aren't sure.