I have a GEDCOM but it has nearly 35,000 names, for purpsoses of WikiTree where do you suggest I truncate my tree?

Question

I have an extensive data base. My Henderson line goes back as far as Duncan I of Scotland -- My Hendricks/Hendrick I have back to 1610 in the American Colony of Massachusetts and I have my Woodhams line back to County Kent, England 1590. With the GEDCOM limitations of 5,000 names that limits the amount of information that I can share when I am willing to share as much as I and my other family members are willing to contribute.

Comments

Eowyn is the go to person for Gedcoms.  I will send her a note to get in touch with you or contact her directly at http://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Langholf-2 via private message.

Answer 1

The GEDCOM settings will not allow you to upload any profiles for people born before 1713, so that would already be a good demarcation for pruning your GEDCOM before uploading it. To get a feel for how WikiTree works, it is a good idea to upload a small GEDCOM (maybe about 50 people) at first. Since you have what are considered "deep genealogy lines" on WikiTree, have a look to see if any of them are already represented here, and choose a line of descendants to make up your initial GEDCOM.

Comments

When looking at these deep ancestors bear in mind the nameing conventions by different projects. If you have deep Scottish ancestors look at the Scottish Clans Project, most of Royal lines are there already, or are part of European Aristocrats Project, but they may be missing some sources that you could add to them. Please discuss any changes to protected Profile with the Project or Profile managers.

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I am presuming that the GEDCOM settings that restrict profiles of those born before 1713 is intentional.  This should be documented if it is not already.

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It used to be mentioned in the old gedcom FAQ, the new gedcom help pages have just gone live and are being tweaked so expect updates to include limits.

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It's actually set for any people born before 1500.  GEDmatches automatically skips them.

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Sounds like you have a batch of colonial New England folks as well; there is a "Puritan Great Migration" project you might like to get involved with. MANY emigrating colonists are already here and could benefit from you adding sources you have researched. Contact me for more information.

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Hmm no profiles for people born before 1713 - that's a HUGE problem! Every branch in my family (USA) that HAS done DNA - all the connections are in the 1600's, here in "The Colonies". How is this supposed to work if you are chopping out the MAIN connection that all the branches share? I am finding LOTS of "missing information" as to how this site is supposed to "work". Then I see a reference to incomplete info due to quick changes in the site.....what if someone were not happy with changes down the road and wanted to REMOVE their files. Can that be done? I (and many others I know) ONLY upload our files to places where we retain ownership, as we don't want some company or organization taking over later and "owning" and profiting off our hard work. None of us mind sharing whatever we have, but don't like the idea of losing total control over our own work. Mine particularly has a LOT of "New" info - recently revised with NEW proofs and disproving a LOT of the old published stuff on several of my lines. I would NOT want to upload those until I KNOW that someone "editing" was not going to incorrectly "correct" and "link" it back to erroneous information. I worked to hard for too many years to let that happen! Wow - need a LOT of better answers than currently appear on your site before I can, in good conscience, upload my files.

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If you read the post two above yours you will see the correction, it is no gedcom imports before 1500, mainly because most of these profiles are already here. If you read the documentation there is no ownership of data it becomes part of our tree, the our in this case is the people of the world.

Anyone who has signed the honor code can edit any profile over 200 years and any other open profile, all changes are recorded so if necessary they can be reverted but cannot be removed. It takes some people some time to learn that collaboration and sharing are better than trying to control, if you are unsure then just do a small upload and see how it goes.

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Welcome! If you have more accurate info on any profile, we welcome the improved information. You might want to join or start a project that covers the area of your research and get your accurate and proven data"project protected" so it can not be changed or merged away. Explanations you add telling why your data is the most accurate added to the profile are always helpful too. :)

Sharon

Answer 2

Hi Scott!

Thanks for being willing to share so much of your family's history! You have some options. I'll send you a message here in a bit.

 

Eowyn