Profile Improvement Project (PIP) : What we do and how to join [closed]

Question

Profile Improvement should be part of every WikiTreers routine. From the moment you create your first profile, every addition/correction is a profile improvement.

It's a learned process. 

The first thing you might learn is how to "clean" up your GEDCOM import. 

Then where to find sources and how to format them (give them enough information that they can be found again even if the links break).

As you begin writing bios, you'll want to learn how to create inline citations.  Member Greg Shipley created the Bio app to generate a basic bio with spaces for potential citations.

At some point, you'll learn how to merge profiles and how to integrate the two biographies afterward.

The Profile Improvements Project's PIP Voyage can help you learn and improve all these skills.

If you find that you really enjoy doing any of these, or you discover that you're just automatically improving profiles as you randomly fix the large and small problems on WikiTree profiles, consider joining the Profile Improvement Project. Read the Project Page and follow the steps in the "How to Join" section. Add an answer below to get started on the Voyage.

Thank you.

Profile Improvement Project

Comments

I would love to do this, because I'm a tad CDO about spelling and punctuation and having things understandable, but I don't think I could remember to "do it right" and update whatever I was doing as per requirements.

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I feel I'm already an adherent of PIP. I've tried my best to clean up my own GEDCOM uploads (probably have much to work on, still), and any profiles I run across I've attempted to clean up (re-organize for readability, properly segregate derivative sources, add proper source ref links, etc). I'd appreciate being recognized as a 'member' via a badge, and pledge to continue working to clean up profiles (including my own) as needed. As I 'teach' others to use Wikitree, I also preach proper profile standards, clean sources, and organization so to make their work understandable and readable. Folks have thanked me for this advice, and I hope it leads to a better Wikitree.

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Thanks, Nick. I've awarded your badge

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Thank you.

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Hi Everybody,

I have not long completed the Orphan Trail, learned heaps, and have been applying that to my profiles. I'm having lots of fun and learning so much more. Wikitree is the best !! I love it !!

How can I help ?

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Hi David, Thanks for offering to help improve profiles. Which parts of building profiles on the Orphan's trail did you most enjoy? Do you specialize in any records? We haven't started using the team approach in the project yet so it's mostly finding something you enjoy and jump in. If that sounds like fun, would you add an answer with an idea what you plan to work on. I'll award your badge and you'll be on your way.

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Hi Debi,

I enjoyed all of the Orphan Trail.

I live in Australia, so have plenty of experience there.

My Ancestors are from Scotland and England.

I already have a lot of experience with Scotland research, in particular, after tracking my Urquhart line, but I don't mind where I work.

I also have ancestors in Lancashire, Staffordshire, Kent and Bedfordshire to name a few

Just let me know where to start

David.

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Ok, I'm going to point you in a direction, David.

• Find sources and write biographies for orphaned profiles in the family tree of Clarence A Maycroft. He died in the US but his ancestors are from England. Try to connect their little twig to the main tree.

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Hi Debi,

Interesting choice.

I'm at work on my mobile, atm, just had a quick look on familysearch and believe I have identified the marriage of grandparents of the subject and their arrival in America.

Will have a closer in depth look after work.

Cheers,

David

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Hi Debi: Thanks for giving me the links to read and digest on Profile Improvement! I would like the badge, if possible; I am still working on improving the profiles on my watch list, and also have adopted a few more that need help. I enjoy writing and editing; I am comfortable with creating inline citations, and organizing photos or tables, if need be. I would like to work with bios that already have sources but need them cleaned up and made more legible. My goal will be to work on a couple profiles a week; more if time allows. Rebecca

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Welcome to the project, Rebecca. I've awarded your badge and included notes on what you said you plan to work on. There's a Progress Report section on the Project page. Please add your name and comments to it and update it from time to time. 

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I'd love to join the Profile Improvement Project

Neil Croll

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Hi Neil. Sorry about the delay, your request to join showed up as a comment rather than an answer and got lost in my inbox. Look for an email from me shortly.

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I've awarded your badge, Neil, and will be replying to your questions via email. The Project page has a section with example profiles from all over WikiTree which you can review for ideas while you are working. They should all be open privacy so that you can look at them in edit mode to see how something was done. Let me know when you are ready for your first profile review. 

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Hi Debi,

Did you get the link to the profile I started on? I'm not sure whether I'm getting communications yet.

Neil

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I did, Neil, and I apologize for not replying sooner. A Guide should be available to work with you soon. I'll send an introductory email to you both as soon as they are.

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A concern was raised that the requested commitment to review one profile from our own watchlist each week was too much. Rather than derail that conversation, I've moved my response here and will add a link there.

Reviews and improvements don't have to be extensive. We recognize that life is busy. Sometimes all we have time for is to look over the profile and make one tiny change:

• Spell out place names
• Change one paid source to a free source
• Add a category
• Fix a typo
• etc

All of those are improvements. Every little thing makes a profile you manage better. 

We each know our own limitations and how much is too much. I, for instance, very seldom go a day without being on the site, much less a week. I'm sure that is not true for others. 

I would like the PIP Voyage to be something in which all members of WikiTree could participate. Have we raised the bar too high? If so, what is reasonable? 

[edited to add the paragraph breaks that I expected to be there]

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Not being a subscriber to any paid sites I welcome your proposed changes. Actually I like the idea of a commitment but it shouldn't be such a hard and fast requirement that we lose the enjoyment of what we're doing or start getting too regimented.

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Thanks, Neil.

After thought and consultation, we have re-worded the "commitment" to "strongly encourage."

Trust me, no one has time to verify that 52 profiles are touched every year LOL

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Hi, regarding changing one paid source to a free source, I read other guidelines recently on WikiTree - but can't remember where - it was suggested that the original source used should always be quoted, even where it was behind a paywall. This is something we encounter often as eg for a pre-1855 baptism in Scotland, a free but secondary source such as  Family Search can give some good basic transcribed information and an easy to copy and paste source, but the Old Parish Register entry from ScotlandsPeople will often give far more useful information and you know it is the primary source, and so seems to be the logical choice?.

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We always want to cite the most accurate records with images of the original being the preferred, even if they are behind a paywall. Sometimes the same records are (or become) available at a free site (ex., US Census records). In those cases, the paywalled citation can be replaced by a citation for the version at the free site.

The source actually used is the one that should be cited. So if an index was used, cite it. If an image of the record that was indexed is later reviewed, add a new citation for the better record. If the better record is behind a paywall, include both citations.

I hope that helps make more clear what I intended.

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I have been trying to learn the right way to edit biographies, especially the more complicated insertions such as tables pictures, etc, I feel that I could improve more, maybe this is the answer.... if its available to me may I join, please

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We would love to have you take the Voyage with us, Julie. Would you please go to the current join thread and add an answer there.

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I'd like to you are join the Disputed Existence Adjunct Project.

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Hi Catherine,

Please tell me more, it sounds interesting,

Julie

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I recently found a warren of profiles, all without sources,  looking rather suspect, all created by a person who hasn't verified their email address, and who made the profiles in a few days and hasn't been seen since.  I want to learn how to deal with them, or to hand them over to those who can.

Cathy

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Hi Catherine, I've noted your request and will try to get an answer for you soon.  Thanks.

Answer 1

Wow, you really are a fount of good information my friend!  I need to listen more closely to you as I go along and I WILL!  Thanks for this great information you share with us all!

Answer 2

Would love to help in any way possible

Comments

Welcome to the project, Jeannie. The best way to start is with your own watchlist, making sure that each profile has a well written biography with sources for each fact  I'm still in the process of that LOL I use the list of anniversaries and birthdays on my weekly feed to suggest where I work next. Let me know if you have any questions.

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I think I know where you picked up that habit of birthdays & anniversaries...or did I steal that from you??

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Could be either one, Cindy. I picked it up from someone but don't have a clue who.

Answer 3

So, like, Debi, may I join the Profile Improvement Project?  Pretty Please?   ;-)

Comments

Now you're officially part of the Project, Cindy, though I know you've been working on your profiles consistently for a long time.

Answer 4

I'd like to join this project.

Comments

Thanks for joining the project. I've awarded your badge. Will you be concentrating on profiles you manage or those of a particular project? Let us know if we can offer any assistance.

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Thank you! To start with I'll probably concentrate on 'my own' while I learn the ropes. Very little of my Norwegian ancestry is on the site already, and what is there is riddled with all but empty gedcom imports and bizarre names (this is actually what spurred me to look for a profile improving project) - my goal, I think, will be to make sense of some of that stuff.

Answer 5

Had fun with the 811 project even though I had connection problems-took me longer to get a new person than it did to correct merge errors :-(

I kinda got in the groove and would like to continue building profiles for my people as well as a number of orphans I picked up as a result of the Clean-a-thon.

Sign me up!

Comments

Great! Welcome to the Profile Improvements Project, Don. I've awarded your badge. Let us know if you have any questions about formatting, etc.

Answer 6

I would really like to learn how to improve profiles. I have been trying to learn on my own but I really need assistance. May I join the profile improvement project.

Comments

Hi, Dallace, I've awarded the badge. There are some tutorials in the first post of this thread that give some ideas on how to improve profiles. Is there something specific that you need help with?

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Hi Debi, Yes, I want to learn how to do GEDcom cleanup and bio's. I will have a look at the tutorials and get in touch with questions.

Thanks for allowing me to join. :-)

Answer 7

Hey Debi! I want to join! I'm currently starting to work on getting all of the facts/stories I have offline online and into the correct profiles. It's going to take a while but it's doable!

Comments

Thanks for joining us, Kimberly. I've awarded your badge. Let us know if you have any questions.

Answer 8

Hi Debi, throw me in there.  I've got a serious list of ancestors of whom the profiles need cleaning up.....actually started way too fast linking family in without making sure that it was nice and neat from the start.

 

Not that I knew what "nice and neat" was when I started, but I learned fast!

Comments

Welcome to the project, Izak Jacobus! I've awarded your badge. Believe me, I think we all start fast and furious because it's so exciting to find a place full of people who understand us. Is there anything in particular that you have learned that you could pass along to other newcomers or that you need help with as your cleaning up? We're here to help each other.

Answer 9

I would love to join, I really enjoy improving profiles, sourcing them etc.

Jules

Comments

Thanks for joining the Profile Improvements Project, Jules. I've awarded your badge (sorry about the delay). Will you be concentrating on any particular profiles or just as you find the need?

Answer 10

Hi, following this post:

https://www.wikitree.com/g2g/625489/every-overboard-adding-source-someone-elses-ancestor-profile

I'd like to join ;-)

Comments

and done! Thanks for the sourcing and other improvements that you have been doing to profiles. Let us know if you have any questions.

Answer 11

I would like to join the Profile Improvement Project and have added it to my followed tags. Can I get a badge please ?

Must I contact every profile manager before I make any changes ?

If so, and no immediate reply is received, how long do I have to wait before going ahead and improving the profile ?

Thanks

Comments

Hi N. and welcome to the Profile Improvement Project. I have awarded your badge. Please be sure to add your name and what you are planning to work on to the Progress Reports section of the Project Page *grin* I guessed at what you plan to work on based on the projects in which you are involved.

Regarding contact, please refer to the Communication before Editing Help page and especially the section titled Be Polite: Make Contact First. A member pointed me to that page one time after I inadvertently stepped on toes by adding links to a couple of children found on a census. I had sourced them and the PM had no real issue with the links but would like to have been notified.

How long you have to wait would depend on how active the PM is on WikiTree. I'm generally on every day doing something, even when on research trips or vacation. However, during those times I might not review my non-critical email and then there is catch-up when I return. The Unresponsive Profile Manager process takes about three weeks, so I generally work any contact periods using those same parameters. I don't remember seeing a hard and fast rule on wait times, so tend to err on the side of courtesy. 

Answer 12

It was suggested to me that I ought to join this project, as it'd be a good fit for me! I can't seem to stop at just one source in the "Sourcing Sprints" and feel compelled to flesh the entire profile out.

I'd love to join this project and improve my profile improvement skills even more.

Currently I am going back through my own Watchlist and adding categories, new sources and sprucing up Biographies. But I like to branch out from time to time on new profiles, as well. No specifics that I like to work on, but I prefer to work on profiles from the 1700s-1800s+. I'm not able to really help as much ith the older ones with all the speculation and browsing through books.

Comments

Welcome to the project, Kristen. I've awarded your badge and included notes on what you said you plan to work on. There's a Progress Report section on the Project page. Please add your name and comments to it and update it from time to time. 

Answer 13

I would like to join the PIP please. I am in the profile improvers team of the England Project and will be working mainly on English and Scottish profiles. I enjoy the challenge of untangling tangled relationships and cleaning up the results.

Comments

Glad to have you, Peter. I've awarded your badge. Let us know if you have any questions. There's a Progress Report section on the Project page. Please add your name and comments to it and update it from time to time. 

Answer 14

Add me in please Debi :)

Comments

Wendy, you've been a member of the project since August. Shirley added you, probably as part of the Unknowns Project as it is a sub of Profile Improvements. 

There's a Progress Report section on the Project page. Please add your name and comments to it and update it from time to time. 

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Sorry Debi, for the life of me I don't remember joining last August. Shirley added me to unknowns today though so it's all good :)

Thank you :)

Answer 15

I'd like to join the team. I've been working on Perkins, Woodward and Haskell families lately.

Comments

Thanks for joining us, Traci. I've awarded your badge.

There's a Progress Report section on the Project page. Please add your name and comments to it and update it from time to time. 

Answer 16

I'd like to join, please!

Comments

Great to have you join us Ron. I've awarded your badge. Let us know if you want a profile reviewed or suggestions on how to do specific things. We are here to help.

There's a Progress Report section on the Project page. Please add your name and comments to it and update it from time to time. 

Answer 17

I'd like to join! As a data doctor I come across a wide variety of profiles, many of which were just dumped and abandoned. So most days I clean up quite a few-- often going the whole 9 yards-- making them organized, attractive, sourced and cited. I rarely see a profile on the Suggestions Report that can't be improved beyond just fixing the error! (And it amazes me how many others seem to only see the error--if that!)

Comments

Excellent! Welcome to the project, Stephanie. I've awarded your badge. Thanks for all the work you do on profiles.

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I don't see the badge:(  I'd like people whose profiles I work on to be able to see my bona fides :)

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Wow, don't know what happened there, Stephanie. Sorry about that. You really have the badge now.

Answer 18

Debi you are a very valuable source of information! Thank you!

I know I have not been able to add my husbands family and my family to Wikitree specifications. 15,000 total about 1,000 entered so 14,000 to go!

I've been here since Dec 2017, not quite 8 months, and I feel like I'm climbing a mountain to learn everything.

Slowly I learn something new at least once a week. I'm more a visual and/or do as I go along learner vs reading.

I hope if I'm creating any problems someone will let me know!

I love Wikitree and am usually on here every day.

Comments

Glad to have you, Louise. I've awarded your badge. Let us know if you have any questions.

Answer 19

This project is right up my alley! I am passionate about profiles that are well sourced and tell a story. I'm fairly new to WikiTree and continue to learn every day.

Comments

Welcome to the project, Connie. Let us know if you have any questions or want a profile reviewed.

Answer 20

Debi, I'd like to be a member of the Profile Improvement Project. I've been participating with the Biography Builders challenges for almost a year now, and really enjoy creating nice coherent bios. Also a big believer in in-line citations for sourcing each data point, and proposing merges whenever I run into duplicates. I've been doing all these things already, so figure I may as well officially join the project!

Comments

Welcome to the project, Joyce. I have awarded your badge. 

There's a Progress Report section on the Project page. Please add your name and comments to it and update it from time to time. 

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Hi Joyce! We have another project in common! I think this one will be a great resource for some of the things we do with LFP, S-A-T and C-A-T!