Any thought being given to adding to or improving the information feeds?

Question

It would seem to be potentially a great benefit to all of us if there were herding algorithms that would point us toward high value possibilities beyond simply sending everyone named "Jones" a notice when someone else makes a "Jones" entry. It would help not only from an immediate standpoint but over time would make it more likely that far flung trees could be joined.

Comments

Mark, could you illustrate your idea with an example?

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I don't subscribe to any surname feeds because I don't see this as a very efficient way to follow editing activity that might interest me. Some of my family names (such as Smith and Clark) are much too numerous to make a surname feed useful; others have so many variant spellings that I could quickly fill my surname quota with just a few family names. Instead, I use my quota to follow 20 topical tags in G2G.

What I would find useful (and possibly what Mark is seeking) is the ability for members to have customized monitoring -- within WikiTree -- of editing activity on  profiles of interest, similar to the Family Activity Feed, but without being signed up as a Trusted List member or Profile Manager. I believe this is feasible with the technology, but new apps would be needed to make it happen.

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We all get long lists of activity sent to us based on a name to which we are somehow connected. But its limited to surname as opposed to a particular time period or geographic region. I guess I'm suggesting that additional cross referencing options would be helpful. For instance, when someone is looking for relatives of William Smith who lived in Shropshire circa 1750, their Genealogy Feed would highlight any additions that have a higher probability of relevance.

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Wikitree doesn't yet have search utilities for finding profiles (or filtering name search results) by location, but there is some filtering by date. When the search capabilities are enhanced, the feature you describe would be a great adjunct.

It sounds like your interest would be in new profiles only. I think it might be feasible now to see a feed (on the website, not by email) of new profiles for a specific last name.  (I'm typing on my phone at.the moment, so I can't check until after I finish this message.)

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I don’t read them anymore. I did when I first joined, but there is generally nothing of interest.

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I looked, and did not find a way to get a feed limited to new profiles for a particular surname. I think this capability probably  could be created, though.

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I am not explaining myself very well but basically I'm pining for the ability to narrow the feed from (in my example) "all Smiths in the entire world" to "Smiths who lived in or near Shropshire circa 1750" etc.

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Please re-read what Ellen Smith wrote you: "WikiTree doesn't yet have search utilities for finding profiles ... by location." What you're asking for would be very nice, but it's just not currently available. I also have very common surnames in my family tree (Smith and Johnson). Here's what I would do if I were looking for Smiths born near Shropshire circa 1750: I would look at the Smith surname page, sorted by birthdate. Then I would look down through all the people born after that date, looking for Shropshire (or places that I know are near Shropshire) in the birth locations.

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I understood what Ellen wrote and I appreciate the helpful responses. My most recent comment was an attempt to better articulate what I believe would be a welcome addition to WikiTree's options. I realize that utility doesn't presently exist hence my original question as to whether its being considered.

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Hi Mark,

I've added your idea to the list of suggested improvements.

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Thanks Jamie!

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This idea would require a place name to be completed on creation or future edits of a profile.

How do you suppose this could be addressed?