Data Doctor Challenge Guide

Question

Since this is technically a helping question instead of a space page I will try to be brief. The links are screenshots and some of them have info typed onto them so you see what is going on.

Much of the flexibility of wikitree is due to the ingenuity of Ales Trtnik (I will get the tilde over that S someday). He is the man behind Wikitree+, the suggestions list, unsourced, Data Doctors including the weekly challenge, and a big help to the categorization project. Then there is Chris Whitten the founder of WikiTree and thousands of amateur and professional genealogists.

The Data Doctor challenges always start with a question in G2G such as this one. https://www.wikitree.com/g2g/629920/challenge-of-the-week-propose-merges-for-duplicate-profiles

From this point you have 2 choices.

http://prntscr.com/jxgqsz  go here.

http://prntscr.com/jxgh3u then here.

or go to http://tinyurl.com/Doctorsheet  (you can bookmark that one)

Click a cell on the list or hover over a cell on the spreadsheet and click the link. They both go to the same place. http://prntscr.com/jxghoo

Current challenge is merging. This is what it will look like after clicking the cell http://prntscr.com/jxgiyd (instructions in screenshot)

The last thing you do is the status button http://prntscr.com/jxgkgm  (instructions in screenshot.)

This link is only to show details for using the spreadsheet http://prntscr.com/hk72jy  (instructions in screenshot)

Feel free to use the spreadsheet if you like and be sure to check out additional features like the info tab with tips, tricks, weblinks, and space pages to help you find things. Feel free to add your favorites.

There is also a section "Error lists by State/Country" that will take you to suggestion lists by different states, provinces, or countries. But if you want to have them count in the challenge you must make sure to do the SAME suggestion numbers as we have in the current challenge. Any of these containing the word "challenge" or "WikiTree" are NOT updated each week with the new suggestion report.

I hope this helps clarify what we are doing and how we are doing it. Just remember that before you start, check the green area on the profile like here. http://prntscr.com/jxgwsi to make sure someone didn't already do what YOU are trying to do.

Wiki ON people.

Comments

Still new to this and on info overload.  Where do we correct or add the revised info for the challenges?  On the profile?  Spreadsheet?  Thank you!

---

Didn't even see this. Sorry Kelly. The updated info always gets added to the affected profile. The spreadsheet/ list is only the means to get you there. And the status part not only tracks how many you do for friendly competition, it alerts others that this profile might be an ongoing problem.

---

Steven,

š  ... for you to copy/paste 

---

I already got the whole ALT 0154 thing down but thanks.

---

Much of this will also be used in the Clean-a-thon also.

Answer 1

Thanks so much for this, Steven! I'm kind of new to using the spreadsheet, so this information is very helpful! 

However, you lost me with this part: "Any of these containing the word "challenge" or "WikiTree" are NOT updated each week with the new suggestion report."

Huh? Up until a couple of weeks ago I doctored errors mostly by state, and don't recall seeing any errors containing those words. What am I missing?

Comments

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Category:DD_Suggestions_Lists If you go here you get a long list of possible choices so you can do suggestions only in Alaska or only in Japan etc.

our current challenge I believe is DBE ErrorList Challenge 50 Merge. Note the word "challenge" in the title.  there are also some like DBE ErrorList WikiTree1. Note "WikiTree" in the title. Those do NOT update each week. When in doubt check the date on the report that comes up.

---

Love the spread sheet, and the instructions are very good. I noticed after having chosen a color that when I click on a section of errors to work on, the box is then outlined in my color for as long as I'm working there, until I finish and fill it in with color-- which seems to me a great way to show that someone is working there, but there may still be work available. But I sometimes find all the work is already done but not colored in--because not everyone uses the sheet-- so I fill in the color even though I didn't do the work.

Just want to point out that coloring in the boxes is not a competition, but is a way to help others save time and trouble looking for work to be done-- so it's more than OK to color a box if you find the work has already been done but not colored in.