Hello, Sourcerers! It is time to start sourcing! Prior month stats will be posted soon.
IMPORTANT NOTE: Please “answer” here (not comment) and let me know if you will be using the tracker or if you will be listing your profiles here in your post. Either one is perfectly fine : )
To participate:
Remember, your sources need to be as full and specific as possible, so others find them useful. That means, if the source is online, you should link to it. If it is a page from a book, the page number should be included so others can easily see where you found the reference.
When you can, it's great to do a bit more while adding sources, like clean up the gedcom leftovers or help the formatting from older profiles. Sources are important, but if you can't find them among all the other stuff, they aren't helping as much as they could.
On to the monthly challenge:
You only need to answer the post once. If you opt to use the Tracker you are good to go. If you opt to add your sourced profiles, add a comment to your answer with the required details. If you exceed the character limit add another comment. Please number your contributions. Obviously, the Tracker is faster and less work for everyone. If you have a problem with the Tracker let us know by posting a comment to the thread.
USING THE TRACKER
After you save an edit, a green banner appears at the top of the page. In the banner is a black “button” labeled Challenge Tracker. Press that, and on the page that comes up, select Sourcerers challenge and the appropriate comment (or fill in your own if none of the canned answers fit what you did). Hit Add Action and you’re done. The Tracker tracks the number of profiles you add sources to. You can see the July Tracker at: http://wikitree.sdms.si/Challenges/SourcerersChallenge/20180701/User.htm
* All profiles improved must come from the Unsourced categories or be already present on WikiTree and unsourced-you cannot create new profiles and add sources just to up your tally. The hope and goal is to improve the profiles already on WikiTree that need sources. Adding sources will help merges happen, too, which will improve our tree. Showing folks what sources you're using helps newer researchers see just what's available out there for us to access. Another great source of unsourced profiles is to check out orphaned profiles.
* The tally is of profiles improved, not sources added. That said, if you can add a number of sources to a profile, all the better.
*If you attempt to add sources to a profile and cannot find any, please add a note under a == Research Notes == section giving where you tried to find records and you can sign it with the four tildes (~~~~) so the date is applied as well. Something like "Looked for John in the US Census records for 1900-1940 and couldn't find him on FamilySearch or Ancestry" would be fine. Or, "Searched google for an obituary and didn't find one." That way the next researcher knows where to start. Do not remove the Unsourced Template and will not count in your tally.
* If the only source is a link to a profile, a search results page from another genealogy website, the words "Ancestry tree," "Geni.com," "Pedigree Resource Files" from FamilySearch, or the like, adding a better source will be a valid update for the Sourcerers' Challenge. If you add better sources to the profiles, use the Challenge Tracker to include it in your tally.
* If you find a match and can merge a profile into an already sourced profile, that counts, too. You still found a source, plus you eliminated a duplicate. Awesome!
The Monthly Challenge runs from midnight the first day of your month and ends at 11:59 the last day of the month. The Challenge Tracker results page has up the minute stats for those of you using the Challenge Tracker. Ask any questions here in the thread, otherwise, SOURCE!
[Edit: Revised wording on profiles sourced only with online trees - 13 July 2018 18:47EDT Debi Hoag]
