Do I delete profiles to clean up an adopted "orphan profile"?

Question

I have just started with Wikitree. I adopted some orphaned profiles of ancestors (rather than starting another profile on the same person) and am trying to clean them up. Do I adopt their children and spouses (also "orphaned profiles" from same imported gedcom) and delete those that do not match my records or are duplicates with spelling variations?

Answer 1

Thank you for adopting some "orphans!"

At WikiTree, since everything is shared and likely connected to something or someone else, deletion is not something done often. The prefered methods are separating people if they are unrelated, or merging two or more profiles into one if they are the same person. In your case, you can go to your ancestor's profile, and use the edit tab to separate them from the incorrect children. On the right hand side there is a section for "Children" and a link to "Add/edit." From there, at the bottom of the page there is the option to remove children.

For the duplicates with spelling variations, you can merge multiple profiles into one. For more on merging, check out the Merging FAQ.

Comments

"you can merge multiple profiles into one" and note in Biography the spelling options.

Answer 2

I wouldn't delete any, but perhaps not adopt those that don't fit your family.  You can merge duplicates. Deleting is so permanent.