Proper use of sameas=no

Question

Is it proper to use sameas=no as a FindAGrave template parameter when the memorial is for the same person being profiled but there is incorrect (or conflicting) information on the memorial? I have a number of these where the date of death on the memorial differs from the date in the vital records - and sometimes even with the date shown in the photo of the gravestone on the same memorial - and I would like to avoid a string of Suggestions that I know will otherwise result.

Comments

Of course the best thing would be to get the Find A Grave end fixed so that the correct details are shown in the profile, irrespective of what appears on the gravestone.

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That's fine when you're sure the FindAGrave date is wrong. But in the profile I linked, the date shown on the profile is clearly the same as the date on the stone. The date differs from the vital record date by exactly one month. I think it's probable that the vital record date is correct, which is the reason I've used it in the data field, marked "uncertain," but the FindAGrave date could be the correct one.

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which is one reason I think FindaGrave as a ''source'' should be discouraged, it is in most older cases a repository of somebody's tree and no different than Ancestry etc.

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Find A Grave policy is that the dates on the page must match the gravestone, when shown.  The difference to the actual can be explained on the page, but they are supposed to use the gravestone dates, when available, even if they do not match sources.  

Death Certificates can have an incorrect Birth date / Location, etc because the person giving the information was incorrect.  That doesn't mean it shouldn't be used.

People, especially females, frequently used incorrect Birth information.

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If you understand that Find A Grave used to describe itself as a "worldwide cemetery registration site", it's easy to understand why the criteria is to match the stone. We all know that correctly transcribing something means to write exactly what we see - we don't correct spelling or grammar. Also, it is a FACT the gravestone is inscribed with that information.

Answer 1

You shouldn't use the sameas=no template if the WikiTree profile and Findagrave memorial represent the same person.

You only would use the sameas=no template to indicate that you are linking a WikiTree profile to a Findagrave memorial for a different person.

Use of the template is (?) unrelated to the data on either the WikiTree profile or the Findagrave memorial. The suggestions report has separate suggestions for data discrepancies.

Here is the Help page for the Findagrave template:

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Help:Links_to_FindAGrave

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Hopefully, my answer is reasonably accurate. If not, would one of my fellow WikiTreers please post corrected instructions? Thanks!!

Comments

Sounds good to me, Lindy.

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The template should be added to Find a Grave citations so there is a direct link to the Find a Grave page.  The Find a Grave citation doesn't provide a direct link.  URLs can change and not work.  The template redirect will be changed if the Find a Grave page is changed.

The sameas=no is supposed to be used when the Page is for a different person.  If the information on Find A Grave doesn't match wikitree sources, then the Suggestions should be marked as False Suggestion, if the Find A Grave page is not corrected.  I usually try to get them updated, but it is not always possible if the gravestone is incorrect.

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See: wikitree.com/wiki/Help:Find_A_Grave under Links to family member memorials and other people (toward the bottom).

As it stands, this section may be a bit misleading.  Suggest the last sentence be appended to the preceding paragraph in order to make it more clear that "same=no" doesn't apply to the case mentioned in the first paragraph, i.e.

WikiTree+ will be confused by links to other people's memorial pages inside a profile, such as a link to a family member's memorial page inside a biography, or a link to the memorial page of a person with a similar name inside Research Notes, e.g. if you say, "this is not the same Henri Langlois as on {{FindAGrave|1234}} but they can easily be confused." in order to avoid this confusion in the WikiTree+ hints use a "sameas=no" parameter in the Find A Grave template like this:{{FindAGrave|1234|sameas=no}}.