Does the unsourced template track profiles like the category does?

Question

I am a little confused about marking profiles unsourced.  I've been using the template, (sometimes alone), but now I'm wondering whether I should've always been using both the template and the category? Sometimes the words are used almost "interchangably," but I know they're two different things.  The template leaves the sign on the biography, and the category puts them in the category.  I guess I thought the templates were able to be tracked and counted. I could be wrong (probably am).

Are we able to track the profiles with the template alone?  Can we count how many have the template on them?

I finally "got" how important this tracking is.  It's all about the numbers, right?  My guess is that the percentage of unsourced is well over 50%.  If you count ancestry trees, it's probably around 90%.  Maybe I'm way off, but this seems to be my experience (today anyway).

Comments

Thank you both.   I was hoping that adding the template also added it to the category.  Yeah!  Very important to track these.  It may take years to either prove or disprove the information on them.

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I was looking for the template today, can someone tell me where it is it doesn't seem to be in the 'list of' section in the help index.

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This is where the category tree comes in real handy.

Just go to Categories from anything.

Then

http://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Category:Maintenance_Categories

then

http://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Category:Unsourced_Profiles

then down in the Templates section of the People or Pages in Unsourced Profiles, it is listed under "T" for Templates

http://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Template:Unsourced

The instruction for how to use the template, with the country switch, is right there on that page

To specify a country for the category use {{Unsourced|Country}}.

But in most cases, you should not enter the country name, but the nationality instead. Just first browse the main Unsourced category page link above, to see what nationalities are present.

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Thanks Steven, I found it, but it is a convoluted way to get there!

http://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Template:Unsourced

Perhaps someone should add it to the 'list of' in the help index - http://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Templates

So do you mean it should be Canadian, not Canada etc?  Maybe that should be added as a note there as well, I see some duplicates are creeping in.

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A couple of problems using nationality instead of country:

1. English is a language as well as a nationality. It also could be in a number of countries that consider themselves English. A country name would be more specific.
2. American is the nationality typically used for the United States, but is considered by many to be inclusive of all countries in the "Americas"
3. There are also a lot of {{Unsourced|State-name}} profiles (which are subcategorized under {{Unsourced|United States of America}}. Are these being used incorrectly?

Can we get the categorization folks on this, please?

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I will post this on the categorisation group

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VEronica I will add the Unsourced template to the template page.

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Hi Veronica,

Sure, it's just {{Unsourced|United States}}  [[Category:United States Unsourced Profiles]]

If you go to the category page, which is much easier to find now under "Maintenance" (in Find and then Categories), you will see all the states' names.

Thank you to the cateory person/people who re-organized them!

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{{Unsourced|United States}} [[Category:United States Unsourced Profiles]] is HUGE (i mean the list is LONG...) I see that there are sub categories for each state. Shouldn't we be using those?

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Yes Jillaine, we do use the Unxourced states sub-categories, when we can. The huge list in United States were either set there before the states diviisions were created, or else people don't know about the states, or they cannot identify a particular appropriate state, or their ancestors crossed too many borders to make an individual state helpful for that ancestor.

But I make a point in particular to use mostly New York for New Netherland settlers, and sometimes New Jersey.

Probably most of the United Sates people can be moved forward to individual states, with a bit of research, if somebody wants to take on that monumental task.

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Steven is right about reasons for United States. I tend to use it still, when people are crossing borders. Yes some of them could be moved into states, but if you're going to bother researching to discover the state, you might as well source the profile. I'd rather see us spending our time sourcing the profiles than trying to categorize them correctly.

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Wholeheartedly agree Anne

Answer 1

Putting it in the category (or using the template) puts the profile on this list which continues on many more pages.

http://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Category:Unsourced_Profiles

If it's on the list, it flags it for the "Profile Improvement Project" to work on, when they have time. But as you can see there are a lot of them. The project is looking for new people to get involved, helping to make our profiles the best on the internet.

It also, lets people know that there could be errors, because there are no sources proving anything.

If I put the template on a profile, I always hope the manager will say to themselves, "Gee I better get to that profile" (I'm an optimist.)

Also if I'm working on a family and I see the template, I will make a point to add sources to those unsourced profiles with the "big sign" on them.

Answer 2

Hi Cynthia

The unsourced template automatically adds the profile to the category.  It will leave the sign and a category link on the biography.

Answer 3

This stuff is old but as it has come up again.

For unsourced I think it has to be location not nationality.  I use Louisiana as an example.  If I have a profile where my best guess is that the person was in Louisiana than I should use Louisiana Unsouced Profiles.  The person could be of any nationality but the records that are most likely to provide the next clue for the profile are most likely to be in Louisiana.

In those few cases where there is enough information to suggest a second location, I think it is best to add that location unsourced as well.  

 

Comments

I believe that all the United States state listings are by state name already. I live in Connecticut and have never figured out how to say I'm a Connecticut-an? (really!?)

The countries: I believe the directions say to use nationality because "Swedish Unsourced Profiles" is better grammar than "Sweden Unsourced Profiles." At least that was what I decided when I found it that way.

Although I don't think I have a problem changing it to Country. Most of the categories are not overly populated, although English is multiple pages. And then what does one do with Acadian Unsourced Profiles, it's not a country?

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Hmm.. I just looked at the directions. It says Unsourced|Country not nationality

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Yes!  I agree.  It makes sense to use the place, because this is associated with the finding of citations ... and for that, we can best use a location.