Did you notice the changes related to change explanation fields?

Question

Hi WikiTreers,

Today we released some improvements to the change explanation fields that appear on edit pages. Most of these were mentioned or suggested in this discussion from a couple months ago. 

1.) We added a second field on edit-profile pages. The change explanation field now appears above and below the text editing section, so there is one near both save buttons.

2.) We added it to the form for adding family. When you add or change a parent, sibling, spouse or child you can now include a change explanation. This won't appear in the history item for the new person, it will appear in the history item for the person to whom you added the relationship. So, for example, if you add a father, two history items are created. One of them records the creation of the new profile. The other records the addition of the father to the child's profile. This latter item would have the explanation if you included one.

3.) We enabled auto-filled selections. You can now click a button to select one of the preset change explanations. These are currently:

• Adding sources.
• Fixing typos.
• Formatting.

Do you have suggested additions or alternatives for these pre-set selections?

Do you notice any problems or have questions? Please post here. Thanks!

Onward and upward,

Chris

P.S. Today we also released some changes to our new comments system, and related to this, we are discussing whether to add new navigation buttons to profiles.

Comments

Great! Thanks for adding the changes field at the bottom of the profile. It sure saves zooming up and down the profile.

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Could the extra Change Explanation field and Save buttons be placed immediately after the preview box ? That would fit with the workflow and reduce scrolling. It is right after previewing that we add an explanation and save.

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One very teeny minor criticism - it appears the tab order changed on me - actually to a more logical order, but I'll have to retrain my fingers a little.

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I love this already. Thanks Chris!

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Joe, I don't understand your question.  After you select preview, you would scroll down to see that it looks correct.  Below that 'preview' the comment box and Save Changes button is there 'now' as well as above.  That is one of the changes.

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Hi Linda, at the moment the save button and changes field are right at the end . There are two pages (ie screenfulls) to scroll past after the preview box; all the stuff about “how to add sources “ and “formatting tips “.

My question was asking if the Save button and new changes field could be moved to just after the preview section i.e. before the “how to add sources” and “formatting tips” sections. That would save a lot of unnecessary scrolling

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Joe, possibly you are looking at it on a mobile device.  On a computer (at least on my browsers), that information is to the right of the 'editable biography', but if I shorten the width of the browser, I see the problem you are stating, which is a problem of the 'framing' of the page, I assume.

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Perhaps you could add categorisation as pre-set selection.

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Did you also change the way family trees display. Where are the buttons on the right of the names to expand the tree? Is there a setting to bring them back?

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When I am notified of a proposed merger, it would be very helpful to have the profile I manage indicated somehow. Otherwise, I do not know which profile is the one I have done previous research on without having to take several extra steps.

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Looks like the default options are not on the marriage changes page

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It works great. A suggestion would be a check boxes for:

 image added and Category added.

Answer 1

I love it!!  Thank you for providing that for all us WikiTreers!

Answer 2

I haven't seen the new revised changes plus the ones for adding family, but I think it's good. Thanks. If we're working on other peoples profiles (whether active or otherwise), it's good that they can be informed properly what we have done and why. I generally don't add family unless I've been in touch with the PM or it's an orphaned profile, but it's a good just in case.

Answer 3

Great changes!  I wish everyone would see the value of change explanations.  They help us as PMs when we review our own managed profiles; they help others who review profiles, especially other PMs of profiles we edit; and they help Rangers in their work.

Comments

They also help project leaders who monitor the profiles in their project!  Big help.

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Truer words were never spoken!

Answer 4

Very nice; I'm using it already!

Comments

Me too!

Answer 5

Another good comment would be Data Doctor Suggestion # and hopefully people would fill in the Suggestion number that they were correcting.

Answer 6

I LOVE the new updates!!!

Thank you for making it so easy for my lazy butt to add reasons for editing! 

Missy 

Answer 7

Love it!! My computer crashes on a regular basis, so having explanation box top & bottom helps me do an explanation as I try to do a fast save before I lose my work!

Really nice - thanks!

Comments

I thought I was the only one 

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LOL. I was thinking it was just me :D

I've got more Luddite blood in me than I'd like to admit. I was happy in DOS and was forcibly dragged into the Windows world years ago... I still resist upgrades (stayed with Win3 as long as I could, upgraded to WindowsME & from there to Win7). I REALLY don't care for the changes implemented with Win10, so I've delayed too long on replacing my 2008 (2009?) computer. But this year for sure!

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Only by force from the most recent loss of support from Microsoft on Windows 7 , Liz   :)  But moving to Windows 10 could help your crashing problem... I resisted too, but now glad I did.

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"Resistance if futile" sprang to mind LOL

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I gave up on Windows, moved to Ubuntu and about 90% of my problems dissappeared.  I'll never go back 

Answer 8

This is great!  Thanks for the improvement.

Answer 9

Appreciated, Tally-Ho, C'est Bon Magnifique , For Sure, Beyond Infinity Genealogy  ! 

Answer 10

Thanks, Chris. This is helpful.

#3) Add: Adding (Research) note.

This might encourage more people to add notes about where they have searched, why they have made the changes they have made or what questions need to be resolved about the profile. This would encourage communication and collaboration!

Comments

Perhaps an auto-fill selection for Adding/Editing Biography, too? Or should we use past tense - Added/Edited Biography.

And I would capitalize any selection for the text-section headings to reinforce that the headings should be capitalized (thus Research Notes for Peggy's suggested addition).

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I agree, was just thinking of this one. 

Adding/Editing Biography 

Also, I tend to use past tense but I can go with either.

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Members who would like to have additional standard notes should use a browser that has a form-filling feature that auto-completes entries based on your past history. It would be impractical for WikiTree to create standard options for every entry that some individuals use frequently, and it's unnecessary when our browsers can do this for us.

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In my opinion, having the necessary tools and standardization built into the system makes communication and collaboration much easier for us all.

Answer 11

Great improvement.

One thing I've noticed is that if I let the browser autocomplete one of the explanation fields, the other may show just the few characters typed. Once saved, however the full explanation (e.g, "Added biography and sources") appears in the change log.

Answer 12

First: thank you for keeping it optional.

Second: the additional button of my choice would be: Writing biography.
I might get into the habit of using that on profiles I create and manage, where the expanding of the bio text is an ongoing work.

I suppose it'll be possible to add one or maybe two buttons, without the interface getting too cluttered.

For the rest, when I work on shared profiles I like to be more specific, and so have a comfy library of phrases in my browser memory, like Birth record, Marriage record, Death record et cetera - of course writing something even more specific when the nature of an edit - or my understanding of who I am communicating with - demands it.

Comments

I agree. Adding a "Writing and/or Expanding Biography" button would be great.

Answer 13

As several others, I'd like a choice like "Expand biography", as that is one of my main reasons for editing a profile.

Comments

I think expanding bio would be a nice addition too, Leif.

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I agree. Adding a "Writing and/or Expanding Biography" button would be great.

Answer 14

This may be picky, but I think the tense is incorrect.

You complete the change explanation field by typing in what you DID, not what you are DOING.  So it should be:
Added sources, not adding sources
Fixed typos, not fixing typos
Formatting could be acceptable at a pinch, because it can be used as a noun
Expanded bio

Comments

A grammarian after my own heart.

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Or to be even more picky, since there may be one or more changes:

Added source(s)

Fixed typo(s)

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Kerry Larson, I agree!

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Grammar police of the world, unite! 

Answer 15

I completed some edits yesterday, added comments, then noticed all the new changes. Pleasantly surprised, I thought, "Finally! Changes we've been asking for."  Thank you, Chris!

Answer 16

When the marriage data is changed, shouldn't the change be logged on both spouses' profiles?

Comments

That has been requested previously.  Same as adding a parent should be logged with child and parent.

Answer 17

Thanks for this. Two other things you might prompt would be Added category, and Clicked one of the data field options like certain or no middle name. I am especially interested in this 2nd one because I don't know what to call them and it is something I often do on it's own just after other edits because I have forgotten to do it (so I never comment on the action)

Answer 18

I definitely appreciate having two boxes for "explain your changes."

The positioning of these boxes is very helpful when editing from a computer, but unfortunately the positions of the save buttons and "explain" boxes create an awkward situation when I edit from a smartphone. Instead of appearing immediately above and below the "Biography" box, as they do on the computer, the first save button and comment box are positioned in the middle of the data section, between "Edit Data" and "Edit Family"/"Edit Photo Settings" and the second save button and comment box are way down at the very bottom of the page, after all of the boilerplate about "How to Add Sources" and "Formatting Tips." When editing on my phone, by the time I've scrolled up through photos and a long list of family members, or down through all that boilerplate, I've probably forgotten what editing changes I made (or am making -- hi, Ros).

Also, the guidance on "Use this optional field to summarize..." takes up four lines of display space on my small phone screen. It would  benefit mobile phone users if this guidance were in a smaller font, comparable to the font size for items like "remove/replace father" and the checkboxes for "father is uncertain," etc.

Comments

The explanation instructions could be moved off-page and accessed via a green-circle-with-white-question-mark link (I imagine the icon has a name, but I don't know it!),  as is done with the data fields.

Alternately/additionally, we could simplify the instructions. The field already has "Explain your changes." We really only need auto-fill choices for the type of change: Biography, Sources, Categories, Templates, Suggestions, Typos, Format (cover the basic edit types, if possible). Anyone editing the profile can always add additional text if he/she/they prefers fuller explanations.

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Lindy, moving the instructions off-page would not improve the situation.

Until now, similar instructions were available in an off-page link, and they didn't get noticed much. Putting them on the edit page should increase the use of edit summaries.

And off-page links are a nuisance for phone users. We have exactly one small screen to work from, and opening different windows (and sometimes even popup boxes) on that small screen can get in the way of progress. The phone interface shows items like "remove/replace father" and the checkboxes for items like "father is uncertain" in a smaller font, and that's what I'd like to see done for the edit-summary instructions.

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Moving the instructions off-page would reduce the space required, as only the relevant choices would be displayed.

In my opinion, the mere presence of the various choices would be self-explanatory. For members who don't find that the case, in-depth, off-page instructions would still be accessible.

That the "off-page links are a nuisance for phone users" is a separate issue, as it already applies to current off-page links. Any improvement to that functionality would need to cover all the off-page links. Hopefully, more phone users will offer input for such improvements.

Answer 19

Thank you Chris !  Some of these features are helpful already.

Answer 20

I really like the changes. And I agree with those that think other buttons should include "Wrote and/or Expanded Biography" and "Added Research Note"
Although too many buttons would probably clutter things up too much.

I also agree that when a parent is added, the change should be reflected on both the child's profile's changes AND the other parent's profile's changes..
Same for adding a child. Should be reflected on both parents' profiles' changes as well.
Also for adding a sibling. Should also be reflected on the parents' profile's changes.