I accidentally created a duplicate BUT [closed]

Question

I didn't realize it at the time because all information from the GEDCOM created profile is wrong! There aren't any sources on the Nathan Willis gedcom profile. His birth date and death date are wrong. The only correct information is that he married Lucy Fearing Dogget, but this profile does not even provide the year or place they married.

I'm still working on the Nathan Willis profile I created yesterday. I only discovered the problem this morning when I checked to see if his second wife, Lucy Fearing Dogget, had a profile page and if she was related to Paul Fearing.

I know I should institute a merge of these two profiles but considering everything on the first profile is wrong and unsourced, wouldn't it be better if Willis-137 were just deleted?

Answer 1

Merging is the way to go.  We don't delete profiles here on WikiTree.  You merge the two together, and during the merge make sure all the dates, locations etc are the right ones.

Comments

Thanks Ros! I figured that was the answer, but it was one I'd rather not hear since there is just garbage on the first one. lol

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when you merge, you get to pick and chose the correct info, discarding the incorrect info.

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Ros, agree on that solution.  I often want to be the one to do the merge to manage which data gets chosen, but I am usually the first to approve the merge so whomever comes second actually does it (unless defaulted, of course).  Is there a way to manage this?  Or just wait to approve later and watch it in my Pending Merges waiting for action by me list?

Answer 2

Do not worry, duplicates happen, especially when there isn't enough information on an existing profile to be picked up as a duplicate when adding a new profile, it has happened to me a few times. As Ros has said merging the two profiles is the way to go, there is no delete function on WT for profiles. During the merge process, the correct data and text should be chosen. If you haven't merged a profile before you could ask one of our arborists to help.

Comments

Becky, I accepted your proposed merge. I guess this means I'll need to wait 30 days before I can go back to complete because I doubt that the current profile manager is active.

In the meantime, is it possible for me to keep adding sources and expanding biography to the profile I created? I found the citation for when Nathan was appointed Major-General during the War of 1812 and want to add it before I can't remember where I found it! lol

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Diane,

Yes, you should go ahead and complete the profile with all sources everything - when there is no question of them being duplicates I add parents in and remove junk from the other profile - being careful to leave correct material.  The result is that the two profiles look like siblings married to the same person.  This way if someone else does the merge nothing will be lost and we have complete information.  If there are multiple spouses and add them as well.

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Yes, of course, you can add sources and continue with the biography. Philip has given you good advice regarding tidying up the duplicate profile. I would also add wife Lucy to your Nathan Willis profile. If the current profile manager doesn't respond you can complete the merge yourself after the 30 days, but correcting the dates on the duplicate will ensure the correct information is kept should the profiles be merged by someone else.