Challenge of the week: Clean up names

Question

Hi WikiTreers,

Will you join our Data Doctors Challenge this week?           

Aleš's "WikiTree+" data analysis has uncovered thousands of profiles with special characters or words in name fields that probably don't belong there. There are parentheses that need to be removed, suffixes that need to be moved to the Suffix field, and much more.

Errors in name fields aren't just cosmetic. They make it less likely for profiles to be found in searches and matching.

Here is the table of likely problems and other suggestions to investigate.

Although the changes might be simple and fast, a thoughtful genealogist like you needs to investigate and carefully make the decision.

After you investigate something, set the status [more info]. That will let others know it has been addressed ... and ... it will earn you a point. The member with the most points at 11:59pm EDT on Sunday night will get a badge and the bragging rights.

If you're participating, please post here to let us know. It's nice to cheer each other on, and it will help us avoid stepping on each others' toes. Also post here if you have any questions about how to participate.           

Thanks for helping!

P.S. If you want to chat or coordinate what you are working on with others, in addition to this G2G post there is a handy spreadsheet courtesy of Steven Tibbetts. 

Real-time tracking results:           
See your stats alongside other participants here.

Top 10

• Colleen M. Chapin - 125
• Carolyn S. Martin - 106
• Jennifer Robins - 104
• Erin J. English Bailey - 71
• Paula A. Reinke - 48
• Michael D. Schindler - 41
• Charles C. Avis - 26
• Rae L. Davis - 20
• Robin A. Shaules - 20
• N Gauthier - 20

Comments

Challenge is active

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I'm up for the Data_Doctors Challenge

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oooh, is this thing showing people with ''more than one name in first name field''?  False error for this part of the world if so.  Please ensure people follow project guidelines when they exist for names.

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Absolutely not. Which suggestion? Can you give an example.

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no suggestion as such, but the program will give us the ''are you sure one of them isn't a middle name'' when there is more than one name in the first name field, unless that has been corrected finally.  Like Marie Louise is the given name, there is no such thing as ''middle name'' in French.  Just asking.

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That message is going away.

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oh goodie!  

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Is there a way to make the name at birth accessible for correction after initial entry? I am encountering this with two ancestors right now. A married name is in the spot for name at birth. Please respond. This troubles me. Thanks! Jenny

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Hi Jenny

Only the Profile Manager can change the LNAB - If they are Orphaned (no Profile Manager) you can adopt them - adjust the LNAB to the correct name and the orphan them again - if you wish.

If there is a profile manager - send them a message about the correction - if they in turn dont respond, you would have to go through the Unresponsive Profile Managers process

Answer 1

Will do what i can.

Answer 2

Please count me in again. Thanks.

Answer 3

Happy to help

Answer 4

Perhaps this is a good place to bring this up.

There is a branch of my extended family, created from a Gedcom upload, where the person who created the file put everyone's names in the format Firstname Mother's maiden name Father's Lastname. Basically, Hispanic style. Except no one is Hispanic, and there are contemporary records for these people, and they do not use their mother's and father's surnames.

I do not know if I should go and just modify the names. I know I could bring it up with the manager, but she's not been active on Wikitree in a long time.

Comments

I would start by contacting the profile manager, Jessica. I have found that some people who have not logged a contribution here in a very long time are still paying attention (for example, they may respond to merge requests).

The kinds of mistakes you describe can arise from GEDCOMs created in family tree software that did not have clear guidance on how to enter names (leading to users to invent their own naming conventions). The member who created those profiles may appreciate your help in getting things sorted out!

Answer 5

During the challenge, I came across a first name "6 Other Children Died in Infancy".  My thought is that long term either this profile should be deleted or 5 more should be added if differentiating information is known, but I wasn't sure of the protocol.  

What I did is: I entered the info in the mother's biography and changed this profile to be "Unknown McCallister".  Is this ok? 

www.wikitree.com/wiki/Macalister-29

Comments

Ideally, we would have separate profiles for each of the children who died in infancy. Is there any indication of a place where more details of these children can be found?

Answer 6

I'll work on some.

Answer 7

Trying this for the first time. After I correct a name, should I spend time fixing sources. I could see this as a rabbit hole.

Answer 8

Does Wikitree have a way to unlock profiles if the profile manager has died or is no longer on Wikitree?

Comments

Here's what you do: https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Help:Unresponsive_Profile_Managers

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If you know that the profile manager is deceased, see the guidance at Help: Death of a Member.

Answer 9

I will work on some.

Answer 10

I’ll work on some of them.

Answer 11

I'll see what I can do.

Answer 12

My total entries for this week's DD challenge has disappeared from ...

https://wikitree.sdms.si/Challenges/DataDoctorsChallenge/User.htm

Comments

Agreed. Is something up with the challenge tracker?

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Aleš - the challenge tracker appears to have reset (I think with a different challenge)

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Looks fixed! Thank you!

Answer 13

I think we need a constructive strategy for addressing the huge list of profiles that cannot be edited when there is no reason why they should not be open, and the PM is inactive.