Maureen Thelma (Loftie-Eaton) McCleland

Hi Maureen, a warm welcome to WikiTree! Many of our common ancestor profiles such as the Liebenberg's have already been made. You only have to link up your own direct line to the nearest existing profile of you nearest ancestors. Which also means you might have to start with creating your own direct ancestors:

• How to start: Getting Started
• How to build: Adding to WikiTree
• How and why to avoid duplicates: Duplicates

1 tip on how to avoid duplicates when searching, is to search on the surname [socalled LNAB - LastNameAtBaptism/Birth] only, and then sort on birth [oldest to the top], dense version [to the right of the screen]. This way you'll find more than 100 hits. If you search only on first names or in combination of first and surnames, you'll only see the first 100 results being presented where there might be a few hundred or perhaps a few thousand. It is also important to remember to search on variant spellings as well. It is the policy of WikiTree to write the LNAB as can be exactly read in the first most primary record found for a person, which are in many cases the baptism or marriage records (or transcription thereof). All other variants within that person's life time, must be aka'd or made note of in the biography.

On making new profiles, make sure that before you save a profile for the first time, that you edit the LNAB according to the local conventions of the country. For South Africa (and even Europe) the suffixes are spelled in the lower case: van der Walt, du Preez, van den Berg, van der Merwe [ens.]. This program automatically creates surnames starting with capitals, unless you correct them before saving. Also - it is very important to use sources and cite them throught proper referencing.

I see that through your GEDCOM you've inadvertently created quite a few duplicates. You'll have to merge them first as requested.

If you need any advice, please feel free to ask.

Regards, Philip van der Walt

So glad you Volunteered!

You are now a confirmed member of WikiTree! Thank you for volunteering.

Have fun and ask for help if you need it! WikiTree members are always eager to offer guidance to a fellow genealogist.

If you need additional help, our Mentors Project is a friendly bunch of volunteers who will be glad to assist you with WikiTree-specific problems.

See you in the branches!

Laura, WikiGreeter

Hi Maureen,

Welcome to WikiTree! The initial email from us has helpful links that will get you started on WikiTree, which is not like any genealogy site you’ve ever used.

WikiTree is different because our goal is to have one profile per person, and that means we all work together as a BIG collaborative team!

What brings you to WikiTree? Do you have research you’d like to share? Are you interested in how your family fits into the big tree? When you confirm your email address, you’ll have an opportunity to volunteer and tell us about your genealogical interests.

Once you volunteer, one of our Greeters will be happy to confirm your membership, and you’ll be on your way!

Welcome to the family! We’re really glad you’re here.

Laura, WikiGreeter