Project: Arborists/New Arborists

Helpful Information for New Arborists

Welcome and thank you for becoming a member of the Arborist Project. Merging duplicates is one of the most important jobs on WikiTree. Merging duplicates can be an ambiguous and complicated process at times. Merging duplicates is a learning process and in time the process will be more like second nature.
Click here to go back to the main Arborist project page.
  • As a new Arborist, ensure you are a part of the Skills Team to learn the ins and outs of being an Arborist.
  • Read the questions & answers in the G2G Q&A: arborists, merging, merges & duplicates
  • Understand multiple directs multiple redirects problem (see link from Merging multiple duplicates section of the Merging help page).
  • Remember to check the biography before merging to ensure nothing is duplicated and everything that needs to be there is there
  • Remember that default approved merges indicate inactive profile managers. IF you work these profiles, you are IT. You will need to answer any questions (use G2G for help), and look for additional merges needed within the family.
  • Put what surname, century or project you'll be focusing on on our Member Activity page and try to keep it updated.
  • To get started, pick a surname, go to that page, sort the page by birthdate or name, and start looking for duplicates. Remember to do a search to look for alternate spellings and to assure that you have the lowest LNAB ID.
  • Make sure you understand how to use the More Merging Tools on an individual profile page.
  • Finally...Arborists are the best at finding and doing merges on Wikitree, and we want everyone to appreciate what we do, which means:
    1. Before we propose or complete a merge, we have read the biography, gleaned any information and understand why the profiles are duplicates such that we can explain it to others and we do the explanation in the comments
    2. When names are spelled differently we do the research before we merge to make sure we are picking the correct LNAB, not just looking at how someone else proposed the merge. When proposing merges, ask a Leader to PPP the correct last name.
    3. When a merge needs more family members merged, we propose those merges and we do not just put the merge in a unmerged state.
    4. When we take responsibility for completing a default approved merge, we take responsibility for the merge...that means making sure it is done correctly and if research needs to be done, we make sure the research is done
    5. We leave every profile we touch better than it was when we got there
    6. We do not "know it all", so we work with each other....the sum of all of us is HUGE!
  • Lastly....use our arborists tag and G2G to ask for help!


This page was last modified 22:37, 18 June 2019. This page has been accessed 1,054 times.