Project: South African Roots/Help

South African Roots Project Help

What is a Roots Project?

A Roots Project is sort of an umbrella, not only for profiles / people with South African Roots, but also for pages/ (sub) Projects related to /part of South Africa or its History.

The Top Level South African Roots Project is just one place where all people/members can find everything (pages, projects, profiles) about or related to South Africa and where we all can think of, talk/chat about, discuss or ask things in our own language. There will be a help page in the own language and more. So a Roots Project just is a place where everything related to and everyone who is interested in this part of the World comes together.

So we can (will) start Sub projects like for example :

• The South African War, South Africa Anglo boere oorlog 9 October 1899 to 31 May 1902
• South Africa 1820 British Settlers

All Sub Projects are separate projects with perhaps their own and different guidelines, different coordinator(s) and so on. But all South African (Sub) Projects now can fall under the South African Roots Project (the Umbrella) and.. sub projects won't have their own badges.

Example: You would like to join and work on just the South Africa 1820 British Settlers Project, you/ all project members, no matter what project falling under the South African Roots Project you/ they are joining, will all be awarded the same South African Roots Project Badge. But... these Sub Projects will all have and use their own project template(s) or categories for the profiles part of the (Sub) Project.

We can also decide to create categories (or templates) for different Historical events/times to be able to categorize people /profiles more proper or specific without starting a new sub project for each and everything .

Goal of course is to source and improve all South African Profiles by working together and helping each other. If we work on these families together, it's more fun and profiles are sourced and improved much quicker than by struggling alone to get it all done of course ;)

In order to speed up collaboration, make sure to check the Requests and Pending merges you receive if not daily at least as often as you can. Requests are on the drop down menu under My WikiTree and Pending merges are under Find.

New Members

How To pages designed by other WikiTree members.

WikiTree Abbreviations & Acronyms

Help:Glossary

Adding profiles to the Project

The Top level project category page is like a Project Index where you can find all members, (free space) pages, ,(sub) projects so everything part of falling under or related to the project, this category isn't meant for profiles, so only for living (WT) South African Roots Project members.

The {{South African Roots}} template

is and does the same as this category: [[Category:South_African_Roots]]. So if a profile already has a template from a different project, and if you think or feel it should be added to the South African Roots Project as well, you can add these profiles to the project by adding only this category.

To add yourself as a member of/ or to add page(s) to the project you can use the category [[Category:South_African_Roots_Project]] This is only for (living WikiTree) members or pages (so project members/pages or free space pages related to the project) and can be found here. Category:South African Roots Project

A South African by Birth or a descendant of a South African family and also a member of the project, can have both added to a profile so the members only category + the template...so the one that will show you're a member of this project ..and the one that will add you to the profile page where all South African Roots profiles ( the page where the living people and deceased ancestors) can be found.

Sub-Projects and Sub-Categories

In the normal course of a sub-project coming into existence it will first be a sub-category to which profiles are added and the people interested in the sub-category add their names to the members page with that sub-category.

If the criteria of WikiTree has been met, the category can be elevated to a sub-project.

See: Project FAQ

Name Fields on Profiles

WikiTree guide Help:Name Fields

Prefix

This is for Titles i.e. Adv (Advocate) , Dr (Doctor) etc. not Mr and Mrs

Proper First Name:

All first names go into this field as written on the baptism or birth source

Preferred Name:

Sometimes there are spelling errors or unusual spellings which the person did not use and the corrected spelling if needed goes here, also in case of a name change, else it stays the same as the Proper First names.

Other Nicknames:

People had names they frequently used which is added here. i.e. Hans in place of Johannes. This is also a good place to add e.g Hans Junior/Senior etc.

Middle Name:

The middle name must be left blank. All first names go into the Proper First name field. The use of a middle name is an Americanism and you will not find the use of the phrase middle name on any official South African document. Do not forget to tick no middle name on the edit page.

NewYou can turn off the yellow middle name warnings on your settings page

Last Name at Birth:

This is the spelling of the Last name as on the source document in our current alphabet. Adjustments are to be made for writing style characters which were used to distinguish between text on the document which obviously does not form part of the original name. i.e. where a widget is placed on a u to distinguish it from an n.

Current Last Name:

Used to correct the Last Name at Birth to the surname last used by a person.

Other Last Name(s):

Separate other last names a person used by a comma and a space if more than one last name is added here.

Place Fields:

Please use the country names of places as set out on the Country naming page

Suffix

See the updated Wikitree guide. Some suffixes which a person acquired during their lifetime are allowed if it formed part of their name. Do not use a1b3c10 tree designations which are limited to certain publications on certain dates.

Location fields

Use place names in native languages and use the names that people at the time used, even if they now no longer exist. See the WikiTree Help page https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Help:Uncertain_Locations for more clarity

Editing profiles

The first purpose is to reproduce the demographic information at the top of the profile and we add transcriptions and proper sources. If possible add an introductory narrative in the beginning to tell us something about the person. Some examples. You could also use Bio Build which will give you a simple English narrative.

You click on Edit which is right next to Profile(Public view) which will open a box that you can edit.

This creates sub-headers and an automatic index

They always start after Biography and end before Sources and the references tag. Read more here in the WikiTree documentation

==Biography== ===Sub Headers=== ==Sources== <references />

===Geboorte=== ===Doop=== ===Huwelik=== ===Dood=== ===Navorsing Notas=== Plaas sekondere bronne se informasie hier

===Birth=== ===Baptism=== ===Marriage=== ===Death=== ===Research Notes=== A good place for secondary sources

Typing

Do not start a paragraph or one line sentence with a :: This is used as an indent for transcription or text you copied or a transcription that you made.

More editing tips are found here: Tips and other Tags as well as some templates

Your signature

When you click on your own profile you will see at the top of the page next to My WikiTree your surname and a dash with a number. This is your WikiTree ID.

To sign your name in profiles use [[WikiTree ID|Name]] on date

This you put inside the reference tags<ref> Signature Goes Here </ref> like this<ref>[[WikiTree ID|Name]] on date</ref>

You will notice a little block marked with a c at the top of the space you are editing. This places reference tags where your mouse was last in the edit section, so you do not have to type it.

Upload Pictures

Photo's: Everybody who is in the photo can be tagged on the photo

Source documents: Only the primary person (births, baptisms, deaths) or persons (marriages) are tagged on the photo of the document.

How to: On a profile next to Profile (Public View) and Edit is Images. Click on Images

On the page click on Click here to upload it. Click on Choose File to browse your computer for the image file you would like to upload.

Next, in the Enter source box add the link and or reference where you got the image.

Complete the rest of the info for the image and click on Upload image

Where two profiles share the same image, there is no need to upload it again, just open the image on the profile and about half way down you will see Edit Image Details and Add person or free-space profile. Just add the WikiTree ID of the profile and save. Here you can also set the image as primary image.

To display an image inside a profile use this template

Add a reference to an image or other information you added in the profile.

When you edit any profile, on the right hand will see some help to what links look like. But you have add that little script to the profile you are editing with your signature so that it can be a proper reference. Inside reference tags add the link and your signature like this

<ref>Link space Signature on date</ref> and it will look like this <ref>[http:link] [[WikiTree ID|Name]] on date</ref>

When you use a reference like the above multiple times there is a simple way to not have to copy the same reference over and over again. You just name the reference tag at the beginning of your reference like this. The FS can be anything you like.

<ref name="FS">[http:link] [[WikiTree ID|Name]] on date</ref> .

Now paste the following tag to where you would like this reference to reappear in the text.

<ref name="FS"/>

Remember to use different names when you add more than one reference that you would like to repeat. Example: "FS1" "FS2" etc.

This is a very basic way of adding references to the data in the biography. Please read more about sources here: Sources

Preventing merges of similarly named siblings

It could happen that someone tries to merge similarly named siblings when there were actually two siblings with the same name but one died at a very young age. To prevent this from happening follow the next two steps.

1. Right click on the appropriate Image (Male or Female) and open image in a new tab. Add the Wiki ID of you family member to the Image in the space marked as :

a) look to the left : Add person or free-space profile

b) Save Changes

c)Set as primary, if you would like it to show as such, and close the window

The following has been replaced with a WikiTree sticker {{Died Young}}

1. add the following appropriate snippet (male or female) to the biography;

South African Roots Project Male died young. Please do not confuse or merge with Name

The snippet where you have to just insert the other profile's WikiTree ID looks like this

And for females

South African Roots Project Female died young. Please do not confuse or merge with Name

The snippet where you have to just insert the other profile's WikiTree ID for females.

Creating and Merging of Profiles

This is important and a must read to get it right.

Creating Profiles

When we create a new profile it is important to get the LNAB Last name at Birth right the first time and to check the surname lists first to see if their is not the possibility that we might be creating a duplicate profile. The WikiTree engine will try to limit duplicates when we create a profile by making suggestions, but it is only a program and it has its limitations. For example, it is built for speed but has a limited ability in checking variations of the LNAB. It is better to manually check for these variations.

A common mistake happens with double surnames i.e. van Staden where the LNAB is created with a capital V. Please follow the naming convention where this should be a lower case v unless you have an image of an acceptable source where the LNAB is actually an uppercase V

Merging Profiles

The problem with merging profiles is that the old profile that is merged away does not disappear but just becomes invisible. That means that although we cannot see the old profile, it's data is being loaded in the background with the final profile. You can test this by typing in a link to an old profile's LNAB that was merged away and you will be redirected to the new profile. These redirects also slow down the system. So lets be as careful as possible to limit duplicate profiles. Please also remember that the number of LNAB's are not an unlimited resource. It is one of the few limitations in a database.

When we do merge profiles, it is a good idea to check the parents first to see if they are correct, or you might create marriages where you don't want them. Disconnect the profile from wrong parents first.

Always make sure that you merge a profile into the lowest LNAB where the LNAB is the same.
If the LNAB are different the profile with the wrong LNAB of course has to be merged into the one with the correct LNAB .

Make a note of marriage data before merging, it does not always carry over to the new profile.

Your scratchpad

When you click on My WikiTree at the top of your page, you will find a scratchpad. Click edit on the bottom right and copy and paste the code inside this block to your scratchpad. Now just click on save.

{| border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="5" align="center" style="background:#AAFF44;" !| [[Project:South_African_Roots|Home]] !|[[:Category:South_African_Roots_Project|Index]] !|[[Project:South_African_Roots/Members|Members]] !|[[Project:South_African_Roots/Sources|Resources]] !|[[Project:South_African_Roots/Help|Help]] !|[https://www.wikitree.com/g2g/following G2G Feed] |}

G2G

Approved Tags

People follow tags on WikiTree to get news about certain topics. i.e. South_Africa, South_African_Roots. You really need to tag a G2G question right to get the right people to notice your question. Here is a list of Approved Tags. Click on a Tag to see questions to which the tag has been added. To see people on WikiTree that are following a tag, add the tag to your profile and then click on it. Then click Genealogists. You could also follow this link https://www.wikitree.com/genealogists/bugs. Just replace the tag name bugs with the tag name you like. This will give you an idea about the audience you are going to reach with your question.

To add and edit tags you are following.

On your profile on the right top you will find Followed Tags Below the tags you are already following, you will find [edit tags and tag comments] . Click there and you will be taken to a new page where you can add tags or remove them. For example the tag south_african_roots

To add a link in a G2G message.

If it is about a specific profile, open the profile and below the images you will find a section Collaboration. Select the fourth option Public Q&A click on Ask Question and the profile will be linked to the question you are asking. This is a very convenient feature for future references.

Should you need to add a separate link to the question as well, in the edit section of the G2G, add the text (words or name) for the link and highlight it, and then click on the link button which looks like an 8 lying on it's back. Paste the link in the box.

Images on G2G

The image must be uploaded to WikTree first to an open Free space page or profile. You then use that full link to add the image in your question, answer or comment.

Tools

Apps on WikiTree

Brickwall Ends

I actually like this one a lot. Find it here

WikiTree+

This used to be known as the DB_errors tool and forms an essential part of genealogy on WikiTree. Be sure to start by checking your watchlist first and then move on by entering other key profiles to check for errors. The error database is updated once a week on Mondays.

Ditto

This is not a WikiTree tool as such but is an essential add-on for me when editing profiles. It is just a basic free clipboard manager tool for your PC and takes the bite out of typing the same stuff over and over. I copy text snippets to it that I use a lot, for example my WikiTree signature and FamilySearch reference looks like this.

<ref name=FS>[ FamilySearch] Verwysing deur [[Heyman-10 | Louis Heyman]] 2017-01-01 </ref> The space before the word FamilySearch is where I copy and paste the FamilySearch reference.

For Beginners:

Ctrl + ~ Opens Ditto

Ctrl + spacebar Always on top

Right click on an entry, Clip order, Make Sticky on top will put an entry at the top of the list

Ctrl + E will edit an entry

Image Resize

Sometimes it is too large to upload to WikiTree. Here you can upload resize / compress the image. The max size on WikiTree is about 2.5 MB.

Familysearch Connections app

Match WikiTree Watchlist to FamilySearch Family Tree

View WikiTree page here

FamilySearch Connections

WikiTree X

WikiTree page here

Add-In App Link

Genetic genealogy tools

Tracking Back

How to use NAAIRS and FamilySearch