Help:Project Pages

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The project home page (i.e. the main "Project:" page, see Projects for the index) is the primary starting point for information about a project.

Contents

Sections of a Project Home Page

Here are the sections that every project home page should include. Project pages should adhere to style guidelines, as should category pages associated with them. Free-space pages and free-space projects can reflect more creativity in their appearance and usage. The discussion on this is here.

See Leader Communication for a broader discussion of project communication.

Pages should flow in the order given here. It is especially important that the first few sections be the same on all project pages-welcome, mission, how to join, goals. Beyond that, there is flexibility in how things are set up.

Welcome

Each project should have a title and image on the page so it's clear where the member has landed. The Title and Welcome should not use anything but approved wiki-markup. That means you may need to create an image to have a large welcome or title on the page. See the DNA Project for an example. These should not be animated.

Mission

Summarize the purpose of the project, i.e. why it exists and why someone would want to join.

This should only be a few sentences. You can go into more detail lower down on the page if you like.

This would also be a good place to put your Project Example Profile template (the same one that goes in the Example Gallery) to give people a glimpse into what your project ideals are.

How to Join

This section should include the Project Information template, which you can fill out with all the vital information of the project which includes:

  • Leaders and Project Coordinators
  • G2G Join Post
  • G2G tag
  • a link to what your project uses to communicate with members
  • a link to your project's maintenance categories
  • a link to the project account's error list
  • a link to your Example profile
  • a link to your project's badge list feed for current member activity

See the template page for proper usage.

Goals

Overview of the project goals, followed by a table with specific tasks.

Possible goals:

  1. All duplicates merged into lowest number
  2. categories added
  3. biography cleaned up and written, using the WikiTree Style Guide (can work with Profile Improvement Project for help)
  4. Attached family meets these goals, too
  5. Attached to the main WikiTree family tree (ask the Connectors Project for help)

To-Do or Task List

These should be specific tasks that volunteers can take on to meet the above mentioned goals. Insert specific tasks/families that need worked on so folks can see what actually needs done. What we're finding with volunteers is that they respond best to actual tasks rather than vague ones. Like "The MacManus family needs merged" rather than "All merges on profiles related to the project need to happen". Maintenance categories specific to the project can help here, too. "These families need the categories sought out and applied; see the UK Categories Needed category for the ones who need help" rather than our overview goal of appropriate categories applied.

Using a list with a post to a G2G thread about the task works really well, as it facilitates discussion and it is easy for people to join and volunteer to help. Here is an example:

"To participate in the project, we have a list of tasks that we need accomplished. To see details about the task, volunteer, participate in the discussion, or ask questions about it, click on the link, which will take you to the G2G thread about the task. Be sure to post on that thread if you complete the task so we can take it off the list!"

Sub-Projects and/or Teams

Templates

Most projects have at least one project box or other template for use on the profiles they manage. Instructions for the use of those templates should go here.

Resources

This section can include links to other WikiTree pages, including relevant categories and free-space pages, or to external sites that are helpful in the project's area of research. The Anzacs Project has a nice example of this.

Related Projects and Groups

This section is optional, but nice when you work with other projects frequently, or know of interest groups or societies with free-space pages on WikiTree that would be of interest of the rest of the Project members or people checking your project out. The Acadians Project has a nice example.

Additional Project Info

Project Sub-Pages

A project is not limited to a single project page. You can easily create sub-pages for your project page, which are useful for holding information that takes up too much space on the main project page, such as long lists.

An easy approach to building project sub-pages is to use free-space profiles. These can be easily monitored using the project's Project Account and active discussion can happen on them as necessary using the comments boxes.

In the past we suggested using actual sub-pages, created by adding a slash and page title after your main project page's url. These are harder to monitor. They are best reserved for large sub-projects.

Keeping Pages Up-to-Date

It is important to regularly look at your Project pages and make sure that the information is up-to-date.

Have you added another template or category? Make sure you add it to the page.

Has the Leadership changed? Change it on the page (and let the Project Manager know, as well).

Have you checked to see if your members are all still active and updating? Use your communication source and ask them to check in or update the page.

New resources? Add them!

Your project home page should be a central point for members to check for new information, changes, and anything project related.

Adding Redirects for Project Tag Alternates

Every project needs a unique tag. See Tags and Tag Names for more information. The project tag should be listed in the "How to Join" section of your project home page.

You should also:

  1. list tag alternates for your own reference.
  2. create redirects for tag alternates.

Tag alternates are used to redirect interested members to the project home page.

For example, a new member with an interest in United States genealogy may enter "usa" as a followed tag. A member who follows "usa" should be directed to the United States Project, i.e. Project:United States. This will happen automatically if a redirect is added to Project:USA. Here is what should be on that page:

#REDIRECT [[Project:United States]]

Go to https://www.wikitree.com/index.php?title=Project:USA&action=edit to see it.

Now that the redirect is there, if you go to Project:USA you will be redirected to Project:United States.

To create your own tag alternate redirects, directly enter the URL for an alternate into your browser, i.e. go to https:/www.wikitree.com/wiki/Project:Alternate Tag Name

Of course, replace Alternate Tag Name with the alternate tag for which you want to create a redirect.

Then click the Leader Link at the bottom of the page that says "Create this Page." Then enter the redirect just like the United States example above but with your project page name instead of Project:United States. Then save.

If you've done it correctly, if you enter https:/www.wikitree.com/wiki/Project:Alternate Tag Name in your browser again you will automatically be redirected to your project home page.

Repeat this for all tag alternates.

If you make a mistake in a redirect or it otherwise needs to be changed, manually recreate the edit-page URL like https://www.wikitree.com/index.php?title=Project:USA&action=edit or https://www.wikitree.com/index.php?title=Project:Smith&action=edit where you replace "USA" or "Smith" with the redirected page you want to edit.

If you still need more help with redirects, see Redirects.



This page was last modified 20:02, 1 June 2022. This page has been accessed 7,700 times.