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Purpose of Maintenance Categories
The purpose of the Puerto Rico Project's maintenance categories is to facilitate collaboration between project members in order to accomplish the project's goals to add and improve profiles of ancestors with Puerto Rican heritage, which may include biography building, sourcing, and making correct connections.
We would like each project member to work in areas that they enjoy and where they are skilled, working together to create and improve profiles. So some members enjoy working on connecting profiles to the main tree, creating profiles quickly. Other project members enjoy fully sourcing profiles, writing biographies or improving profiles in various ways to honor and recognize military veterans or notables. Maintenance categories help us work together so, for example, a biography writer can find one of those profiles a connector created quickly so that they can add a biography for it. Or someone who is skilled with military stickers can find profiles that need them.
The maintenance categories can be thought of as falling into several different groups:
- The profile creation cycle: easy starting points for project members who want to add profiles, source, or write biographies
- Identifying profiles with problems
- Unsourced profiles: profiles that don't have any sources
- Genealogy problems: profiles that may have incorrect family connections
- Significant formatting problems: formatting problems that make it difficult to understand or find the genealogical information and sources on the profile (i.e. GEDCOM junk, etc.)
- Special profile enhancements needed: profiles that need some type of enhancement that may require special skills (i.e. military stickers) or are the focus of a specific team (i.e. the Notables team)
Courtesy when adding maintenance categories
We encourage WikiTreers to add maintenance categories on profiles they create or manage and on any orphaned profiles they work on. In these cases, maintenance categories can be seen as an invitation for other WikiTreers to collaborate on these profiles so that we can all work in the areas we enjoy. Please do be considerate if you add maintenance categories to profiles managed by other WikiTreers. Adding multiple maintenance categories to a profile managed by someone else can be seen as a criticism of the work they have put into the profile, or as pressure for them to immediately work on the profile. Since there are thousands of orphaned profiles for project members to work on, please prioritize adding maintenance categorize to orphaned profiles and profiles you manage that would benefit from collaboration.
Categories for the Profile Creation Cycle
The "Needs Sources", "Needs Biography", and "Needs Profiles Created" maintenance categories are used to facilitate the profile creation cycle. In this cycle, we create a profile with at least one source, then add sources, then write a biography, and then add profiles for family members from sources. Once you've added a family member's profile, the cycle begins again! This cycle can potentially be carried on infinitely, only ending when you run into brick walls, living persons, or places where a family line ends. So these maintenance categories can be used to mark points where you're temporarily stopping the cycle and where it will be easy for you or someone else to start working from.
These categories are meant to be easy starting points for adding sources, writing biographies, and connecting new profiles. Please don't add them for brick walls or on profiles where sources or family members cannot be found after a thorough search. Once the profile has sources for major life events and some short paragraphs summarizing these events, the "Needs Sources" and "Needs Biography" categories should be removed. The "Needs Profiles Created" category is used when existing sources reveal family members that can be added immediately.
Puerto Rico Project, Needs Sources
Category:Puerto Rico Project, Needs Sources should be added to profiles that have at least one source, but need more. It can be removed once all basic genealogical sources that are available online have been added to the profile. If some sources are not available online or cannot be found after searching for them, please remove the "Needs Sources" category and leave a research note. This research note can be something simple like "Puerto Rico death records for this time period are not available on Ancestry and FamilySearch as of [date]. Last known record for this person is the 1920 census." or "This person was not found in the 1910 census in a search on Ancestry and FamilySearch on [date]." This lets readers know why the sources are missing. If more sources become available in the future, they can be added at that point.
The genealogical sources we'd like to see on each profile (where available) include:
- Vital records (birth, marriage, and death) from civil registrations or parish records
- Census records
- Burial records
Of course more sources are always welcome! At the minimum, we'd like each profile to have these basic sources when they are available.
Puerto Rico Project, Needs Biography
Category:Puerto Rico Project, Needs Biography should be added to profiles that have adequate sourcing, but need to have a biography written in prose. A "basic biography should include a sentence for each of the following facts, if known from available sources:
- Date and place of birth, marriage(s), and death
- Names of parents and spouse(s), preferably with links to their profiles
- Burial location if known
- Optionally, names of siblings and/or children, occupation, and locations where they lived for a significant period
Since a biography cannot be written until there are sources for these facts, we add this category only when the profile has sources for as many of these facts as possible. Again, this category should include profiles where a simple biography can be easily created from existing sources.
The WikiTree Browser Extension includes an "Auto Bio" feature that generates a basic biography based on the profiles data fields and existing sourcs. Be sure to read the documentation and adjust the many options to suit your preferences. Auto Bio can also add categories for locations, as well as existing cemetery categories when a Find a Grave memorial is cited. Because Auto Bio rewrites the entire biography, be sure to check the old biography for notes or other missing information before deleting it. Genealogists are still smarter than computers!
Puerto Rico Project, Needs Profiles Created
Category:Puerto Rico Project, Needs Profiles Created should be added to profiles that include a source (such as a census or birth record) that can be used to create the profile of a deceased family member. It is used when a profile cites a record that names other family members and could be used as the one source required to create one or more new profiles, but you don't have time to create them yourself. It's absolutely fine to add this category and move on with your research goals for the day—we can't fall down every rabbit hole we see!
We don't use this category for brick walls where parents or other relatives cannot be found. Once again, this category should be a place where WikiTreers can easily find profiles to create. It's a great way for those new to WikiTree to get experience adding to our global family tree.
We don't assume that people born less than 100 years ago are deceased unless we have found a death source for them. Some people prefer to extend this guideline to those born 105, 110, or even more years ago. Our elders deserve privacy, so we don't assume people listed in 1920–1950 census records are deceased. The "Needs Profiles Created" category should therefore not be used when the only family members to be added were born less than 100 years ago. The only exception is when a profile already cites a death record for a person to be added.
Categories for Identifying Profiles with Problems
Unsourced Profiles
There are two categories we use for profiles that have NO sources:Puerto Rico Project, Unsourced Profiles and Puerto Rico Project, Unable to Identify.
Puerto Rico Project, Unsourced
Category: Puerto Rico Project, Unsourced Profiles is to be added to any Puerto Rican profile that has NO sources.
If a search for sources for an unsourced profile is unsuccessful, please add a research note about the search performed, adding four tildes (~~~~) after the note to automatically include your name and the date. After two experienced researchers have been unable to find any sources, the profile should be moved to the "Unable to Identify" maintenance category. This reserves the "Unsourced" category for profiles where we may more easily be add sources, rather than filling up with brick walls.
Puerto Rico Project, Unable to Identify
Category:Puerto Rico Project, Unable to Identify: After two experienced researchers have looked for direct sources for an unsourced profile with no success, the profile should be moved from the "Unsourced" category to the "Unable to Identify" category. A "direct source" is a record for this person (e.g., census record, death record, etc.). Profiles are sometimes created with estimated dates when a person is only mentioned in their family member's vital records or obituary, but no records of their own life can be found.
These profiles should have research notes describing what has been searched and where their name was found (if known).
Please do not add the categories "Puerto Rico Project, Unsourced" or "Puerto Rico, Needs Sources" to these profiles, as a search for sources has already been completed.
We hope to occasionally revisit the profiles in this category as new sources become available.
Genealogy Problems
We use three categories for profiles that have problems indicating that they may have incorrect family members attached or have conflated information from two or more people. Often people with similar names cause mistakes when they are not easily distinguished, or when we move too quickly.
- Category:Puerto Rico Project, Data Problems
- Category:Puerto Rico Uncertain Family
- Category:Puerto Rico Project, Conflated Profiles
Data Problems
This category is for use on any profiles of Puerto Ricans where the data needs to be resolved. This may include finding sources to prove correct names, dates, locations, or attached relatives. This category can be considered the "first step" in identifying a data problem. Profiles should stay in this category until enough research has been done to either solve the problem or determine that it cannot be resolved with currently available sources. If the problem cannot be resolved at this time, profiles should generally be moved to either the "Puerto Rico Uncertain Family" category or the "Puerto Rico Project, Conflated Profiles" category as outlined below.
Common uses for this category:
- one or both parents are too young or too old to be parents
- the person has no apparent connection to Puerto Rico
- no sources have been provided for attached parents or children
- an unlikely relative is attached
- possible conflation of two or more people
Please leave research notes on the profile explaining the problem when using this category. To work on profiles in this category, begin by researching and sourcing each profile and individual involved as fully as possible. Then determine if the relationship/information is definitely correct, definitely incorrect, or if the problem cannot be resolved with currently available information.
- If the relationship/information is correct, remove the Data Problems category. If appropriate, add a research note explaining there is no longer a problem. If new sources have been added that clearly show the information is correct, research notes may not be necessary.
- To resolve conflated profiles, create a profile for each individual involved in the conflation. If possible, keep the original profile for the individual with the most correct attached family members and/or the individual who is related to (or of interest to) the profile manager(s). On each profile of a previously conflated individual, leave research notes with links to the other profiles, and briefly explain the work that has been done to resolve the conflation. Avoid adding statements that previous work is incorrect without including sources and explanations for your conclusions. Once a second profile is created, set the two as rejected matches to help keep other WikiTreers from proposing merges or confusing them in the future.
- Remove relationships and information that are incorrect. Whenever appropriate, add a research note explaining the changes—if the incorrect relationship/information occurs in many online trees, these research notes are especially important so that the same mistake is not added back into the profile at a later date. Collaborate with any profile managers when removing relationships and information.
- When the problem cannot be resolved with currently available information:
When resolving uncertain family relationships, follow the guidance on the Uncertain Parents help page. The same principles can be used for uncertain spouses. Anywhere the guidelines say to use the {{Uncertain Family}} template, use '''<nowiki>{{Uncertain Family|Puerto Rico}} to put the profile in the "Puerto Rico Uncertain Family" category. Once a profile has been moved to the Uncertain Family category, the Data Problems category can be removed.
- If conflation cannot be resolved with currently available sources and/or after a significant amount of work has been done, you can remove the Data Problems category and add the "Puerto Rico Project, Conflated Profiles" category.
- Any other uncertain information should be explained in the biography or research notes. If the uncertain information is a name, date, or place in a data field, mark it as uncertain.
Uncertain Family
This template is used when attached family members remain uncertain after significant research. The template {{Uncertain Family|Puerto Rico}} places profiles in this category (see Template:Uncertain Family for more information) and adds a research box to the profile. Profiles in this category should be revisited occasionally to determine if additional sources/information have become available that can resolve the problem.
Conflated Profiles
This category is used when a profile is suspected to have conflated information from two or more individuals and the conflation has not been able to be resolved after significant research work. Profiles in this category should be revisited occasionally to determine if additional sources/information have become available that can resolve the problem or to continue working on complex cases of conflation involving research into large family groups.
Significant Formatting Problems: Puerto Rico, Needs Formatting
We have one category for profiles with serious formatting problems: "Puerto Rico Project, Needs Formatting". [[Category:Puerto Rico Project, Needs Formatting]] can be used on profiles in which the biographies need general formatting help. This may include GEDCOM cleanup or any other formatting issues that make it difficult to read and understand the biography.
Categories for Profiles that need a Project Team's Attention
Several maintenance categories are used to flag profiles that need special attention (research, stickers, etc.) from specific teams that have experience in that area. If you know how to deal with the issue yourself, even if you're not a part of the team, please feel free to do it yourself.
Categorization
Puerto Rico Project, Needs Cemetery Category Created
Category:Puerto Rico Project, Needs Cemetery Category Created should be placed on the profile of a person who was buried in a Puerto Rican cemetery that does not yet have a category on WikiTree. Members of the Puerto Rico cemeteries team will monitor this category and will add new cemetery categories as time allows. Please make sure the profile has a Find a Grave citation so that the cemeteries team can find needed information to create the category. If you need a category created for a cemetery that is not a Puerto Rican cemetery, please ask in G2G.
Connectors
Puerto Rico Project, Family Tree Size One
Category:Puerto Rico Project, Family Tree Size One should be placed on profiles that have NO family member profiles linked. Having at least some family members linked to each profile is a high priority, so we use this category to identify profiles that most need family added. After creating at least one family member profile, please remove this category.
Other
Puerto Rico Project, Needs Military Sticker
Category:Puerto Rico Project, Needs Military Sticker should be placed on profiles for service members that need the relevant. Please help the project by adding sources for the person's military service and adding military information in the biography or a research note. If available, the following information is helpful:
- War served in
- Military unit
- Rank
- Enlistment and discharge dates
Puerto Rico Project, Notables Maintenance Categories
We have a set of maintenance categories specifically for notables. If you're working on a profile for a notable person, please check these categories for equivalents of the general project maintenance categories (i.e. there is a general "Puerto Rico Project, Needs Biography" category and a notables-specific category "Puerto Rico Notables, Needs Biography"). There are also some maintenance categories specific to notables that don't have general project equivalents (i.e., "Needs Succession Box" for politicians).