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Who / What are the Toddlin' Tortoises?
- A non-regional "challenge" team — the intention of which is to enhance the overall health of the Tree, using a "whole profile approach", where speed is not a factor. (See the Toddlin' Tortoises Main Page for more information.)
- If you like to participate in the 'Thon events, but no longer sign up because you feel "guilty" at dragging down your Team's score — then this just might be the Team for you!
- Everyone is welcome, especially people who just like to work at their own pace, not bothered if the Team comes "last", so long as what they do is the best that can be done at the time. (No profile is ever "finished", as there are new resources released all the time, or new information that surfaces.)
- Remember — the goal is to HAVE FUN while enhancing the overall health of the Tree. It doesn't matter if we come last. In fact, if we DO come last, we'll have made every other Team look good! (Who could ask for more?!)
How Do I Join?
- ✩ You need to register in advance — and, as each 'Thon has a separate registration, signing up for a Connect-a-Thon does NOT mean you are registered for the Source-a-Thon, or the Clean-a-Thon, NOR for any subsequent Connect-a-Thons.
- ☆ Just remember : The cut-off date for registering is midnight on the Wednesday (USA Eastern / GMT 5 am Thursday) right before the Thon starts.
- ✩ REMEMBER : You need to have registered
On what can I work?
- Start with your own extended family members — aunts, uncles, cousins, siblings and other offspring of grandparents, siblings and offspring of great-grandparents, etc. Make sure they all have at least once source (more is better, and as our goal is to make each profile as "complete" as possible, a source for each major event would be great). Do they all have all their siblings? Extra spouses?
- Check your own Unconnected Profiles.
- Work from your Watchlist. (My WikiTree menu in upper right then Watchlist). Click on "Edit Date" to move the oldest to the top and start looking for profiles that need parents, siblings or children!
- Check the Needs Profiles Created category.
- Look for gedcom imports. Oftentimes family members get detached from each other during import, and that can go unnoticed for quite a while.
- Any other people you like, so long as you can find accurate sources for them (every profile needs at least one source, even when it's not a Source-a-Thon), and see if they need family members.
- Check out the tutorial. (This isn't a "walk-through." It's various help sections to make adding profiles easier.)
- Additional pointers can be found in the Participation Instructions section of the WikiTree Connect-a-Thon help page.
Current 'Thon
- Starting 8am Friday 19th July 2024 and ending 8am the following Monday (USA Eastern time).
- The goal of this event is to add new profiles to existing profiles with the ultimate aim of Connecting that branch to the main Tree (see scoring for more detail). If the branch is already Connected, that's fine, too, because the more relatives there are on each branch, the greater the chance that someone in the future will find their Connection already exists. Then all they need to do is attach to one of those existing profiles! Don't forget – every profile needs at least one good source — even when it's not a Sourcing event! — but the more we add, the merrier – and healthier – will be the Tree!
- If you don't already have a list of your own — you can look for people listed in the already mentioned "Needs Profiles Created" category (just be sure your "starter" profile has existed for at least a week prior to the 'Thon).
- However you choose to do it, just add, add, add! So long as you are connecting a (deceased) relative to any existing profile on WikiTree you get a point for each one — and so does the Team. Remember, though, this is not our main focus. Presenting well sourced, as fully detailed biographies as possible, is. NOTE: Living people do not count, but if they are crucial to a connection chain, then add them. Just remember they will not score any points.
- Want a sticker for your profile? Check out the Connect-a-Thon template— or just add your number of created, or attached, profiles to the template code as shown here (profiles= parameter) : {{Connect-a-Thon|team=The Toddlin' Tortoises|year=April 2023|profiles=13}}; which will give you:... ... ... participated with The Toddlin' Tortoises during the April 2023 Connect-a-Thon, and added 13 connections.
- or maybe you want to Tortoise-ise it a little? I am pretty sure this code will work with any of the images we usually use for Connect-a-Thon (findable on the CoaT page, or the main Tortoises page, under images tab): {{Recognition Sticker |text= Participated on the [[Space:ToddlinTortoisesConnect|Toddlin' Tortoises Team]] for the January 2024 Connect-a-Thon, adding 32 new profiles|image=ToddlinTortoisesConnect-8.png|imagetext=Hertyl and Spertyl Connect-a-Thon}} Of course, you would change the image name to whichever of our images you'd like to display, and the number of profiles you added, which will give you:
- Don't forget to check the times for the Video Hangouts. This is your chance to win a t-shirt, or other great prizes! Here is a time zone calculator if you need help figuring out the right time in your part of the world. All 'Thon times are based on the United States Eastern time zone (GMT -5 / GMT-4 during summer).
Scoring
- Even though we're not all about making it to first place (remember, if we come "first at the wrong end", we've made all the other Teams look good!) — we do still like to know how we as individuals working in a Team are doing. So there will be a tracker (see point 1/, below) — it just won't work as it does for other challenges and 'Thons.
- 1/ WikiTree's code guru, Aleš Trtnik, has worked a way to automatically track who adds profiles to other profiles during a Connecvt-a-Thon, so there will be NO tracker "button" to click, even if it shows as such. Each time we attach a new profile (parents, siblings, spouses, and children) to another profile -- remember, the "starter" profile must have been on WikiTree at least a few days prior to the start of the event. (Longer ago is better.)
- 2/ The best place to see how this event is being scored is the official statement on Help:Connect-a-Thon#Scoring. The important things to remember are -
- (a) If you create a profile with no relationship to any other profile, it does not count.
- (b) If you create a profile for a living person, it does not count.
- 3/ For scoring purposes it doesn't matter if any profiles are Connected to the main Tree or not. Every missing family member we add links together people who are related by blood, or by marriage, and increases the chance of eventually making that final Connection to the Tree. (It also doesn't matter if you are adding to an already Connected branch. Somewhere, sometime, someone else might be looking for one of the people you add this time, in order to Connect another branch to the main Tree. Nothing is done in vain.)
- 4/ Want to see how the Team is doing so far? Are we still in last place? Are you a Hare among the Tortoises? Check here to see how we are doing. A link to the tracker will be posted here once it is available.
Team Members
NOTE: should we, at any time, be forced to split into two teams, we are all still Tortoises, and will use the same g2g chat thread, and our usual discord channel.
Toddlin' Tortoises — Hertyl and Spertyl Slowsky |
- Melanie ★ Intends to work on — not really sure at this moment, although I have been working on random English families, also a few random television stars. Mostly, I guess, it'll be wherever the rabbits lead me.
- Susan Anderson ★ Intends to work on —
- Amanda Myers ★ Intends to work on — Connecting Montevideo Maru POWs
- Sue Wyatt ★ Intends to work on — family members, Mt Lyell miners and Parkhurst Boys in VDL
- Nelda Spires ★ Intends to work on —
- Anne Young ★ Intends to work on — getting my CC7 count to over 2000 - currently sitting on 1982
- Edison Williams ★ Intends to work on —
- Sue Carda ★ Intends to work on — I guess I will try to work on my Olsons who came from Norway to Wisconsin.
- Laura Ward ★ Intends to work on —
- Anne Eady ★ Intends to work on —
- Katrina Lawson ★ Intends to work on —
- Carol Keeling ★ Intends to work on —
- Patty Keffer ★ Intends to work on —
- Paula Dea ★ Intends to work on —
- Mary Kirtland ★ Intends to work on —
- Leigh Chester-Master ★ Intends to work on — Whatever I can find to connect down the rabbit hole and have fun
- Lorena Wolfe ★ Intends to work on —
- Anthony VanCampen ★ Intends to work on —
- Linda Sherman ★ Intends to work on —
- Carol-Lynn Harke ★ Intends to work on —
- Dianne Dearring ★ Intends to work on —
- Joan Hollander ★ Intends to work Dutch profiles.
- Beverly Diaz ★ Intends to work on —
- Michel Vorenhout ★ Intends to work on some profiles in the Netherlands.
- Shelley Monson ★ Intends to work on her CC7.
- Christine Baker ★ Intends to work on —
- Sjaak Spijkermans ★ Intends to work on —
- David Church ★ Intends to work on —
- Nancy Carroll ★ Intends to work on — My second great grandfather Charles Frederick Fox in celebration of his 168th birthday this week. I want really improve his bio and begin connecting him backwards.
- Mary Sieder ★ Intends to work on —
- Barbara Brown ★ Intends to work on —
- Anonymous Reed ★ Intends to work on —
- Jasmine Tanner ★ Intends to work on —
- Michelle Wilkes ★ Intends to work on —
- Jane Van de Vaarst ★ Intends to work on —
- Sharon Piersma ★ Intends to work on —
- Cara Busenbark ★ Intends to work on —
- Jayne Stidham ★ Intends to work on —
- K. Nichols ★ Intends to work on —
- Natasha Houseman ★ Intends to work on —
- Donna Seago ★ Intends to work on —
- Katie Sell ★ Intends to work on —
- Clifford Carter ★ Intends to work on —
- Karen Wall ★ Intends to work on —
- Karen Hipson ★ Intends to work on —
- Gerry Hopkins ★ Intends to work on Canadian family.
- Was your name supposed to be here? Well, maybe next time!
How Do We Communicate?
- Primarily on G2G, in the specially designated thread for the 'Thon — although if there are those who wish to use Discord the link is below; or some other method - just ask for it and we'll see what can be done.
- : Toddlin' Tortoises Team Chat for July 2024
- : https://discord.gg/9EMSdccnn3 - just look for the Toddlin Tortoises channel.
- ➢ Note: If you are new to Discord and are taken to the registration screen, continue with the registration process and get signed into your account, then return here and click the link again.
Have Fun!!!
- Most of all, have fun with your team! Every little bit that you do improves the health of our global tree. This way you get to meet new friends, and chat with current friends, in the process!
Links to Handy Apps
- Ancestry Citation Builder for Image
- A form you can use to create a citation for a record/image/media found on Ancestry.com that can be used as a Wikitree citation. Also adds a link to a free-to-view image so that non-Ancestry-subscribing Wikitreers can view the original source. (Highly recommended!)
- Link to profile built with above app (so you can see how it works): (Marcoux-401)
- A form you can use to create a citation for a record/image/media found on Ancestry.com that can be used as a Wikitree citation. Also adds a link to a free-to-view image so that non-Ancestry-subscribing Wikitreers can view the original source. (Highly recommended!)
Whole Profile Approach
- Q : What do we mean by "whole profile approach"?
- A : Every person has, at minimum, two recorded life events — their birth, and their death. So we chronicle those events, with backup sources (primary, where possible, secondary, if not; or a combination of sources that verify the event (newspapers can be good for this)).
- Sometimes, however, only the birth, or only the death can be verified in documents. This is when it is most important to be as thorough as possible in clearly documenting every other aspect of the person's life that can be done.
- • Large numbers of people also have other recorded events: baptisms, funerals/burials, marriages, children, education, religious professions, and so on. Sometimes there were no recorded births, but there were baptisms, so the one can be used in place of the other. The same for deaths before registrations were normal, or required; so the burial record takes the place of the death registration.
- • For each event in a life, we add whatever we can in the way of sources/citations that support our claims. We also use citations full enough that anyone else can find that same source. Source citations do not require a link to some online repository, but when they exist they can be helpful.
- • We write as narrative a biography as we can, in chronological order. (If biography writing isn't your "thing", that's ok. Just chronicle the live events in chronological order, with their citations, and it should be fine.) Chronological order can be important for aligning sources to statements/facts, especially if the citations are in list form under the Sources header, and not attached to the related statement in the biography area.
- Chronological order also makes much more sense than having birth and death, followed by education, followed by burial, followed by a list of the children, followed by migration, followed by marriage. Sometimes it isn't possible to keep everything to a strict chronology — such as listing the children as an attachment to the marriage event. Mostly life intervenes, and children's births are actually interspersed between those events; but it's not always the best way to present such facts. It really depends on what the overall aim is meant to present — strictly chronological, or a narrative that flows.
- • It is also helpful to add categories to profiles, as part of the "whole profile" ideal. Grouping people by location, or occupation, or migration, may help someone else find someone they have been looking for.
- • For this same reason, it is helpful to other researchers to transcribe as fully as possible any census records there may be. It may take longer than some like to spend, and "clog up" a biography text area, but we don't do this for us, but for a future researcher who just might be looking for their "great-grand-uncle George H Smith, who had been a miner", and not finding him until they see "date of census, Geo. Henry Smith (43), coal miner, resident as a lodger in the household of Jas. Conquest, place name".
- • Everything we can add, should be. For the sake of completeness, and for that future researcher.
- • In addition, stickers can be a nice addition, but be careful if adding to profiles you do not manage. The rules regarding stickers mean that they can be removed at any time, and not replaced. There is also a limit of "5, but 3 is better", so be very choosy regarding which stickers you wish to use to highlight life events. The "migrating ancestor" sticker is always a nice addition, as can be the veteran recognition stickers. Many countries also have the equivalent to a "born in" sticker - although the non-migrating ancestor sticker can also be used for this purpose.
- • If using images in the biography text box, do consider those who use screen readers and cannot, therefore, see the images except as a blank space. Both {curly braces} and [square brackets] image codes have a parameter for "on mouseover 'floating' text", which allows for a description of the image to be presented in a form that a screen reader can pick up. Images within the body of this text box all have "alt text" added for that reason.
- If there are a number of images, and there is no wish to have them on the profile's right side causing what many refer to as "double vision", then consider a free space page to hold the images so they can be linked in the biography. (An example profile with an attached space page.) If you don't wish to create your own space page, feel free to utilise this one : No Double Vision, a home away from home for profile images. (NOTE: you cannot remove the Primary Image from the profile's right side pane, as that is the only image that must be on a profile.)
- Also be judicious in the use of primary images, and background images — particularly background images, as many have expressed extreme dislike of seeing them on profiles. Where possible, to minimise the "jarring" effect backgrounds can have for some folk, they should tile seamlessly. There are a number of images pages on Wikitree, where there are seamless images of varying colours and designs.
- • A few examples of "whole profile approach" edits from the 2021 Source-a-Thon.
- • Elizabeth (Smith) Bird (abt.1853-1944)
- • Edward (Tate) Hills (1883-1950)
- • Bessie Margaret (Turner) Berry (1882-)
- • William Goodrich (1846-1938)
- • Annett Emma (Wynn) Perman (1829-1913)
- ✩ If you frequently copy and paste text that has tabs, or extra wide spacing, and you don't use one of the wonderful apps that does the formatting for you but manually remove all those tab indents and so on, consider using this wonderful web-based tool:
- • Text Fixer: Remove white spaces
- ✩ The same thing applies to if you manually re-case text from all upper case to sentence case, or all lower case to sentence case, or the reverse; consider using this wonderful web-based tool:
- • Convert Case
Previous 'Thons
Primary Commun- ication | Hertyl | CoaT Add Profiles! | Spertyl | Discord chat |
---|---|---|---|---|
Melanie Paul | Julie Kelts | Ian Beacall | Nelda Spires | Christy Melick |
E. Compton | Candyce Fulford | Ruth Ann Easter | Charlene Newport | Susan Anderson |
Sherry Miller | David Smith | Sharon Piersma | Nicole Adams | Linda Sherman |
Marcie Ruiz | Laurie Hughes | Amy Brooke | Sue Carda | Troy Phillips |
Martin Polreich | Mary Kirtland | Claire C | Gerald Baraboo | Katherine White |
Richard Rosenberger | ||||
Primary Communic- ation | Hertyl | CoaT Add Profiles! | Spertyl | Discord chat |
---|---|---|---|---|
Melanie Paul | Christy Melick | Nelda Spires | Anne Young | Melissa Wilson |
Connie Graham | Sue Carda | Katrina Lawson | Amanda Myers | Susan Anderson |
Candyce Fulford | Claire C | Beverly Diaz | Laurie Hughes | Mary Kirtland |
Linda Sherman | Nan Hewitt | Mel Bishop | Sharon Piersma | Robert Clark |
E. Compton | K. Nichols | Gerald Baraboo | Allice Reynolds | Sue Wyatt |
Michelle Wilkes | Kaylinn Stormo | Kiana Love | Connie Wright | Karlene Brackett |
Primary Communic- ation | Hertyl | CoaT Add Profiles! | Spertyl | Discord chat |
---|---|---|---|---|
Melanie Paul | Beverly Diaz | Nelda Spires | Mel Bishop | Mary Kirtland |
Amanda Myers | Katrina Lawson | Susan Anderson | Leila Keller | Sue Wyatt |
Linda Sherman | Sue Carda | Marcie Ruiz | Sharon Piersma | Nan Hewitt |
Anne Young | Christy Melick | Candyce Fulford | Heather Stevens | Anonymous Reed |
April Kiskis | Michelle Wilkes | Gwyneth Taylor | Jayme Arrington | Stanley Baraboo |
Laurie Hughes | K. Nichols | Katie Taylor | Mary Wandler | |
- Toddlin' Tortoises Team Chat for the July 2024 Connect-a-Thon Jun 17, 2024.
- Toddlin' Tortoises Team Chat for the April 2024 Connect-a-Thon Mar 13, 2024.
- Toddlin' Tortoises Team Chat for the January 2024 Connect-a-Thon Dec 13, 2023.
- Toddlin' Tortoises Team Chat for the July 2023 Connect-a-Thon Jun 19, 2023.
- Toddlin' Tortoises Team Chat for the April 2023 Connect-a-Thon Mar 20, 2023.
- Toddlin' Tortoises Team Chat for the January 2023 Connect-a-Thon Dec 13, 2022.
Images: 9
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We all did a great job last weekend, thank you, for a job well done, we hope you had fun. The total for the event was 89,894 profiles created and sourced. Thank you for working with us, to improve the worldwide tree. See you for the October Source a Thon October 4-7 2024.
Joan, Janet and Maddy
Co-Captains of the Mighty Oaks
Team Banyan Trees here and thank you so much for all your help in the thon this weekend, we made some amazing numbers! See you all in the next thon!
We all did a great job this weekend, thank you. We hope you had fun. The total for the event was 88,908 profiles added to the tree. We appreciate your fab input and support for the event and look forward to working with you all again next time.
Thanks again for this weekend. On behalf of everyone in the Mighty Oaks Team
Janet, Joan and Maddy
From all the members of the Appalachia Roots Thon Team
We all did a great job this weekend, thank you. We hope you had fun. The total for the event was 98,937 profiles added to the tree. We appreciate your input and support for the thon and look forward to working with you all again next time and maybe reaching six figures.
Thanks again for this weekend. On behalf of all of us in the Mighty Oaks Team
Janet
Thanks to Team Tortoises for all yeer efforts during the January 2024 Connect-a-Thon! Go raibh míle maith agaibh!
We look forward to participating with you in the next 'thon.
Jeffrey (Wall -7415), Captain for Team Nordic Noir
From your cousins in the Welsh Dragons
It was an AMAZING weekend and we look forward to seeing you in the next Thon :)
Nancy & Mindy, Team Captains .
Lang May Yer Lum Reek!
Jeffrey (Wall-7415), Nordic Noir team captain
It was a fun weekend and we look forward to seeing you in the next Thon :)
Joan, Janet, Maddy and Fran
Thanks to all our efforts we added a total of 76,995 profiles to our shared tree. We look forward to seeing ye in future 'thons!
Jeffrey (Wall-7415), Nordic Noir team captain
It was an AMAZING weekend and we look forward to seeing you in the next Thon :)
Joan, Janet, Maddy and Fran
Mindy & Sandy .
Thank you for participating in the July 2022 Connect-a-Thon, and contributing to filling out our global tree!
See you at the next marathon!
Azure, Sondra, & the Western Red Cedars
Jutta & Hilary Co-captains
edited by Jutta (Armstrong) Beer
Mindy Silva & Sandy Patak Team Virginia
( ◕‿◕)(•̤̀‿•̤́☆)(◕‿◕)人(◕∀◕)
It was a FUN weekend and we are looking forward to working with you again on the upcoming Source-a-Thon :)
Fran, Carol, Joan, and Maddy
edited by Melanie Paul
We hope to see you at our Annual Liberation Day Challenge from May, 4 till May, 10!!
edited by Astrid (Schellenberger) Spaargaren
Can't wait for the next one! See you in the branches.
Azure Rae and the Western Red Cedars gang
April 2022 Connect-a-Thon
We all had a great time and are looking forward to the next Thon :)
Mindy Silva & Sandy Patak Team Virginia
( ◕‿◕)(•̤̀‿•̤́☆)(◕‿◕)人(◕∀◕)
Just sailing by to thank you for al the fun and the great achievements. We all can be proud on ourselves!
See you next X-a-Thon we hope.
Colleen, Astrid and Eef.
Mindy Silva & Sandy Patak Team Virginia
It was a fun weekend! Looking forward to working with you in the next Thon :)
edited by Laurie (Snook) Hughes UE
Don't stress it! We're Tortoises, so it's a case of slow is fine. :)
edited by Melanie Paul