Would it be appropriate to send a private message to active profile managers who have quite a few suggestions that [closed]

Question

Hi

When I check Suggestions, I can see that there are profiles that have Suggestions pointing to the same manager. I often check the Managers profile and can see that they have been active within a date range- even on the day I am checking.  Yet when I check the Profile suggestion for changes it is evident that there has been no work on the profile, sometimes going back a year or more.  (I personally have been working through Suggestions for distant relatives, especially if they are orphan or if the manager has not been active for some time and only need a small amount of checking and work to fix- eg-  missing status, FAG info, etc.

Thank you -

Comments

Thank you to everyone who responded to my question.  I have read all the responses. Because there are so many different viewpoints, I will consider what was suggested-  everything from NO to having a purpose as a guide to how to phrase communication text.

Thank you again for your time.

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Thank you for reminding those of us who are PM's with a large number of profiles that we should work the "Suggestions" list more often.

I have a "lazy" left pinky that sometimes "hangs" on the Shift key, and makes stupid spelllng errors (FindAGRave or FamilySEarch) that trigger a suggestion. I try to catch them while I'm editing the profile, but some of my profiles have a bunch of links to those secondary sources.

But I will endeavor to start checking the Suggestion list more often... I know there's a bunch of new ones because I've added a bunch of profiles this month.

Thanks to all who work on this stuff - the challenge is daunting.

rsl

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OK Roy we just have to have the same genes, my darn left pinky has been doing just the same thing, and not just on the shift key, but the caps too.  Drives me batty! LOL

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I think mine was caused by a partial fall going up the steps on my deck - I really banged my left pinky and its been screwed up ever since.

I also effects my ability to play the Guitar, but that's another problem that I could fix by practicing again.

rsl

Answer 1

Here is another page with some good advice

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Help:Communication_Before_Editing

Comments

That page has been very helpful to me - highly recommend it!

BTW: Thanks to everyone who reaches out to let me know that profiles I "manage" can be improved - and even greater thanks to anyone who improves them!

Answer 2

I don't think it is appropriate at all.

Comments

I agree with you Ros. Everyone has to balance their time and choices.

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I agree with Ros. I had caught up on almost all of my suggestions at one point a couple of years back and could see light at the end of the tunnel, but then I got COVID and suffered from long COVID. I am just getting back to a more active status and my list is now overwhelming. The thing about Suggestions is that they are always being added and changing. You will NEVER get them all completed and off your list. And a change you correct may not be correct and be added back to your list to correct again. One can drive themselves batty trying to keep their list clean, so drawing attention to someone's long list might be quite annoying. I think it is better if you just make the changes following the guidelines highlighted in the best answer. Collaborate with the profile manager if it is a significant change such as detaching a family member or changing the LNAB. Otherwise, go for it.

Answer 3

What would you say? What would be the purpose of your contact?

As far as I understand it, being a profile manager does not mean:

a) that you "own" the profile.

Other WikiTreers (like friendly suggestion-solvers) are encouraged to go ahead and make improvements - with care and respect, but without necessarily even informing the manager - much less delegating the task to them with any sort of deadline.

b) that you "must actively work on" the profile:

The manager role is automatically assigned when a profile is created, and as far as I know does not come with specific strings attached. I have never heard anyone suggest that it implied a specific commitment of time or effort going forward. I know that some projects do sometimes have "activity requirements" - but that bar is generally set very low (one or two edits per year).

What it DOES seem to imply is that you have a special interest in the profile - so it appears on your watchlist and you are informed when others make changes, initiate merges or add public comments. Personally, I prefer to private messages to public comments, especially if they refer to things that are likely to become irrelevant once "fixed" - the public comments on many profiles are seriously outdated!

I have often sent private messages to managers of profiles when I make changes, just to let them know what I was thinking and to be certain they interpret my work as it is intended - as helpful collaboration.

If you want to contact the manager privately, in the spirit of friendly collaboration rather than admonition, I don't think I would agree with Ros Haywood - it may in fact be helpful and appropriate. Perhaps I would suggest that, if you have the time to send messages, you could use it to resolve at least the most obvious suggestions. Then you might contact the manager for advice on how to resolve any remaining suggestions.

The result of your contact may be that the current manager decides he or she is no longer particularly interested in the profile - and simply terminates their "manager" role. Then it would be clear to all that the profile is an orphan - and some other friendly "suggestion solver" will have to deal with the profile at some later date.

EDIT: minor improvement in phrasing

Answer 4

First - thank you for improving the global tree by working on Suggestions. I appreciate when another member is able to work on and improve profiles I haven't touched in awhile.

In general, I do not think it would be appropriate to contact a profile manager that is currently active but has not been actively working on the profile you happened to run across with suggestions.

Think about exactly what would be the purpose of your contact before you send a private message or leave a comment on a profile.

Will your message or comment be constructive or collaborative? If yes, then go ahead and send it.

Keep in mind, everyone has different levels of time, commitment, interest, and abilities and any of these may change over time due to unexpected circumstances.

For instance, when I had more time to commit to WikiTree and genealogy in general, I adopted a number of problem profiles for various reasons. Currently, I do not have lots of hours each week available to me to devote to resolving all of the suggestions or even review and improve all of the profiles on my watchlist. I am slowly working through the various suggestions, but it will take time. I am sure there are others that are having the same difficulty.

Answer 5

You could but there is a high probability that the manager will regard the message as negative criticism.  You might want to review the Code of Conduct for Data Doctor Work  which has good advice for everyone.   

Comments

Especially this line: "On open profiles, you do not need to contact the profile managers for every suggestion correction."

Remember, the Profile Manager is not a profile owner. This is a collaborative site. Error on the side of being bold, not timid, as long you do good genealogy.

Answer 6

I edit managed profiles all the time. The only time I don't is if it's an active user's immediate family, or if they've worked on it recently and might still be working on it. If it hasn't been touched in ages (or ever), I think it's fair game.

I've received private messages regarding wrong connections, etc. and I've made those changes, but I also would not have been offended if the people had made the corrections themselves.

Answer 7

I would agree with the NO response unless it is an offer to assist in some way. Some may be oblivious or just indifferent to the suggestion list. As someone who occupies my free time with voluntary pursuits, I have often changed my activities based on others expectations of how I should spend my free time in my pursuit of happiness. I am still new to this. My primary objective is to find my ancestors before I join them. Once I am satisfied that I have found all the ones I'm looking for, I will go back and fill in the blanks, cross the t's and dot the i's and clean up the mess that I have made.  I have learned a lot from those who have helped me along the way. We are all volunteers with different goals.

Comments

I'm with K!  (I'd give him a thumbs up too, but that is an ability I don't know how.)  And now I do, thanks to K!

Answer 8

I occasionally send a pm to a profile manager. I recently sent the following message:

I noticed that lots of profiles that you manage have the "Missing Span Anchors" error/suggestion. If you would like help fixing those, I would be happy to do so. Or I can show you how to fix that error. Otherwise, I won't make any corrections or edits.

The person thanked me for getting in touch. I made some edits and showed the before/after to the manager. Other times, I have received no response and that is okay, too.

Comments

Cousin Susan is a WW!

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It would also help, Susan, if you notify the DD Project of these messages and the PM on them.

We would like to set up sample messages for suggestions as many badged Data Doctors have said they would like to have that, and your messages might help in that effort.   More coming on this in 2024.

You can email/message me with the links; I appreciate it.

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Ok Sheryl. I will forward the email/messages to you. Thanks!

Answer 9

I vote no.  I have several suggestions in my profile for things I have no ability to improve.  Changes have been made that are beyond my computer skills.  There seems to be a trend to tighten requirements in certain areas that did not exist when the profiles were created.  I don't try to cope with these and make more suggestions appear because of my mistakes or misunderstandings.

Comments

I'm with Beulah!

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I also agree with Beulah.

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Not having impressive coding skills myself, I'm with Beulah and K. I'm grateful when others with those skills add to my managed profiles, but sometimes data is repeated and not cleaned up, resulting in a hash of "span", <ref>, etc. notifications in the suggestions list. I'm slowly learning to fix these; but as I have reliable computer access for only a few hours a week where I can have multiple tabs open for reference, it takes time to work through the list.

Answer 10

Greetings all, I haven't been with WikiTree very long but one of the reasons I joined is the collaboration.  My relatives are potentially yours, mine, ours, his & hers so I always appreciate when someone wants to make the profiles I've created/adopted better or act on errors/suggestions. Anyone who is correcting suggestions/errors on my profiles, I just say "thank you," they shouldn't have to fix my errors but I do appreciate the extra eyes.  I've recently added 2 activities to my daily routine, check suggestions and family timeline.

I'm sending PMs to managers where I cannot edit the profile to please add the cemetery (since I'm on that project), especially if they add the FindAGrave memorial # w/out the cemetery because that is captured on a report, so my suggestions are specific and of course they may not do so.  If I can make edits on suggestions/errors I go ahead and do so and leave notes if necessary.

Answer 11

Best use of time, in my opinion, is just to make the correction, if you can. (You said they were minor errors.) When you tell what you did, make sure to include that you are correcting a DBE suggestion and specify which it was. Perhaps that notification, if they see if, will gently remind them to check to see if they have other DBE suggestions which need correcting and/or cause them to change what they are doing in order not to generate more suggestions.

Answer 12

Interesting question, and I like a lot of the answers.  I'll put myself on the line, because I would be one receiving such a message. My early profiles are poor, but have not had much family connections react to them. I prefer to keep adding new family members, while improving on the additions. One measure is the increase in my CC7.  As a Data Doctor, I review my suggestions for those that help with my family line, and then hit on the weekly challenges to improve other profiles.  

Cheers to all the comments, Larry

Answer 13

To message them about many suggestions depends on the situation.  In the scenario you gave, no.  Data Doctors are not profile police; you can always contact the Data Doctors Project to investigate.  We often do this and welcome the opportunity to help members learn more about resolving suggestions.