Looking at Gillette-303- what advice do you have for cleaning up information often seen in GEDCOM profiles

Question

I have been working my way through distant orphan Gillett relatives that were GEDCOM. I often see the following and am not sure what to do and have linked to this profile as an example .

Reference - a number that doesn't seem to link to anything

Children- parents listed as natural - often a long list

Sources- beginning with Abbreviation..... and then Title .......

Quality of information- 3

Notes- usually 2 codes - but repeated information

Should I remove or leave as I am not adopting the profile

Thank you for your help- also a polite suggestion- if the information can be cleaned up or not - could it be added to the list in the GEDCOM clean up document.

Debbie

Comments

Hi D. To save people hunting, perhaps the link to the document you mention is

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Help:GEDCOM-Created_Biographies

Answer 1

D, have you used the GED cleanup option?  Open Edit, and It's the far left button on the edit bar (a 3-color tab).

Comments

Hello, I was also trying to learn from this conversation, and was trying out the suggestions on a different profile, Adams-3539. I couldn't find the button mentioned here. Any idea what I am missing? (Or should I start a different question for this?)

Thanks, K.

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K, do you have WikiTree Sourcer enabled?  If you do, you'll have  a tiny numeral 1 in square brackets ([1]) on the top right of the https bar.

see this page: https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Space:WikiTree_Sourcer

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I think the Automatic GEDCOM Cleanup (AGC) button is actually part of the WikiTree Browser Extension app rather than the WikiTree Sourcer app (https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Space:WikiTree_Browser_Extension#Automatic_GEDCOM_Cleanup_.28AGC.29)

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Paul, you are correct!  No dessert for me tonight ...

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I haven't tried the browser extension yet, so that explains it!  Sounds much easier. Thank you all.

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Thank you Jo for improving the profile.  I don't have the software extension you used, but was able to see some of the changes you made and that has given me some ideas for improving without the software.

Answer 2

I've found the auto-bio option from the extension really helpful in cleaning up profiles with GEDCOM junk. It will produce a basic structure and gives you a good sense of what's worth keeping and what's not.

I would save the list of children, especially if they not have their own profiles and are not linked.

I do try to clean up how sources are written a little bit. My own didn't import all that well, but I don't completely re-do them. My sources are already written close to EE style, so I cut the weird S### source number, etc. But I don't go find a URL if they're old sources and I didn't have one when I first created it.

I don't ever cut sources that were added by other people. They're there for  a reason, even if they don't make sense to you. Though I will cut something that's not really a source like "Ancestry trees" with no link or way of identifying what that is or what came from it.

I cut things that relate only to the original database, but aren't relevant or provide information to other people. Like reference numbers or quality of information numbers.

Comments

Regan- thanks for your input - understanding what others see as important to keep is a good way for me to learn