Merging, Sourcing and Request for Critique

Question

I have been over here, happily adding information on the big tree for over two years. This morning I came across what appears to be a duplicate. I added Bona-77 which is probably a duplicate of Bona-58. In looking at this profile I've had some sort of existential crisis. (AM I DOING IT WRONG?) I don't know how to read the sources on Bona-58. What do the numbers stand for? (ie: Source: #S1118121806). This lead me to the question, "Are *my* sources even good?" Would someone please look at these two profiles and tell me:

1) how to read the sources on Bona-58

2) are the sources on Bona-77 readable, acceptable, right?

3) if I initiate a merge, will I lose the work I've done on Bona-77?

Thank you!

Answer 1

Your sources on Bona-77 are good. The sources on Bona-58 with the "Source #" are probably the result of a GEDCOM and the numbers are useless, in my opinion, and the Source #s need to be removed, in my opinion, because all they do is create a (confusing) jump from the source citation in the sources section to the place where the source is cited in the bio. Whether or not your work is retained after the merge depends on how the merge is completed. There are options before completing the merge to determine which text gets retained. The best thing would probably be to indicate to save the text from both, then go back and edit out any duplicated information, text, or sources. In the box explaining why you think the profiles should be merged you can ask the corresponding manager to use your work and styling when you propose the merge, but they are really not obligated to do so. Hopefully you can reach a mutual consensus on this. In the meantime, you should save a copy of your work (copy it in edit mode and paste it into a Word document, for example) so that should your work get "lost" you can restore it after the merge.

Comments

Thank you so much! I'll initiate that merge.