Do you have any April 2024 Connect-a-Thon questions? [closed]

Question

Hello, WikiTreers! 

The April 2024 Connect-a-Thon is almost here!

The fun starts on Friday, April 12th at 8 AM (EDT)! 

Join us on the WikiTreers channel on YouTube for the kick-off!
(Be sure to subscribe to our channel to get alerts when new content is available!)

The goal of our marathon event: bring the world closer together on our big tree by adding missing relatives to existing profiles.

• Scoresheet
• Video chat schedule (every four hours) You can find them listed as Events in our Discord server or on our Google Calendar. Hope to see you there!
• Check out the Discord Help page to participate in live text chats 24 hours a day.

If you have any questions, please post them below. It's going to be a great weekend!

Comments at the top will be hidden once read.

Answer 1

Here's a scoring question: John has a profile on the tree. I add his son Bob. That's one point.

But I've been told that we get no points if I then add the profile for Bob's son Fred.

In other words, we don't get credit if we add a new profile that's linked to a new profile. Is that true?

Comments

Here is link to the scoring explanation: https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Help:Connect-a-Thon#Scoring

In the situation you described, you WILL get a point when you add Bob's son Fred.

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Thanks for responding, Nancy!

Answer 2

What scores are awarded for connecting an 'unconnected profile' to the main tree?

Comments

Hi, Patrick!

Here is link to the scoring explanation: https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Help:Connect-a-Thon#Scoring

In the scenario you provide, there will be no points awarded, just a better connected tree!

Thanks!
Azure Rae

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Ah . Connect-a-thon is really just a Three Day Source-A-Thon that connects Wikitreers rather than connecting profiles to the big tree. Got it.

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No.  The source-a-thon is later this year.  This one is an add-profiles marathon.

Answer 3

I keep losing this question, can it be added to the top for the connect a thon please.

I usually use it to find the scoresheet url.

Comments

You can keep this question or the scoresheet page open in a separate tab in your browser.

You can bookmark the link in your browser.

Also, if you are using the WikiTree Browser Extension, you can add it as a link (bookmark) in the My Menu feature.

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This question has always been prominent at top in the past.

My firefox bookmarks have never worked well for me, and the wikitree  my menu also does not work on the laptop windows.  Does on my Linux OS desktop but for this thon I am temporarily using for a Windows10 OS Laptop.

I am not having a good PC run at present, my database I set up for the thon, crashed Thursday.

I have resorted to having various thon relevant pages set as my home pages on start up till the thon is finished.

Clunky but works.

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You can just favourite g2g questions by using the plus sign at the top right of the opening post.

Then at the bottom of your feed there should be a link to "My Favorites", next to the one for "Hot Questions', which is next to "Recent Activity".

Answer 4

Do you have to count your connections under the Challenges list that pops up after you save a profile?  I don't see connect-a-thon among the options.

Comments

No. You don't use any list that pops up after you save a profile. WikiTree will do all the counting for you. All you have to do is just add all the profiles you can.

Answer 5

Once I’ve created a profile, can I orphan it?  Or will it not count if I do that!

Comments

Question 1:  Yes

Question 2:  No

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2, Sorry, no it won’t count, or no it won't not count?

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It will count if you orphan the profile. When you orphan a profile, you remove yourself as the profile's manager, but you don't remove yourself as the profile's creator.

Answer 6

This was mentioned in the last Live Chat, but it is still not clear.  I can't find anything posted about not being able to win a prize if you have won one in the last 6 months in the Connect-a-Thon description entry.  Please direct me to where the '6 month rule' is clarified or let me know if this refers only to chat prizes or also contributor prizes.

Comments

For this event, there will still be a prize given to the top 5 contributors. It's the last one where we are doing that. Going forward, anyone who has won a prize of any kind in the prior six months is not eligible to win.

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@Eowyn.  I think that's a great idea. It gives more of an opportunity to those who haven't won before.

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I do not want to win by disqualifying my opponents. 

If you do not want this to be a competition, then just say so. 

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I'm not really sure what you mean by that.

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Does it or does it not result in anyone in the top 5 not eligible to win a prize?

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I'm still not exactly sure what you are asking.

If you are asking if during a marathon can someone win a prize for being in the top five and another prize during that event, then the answer is no. That's always been the rule.

If you are asking if someone were to win a prize for being in the top 5 in this marathon would they be eligible to win prizes in the next event, the answer is no. The 6 month rule would apply there.

This is the last marathon where we are having prizes for the top 5 so that won't be an issue after this one. We're not trying to punish anyone or say someone shouldn't push themselves in competitions. It's like Robin said, we're looking at ways to get prizes to people who haven't won recently or at all.

Thanks!

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Ok, what I missed was that you will no longer be giving prizes to the top contributors. Forgive me if I think that is just dirt cheap of a for-profit organization that gets advertising money to fund these prizes. Not only that, but Wikitree gets donations in excess of $7,000 as advertised for the last Source-A-Thon. It irks me that they explicitly publicize that the top 10 get no prize for that event. I don't care about door prizes. If I get a prize, I want to earn it. Wikitree should be able to do both give prizes to the top contributors and give door prizes. Wikitree has an army of volunteers like me who give it up to make improvements. My first thon was last July, and I have worked hard to be able to compete with the top contenders in these events. Do you know what kind of effort is required to make that kind of contribution? I will not describe it here, as I have posted it in after-event discussions. I have freely advised how to be successfully competitive in these events because I am motivated by competition, and I have been trying to encourage others to make a run at the title, so to speak. Would I go to a chess tournament that offered no prizes? Of course not! I'm beginning to feel like a sucker.

It also irks me to see so much attention given to those contributing so little. I am now beginning to see why they might only build one profile or source 1 unsourced profile.

I will close by saying that if Wikitree meant nothing to me, then I wouldn't say a thing. I would just quit. I probably cannot do anything to change your mind; right now, I think this will result in my no longer participating in these events. Maybe I will make 1 contribution like the others.

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I understand your frustration about the changes to the prize structure for the WikiTree events. Let me try to provide some additional context that may help explain the reasoning behind this decision.

First and foremost, I want to assure you that the advertising revenue WikiTree receives is not being used just to fund prizes. The reality is that these funds are essential for covering the basic operational costs of running the website and supporting the community. Things like server hosting, software maintenance, team salaries, and other infrastructure expenses add up quickly for a site of WikiTree's size and complexity.

I know it can be disappointing to hear that the top contributors will no longer receive prizes, especially when you've put in so much hard work to be competitive. Your contributions and efforts are truly valuable and appreciated by the WikiTree community. The decision to shift away from prize incentives for top contributors was not made lightly, but rather with the goal of ensuring the long-term sustainability of the platform. Last year we went rather overboard with prizes because we were celebrating our 15th anniversary and we are now dialing that back. We are also trying to insure that more people are able to win the limited prizes we will be giving out. In regards to the Source-a-Thon, the prizes that were donated by others have always been given away as door prizes. The prizes for top contributors have been funded by WikiTree.

That said, I completely understand your perspective. Earning recognition and rewards through competition can be a powerful motivator, and I don't want you to feel like a "sucker" for your dedication. There are other ways we try to celebrate and acknowledge the top contributors, even without material prizes. Things like special badges, or public recognition could still provide a sense of accomplishment. That said, we try to celebrate ALL participants, not just the top ones. Even the folks who only make one contribution have still helped improve our tree.

I would encourage you to continue participating in the Connect-A-Thons and other WikiTree events, not for the prizes, but because you are passionate about the work and enjoy the camaraderie of the community. Your expertise is a valuable asset, and I hope you'll stick around to continue making a difference.

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Hi Ben,

I thought I might add to this discussion as a relatively newbie. It's my first Connect-A-Thon. I thought it might be a good opportunity to add profiles for ancestor siblings/cousins/spouses etc (all fully researched) and set myself an ambitious goal of adding 500 profiles. It's been tough, I'll hit the target before the end of the event, but with a lot of work to come to make sure they are properly sourced with quality bios. And yet, I've no chance of making a top slot.

With no disrepect meant for those who add 1000+ profiles during a Connect-A-Thon event, I cannot see how those doing so are able to ensure they are accurate, thoroughly researched and tell the full story of someone's life and genealogical relationships.

Unfortunately there's no easy way of assessing quality of contributions, so perhaps by sharing out the prizes, they better reflect the enourmous range of contributions and somehow reference quality not just sheer volume,

Thanks

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Hi Natasha,

I haven't checked the tracker, but congrats if you hit your goal. As far as quality goes, I haven't worried about what the others are doing; I just did my own thing. I have spoken about this elsewhere, but I have said that connecting like this can be a dangerous activity. I try to minimize it by preparing ahead. I now have about 50-60 trees on Ancestry.com from which I work. I have sourced them well and most of the individuals have many sources. Unless there is something unusual, I add one source. After I build a profile, I add the Wiki id to the profile in my tree. This helps me to know which I have already done when I'm looking for the next to build. I call it administrative duty, but I have found it necessary to sacrifice the time. I know I won't finish first like this, but that is ok. My goal in the last one was to finish in the top 5, and I did. It is a lot of hard work both ahead of time and for the three practically sleepless days of competing. It's those wee hours that I find most dangerous; mistakes can still happen. In this event, I knew that I would not be able to compete the entire time; my daughter needed us to babysit her kids which we are always happy to do.

I have been struggling with giving so much of my time to a for profit business, and I have heard my wife call herself a Wiki widow. Yes, that bothers me. I was trying to source and to listen to the video chat at the same time (everyone knows a man can only do one thing at a time) when I heard something about not giving prizes to the ones who have received one within the last 6 months. It should have been brought up at another time. It was too distracting for me. I tried to get clarification, and it still didn't come 4 hours later by the next session. I hated to let down my teammates and stop connecting, but I decided to stop and give it some time. I'm still not sure whether or not I will participate in the future thons. So, it isn't entirely about the prizes, but that was the last straw. I like having the coffee cups to remember. I have 4 now, but I had rather them be good memories. This one wouldn't have been to good.

I still like Wikitree, and I understand they need to build profiles, whether or not they are good ones. Other members such as the Data Doctors do much of the clean up work. I know there are others out there who improve profiles. I'm a Sourcerer, and that's what I like doing. I don't enjoy connecting, but I do enjoy competing. In a perfect world WikiTree would be a non-profit organization. I just have to figure out how much time I will be sacrificing in the future.

Answer 7

My contributions don't seem to be registering for our team The Northwest Terriers.

Comments

Hi, Karen! I've submitted a correction.

Thanks, Azure

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Scoresheet fixed

Answer 8

My added profiles are not being picked up in the scoresheet for Nordic Noir.  Thanks!

Comments

Correction submitted. Thanks, Azure

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Scoresheet fixed

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Thank you.

Answer 9

I see answers here suggesting a fix is available. Could you please look at this question re missing stats?

https://www.wikitree.com/g2g/1731238/my-name-isnt-on-the-toddlin-tortoise-list-so-dont-see-activity

Comments

Yes, I've submitted a correction. Thank you.

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Scoresheet fixed

Answer 10

l thought the Thon started on the 24th of April, so it looks like l missed it. 

Comments

Oh no! It is still going on until Monday at 8 am EDT if you want to participate. We have you down with the Wizards of Aus. Hope you have a great rest of your weekend either way!

Azure

Answer 11

What does the "normalized" column mean on the score keeping page? I'm just curious.

Comments

Me too! Adding a reply so I find out the answer.

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Hi, Joan and Natasha!

Greg provides an explanation at the Sunday 4 pm hangout, here is the link:
https://www.youtube.com/live/F2bTswkCW1w?si=4kTQDyD5F7rK11lP&t=249

Thanks!
Azure Rae

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Thanks appreciate you sharing. It helps understand the within teams numbers, but he skipped over how the teams scores were normalised. Greg also mentioned that it was a perennial question and I am wondering how we could get it added to the Connct-a-Thon page?