Can somebody coach me on deleting profiles

Question

Are there work-arounds to PREVENT merge requests?  Here's an example.  I am confident the PM will help in this case.  Just tell me how I can fix this kind of problem without bugging anybody else with a merge.

I created the profiles for George and Abigail Kilbourne and began sourcing their children, including Joshua, born 01 Aug 1770

1. Good news: Joshua’s wife, Lucy (Holt) Kilburn, was already in WikiTree (Holt-5465)
2. Learning opportunity: Joshua Kilborn was already in Wiki,  Kilbourn-343 was “Captain Joshua Kilborn”.   I’m guessing this is a situation about “LNAB”, last name at birth.

Can I fix this WITHOUT merging?  (aka is there a “Work Around”)

Work around #1:  Can I remove my Joshua Kilborn as a son, and put Captain Joshua Kilborn in his place – and source it, of course.

Work around #2:  If I find another child of George and Abigail, can I delete Joshua, delete the birth source info, and then populate the profile with another child?

Would someone mentor me through  *gulp* other stalled merges? 

Comments

merging is how profiles are "deleted"

---

Hi Janine, it sounds like what you are trying to do is not actually  "deleting", but rather "recycling" a duplicate to make it represent another person with the same family name.

The recommended practice in your case is definitely merging. Recycling is more for profiles where there is so little information that it is impossible to find who they represent.

I understand the reason for this is that the history of a profile (it is all kept under the "Changes" tab) becomes confusing when the same profile is used to represent two different (but identifiable) people.

---

I can understand the desire to recycle a profile when you realize you accidentally made a duplicate and you'd just rather tidy up after yourself without bothering anyone. It sounds like the consensus is that it's less bother to do the merge than it is to recycle and have someone thinking, "hmm, why was Joshua Kilburn-298 edited to become Margaret Kilburn-298? This doesn't make sense!"

I do a lot of work on WikiTree, and I've created several accidental duplicates. Hopefully the work of getting them merged - and having to write that "oops, I did it again" note - reminds me to search more broadly before creating profiles. Or at least reminds me that I still have a lot to learn, and that WikiTreers are generally very gracious.

---

Karen and Isabelle, these are great comments. If they were answers, I would vote them up! Thank you for your wikiwisdom :-)

---

I heartily agree with Abby, and both Tom and Bob have more great information below.

We all create duplicates now and then -- it's hard to avoid sometimes.

Answer 1

Merging is the way to go. Profiles are rarely deleted (wiped out, dissolved, etc.) on WT. In your case, when proposing the merge, make sure of the correct LNAB, and make sure to include which is correct in the Comments. PM's don't have problems doing merges. It's how we absorb duplicates, connect a profile to The Tree, and source a profile.

Answer 2

Merges are good, they combine data. Errors can be winnowed out eventually.

What is your resistance to merging two profiles of the same individual? It sounds as if your 'work-around" would be more work than merging.

Where can I help?