Strange conundrum - exact duplicates co-existing as brothers .... Apparently it is a "ghost" ... [closed]

Question

I do not know how this is possible but where there should only be one profile (all the data fields and family connections and both bio's are exactly the same, including the WikiTree-ID), there are two profiles. Though both are protected, this should not make any difference, because they seem to be identical in every way. This is the url of duplicate profile of the ID below: https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Greven-104 Is there a way to fix this?

Answer 1

Greeff-198 was merged into Greven-104 October of last year, so that's why they both link to the same profile.

Disconnect the mother, and reconnect. The problem will go away.

Comments

Added myself, then disconnect the mother. Saved. Then reconnected. Did not work. Did the same again with both profiles, working from the child profile. Did not work.

Then I realised that as the parent profiles were also Project Profile Protected, that I had to add myself (I am research coordinator) via the Project Profile to the trusted list and activate myself as active manager. Then on edting the mother, I saw both the two (previously merged) child profiles still as separate profiles lingering.

Though I don't understand it, after removing the duplicate non-validated and merged child profile, the "ghost" disappeared. Thanks Dennis!

I have removed myself as active member on all three profiles.

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Sorry, I should have been more specific...the disconnection has to be from the mother's side, since she still showed the separate connections to the "two" merged sons.

Profiles are never deleted. Even after merging, the original profile still exists. But its not supposed to be visible and original one will always redirect to the final one.

But sometimes, depending on the order of events, the old data gets "stuck" in the database base fields, and is not cleared out properly. If we knew the exact steps to reproduce this problem, the code could probably be fixed. Meanwhile, the workaround is to simply disconnect and reconnect.

Answer 2

I'm not seeing them as double when I'm under the parents.

Comments

I still see them - both have the same first names and when you hover above them, they have the same data. When you compare them they are exactly the same.

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what profile are you on that you see both of them? :)

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Oh I see - only the mother ... that must mean something ...

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Well what's weird is for me either under the father or the mother I only see one. Not sure why. :) LoL

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Under the mother (https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Claessen-39) there are two Matthys / Mathijs profiles. They appear to be spelled differently (first names) but on opening the profiles everything is exactly the same. Even the spelling is identical.

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I am seeing two with different first names, same wiki number - my initial thought was to merge them but as they have already been merged and still showing up then I'd try unattaching them from parents and re-attaching.

If that doesn't help, then it is something techie going on!

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Thanks Michelle. See the comment of Dennis. He suggested the same as you did (unattaching them from parents and re-attaching) and that worked. It was a bit tricky to do as all those profiles are Project Profile Protected, but it worked. I did not understand it at first but it actually makes sense now ... :-)

Answer 3

Post a new question, tag it for sysops and tell them you have a "ghost".

This is a glitch that happens now and then.

Comments

They both show on the mother's profile.  If you click on each one they both take you to the same profile.

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I re-edited my question and added the tag "Sysops" - hope this will vork.

Answer 4

Is it possible for this to happen if a child dies in infancy and a later child is given the same name? I read somewhere that this has been a common practice in Scotland.

Comments

This was common practice then, but in this case it was just one more duplicate that was merged into the validated (transcription) of the LNAB.