What are Data Doctors doing on my profile?

Question

I see random posts all over about "people changing my profiles", and "what do data doctors do", and "I have to keep fixing changes". There are even some of "I can't see what they changed".

Well, Data Doctors take a report that is run once a week on all the profiles on WikiTree that has been put into a static table and target certain things to be worked on. Once these area are selected we have a weekly challenge to fix as many of these areas as possible. The person with the most fixes gets a winner badge the first time they win. All of WikiTree gets a more consistent format across all the profiles.

If you are one of the rare individuals that want to keep data doctors away from your profiles there is only 1 sure-fired method to do it. This is done by staying on top of your own suggestions which will give us nothing to do. If you have any question if something is permissible, try it. Then run a suggestion to see if it doesn't like it and possibly get a way to fix it. If your suggestion report is empty I almost guarantee no data doctor will pay a visit.

As far as WHAT we changed, in a perfect world we would fill in the "explain your changes" field and you would see the changes under the changes tab. Honestly, if it is a minor change many of us may skip this step. We are human, we are hurrying, we are after all competing in fun, and removing that extra "=" on "==Sources===" isn't very news worthy. This also explains why some of those changes are so hard to spot.

Now since this is a challenge and we need a way to track it, there is one definite guaranteed way to know what we did. If it isn't noted in this location then there is no credit given to it. On the profile in question do a suggestions on it. Look at Generation 0 (zero). Show hidden suggestions. This will let you know what brought a data doctor to your profile and exactly what they did to correct the error.

http://prntscr.com/hq93om  suggestions report
http://prntscr.com/hq94k9  suggestions
http://prntscr.com/hq957w  hidden suggestions

Those 3 screenshots are a past "sample" so you can see how to look.

We aren't trying to be intrusive, We won't take your profile away from you. If it wasn't a data doctor that changed it then it was a family member that ran THEIR suggestions under their "Wiki-ID" instead of under "my WikiTree". And you will know who made the changes.

I think I covered everything but I'm sure a couple more things will come to light. But our ultimate goal is to help make WikiTree better and more consistent on formatting

Thank you for your understanding.

Comments

Steven, while I love the intent behind your post and agree with pretty much everything in it, I recommend against promoting the notion of “your profile”.

Technically, the only profile that is “mine” is Smith-32867. All the others that I work on, that I created, on which I am listed as profile manager, are not “mine”. They “belong” to the wikitree community. They are under the care of the community of volunteers who make up wikitree.  I think we should be finding ways to gently remind people of this and moving away from the notion that just because I created or manage a profile that it is “mine”.

All the rest, though? Awesome.  Thank you.

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Truth, Jillaine! But this is what we often see when folks are talking about the profiles they manage. Moving away from that is definitely what we need to do.

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I know many people view the profiles in their watchlist as "my profiles". I have no problem with that personally as long as they don't add the word "exclusive". It's a big playground. Learn to share. LOL

And for those that don't know, Data Doctor Challenges are weekly "micro clean-a-thons". So we have plenty of practice at it.

If you prefer the source-a-thons, you might want to check into the sourcerers.

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I agree with Jillaine everything she said is very true a lot of people think that profiles on their watchlist is theirs and it is really everybody's on WikiTree not themselves. So they should let us data doctors correct them and make them better for the whole family tree of WikiTree. Also Steven are correct about  It's a big playground. Learn to share. LOL.

Answer 1

Thank you Steven for a great post. I would like to add that when a change is made to a profile, it is made for a reason and the change is always made with care.

If anyone is ever in doubt about a change made to a profile they manage, have a friendly chat with the Data Doctor who made the change. There is more than one way to ring a bell :)

Comments

Thank you Robin for best answer :)

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I agree with Jillaine everything she said is very true a lot of people think that profiles on their watchlist is theirs and it is really everybody's on WikiTree not themselves. So they should let us data doctors correct them and make them better for the whole family tree of WikiTree. Also Steven are correct about  It's a big playground. Learn to share. LOL.

Answer 2

Excellent explanation, Steven!

Comments

Hi Stephen, thanks for outlining that simple solution. Another thing I have done is add a comment to the status page for the couple of data errors that I am waiting on additional information to finally fix.

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I agree with Jillaine everything she said is very true a lot of people think that profiles on their watchlist is theirs and it is really everybody's on WikiTree not themselves. So they should let us data doctors correct them and make them better for the whole family tree of WikiTree. Also Steven are correct about  It's a big playground. Learn to share. LOL.

Answer 3

Hi Steven, I thought you did a great job explaining the role of a data doctor. I especially appreciated the idea of (my paraphrasing) checking your own suggestions report and fixing problems noted, to prevent visitors coming in to do it for you at a later date. If more profile managers would take on that task once a week, our WikiTree data doctors would indeed have less work to do on Mondays!!

Comments

I agree with Jillaine everything she said is very true a lot of people think that profiles on their watchlist is theirs and it is really everybody's on WikiTree not themselves. So they should let us data doctors correct them and make them better for the whole family tree of WikiTree. Also Steven are correct about  It's a big playground. Learn to share. LOL.

Answer 4

Steven, I also think this is a great explanation, but I do have a slight problem with the idea, that data doctors sometimes don't have time to explain the changes being made, because they are 'hurrying' because they are competing.

In my view, collaboration (eg - explaining the changes being made) should always override any competition.

Comments

I have to agree with John.   If you do not leave an explanation of your change, you are creating work for someone else, because they now have to review your change.   How much time does it take to say "minor format edit"?

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I did say "in a perfect world". And if you put "minor format edit", the next question is "why couldn't you put what you edited?" And when you do anywhere up to in excess of 1,000 a week, it adds up.

I did show exactly how to check if we forget, no?

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I sing loudly and constantly about Data Doctors adding comments about their changes.  Yes, in a perfect world... sigh

Answer 5

Cool beans, dude!  I have to admit that sometimes I don't explain my small changes and then I get an email asking me what I did and why and are we related.  I could have prevented that by 'splainin' my changes. Mea Culpa, or as I once heard in Arizona, Maricopa.

Comments

Isn't that a county? As in Sherrif Arpaio? I'm noticing trends here. a problem with "your" was me trying to see it from their view, not condoning possessiveness. And it is really tough to force yourself to put "removed excess=" because it seems trivial although I understand the PM wants to know what is going on. That is part of the point of explaining how to check.

Answer 6

Great Job of Explaining what a Data Doctor does.  Certainly agree that if you don't want a DD touching profiles you PM then keep current on correcting your own suggestions.  To find them go to the My WikiTree tab above and select Suggestions from the list.  If you are not sure how to fix something post a question about it here on G2G or go to the Data Doctor help pages at https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Project:Data_Doctors.

Remember changes will not immediately disappear, it takes about a week for them to disappear if you marked them as corrected or false error depending on the situation.

Comments

I agree with Jillaine everything she said is very true a lot of people think that profiles on their watchlist is theirs and it is really everybody's on WikiTree not themselves. So they should let us data doctors correct them and make them better for the whole family tree of WikiTree. Also Steven are correct about  It's a big playground. Learn to share. LOL.

Answer 7

Steven, you write that some proofile managers say "I can't see what they changed."

Why can't they look under the changes tab and find out?

Comments

Some things don't show in the changes tab. Other things are hard to tell like changing "==Sources===" to "==Sources==".  And often the comments are blank or something really lame like "fixed it". But the status tends to give them a better idea sometimes. This also tends to get the "grumpy ones" who hate people on the profiles they manage to run their own suggestions thus cutting down on our workload and complaints.

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I agree with Jillaine everything she said is very true a lot of people think that profiles on their watchlist is theirs and it is really everybody's on WikiTree not themselves. So they should let us data doctors correct them and make them better for the whole family tree of WikiTree. Also Steven are correct about  It's a big playground. Learn to share. LOL.

Answer 8

I agree with Jillaine everything she said is very true a lot of people think that profiles on their watchlist is theirs and it is really everybody's on WikiTree not themselves. So they should let us data doctors correct them and make them better for the whole family tree of WikiTree. Also Steven are correct about  It's a big playground. Learn to share. LOL.

Answer 9

Reality Check...any improvement is a good thing.

Case in point, I'm going to throw myself under the bus here...I started on Wiki Tree back when it was first created.   And there were plenty of shoddy entries...I was just uploading a gedcom and playing as I went...

Than RL snuck up and pulled me offline for several years...I'm finally back in the Genea-saddle and I am trying to fix some of those entries...that's why I also signed up to be a Data Doctor.  I look at it this way.  Anyone that can help my entries and/or I can help others, I say go for it.  It's all about the big picture.

But that's just my $.02 worth

Answer 10

Steven,

Good explanation! Even the part about seeing things from their perspective. It will encourage them to make "their profiles" more accurate.

Linda,

I do agree with both you and Jillaine, however, the numerous repetitions have a negative effect similar to putting salt on an open wound. Saying it once would be much more effective. just my humble opinion.

Comments

Often, if I am PM of a profile or since most of mine vanished if I created it, I tend to refer to it as "MY PROFILES". This does not mean I think I have exclusive ownership. It means those are the ones I tend and feel responsible for. I am aware some people feel "MY PROFILES" means everyone else has to leave them alone. For those with that mindset I recommended they run their own suggestion report.

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PM's tend "their profiles" as a STEWARD. There is NO ownership involved.

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That's sort of what I said with "not exclusive ownership"

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Either term can be misunderstood. Some can misunderstand anything the contains the word  "ownership". A steward can act like am "old mother hen" and still be mistaken for claiming ownership. But I prefer steward to not exclusive ownership.

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We could always use the word "caretaker" if it is critical. LOL

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Go ahead a start a revolution: We want Profile Caretakers, so everyone can be happy being PC.

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YES I have a weird sense of humor.

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This all still seems relevant.

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If P. C. is still pc we could pm the P.C.s to let them know they are no longer P.M.s because it is no longer pc. ez-peezy?