Profile Edits with the "Formatting Tips" displaying special charactors used for formatting

Question

This is really 3 questions put in one G2G question, but all related to profile edit functionality. Formatting/Flagging/Updating.

I would like to know if we can add a few items to the "Formatting Tips" section that is currently displayed when editing a profile.  Secondly, add an error box (on/off) for data errors of profile's you personally know are in need of edits.

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1) Formatting text.  I would find benefit in a [tab] entry, so that I could align a column.  For example a census display of year, persons age, then text of census record.  It would be nice if it could wrap on the text of the tab so the columns hold true for that line.  I cannot tab within the profile edit without exiting the profile.  Tab does not exist?  Spacebar additions would not align on random field lengths.

I also would like to see color of certain text to help highlight a problem within that record. For Example [RED,1900 married, but child born 1896] or {REDon} TEXT {REDoff}, or bold for that matter.   

I see you have a formatting box with selections when I'm typing this into my question for G2G, and that would be wonderful if brought to the profile editing pages.  I used for examples above.

2) I would also like to have a selector option on a profile to flag it for need of editing.  Some profiles are known to be incorrect, or some data within them in need of review.  Some problems MAJOR as flagged by "Data Doctors" cleanup, and some minor for specific user tweaking.  I would like colors to highlight the known problem that was discovered. I know the Data Doctors utility finds these problems, but why not display them within the profile being reviewed? 

3) My suggestion,  Within the profiles we manage, use the search field for selecting within your WATCHLIST" profiles flagged with data doctor errors or your chosen profiles in error.  Also add  then use a flagged error box (on/off/locked) for your discovered profiles that need your attention.  A bot could easily update the flag daily/weekly of known data doctor issues still to be resolved on a profile.  The bot would turn on or off as issues are discovered or resolved.  The 'error box' could also be locked out of bot updates if the profile manager selects the lock.  Lockout is needed if for example a child needs to be added or deleted or is perhaps in the wrong family and still needs to still be cleared.

Go easy here, as I'm just trying to flag items of known problems so we bring these forward, easily see them, and get them solved by our less techy users.  If we can easily see problems, then they are more likely to get them resolved.

Your thoughts?

Answer 1

Kurt, I don't have time right now for a detailed answer, but in general, there are a few things that go across several of your items that make them not possible to do.

•  The list of errors is compiled weekly.  That process starts with a snapshot of the WikiTree database that is copied to a different server.  Any changes made during the week will not be reflected in the error list until the next week's snapshot is taken.
• Your #3 item is already available if you click "My WikiTree" in the tiny text menu at top right of every WikiTree page, then select "Suggestions" in the drop-down list.
• You can make text red or blue using a template in the free text section of a profile.  Example:

blah blah blah {{Red|this is the text that will be red}} blah, blah, blah

• It would not be possible for profiles to coordinate display characteristics with the flagged errors because of the fact that this data is in two different databases, one static and the other dynamic, that are on completely separate servers located several thousand miles apart.
• The G2G software is a pre-packaged product used by WikiTree and only very limited configuration of it is available to WikiTree.  The rest of WikiTree uses custom software (probably with lots of plugin modules that are open source, whenever they can be used instead of reinventing the wheel) and when the slightest change is proposed, we hear chapter and verse of how small and overloaded the staff is and how much is on their to-do list.  That list contains some major errors that need troubleshooting, lots of minor bugs that we have to keep working around until someone gets up to fixing them, and a very large number of items in the category of "improvements".  I don't expect to see them getting up to happy-to-glad items in my lifetime!

PS  I had written this answer about 15 minutes after your question, but had to leave suddenly and now that I'm back, I see that there has been another answer, with lots of comments.  I have not read through it all yet, but decided to post this anyway in case I'm addressing something they're not.

Answer 2

#1 -  Tabs - Ales has said that using the 'tab' within profiles is not recommended and can cause problems.  When you copy / paste from the census family list, it does have some 'tabs' inserted and I have removed and / or copy / pasted some to align the columns in 'edit' mode, but they are lost in regular view mode.  You could create a table to put the family members into, but that is a bit more work.

#1 - Colors.  You can use the following (edited to remove the span)

{{Red| Text to be red}}

To Bold something, you put 3 single quotes before and after the text.  This help page may help with that type of formatting, tables are also mentioned in 1st page.  Selecting the Advanced will give you a page that has some coloring coding for heading 

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Help:Editing_Tips

#3 - Have you looked at the Suggestions from the 'My Wikitree' drop down?  Those should be the Suggestions for your Watchlist.  

The main Suggestions list is updated only once a week because it takes so long to run, but your Suggestions from either drop down are updated, as they are updated.

Comments

You can use the colon to align things.  I believe it "wraps" until a break is used with no colon.

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For colours, without using span, you can type

{{Red|yourtexthere}}

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Melanie, I have not been able to use multiple colons within a line, to line up multiple columns.  I think that was what they were asking about for a family list from census.

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Linda,  Thanks for your answers.  Is it possible to add the G2G question formatting box onto our profile pages?  It has almost everything I need (simplified in a selector format) instead of trying script and trying to remember how to format using typed in script. This edit window, It just lacks a tab function.  It has bullets, and tables function that perhaps might work?  If not, remembering script formatting is a problem.  That is why I suggested adding the special characters and showing what they do to the right of our editing window.  As you see from other answers, we all struggle a little with how we try to compensate using trial and error methods.  This edit window with formatting options is perfect!

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@ Linda .. then tables are the best bet - unfortunately.

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There is a learning curve on wikitree, just do things in little steps.  The colon will indent like a tab, so you can put multiple together to indent a line more and more, asterisks will do the same and be like a bullet list.  Using the # will number a list automatically.  

This page was created to be bookmarked to include many things on wikitree in one place.  

https://www.wikitree.com/index.php?title=Space:Biography_Creation_Helper

Unfortunately, I doubt they will create a box to the side, as you are saying.  I would possibly put some of the items that you are looking for into a text file that you keep open while you are editing, at least until you get used to the normal things.

I would add a tag for 'improvements' or 'suggestions' so those involved in that type of thing might be sure to see this.

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Linda, we are only permitted to use the <span> tag for making a scavenger hunt out of sources, the way the gedcom process does.  We are forbidden to use the style attribute of it.  The only way we can color text is to make it either red or blue using the template {{Red|text to be red}} and {{Blue| text to be blue}}.  I believe the color values used for red are #FF0000 and blue #0000FF.

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There are only certain colours which are allowed in the formatting template:

Blue
Brown
Gray
Green
Purple
Red

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Category:Formatting_Templates

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Gaile - not sure what you mean about a Scavenger Hunt.  The 'span' is used in profiles that were imported from Gedcoms, I agree, but it is also used 'with approvals from Admin', I think, with the Family Genealogy books and 'location' genealogy books, that have been organized into wikitree spaces, instead of having the Source book urls in the sources of profiles. 

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Space:Sources-Family_Genealogies

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Space:Category-Source

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Linda, When the <span> tag is used to create an internal link to another place in the document where the source citation is actually found, I call it a scavenger hunt.

For space pages and profiles of close family members, we are permitted, although still not encouraged, to use code elements that are on the "not recommended" list.  For all other profiles, we are expected to adhere to the "recommended" list of code elements.

Answer 3

Review the icon list that is just above the biography section.  There are some 'icons' that can be used while editing a profile to Bold, Italicize, create heading, etc.

The 'C' and words 'Cite your source' at the end of that icon list will format the inline citation 'ref' formatting.  If you select the 'C' or 'Cite your source', it will put the beginning and ending 'ref' statements with 'insert reference here' between them.  If you have previously 'copied' the citation you are going to enter, then you can 'paste' it and it should overlay the 'insert reference here' wording and your citation will be formatted for you.

Answer 4

Hi, Kirt.  Looks like you've gotten a lot of response, so I'm not sure if this will help.  I format census records so they show in rows and columns.  Look at https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Scarborough-486 to see if it's what you're after for your first question.  If it is, click on edit to get the format.

Hope this helps!

Karen

Edited to add: you have to scroll down into the timeline to see the census records.

Comments

Yes, I had seen one of these tables in another profile and couldn't find it again so I started building my own.  Not done yet, but end result where you can copy (From source data i.e. FamilySearch listing), past to an excel sheet.  Then a set of formulas will produce the table data to copy and past to WikiTree.

Working on selling a house right now so it is going to be a week or two before I get back do it..  When done I will post somewhere.

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{| borderwidth="1" cellspacing="6"

|First Column || Second Column|| Third Column||

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|John Smith||Head||34

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|}

{{Clear}}

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Ros, thanks for adding the template.  It looked kinda familiar.