Why do privacy levels prevent you from having the same private and public profiles?

Question

I have now consulted with two very helpful and erudite/experienced WikiTree mentors and they have confirmed that I and everyone else on WikiTree seem to have an insoluble problem unless either the programming connected with privacy/profile levels is changed or we have missed the obvious. Unless advised otherwise by anyone we don't believe we have missed the obvious and this issue can only be resolved by some generic program changes to WikiTree's profiling and privacy system settings.

My current privacy level is a "yellow" icon which restricts viewing of certain information such as the "prefix, middle name and full birth date".  So basically it means that there is no way to display exactly what you see in the public view and what you see in the private view because it is determined by the "WikiTree system settings" and not by our personal choices. Thus one of the names displayed is frequently "wrong" if you have a middle name or preferred name etc.

In my case the public view is wrong as it discloses me as "Mr Bill W. Fairclough" and the private view is right as it discloses me as "Mr John William Percy Fairclough". Maybe a bit of reprogramming is in order unless someone can advise how to resolve this issue.

Answer 1

Hello Bill and welcome to WikiTree,

Here is a link to a discussion about the issue you are addressing.
http://www.wikitree.com/g2g/169469/any-objections-to-this-plan-for-name-display-changes

I think it was yesterday or Sunday that it was posted, so it is an active discussion.

You are right to come here (G2G) with questions, there are many helpful people who will give you good advice.

Comments

Kristina - Your comment was most helpful so thanks for that. Having read the broader article you referred me to along with the comments thereon this really is a can of worms because it is so fundamental to WikiTree as all entries hinge on the use of names. It will be interesting to see what happens but I think it is early days yet. All the best - Bill

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Thanks, Bill,

I don't really like how my Dad's name shows up, but I am willing to deal with that until an agreement is reached.

Answer 2

The general idea of Preferred Name seems to be that you can show it instead of your real name if you don't want your real name known to the world at large.

If your real name is no secret, you can put Bill in the Nickname box instead.

Comments

Best see http://www.wikitree.com/g2g/169469/any-objections-to-this-plan-for-name-display-changes but thanks for your comment anyway.