ATTENTION Curators, please assist

Private User

You are part of the world family tree - you and I have a connecting path. It's actually quite interesting because it's sideways - my living (older) cousins, whom I know, connect to your cousins. My Jewish side does not connect to Europe but we had our first break through this year from newly digitized records. Because of that everyone in my Family Group on Geni could learn the updated information instantly, and we now have new avenues for research.

I joined Geni before it opened for business in 2007. It was abundantly clear to me - and my other family members - that the mission was one connected tree of everyone. But it just depends on how you filter your view, and by being a shared tree, we can work on different aspects.

Dylan, I don't want to be unkind or unsympathetic but you and I discussed all of this in several rounds of private messages in the weeks leading up to your problem. We talked about the world tree on Geni, about collaboration, and about merging and editing. You asked a lot of questions, and you left me with the impression you might "try it".

As I said here several days ago, you need to contact Customer Service if you think Geni accidentally merged your tree with your uncle's tree. This thread is for users who need help from Curators. Your problem is not something the Curators can solve.

Mimi - done

I don't know if curators can help with this, but I will try anyway.

Yesterday I accepted a record match on Rev Dr Abraham Cohen MA, PhD, D.H.L. with the Findagrave http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=90150460

Something went wrong with the acceptance of the record match. It doesn't show on the profile. It is no longer available as a smart match to accept.

The profile Sources tab suggests there is a Source there, but clicking the tab shows no source there.

My recent activity shows:

David Prins confirmed and. Yesterday at 10:50 AM

Comment on this document

instead of saying I confirmed the record match.

"Comment on this document" links to http://www.geni.com/documents/view?doc_id=6000000024118228336 - Page not found

Can you help? Or know who can?

Thanks

Private User I think the problem is that his name isn't exactly input the same way as it is on Findagrave. Perhaps if you type his name in as it is on Findagrave, then match them, and then change the name again, to the previous, it should be ok???

I noticed that if the Display said something other than what Findagrave shows, then it loses the match.

We have two similar curator bug reports about the Sources tab (like showing wrong number) which is accepted by Geni staff and put on the planned list, - I'll add a link to your example.

The profile is MP by Ofir Friedman
He may have locked it.

There is no locks on that profile.

Thank you mi². I understand your point, but I don't think it's the answer here. In this case, there has been no change in name, I did actually accept the match, and I have the strange absent Source, and strange Recent Activity entry.

Rafi: I don't think the fact that the profile is MP explains what has happened. As Bjørn said, there are no locks, and there have not been any locks. I have been adding to the About and adding his burial information without any problems.

Bjørn also wrote: "We have two similar curator bug reports about the Sources tab (like showing wrong number) which is accepted by Geni staff and put on the planned list, - I'll add a link to your example." That sounds relevant. Thank you. The added information here is that I know how the Sources tab came to show the wrong number - through my attempt to accept a Findagrave record match. It seems to me that the system somehow started but didn't complete that record match, so left the profile somewhat in limbo, not properly updated.

Erica - Thanks for the explanation. How do I view the World Tree when I wish to see it, and how can I turn that view off if I only want to view my own tree?

I see that you are connected to my tree through the relatives of one of my grandfather's brothers. I should mention that I only recently found out that my paternal grandfather had two brothers (about 3 years ago) through a contact I made on JewishGen. As I mentioned in an earlier comment, the records for that era do not exist in the Lviv Archives, and it really was a miracle to find that my grandfather had two brothers I knew nothing about. I hope one day to discover a similar revelation regarding my paternal grandmother and her family.

Geni put a lot of work into getting good FAQ with screen shots up on their Help platform. They really did a good job of it & I hope this discussion helps everyone discover them better, because pictures are so helpful.

http://help.geni.com/entries/20041587-How-To-Customize-Your-Tree-Di...

At the bottom of every Geni page is a "help" hyperlink. That's the best place for technical issues as chances are good - if you have the question, so have others. :)

Joyce, of course JewishGen is a fantastic organization, so helpful. I see what the Jewish genealogists are accomplishing on Geni as being complementary. The Krakow project has 20,000 plus residents mapped in. Can you imagine when we'll have projects for every village in the Pale? It's on it's way.

David....did you get any message from Geni about the import of the data being interrupted?

I have gotten a 'notice' a few times.....and noticed that it happens sometimes when I also have gotten a message from a Geni member that was sent the same time I was uploading an import....

All I did was re-do the import (but confirming a MH doesn't actually load the FAG as a document per se....) tho usually shows that it is there..

Try loading the FAG from Find a grave instead of from MH...

I hope my explaining isn't more confusing...it seems that sometimes 2 messages at exactly the same time interfere's with 1 of them.

Because of the time difference I'm not sure if you are still in the 25th, but Merry Christmas to you 'down under' anyway.

David - I think Fay is on the right track.

When communicating across servers there can be network "blips." And that can result in various little bugs on a profile because the signaling has been interrupted. Most are solvable by "UN do / do it again.". If that doesn't resolve it, probably Geni staff would need to do the fix, profile by profile.

David...The data on the Rev. Abraham Cohen was already in the 'about me' so I just added the URL for the FAG...and cited what was there...

If everyone would just send a message to indicate a possible match and let the other person decide if they would like to merge together this would solve a lot of the problems. I never just merge with others without sending them a request to confirm the information. It may not be the same person and it is a member of the tree that I am not as informed about and they are a direct decedent of I will give them the option to merge or not. I have found a lot of new information on family members that I did not know such as birthday and death and places of birth.
I have also had others tell me that they are not a match and I appreciate them letting me know. Sometimes when you look at matches not all information is available and I would rather them decide if I am not sure so as not to mess up their tree for them to fix.
I also have others let me know that they are matches and they do not mind merging and getting a better tree. Sometimes I have more information then them and that helps them in their search and they have more information sometimes.
I personally do not mind being part of the world wide tree. I have meet a lot of cousins on here that I might have never meet otherwise. I am the 10 of 11 children and my father was the youngest of 7. He was the last to get married and he was 50 so his parents were long gone before I was born. Also most of my 1st cousins are gone or in their 80's or 90's so I really do not know them. I have 3rd and 4th cousins that are my age so I don't have a great connection with them.
I also have found a lot of information and family members on my mothers side of the family that we as a family were not aware of.
I love this sight I was really glad that I friend of my husbands recommended it to me. We should all be grateful that we can work together for a more balanced tree with correct information.

Sharon, I agree with you 100%. I am glad to be a part of Geni, and also feel the same as you do about merges. Merges should be made only when both parties are satisfied that the profile actually belongs in their trees. In an effort to create family trees, or the World Tree - curators should be pleased that those of us on here have made an effort to make sure that the profiles in our trees are correct as possible. As I mentioned before, I had to ask someone to "undo" a merge that I knew from personal knowledge was incorrect. It was agreed to by someone else in my family who did not have sufficient knowledge about the profile she was merging on my tree. A cousin of mine encouraged me to add my family information onto her tree, which we mostly manage jointly. I have encouraged others in my family to do the same. From them I have been able to see and download pictures I have never seen before and been able to identify the people with their proper names, which is of great interest to me to be able to pass down to my children and their families.

I have found some interesting information on here, but what do you do when you find a supposed connection (as noted by Geni) when you ask how they are related to you, and then contact the profile manager for information but get no response? As I mentioned, not everyone with the same surname is related to you, but where Geni has noted a family connection then it is frustrating that you cannot get any further with information on the profile in question. Is there some way around this through the curators? Is it possible that perhaps the profile manager has changed their e-mail address or might even be deceased? In fact, I was asked by Geni to take over management of the tree of a cousin of mine who has not been active on Geni in a long time. I tried contacting her via e-mail but got no response. I have agreed to take over her tree, but am also anxious to know if she is deceased. I know that she was elderly, and have no way to contact her direct family members.

How can you "view" the World Tree connections to your profile without asking if a profile is in fact related to you? It was mentioned to me that you can "turn this view feature on or off". How is that done? Perhaps I am missing some information that I cannot see as part of the World Tree connection. Please advise.

Private User,
For people who have added a lot of profiles like I have done, it wouldn't be realistic to receive a message for every possible match.

We collaborate, work TOGETHER, on Geni.

I'm with Ann on this. Collaboration works really well!

I keep running into situations where *I* added the other profile - so of course I know whether I want to merge or not! :-D

I will always ask, if the other profile is private, and let the other person decide. (Sometimes that's frustrating, but oh well.)

Private User When I first joined geni, we didn't have the collaboration tool that we do today. I remember not being able to get things done, because we were waiting for the other person to decide to if it was okay for the profiles to match. I manage quite a few profiles and do quite a bit of work on geni, I agree with Ann, it slows everything down to wait to the request to happen, which is why geni is the way it is today. Our Curators are awesome and I have found that the group of people I have worked with are very helpful also. Thank you to all of our curators for all the help you have provided over that pass year, and I hope next year brings happiness to you all.

David....I can't 'Match' with MH....but the info in your '.about me' IS the FAG info.......I got it directly from. FAG. (which I am a FREE member of).

The only thing that confirming a MH record does is 'confirm' for THEM, that we here at Geni. agree with their data....it does NOT become part of our profile as anything other than a notation of a document....and we cannot 'cite' any facts contained within their source.

@mi2, Charles Willson, how did u get Ephraim Wilson as his dad and Sarah Prindle as his mom?

What is "FAG" and MH?? Also, collaboration with the curators works well to a point - and that point is where profiles are automatically added to my tree that have not been verified mutually so that I am fairly certain that they actually belong in my tree (or any tree for that matter). Again, I have no use for suppositions that are not verified with me in some way "before" they are added to my tree - in order not to create a real mess for me. This has happened to me in the past with one of the curators, and I am not willing for it to happen again. "Place holders" are not real profiles, nor do they belong in my tree! I am not being hardnosed, I have spent too much time creating my tree on Geni, only to have to backtrack and correct a mess that someone else (no matter how well-meaning) has created in my personal tree - World Tree or good intentions not withstanding! The World Tree is a lofty goal, and perhaps it can be helpful in some way, but not when unverified suppositions are made rather than using good, substantiated information to connect our trees there.

FAG = Find a Grave (www.findagrave.com)
MH = MyHeritage (www.myheritage.com)

Joyce....you are just starting out.......and I expect that your profiles are coded 'private' and you are working close to home......when you get further out from your immediate family....beyond the point where Geni allows 'private' profiles you will encounter the BIG TREE of profiles that are 'public'......they are those that you find in history books, on Wikipedia, in Town Histories, on Find a Grave (FAG) and are also on MyHeritage (MH).....these profiles are often co-managed by multiple Geni users.....since they share some of the same people in their ancestry..

They usually can be confirmed by the above-named sources as well as through familysearch (the LDS site from the Mormon records) which is FREE ....this includes census data, many death, birth and marriage records, many draft registration records, etc....

In most of these instances it is wisest to 'agree' with the multi-managed profiles regarding the facts UNLESS you find info that contradicts some basic fact....at which time it is not only nice to ask for their opinion, it also saves making errors which confuse the situation less likely......so THEN you ask...

Please continue to ask questions as you get used to manuevering on Geni....and dont forget to utilize the 'help' and other information that is at the bottom of EVERY page (including this one)....

I dont believe that many of us are actually out to trace every person that is or ever was on the earth, just track our own particular ancestors....so I would call it the BIG tree rather than the WORLD tree...(it doesn't quite seem so never-ending).

You can collaborate with people who you find on discussions or who are working the same areas you are interested in....without necessarily being related.......if you like how they work and are searching the same older profiles...

And NEVER feel bad about asking questions.....I started out not knowing what a URL was...

Any name (whether a Geni member or name on a profile) can be accessed by clicking it.....so you can ask a Geni member a question or go from one profile to another in profile view.

It's really neat once you get used to it.

I don't like the acronym "FAG" for findagrave. I just find someone who wouldn't know what that means could be caught off guard, like I was when I first saw it. I prefer to write out "findagrave.com." Just my opinion.

Or you could leave the .com off - "Findagrave" is informative enough by itself. Agreed it's an awful acronym, for several reasons.

Thank u Mavin

In america we dont use a, at, the in acronyms, so FG would be the acronym, but somebody started in with F.A.G. so it kept going.