WikiProject:Fixing Historical Records URLs

Current Projects page

Fixing Historical Records URLs

Purpose

Change Historical Records collection links URLs on the Wiki to the RecordSearch template.

Contact

Danielle

Task List

Instructions

Part 1

Step 1: Sign up

1. Go to the Task List and sign up for a Wiki page to fix.

Step 2: Find the Link

1. Find the Historical Records collection link on the page by first duplicating the tab (or copying the URL and opening a new tab in your browser). You will use one tab to edit and one to check the links on the page.

2. On the first tab, click on Edit Source so you can review the Wikitext.

3. Find the first URL on the page by doing Control+F at the same time (for PC) and paste in:

familysearch.org/search/collection/

NOTE: some links start with https://www.familysearch.org and others start with https://familysearch.org. Thus, you should search for the link above and not one with www in the beginning as you may miss a link that needs to be fixed.

4. Hit enter and it will bring up the first URL on the page.

Links you DO NOT Change

Only fix these type of links:
https://www.familysearch.org/search/collection/1417695 Do not change any links that are variations of the following:

Browsable Images: https://www.familysearch.org/search/image/index?owc=https://www.familysearch.org/service/cds/recapi/collections/1925446/waypoints.
Links with LOCATION: https://www.familysearch.org/search/collection/location/1986318?region=Scotland
Catalog Links: https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/1417695
URLS with LIST: https://familysearch.org/search/collection/list
Links in England Parish Tables: Do not change any parish table links. They are to remain as is on the page.
Historical Records pages: Do not change any links on a Historical Records page. Those are being completed in another project.

Step 3: Check the link

1. Go back to the other tab to find that particular link on the page and click on it to make sure the link works.

2. IF THE LINK IS BROKEN: Try to locate the correct link. If you think the collection is no longer available, remove the link from the page and put the old link and the name of the wiki page on this Google form. If you think it's more complicated than just removing the link, send a message to Danielle.

3. IF THE LINK WORKS: You will now create the new template to replace the old ULR link in Step 4.

Step 4: Create the RecordSearch Template

1. Copy the following Wikitext and paste it just above the current link on the page.

{{RecordSearch|NUMBER|NAME OF COLLECTION}}

2. Go back to the tab with the Record Collection and copy the number at the end of the URL. This is the collection ID number.

3. Go back to the Wiki Page tab and paste the collection number replacing NUMBER in the template.

Example:

{{RecordSearch|2381996|NAME OF COLLECTION}}

4. Go back to the tab with the Record Collection and copy the title of the collection and replace NAME OF COLLECTION.

Example:

{{RecordSearch|2381996|New York, New York City, Police Census, 1890}}

5. Once the template is complete, cut the new template and replace the previous link found between the square brackets [ ].

Example:
before:

*'''1837-1963''' [https://familysearch.org/search/catalog/93131 Registros parroquiales, 1837-1963] at FamilySearch - index and images

after:

*'''1837-1963''' {{RecordSearch|1630787|Chile, Civil Registration, 1885-1932}} at FamilySearch - index and images

Step 5: Preview and Save the Page

1. Now that the link has been replaced with the template, we need to preview the page to make sure the link works.

2. Before you save the page, paste into the Edit Summary field type, RecordSearch Template Project.

More detailed instructions are found in the Wiki University.

Part 2 - adding link to How to Use this Collection

1. Now that you have converted the old URL to the RecordSearch template, we need to add the How To Use this Collection link to the end of the database entry.

2. Copy and paste the following code after the code corresponding to the collection but before index and images information.

[[ARTICLETITLE|How to Use this Collection]];

3. The new link should look like this:

*'''1837-1963''' {{RecordSearch|1630787|Chile, Civil Registration, 1885-1932}} at FamilySearch - [[ARTICLETITLE|How to Use this Collection]]; index and images

4. Go back to the tab with the Record Collection and click on the link called, How to Use this Collection. It will go to a Wiki page about this collection.

5. Copy the name of the Wiki article and paste it in the wikitext code you added replacing ARTICLETITLE. It should now look like this:

*'''1837-1963''' {{RecordSearch|1630787|Chile, Civil Registration, 1885-1932}} at FamilySearch - [[Chile Civil Registration - FamilySearch Historical Records|How to Use this Collection]]; index and images

6. Preview the page to make sure the new link to the Wiki page is blue.

7. If it is still red, go back to the Wiki page and make sure you copied the whole name of the article.

8. If it is blue, paste into the Edit Summary field type, Added How to Use this Collection Project and save the page.

9. Go back to the task list and select the next link to be fixed.