FamilySearch Wiki:Community Dialogue Chronological

Introduction

This is a month-by-month listing or summary of conversations between Wiki contributors which take place in meetings and forum threads. The purposes of this list include:

• Help the Community stay informed quickly and easily
• Document decisions: When they were made, how they were implemented and by whom
• Track the updating of guidelines. This includes Help content, Manual of Style, Projects, and more
• Call attention to ideas and concerns not yet decided, allowing the Community to prioritize action

October 2011

11 Oct 2011 New since last week

• Off site links Concern about outside links that end up costing money. Yet people need to know what exists when it may be helpful. Convention is to put ($) next to the link to inform the user.

Comments added since last week

• Refining the Moderators role Very interesting discussion of ways the moderators may help maintain the integrity of the Wiki.
• English County Census pages
• What do you think makes a outstanding contributor? Quality contributions, also engaged in voicing opinions in the forums, serving on projects [including maintenance projects]
• US Wiki Projects

4 Oct 2011 New since last week

• What do you think makes a outstanding contributor? Comments leading toward an award for such outstanding contributions.
• US Wiki Projects Very helpful list of what US/Canada projects are in progress and in the pipeline.
• Navigating Ancestry.com 
  

Comments added since last week

• NY wiki Project: County Example Comments include where to put social groups, and other county style guide discussions.
• Stay Same, Flat or Removal? Discussion ongoing in this forum.
  
• Improving the Help Content After some discussion, to help make things standard across a number of links, we would like to name it the "Help:Contributor Help" page. Any concerns?

September 2011

27 Sep 2011 New since last week

• NY wiki Project: County Example please check it out and make your comments either here on the forum thread or on the discussion/talk page of Albany County, New York
• Stay Same, Flat or Removal? Suggestions are absorb historical Facts including parent county and boundary changes into History section, which is under "Resources." The other suggestion is to have all headings the same -- no subheadings. Please respond in forum thread or at FamilySearch Wiki talk:WikiProject New York
• Refining the Moderators role Which role fits for moderators? Please comment in thread.

- Facilitator, catalyst, content development role - add and recruit others to do content development to bring in more people and get information added. (Related to the Project Leader role)

- Governance Role - watching pages and working with contributors to edit and refine what they do, and sometimes moderate disagreements between people, etc.

• Improving the Help Content see the new Edit and Contribute page at User:Evancol/Sandbox Please leave any comments on the talk page.
  

Comments added since last week

• Announcing new WikiProject New York Current posts re: cities, towns, hamlets.
  
• Links to Historical Records collections unless collections are created in a way to support deep-links, with persistent identifiers for specific waypoints it will be a very time consuming to keep maintaining these kinds of links
• Jimmy Parker Suggestions of an annual award to recognize outstanding Wiki contributions. -- perhaps named after Jimmy.
• Expand Templates If you see more things like that that need a help article to explain it, you can mention it in FamilySearch Wiki:Improving the Help content/Needed How To Articles

20 Sep 2011 New since last week

• Announcing new WikiProject New York
• Jimmy Parker Jimmy passed away this month. Projects he directed and his user page are currently featured articles on the Wiki main page.
• Expand Templates tried to find something in a help menu that explained the page
• Uncategorized Pages There are many. The project to categorize them has been halted for a short time, while the categories are "cleaned up"
  

Comments added since last week

• Links to Historical Records collection A template has been made as well as a suggested improvement.
• English County Census pages Brings out some differences in thinking of those with access to microfilms and others. FamilySearch Wiki:WikiProject English parishes is a place to raise and discuss some of the issues. Original content was from old research outlines, which did focus on FHLC holdings.

13 Sep 2011 New since last week

• English County Census pages Plan is to rename these articles so that the title reflects the content.
• Link from Forums to the Wiki Would like to see links from the Forums back to the wiki

6 Sep 2011 New since last week

• Wiki Mentoring Program To give new users a jump start in using and contributing to the Wiki. See Mentoring and Mentors.

Comments added since last week

• Wiki Projects & Committees A Dispute Resolution committee is being developed.

August 2011

30 Aug 2011 Comments added since last week

• Wiki Projects & Committees

23 Aug 2011 New since last week

• Old Presentations in the Wiki Updated links needed.
  

Comments added since last week

• Wiki Projects & Committees
  • One committee could examine current content for duplication (several pages mentioned) One page about a resource, other pages link. One page to update.
  • Perhaps "new" catalog (FHLC) will allow Centers to list their collections and the Wiki point to them
• WikiProject Asia on the main page Responders all like the idea of featuring project pages.

16 Aug 2011 Comments added since last week

• Wiki Projects & Committees Design groups for different locality levels. Include the "common folk"

9 Aug 2011 New since last week

• Wiki Projects & Committees On today's agenda
  

Comments added since last week

• Proposed Modification to County Page categories/topics See the discussion. Also see Meeting notes and U.S. counties example

2 Aug 2011 Comments added since last week

• Source for U.S. county latitude/longitude Some offers to create an excel file, one did Forida, another says the Census Bureau text file is not always accurate.
• An interesting comment About no edits being allowed in FS's Historical Records Collections.

July 2011

26 July 2011 None mentioned in meeting forum box. May have only been overlooked.

19 July 2011 New since last week

• Source for U.S. county latitude/longitude

12 July 2011 Comments added since last week

• Connections between Historical Record Collections pages and the rest of the Wiki Thanks to the suggestions made on this thread and the willingness to implement them by the team in charge, links to the collections and indexes posted on the Internet by FamilySearch are being expanded and improved.

Decisions made since last week

• Family History Center Pages Links to Other Pages The majority seem to agree that a change be made in the policy verbiage regarding links to Family History Centers from county and other pages within the Wiki. The issue has been given to the Community Catalyst Team (Mike Ritchey's) for final decision and implementation.
  
• Proposed Modification to County Page categories/topics Smaller groups hash out different examples, share with the larger group to get additional input and then do some “usability testing.” The notes taken from the discussions, along with links to the three different mockups that are being created are in FamilySearch Wiki:WikiProject U.S. counties.
  • For everyone, from this point on, please keep the comments and questions regarding these pages on that talk pages and talk pages for the mockups it links to. Everyone is welcome in those discussions, as that will help us to be more informed as we discuss these matters in the meetings.
  • On the page above with our meeting notes, the questions that are still outstanding are listed. If you have questions that don't seem to have an answer or haven't been discussed yet, you can add to the list. Your opinion on the questions should go on the talk page.

5 July 2011 Comments added since last week

• Proposed Modification to County Page categories/topics 57 comments! Good to review.
• All page content deleted 15 comments. Now a mis-named thread, post #13 makes suggestions for improving "help" and instructions and less reliance upon online meetings which cannot be attended by many who work. Post #14 suggested a new thread re: Manual of style (which did not appear).
• Social Group, forum, or Skype group for Moderators/Adopters 20 comments, some concern how programmers/engineers will be alerted, etc. Perhaps not time to do a separate moderators/adopters forum. Still unresolved which medium(s) promote discussions best.
• Connections between Historical Record Collections pages and the rest of the Wiki Has this issue been resolved and someone taken responsibility for correcting it? Some pages have been resolved. Is it haphazard or directed?AdkinsWH 17:23, 5 July 2011 (UTC)
  

June 2011

14 June 2011 New since last week

• Social Group, forum, or Skype group for Moderators/Adopters Good discussion on people's preferences for communicating.
• Questions about duties of wiki Moderators and Adopters
• All page content deleted About a specific page that was deleted and seeking to understand what/how happened.
• Proposed Modification to County Page categories/topics Stemming from this meeting last week.
  

Comments added since last week

• Should we have substantial prerequisities for moderators? This has 25 posts, 10 just this week. Get in on the conversation!
• Social Group, forum, or Skype group for Moderators/Adopters
  

Actions taken this week

• Citation Proposal Policy tweaked to strike a more international position
  

7 June 2011 New since last week

• Should we have substantial prerequisities for moderators? See the Moderator page for questions to encourage self training. We welcome your thoughts for what should be recommended or required.
• Links from wiki to research communities "We would like to inter-link from the Wiki to these Research Community pages [on FaceBook], but wanted to discuss with you and those creating a good standard for the best way to do so and are looking for ideas." Some have concerns.
  

Comments added since last week

• Citation Proposal Asking for the citation proposal to be less US-centric. Is Elizabeth Shown Mills recognized as the citation expert in other countries?
• Wiki goals or targets "... a few internal goals that we look at within FamilySearch:
  • Givers - Those giving help to others (For the wiki - contributors) Target 866, actual 766 by April
  • Receivers - Those receiving help from others (For the wiki - researchers) Target 2.2 million, actual 1.4 million.
  • Another suggestion was made about quality goals
    

Items for future meetings

• Foreign Titles in User Guidance/ linking to Foreign Language editions "It seems like there are ways to meet the customers' needs without making the English wiki a parking lot for all languages. We're going to tee up the need and possible solutions with other FamilySearch managers at our 17 June Contributor Support meeting."

May 2011

24 May 2011 New since last week

• Copyright issue? Noticed some copyrighted information in our wiki. The issue includes attribution, when to link and when to copy to assure no copyright infringement.
  

Comments added since last week

• Wiki User List More on using an optional template for people to fill in -- with how to do it in the welcome message.
• Connections between Historical Record Collections pages and the rest of the Wiki Mentions the need for coordination (RecordSearch, Wiki, FHLC) and descriptions so users can better understand and utilize them. Task force or another solution?
  

Do these need attention?

• Wiki goals or targets
• Several tips have been suggested. Have they been added to the Wiki someplace to help contributors? Examples include:
  • FlagPage extension makes it EASY to add templates
  • An extension that makes discussion pages easy
  • Tab Header templates
  • There was also one on making it easier to write in Word and transfer to the Wiki with more ease. Did not look closely for where is it imbeddedAdkinsWH 16:39, 24 May 2011 (UTC)
    

17 May 2011 New since last week

• Wiki goals or targets Suggests getting a strategic plan.
• Foreign Titles in User Guidance/ linking to Foreign Language editions Among other comments, one suggests that English is a foreign lanquage in some countries.
• FlagPage extension makes it EASY to add templates Have you ever wanted to add a template like the Delete template to an article and just didn't because you didn't want to have to slog through the wiki to look it up or remember what its code is? If so, take a look at Extension:FlagPage.
• An extension that makes discussion pages easy
  

Comments added since last week

• Wiki User List Includes suggestions about a welcome template that informs users how to fill in their user page and with what.
• Connections between Historical Record Collections pages and the rest of the Wiki Suggest links from other pages in the Wiki to the appropriate Hist Rec Coll pages.
• Recognition: Adopters, moderators, and contributors Another widget suggested.

10 May 2011 New since last week

• Connections between Historical Record Collections pages and the rest of the Wiki A potential project -- to be sure these are updated in the appropriate localities.
• Wiki User List A high percentage of users have not added to their user page. Includes some clarification of etiquette and content.
• Empty Category Link Mentions a support case where the person may need more training. "there is still a problem since the suggested link goes to the portal page for the US not the Category page at all"
  

Comments added since last week

• Tab Header Templates Recent posts indicate a maximum of ten tabs can be used and pointed to an example at Illinois Regional Archives Depository (IRAD).
• Template for new users to add User page Response to a previous post about logins.
• Recognition of contributors Creative ideas for recognitions. Also a request for storing such ideas on moderator [or adopter] help pages.
  

Decisions made or items resolved during the week

• Searching templates Searching for a specific collection ID (Historical Record Collections)
• Citation Proposal - Vote Now! The change was implemented.
• How best to add "Help" for contributors here "... we finally renamed the Tech Support forum to Contributor Help!"

3 May 2011

• Template for new users to add User page Mentions the Welcome template, which gives ideas to users for adding to their user pages.
  • Related thread User Pages
• Recognition of contributors Pointing to Utah and Virginia pages for ideas.
• Require Adopters to edit a page before Adoption sign is posted? Although the poll passed with a vote of 11 to 9, nothing has fully been decided. (With such a close vote, should it be vetted more? AdkinsWH)
• Proposed edit of guiding principles "Free" area Link to "Creative Commons" website has been updated.

Have these decisions been acted upon?

• Citation Proposal - Vote Now! As requested in last week's meeting, Evancol asked the person proposing the change to actually make the change.
• Maximum period of inactivity of Moderators and Adopters
• "Three strikes" communication policy for moderators and adopters
• Should we subscribe new Adopters and Moderators to this forum by default?

April 2011

Polls

• Citation Proposal
  • Poll closes April 26.
  • Before you vote, scroll to see the actual proposal.
  • To read the forum thread leading up to this poll, see Working Reference Citation Proposal
• Should we subscribe new Adopters and Moderators to this forum by default? Only 4 votes, all "Yes." The comments made were insightful about keeping current and inclusive.
• Should Adoption sign be @ top or bottom of adopted pages lacking infobox/topic box? 17 votes, 12 Top, 5 Bottom. Discussion (22 posts) is interesting.
• Should adoption of a well-developed page be decided by its original contributors? 8 votes, all yes. No discussions posted.

Forum threads started
April 13 - 19

• Forum badge test Testing placement of a badge to increase traffic to the forums.
• Long Pages How to make them easier for users. Need your ideas and suggestions in this thread.
• Good change on Wiki home page Suggesting that the home page also needs some community re-thinking.

Added comments on existing threads

• English Contributors Discussion this week (posts 15-19) has turned to links to the FHLC and even to the purpose of the wiki.
• Proposed edit of guiding principles "Free" area Dicussion this week turned to "Creative Commons"
• Tab Header Templates Includes how to find a list of existing templates, and wish lists, including font sizes and other tweeks.
• How best to add "Help" for contributors here Continuing ideas and suggestions
• Greenup County, KY - links act like text Issue added to "known issues" list for engineers. Also discovered why it was happening.

April 6 - 12

• How best to add "Help" for contributors here Please "help" discuss and decide.
• Greenup County, KY - links act like text This is a known problem.
  • Where would contributors look for answers to questions like this? Just by posting a forum thread?

From the Feedback Forum

• Forums Facelift Includes suggestion to increase visibility of Forums.
• ...not responsible for the content of external... Suggestions to make the Terms and Conditions of use or disclaimers more visible. Can engineers change it's placement?
• Title for FHC (Family History Centers)
  

March 30 - April 5

• Working Reference Citation Proposal 8 posts. A continuation of the Citations thread with 18 posts.
• Recognition: Badges users can earn
• Greenup County, KY - links act like text A plea for help.
• Proposed edit of guiding principles "Free" area Suggested slight changes to a guiding principles page. Cottrells made the change.

March 2011

Polls

• Should we subscribe new Adopters and Moderators to this forum by default? Poll closed April 5th.
• Should adoption of a well-developed page be decided by its original contributors? Poll closed April 3rd.
• Should Adoption sign be @ top or bottom of adopted pages lacking infobox/topic box? Poll closed April 3rd.
• Require Adopters to edit a page before Adoption sign is posted? Poll closed Saturday, March 5
  • Results: 55% voted yes, 45% voted no.
  • For updates and further actions, see Require edits before placing adoption signs
• Maximum period of inactivity of Moderators and Adopters Poll closed Saturday, March 5
  • Results: Remove them after... 44% voted 6 months, 33% voted 3 months.
  • For updates of further actions, see Inactivity
• "Three strikes" communication policy for moderators and adopters Poll closed Saturday, March 5
  • Results: Remove them after... 40% voted 4 weeks. 26% each to 2 weeks and 6 weeks. Additional comments were made after polls closed.
  • For updates and further actions, see 3 Strikes
    

Forum Threads Started
March 23 - 29

• Tab Header Templates Interesting templates were found in Wikipedia that give great display options.
  • This needs to be added to the Wiki where contributors can find display options and suggestions for what they can add.
• [Display on a page the number of edits made by a group of users? Wanting to know if there is software that will do this.
• Pennsylvania page Links are now working.
  

March 16 - 22

• Wiki Talk — Dialogue summary: Need for your input
  • Creating a summary of the dialogue from Forums and meetings. Need your ideas and suggestions
• Question of procedure and policy
  • Question arose about procedures when much information may be wrong or offensive (Using American Indian example)
  • Suggestion: contact the project manager (Jimmy Parker in this case)
  • The Wiki is all about making additions/corrections
  • User decided to make changes (did not mention contacting the project leader
• Citations
  • Wants Community guidelines for citing sources in the Wiki
  • A person is digesting what is written and needs updating
  • The Utah page has a good example. So does State of Franklin
  • Comment: There are quite a few different citation styles.... subsequent users can edit the citations if necessary. Don't make it an issue
  • Comment: it should be clear that the form of the citation is not as important as the content
  • Comment: Advanced professionals need great citation guidelines
  • Suggestion: Inform writers of purpose, where guidelines are found, at least type out the basics that others can fix
• Weekly Thumbs up, Thumbs Down Report
• English Contributors
  • Who is being invited to submit? Few contributors for England.
  • Suggested the person and others in England start
  • Suggested that they start with digitized records for England on FamilySearch.org

March 9 - 15

• Over 100 pages of individual histories added Discusses that information about individuals is not appropriate for the Wiki. Suggestions include:
  • Ways to contact a contributer who adds individual names
  • Need to clarify guidelines in Wiki.
  • Meeting discussion (3/15/11) suggested that Welcoming point to the Guidelines.
  • Alternative places to post their information WeRelate.com, BiographicalWiki.com, and GenerationStation.com. Link to your information from the Wiki
    • One place to look concept: As you become aware of others sites to post such information on the Internet, please update Try another wiki

March 1 - 8

• Entries containing references to FamilySearch.org
• User Pages
• Continuum of Engagment
• Getting more information on photos that are upload
• Purpose and Appropriate Topics Calls attention to need for reviewing/updating these pages.
• Start of Moderator Handbook already on Wiki
• Recognition Rewarding Wiki accomplishments
• Genealogy's Star writes about the wiki
• Family Tech posts an article about the wiki

February 2011

Polls

• Proposed: Link from adoption sign to adopter's user page

Forum Threads Started

• Help vs. FamilySearch Wiki namespace

• Should we have substantial prerequisities for moderators?
• Maximum period of inactivity of Moderators and Adopters
• Require Adopters to edit a page before Adoption sign is posted?
• Recruiting Moderators
• "Three strikes" communication policy for moderators and adopters
• Sandbox category
• Another advertising question
• Proposal: Remove sandboxes from search results
• Maintenance Templates/Policy
• Creating Video Trainings

January 2011

Note: This is the month the Wiki Contributor's meeting began. It was an outgrowth of the Tech meeting.

• Proposed: Link from adoption sign to adopter's user page
• Community Center, Village Pump, or something else?

December 2010

Forum Threads Started

Moderators and Adopters

• Relative stewardship of moderators and adopters
• Qualifications of adopters and moderators
• Encouraging User Participation on Adopted Pages
• Page Adopter category
• Moderators and Adopters: level of activity

• Forum Digest: a plan for reaching decisions, implementing ideas

• Affiliate links?
• FamilySearch Wiki Affiliates Logo
• Record Search Updates Archive
• How to account for Indexing when writing wiki projects?
• Welcoming

Display

• Tennessee page restructure proposal
• Why the green border and { ?

Technical problems

• We're going to roll back the database. Recent changes will be lost.
• Vanishing edits

November 2010

Note: This is the month the Wiki Contributor's Corner forum began.

Forum threads started:

Moderators and adopters

• Should we have separate forums for Moderators, Adopters and contributors?
• Moderators - Sharing best practices
• Replacing a moderator or adopter?
• Technical Volunteer duties
• Limit number of pages for moderator or adopter?

All contributors

• Term limits?

• Avoiding Redundance while Meeting User Needs
• Recognition: Adopters, moderators, and contributors
• The Wiki Audience

• Is this Advertising

Display

• Is your image (or map) too wide for a wiki page? Try making a scrolling image!
• Table too wide on a wiki page? Make a scrolling table!

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