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

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

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