When deciding whether to merge ...

This discussion is in response to my plea for managers to please fill in simple (to complex) biographies in the "about" tab. I'll copy over my comments and delete some from the previous discussion, as it's a digression from the genealogical focus of https://www.geni.com/discussions/279050?msg=1728637 "Cleaning up the Kukliai mess."

My answers to the query (below) got too complicated, and belong on its own discussion.

I am deleting this post and reposting here, but my other answers will stay so the (digression) still makes sense. (Hopefully.). Then I'll pick up on the points about the "compare screen" (above) which really was not what I was trying to address.

Private User
10/27/2024 at 8:18 PM
https://www.geni.com/discussions/279050?msg=1728366

I know when working on a profile, you do not want to be expected to read all the Discussions - for Philip (Fischel Chonon) Charles Levine

Is any of the info here: https://www.geni.com/discussions/284213?msg=1728301 info you want to put on Philip's Profile -- or should this link be put there or?

Erica Howton C
10/27/2024 at 9:22 PM
https://www.geni.com/discussions/279050?msg=1728370

Private User

Yes, thank you for bringing this up.

What people who are only working on their part of the world family tree may not think about is that many different eyes are on these profiles, and a cause of errors is the "empty" "about."

As a curator and merger-er, I'm not looking at each detail; i can see that there are sources, or not. What I need is a "big picture," a precis of the person and family.

The easiest and fastest (not necessarily the most accurate!) way to do this is:

• open up to "profile" view
• copy the "header" information into the "about"
• proofread and tweak the "about" text
• make any adjustments needed to the data fields in the "basics" tab

So for [[Philip (Fischel Chonon) Charles Levine Philip (Fischel Chonon) Charles Levine] I added:

Philip Charles Levine

• Yiddish name: Fischel Chonon
• Gender: Male
• Birth: September 13, 1893: Kupiškis, Kupiškis District Municipality, Panevėžys County, Lithuania
• Death: June 08, 1977 (83): Oakland County, Michigan, United States
• Place of Burial: Ferndale, Oakland County, Michigan, United States
• Son of Mates (Matisyahu) Levin and Chana (Smilig) Levin
• Husband of Ida (Chai Gittel) Gertrude (Rosenberg) Levine
• Father of Harriet (Levine) Sandweiss; Sidney Max Levine; Sara (Shirley) Sarah (Levine) Bar Moshe and David Levine

Please correct and update.

This is my format and the same used for the Geni Master Profile:

https://www.geni.com/projects/Geni-Master-Profile/28084

But of course there's not a "wrong" way to do it. Just a minimum before I can help as a curator:

• Name
• Dates
• Parents - especially is not yet identified, or if the parents married several times. The number #1 cause of bad trees is this missing from profile notes.
• Spouses
• (all the children would be nice, not always possible)

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Erica Howton C
yesterday at 4:32 AM
https://www.geni.com/discussions/279050?msg=1728412

Let’s put it like this.

I cannot curate what I cannot read, and proofread, easily. I understand the concept very well of family not repeated in a biography section. It does not work in a merge environment.

Erica Howton C
Today at 12:20 PM
https://www.geni.com/discussions/279050?msg=1728631

Here's a simple, one sentence version of what I suggest we really need to see in every single Geni profile "about." If a manager doesn't do it, there is a very good chance they'll face tree errors, because relationships are "not" shown in the "basics" tab.

Susannah Hicks, daughter of Robert Hicks and Mary Courtney, married John Vaughan.

That's it: simple, elegant, not redundant, and necessary.

Private User
https://www.geni.com/discussions/279050?msg=1728617
Today at 5:54 PM

See right under "Are these profiles of the same person?" In https://help.geni.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408886222999-How-do-I-use-...

That is what the Compare Profiles Screen looks like to those of us who are not Curators.
Up the in the next to top section, it has the Relationships.
In this Example, On the left - Husband of and Father of
And on the right - Son of and Husband of and Father of

I do not think I have seen anything called a "basics" tab on Geni. What is that?

Did Geni in their desire to let Curators see more than the nonCurators actually make it harder for Curators to Compare Profiles?

Erica Howton C
Today at 10:11 PM
https://www.geni.com/discussions/279050?msg=1728631

This has nothing to do with curating. When I merge any profile that isn't a clear duplicate, I open up each profile to the full profile view, to look at the "about," sources, managers, etc. So if the "about" is empty, more research may be needed. If the "about" has information, the merge proposal, or tree placement, is more certain.

Every person who merges in Geni should do so. Again, it has nothing to do with curating. It has to do with Geni being a World Family Tree.

Let me bring in a couple of tutorial projects I use or co-created. Be aware that these tutorials were authored by experienced curators, and meant to complement with more detail what was available on the help screens. They are not official; they are not mandatory; they are community content, meant to help, and come from experience.

Some of the terminology I use is illustrated in these projects also.

• Geni Start Here Basics - https://www.geni.com/projects/Geni-Start-Here-Basics/17603
• Geni Naming Conventions - https://www.geni.com/projects/Geni-naming-conventions/1357
• Geni naming conventions - data entry - https://www.geni.com/projects/Geni-naming-conventions-data-entry/4496394

From the "data entry" profile

Overview / About

The Overview/ About field should ideally have some information in it. This information can now be entered in different languages (See Add Language Tab)

• About Cleanup A great project with tips on creating and cleaning up the "About"
• This contains excellent information and shows how to format and include images into the About information https://www.geni.com/projects/Geni-Wikitext-Unicode-and-Images/8404

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Merge Guide Step by Step guidelines to merging duplicate profiles
https://www.geni.com/projects/User-Tutorial-Merge-Guide/35503

and How to merge profiles on Geni.com Video by Randol Schoenberg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DoJwfOB8UH0

So Private User

I am "not" really talking about (or frankly, very interested in) the technicalities of merging profiles. Merging is well covered.

What I am getting at is "best practices for Geni profiles." And that includes a narrative / biography / notes in the "about."

There are many acceptable ways to create biographies. But I am not going to curate a profile that does not include, in the "about" field, the minimum information, in text, of name, parents, spouse.

It doesn't matter whether it shows in the merge compare screen. There are too many bad merges undone every day on Geni, that could be avoided by following this very simple practice.