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Using Wikitree

Morris Dancer

Morris Dancer

New Member
I've just started to use Wikitree which is a free site and is part of a worldwide tree.
It takes ages just to add one ancestor but I'm hoping that it might knock down some of my brick walls so I'm adding as many ancestors as I can, but it is a slow process. It is good the you have to prove sources which each ancestor you add. Has anyone one else used it if so what do you think of it?
 
Thanks Pauline, I've just read through some of that thread and I agree with most of it and I am worried about people changing my research yet want to give it a try to see what it throws up. The people seem to be mostly American. I will only add my direct line and some people who are my brick walls to see how that goes.
 
No harm in giving it a try, and as you say, it is free. Just be aware, that despite what they say about sources, Wikitree is no different from any other online tree sites - there’s the good, the bad and the fantasy!
 
Wikitree is by far my favourite genealogical site. I would highly recommend joining the Wikitree England Project, and taking part in their Orphan Trail (OT1 - OT3). I've done oT1 and 2. (You can do this after you've made 100 profiles.) You will meet hundreds of likeminded people there who can collaborate with, be coached and helped by.

Writing profiles can seem daunting at first, but there are a number of tools which make it extremely easy, most notable Wikitree Browser Extension and Wikitree Sourcer, with are both browser extensions for all the big browsers.

Wikitree Sourcer works like magic. You can be on Wikitree, FMP, MyHeritage, Familysearch. Ancestry, GRO, FreeBMD or any big website, and click it, and instantly select another website for you to search the same person on, without having to enter the details again. You can then make an instant source citation using it that you can paste onto Wikitree. It will also write an instant bio for you to paste there! And it will also copy details from an entire profile from Ancestry, fFamilySearch or FMP and paste it straight into the fields in the Wikitree page.

Here are some screenshots of Wikitree Sourcer and Wikitree Browser Extension at work, showing how to copy a profile across from Ancestry.

https://i.ibb.co/DgtxMgR2/Screenshot-1.png
https://i.ibb.co/MyxvjXDS/Screenshot-2.png
https://i.ibb.co/6Jpwh8tN/Screenshot-3.png
https://i.ibb.co/Fb3Cj2gw/Screenshot-4.png
https://i.ibb.co/9mGkkMR3/Screenshot-5.png

Screenshot 1 - On Ancestry Facts page, select "save person data" in Wikitree Sourcer.
Screenshot 2 - On a new blank profile page on Wikitree, select "set fields from person data for..." in Wikitree sourcer.
Screenshot 3 - This will set all the fields and write a VERY basic profile, which you can use if you want. However I then use Wikitree Browser Extension as it writes better profiles and sets auto location categories. CLICK CONTINUE.
OPTIONAL
Screenshot 4 - If Wikitree Browser Extension is set up right you'll see buttons for Sources, Templates, Categories, Biography and Misc. CLICK BIOGRAPHY, and choose "Auto Bio" from the dropdown list.
Screenshot 5 - This is what you'll end up with. Still basic but better than before. Add your sources using Wikitree Sourcer, and then manually delete the "Unsourced" categories at the top. Also click "Delete old bio".

Voila, almost instant profile!!!

I'm only touching the surface of what these tools can do. More examples are, transcribe a whole Census Record, and copy a pleasing table of the whole family across to Wikitree in a few seconds. Find every child of a family from the GRO Index using their parent's details, INSTANTLY, without having to go through the GRO index a couple of years at a time. The same thing using FreeBMD (covers years the GRO Index doesn't cover). Search instantly for records at FindAGrave and BillionGraves. Search obscure websites and Australian, Canadian and American sources for example Trove.

Even if you don't use Wikitree, it's really useful to use Sourcer to cross reference, cannot really cannot recommend it more highly!!!

I recently introduced my 2nd cousin to it, he uses Ancestry. Here is his response. "I seriously love it much more than Ancestry, I only come back here (Ancestry) as it's quite easy to find new connections, but for a more evidence based approach on my direct ancestors, I really love wikitree."

But yes, overall, you can see I really find Wikitree and it's amazing tools the absolute king of genealogy websites now!

Paul
 
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