WeRelate.org

I was curious about anyone's experiences or impressions of using WeRelate.org. Haven't tried it yet. What do you think about the wiki aspect of it? Has it helped you any in your research? Would appreciate your comments.

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Permalink Reply by Mestephil on October 10, 2009 at 8:56pm

I have just started using WeRelate in recent history. Using a Wiki for genealogy is a lot of work I am finding out. I think the value in it is what you expect to get in return.

I was searching for something to focus some potential ancestor biographies as a repository along with images and sourcing as appropriate. So for me the Wiki seemed a good place.

What I found quickly is not to go loading a large GEDCOM file up as it just creates a lot pf pages that will need to be worked on. Each person has a page. Each family has a page. Each source has a page.... And each image has a page. For each page you fill in information and copyright status of images. You then link them accordingly. The writing of the biography would seem straight forward, but it is desired you cite your sources there as well. Getting the formatting correct is not always obvious, but once you figure things out it is only tedious but not mysterious.

I loaded one GEDCOM of my great-great-grandparents, their children and grand children. With the information I have to sort out, it will take me some time. When you upload a GEDCOM you must verify if a page for this person is present or not - it takes some time to accomplish this, thus my comment not to upload a large file. They recommend "fixing" your GEDCOM first, but honestly no matter how good the GEDCOM, the citations and images will be a lot of work.

The people behind the site want a unified family tree of the best information available. It has set a high bar of quality. My first task was to fill out a bare bones page that someone two years ago created with a large upload and never came back to detail out. I am using this as my starting point along with my meager upload. Here is a link to one of my person pages as an example:

http://www.werelate.org/wiki/Person:Ellen_Goff_%281%29

To be honest it is one of only 4 I have been working on so far.... and I feel I have more work to do.

I applaud the intent. I have great interest in it, but as one newbie proclaimed "I don't want to spend all my time re-doing my genealogy". I am empathetic to that comment. For me, I will set small goals and continue working on it as it fits part of my overall set of goals of preserving my family history. But for many, this is not a fast upload your GEDCOM and move on thing. The devil is in the details.

Bottom line for most genealogists Ancestry, RootsWeb, etc is a better choice. If you love the painstaking details and want a vehicle for some focused biographies where you can add value - or are seeking some value, this will be a good place.

I do close with noting that I see few references to the site out there. I wish some of the mainstream bloggers would comment on it.

Ken

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Permalink Reply by Nancy Hurley on October 10, 2009 at 10:27pm

Thanks Ken: I really do appreciate your feedback on WeRelate.org. I took a look at your Goff page and it is very impressive. Setting small goals sure seems like good advice. I can see how this could be a good way to work on special projects/people that we may want to put out there, maybe generating some input from unknown relatives who have some information to share. Again, thanks for giving me your reaction.