Help:Adopt-a-page

What is page adoption?
Societies, archives, or other family history organizations who wish to adopt a page will have their society logo and links to their society web page prominently featured on the page they adopt. You can see an example of what an adopted page might look like here. They will be able to adopt no more than 3 pages at a time. After a one month probation period, organizations may adopt additional pages (only three per month). After a year, organizations must renew.

As of 2014, individuals will be allowed to adopt a single available page on the wiki. Their background in research and knowledge of that area will be vetted prior to allowing them to adopt the requested page. Initially, they may adopt only one page. Once an individual has maintained their adopted page in good standing for a period of 6 months, they may apply to adopt a second wiki page.

What does my society/organization have to do?
While anyone can contribute to any page in the wiki, societies/organizations who adopt a page provide oversight to ensure that the content on that page is a) comprehensive and b) accurate. They:


 * Add information and links to other resources that might be missing.
 * Correct any information that may be wrong.
 * Organize or lead wikiprojects (optional).

An individual is asked to add information and links to other resources that might be missing and to remove any data that they can verify to be wrong.


 * Caution: The accuracy of the page reflects on the society/organization or individual that has adopted the page.

How can adopting a wiki page benefit my society/organization?
The FamilySearch Wiki will help millions of people doing genealogical research each year. By adopting a page your society can. ..


 * Provide a place for your members and others to share what they know with others who are doing research in your area (we all know something that can help someone else).
 * Improve conclusions reached by others by providing them with the most accurate information and methodology for your area.
 * Create awareness (and ideally new members) for your society, your resources, and specializations.
 * Drive additional traffic to your society’s website. (The FamilySearch Wiki has over 1 million page views every day!)

Requirements for Adopting
We ask that those that wish to adopt a Wiki page first become a Wiki editor for a period of 3 months and at least 12 significant edits before making an official request. This is for vetting purposes.

Ready to adopt a wiki page now? It's easy . ..

 * 1) Select the page in the FamilySearch Wiki that you'd like to adopt. At this time, page adoptions are accepted on a first come, first served basis. Also, at this time, only one society or organization is allowed to adopt any given page.
 * 2) Once your organization has selected a page you want to adopt, email a completed page adoption form.
 * 3) Please submit the following information to allow us to evaluate and process your request:
 * 4) *Contact information: The name and email address of the primary contact whom we can contact with any questions about the content on the page that you’d like to adopt. We also recommend providing at least one additional contact name.
 * 5) *Logo: A thumbnail-sized logo for your society/organization that you’d like to appear on your adoption sign (please submit your file in one of the following formats: .png, .jpg or .gif). This is not necessary for an individual, but if you would like to use an appropriate logo, you may submit one.
 * 6) *Adoption Sign Wording: The sign will read: “This page adopted by [the organization name] and its members.” Let us know if you have any concerns with that wording.
 * 7) *Link to your website: Wiki users who click on your adoption sign will be re-directed to the URL you provide us. There will be no links on the adoption sign of an individual adopter.
 * 8) *Page you'd like to adopt: Identify the specific wiki page you’d like to adopt.
 * 9) *Username: The wiki username of the main contact person for the adoption. (If you haven't created one yet, click Sign In in the upper right hand corner and it will walk you through the registration process.)
 * 10) *Adopter Program Orientation Availability: Share with us some general days of the week and general times that might work well for your organization's contact person to meet with us for a one hour Adopter Program Orientation online. An adopter must attend an orientation before officially becoming an adopter.
 * 11) We will notify you when your adoption has been approved, and your adoption sign is ready. We will place it on the page you adopt.

Other frequently asked questions . ..

 * Q. Wait, is this not a wiki? Can’t anyone add content to a page in the wiki?
 * A. Yes! Anyone can add content to any page in the wiki; however, page adoptors help to ensure that the content that gets added is accurate, complete, contains links that are updated, etc. Even though someone has adopted a page, it does not mean you should not contribute what you know about that area.


 * Q. Can anyone adopt a page?
 * A. Anyone can add content to a page and watch that page for updates. Any wiki user in good standing can adopt a single page provided they have a proven background in research of that area.


 * Q. Can my organization adopt more than one page?
 * A. Yes! Your organization can initially adopt up to three pages, provided that the page hasn't already been adopted by another organization. Page adoptions are accepted on a first come, first served basis. Also, at this time, only one society or organization is allowed to adopt any given page. Please be aware that pages may be adopted by more than one organization in the future.


 * Q. I’ve adopted a page. Do I have to “police” and check the page every time a change is made?
 * A. No. We encourage you to check the page on a regular basis to ensure that the latest information is as up-to-date and accurate as possible so as to benefit others who may be doing research in your area. That said, it’s not necessary to review every change made to the page by others as community members at large can also correct inaccuracies as they are recognized.


 * Q. I want to know how many people are coming to a particular page (so that I can get a sense of which page(s) I want to adopt and/or know how much referral traffic might come to my site).
 * A. The page view count can be seen at the bottom of each page.


 * Q. Help! I have more questions that were not answered here.
 * A. You can contact Send Message for additional help.

Now that you have adopted . ..
Getting Started The first steps to getting established.

Quick Start Links List of links to Help pages you will need to get started editing your pages.

Developing a U.S. County Page Resource suggestions for the topics on county pages.

The fine print . ..
The Adopt-a-Wiki Page program has been created by FamilySearch for the benefit of societies, organizations and patrons of the FamilySearch.org Research Wiki Adopt-a-page was created so that societies can partner with FamilySearch to more rapidly improve the content within a genealogy knowledge domain. The Adopt-a-Wiki Page program operates in accordance with the existing FamilySearch Wiki policies and guidelines unless specifically stated otherwise in this disclaimer. FamilySearch reserves the right to modify or discontinue the program and/or its terms at any time without notice. Page adopters/sponsors may be removed or changed at any time at FamilySearch's sole discretion without cause or notice. Page adoption/sponsorship does not constitute a contract, either written or implied, between FamilySearch and any other organization or individual. All contributions made by page adopters/sponsors are done on a strictly volunteer basis.

© 2010 by Intellectual Reserve, Inc.

Page adoption sign example