FamilySearch Wiki:WikiProject Utah Hows

This is the overview for how to do the various assignments. To allow us to proceed without impacting other Wiki users, these instructions will be done under WikiProject Utah. We will also look through the help: areas to see what is already there. Hopefully, this will keep progress moving forward and will impact other projects from this time.AdkinsWH 18:44, 6 July 2011 (UTC) per decision with Marilyn Markham and Patsy Hendrickson.

Bulleted or Numbered Lists

 * 1) Click the Edit tab under the FamilySearch logo. (Upper left.)
 * 2) In the Edit window, put the cursor where you want to start the bulleted or numbered list.
 * 3) On the menu bar (top of the Edit window), click the icon for either the bulleted or numbered list. The first bullet or number will appear.
 * 4) Type what you want after the first bullet or number.
 * 5) Press the Enter key, and the next line will also be bulleted or numbered.
 * 6) To get rid of a bullet or number you don't need, simply backspace over it.



Bold, italics, or underline
When you are adding new text:


 * 1) Click the Edit tab under the FamilySearch logo. (Upper left.)
 * 2) Click the appropriate icon (B,I or U ) on the menu bar.
 * 3) Type what you want.
 * 4) Click the icon again to turn bold, italics or underline off.

For existing text:


 * 1) In Edit window, highlight the text.
 * 2) Click the appropriate icon (B,I or U ).

Copying and Pasting
To copy words on the same page:


 * 1) Click theEdit tab under the FamilySearch logo. (Upper left.)
 * 2) Highlight what you want to copy.
 * 3) Then do one of the following:


 * -Click the Ctrl and c keys at the same time,
 * -Click the right button on your mouse, and on the menu that appears, click Copy.


 * 1) Put the cursor where you want to paste the copied words.
 * 2) Then do one of the following:


 * -Click the Ctrl and v keys at the same time,
 * -Click the right button on your mouse, and on the menu that appears, click Paste.

Copying tables

Mention copyright.

Describe the Link
Please describe the link by telling users:


 * 1) Which site or wiki page they are linking to
 * 2) The type of record
 * 3) Dates included (for most records) or date of transcription (for a cemetery).
 * 4) The contents: index, images, or both.
 * 5) Costs: Simply use dollar signs "$" or "Free."
 * 6) Coverage: Who does it include or exclude? For example, a record may only include males between the ages of 16 and 45 or only landowners.
 * 7) Completeness: Does it appear to be the results of a project, such as transcribing the entire [cemetery or other record], or does it seem family submitted?
 * 8) A transcription of a record or cemetery may be quite complete, whereas family-submitted items are variable.
 * 9) You might say, for example "Only three entries. May be a small family cemetery." OR "Only three entries. May not be complete."

Don't mislead the Wiki user by giving false expectations. See Linking to Context for some additional points.

Examples of informative links:


 * World War II (1941–1945) army enlistments at the county GenWeb site has about 400 entries, mostly from Beaver and Salt Lake Counties. Key at end of list explains codes and columns. Gives year and state of birth. Free.
 * 1904 deaths This county GenWeb site contains about 45 entries which are user submitted. (May not be complete). Click on an entry to see details transcribed from state death certificates. Free.

The above links consist of:


 * 1) The link itself — to the exact location on the website for this topic.
 * 2) The name of the link — which tells the user what they are linking to.
 * 3) The ID of the site, such as, "county GenWeb site" or "Marriott Library Digital Collection"
 * 4) A link to the main page of that county-level site. (Applies to GenWebs or other sites with a state-level, county-by-county site.
 * 5) Description to help the user decide to click or not — Years included (in this case, the years are in the name of the link); approx # entries; what information is given in each entry; how to find column/code interpretations; other information the user needs.
 * 6) Cost: Free or $.

Guidelines for Including Links (or Not)
The purpose of the FamilySearch Wiki is to help users by giving them knowledge about records and methods for genealogy and family history. We need to include enough to really help.

It is NOT the Wiki's purpose to link to every website or publication that exists. That would overwhelm and clutter the Wiki and would bury – rather than highlight – important and relevant items.

The following suggestions are to help you decide whether to add a particular link or not. Consider the value to the Wiki user, the locality or subject, and the item you are linking to. See the Discussion Page for suggestions.

Value to the Wiki user: These questions may help you determine a site's value:


 * If this were where your ancestors lived, would you want the link?
 * Will it help most users for that place or topic, or only a few?
 * Completeness – do the entries appear to be a complete transcription or piece-meal submissions by families?
 * Coverage – for this place/topic [to finishAdkinsWH]]
 * Size – will a small number of entries give enough value to merit the effort of creating the link? In a place with low population? In a place with high population?
 * Value added. Does it add value or simply duplicate information from other sites?
 * Example: Beaver County Death Records for 1904 duplicates information given in the State death certificates online. The value added is the focus on Beaver County deaths for that year.
 * What if Some cemeteries only have 3 "residents." Solution: link to the section on that site for cemeteries, rather than to individual cemeteries.
 * How hard was it to find the link? Is it easily found or obscure?
 * How many other links are already under this topic heading? (Avoid cluttering the Wiki.)
 * What is the relative importance of this link, as compared to others under the same topic heading?
 * Try to put those of most value high on the list.
 * Put smaller # entries lower on the list.
 * It is an unusual resource? Might it spur ideas for finding such resources for other places?


 * Focus on a group? Church, minority, ethinic, occupational groups, for example.

Locality or Subject

Consider the place (population, remoteness, importance in history, migration, etc.) Consider the time period

The Website


 * It should contain no inappropriate words or images. (WA: Link to where this is explained in the Wiki)
 * If most of the content is piece-meal submissions, perhaps we can tell people to search for more information at that site, rather than create links to small databases. Should it caution them not to get too excited?

If the county has a lot of resources, we would not do one with only 3. Guidelines: time of making the link, value to the user, importance in relation to other sources. You make the choice, but explain to the user. This item led to a discussion about how many entries a record needed to have before it should be added to wiki. Many times GenWeb has only a few images someone has entered for their family. Should everything there be noted? We determined that the number would vary accorsing to: or was it misleading, making someone believe there was more info available than there was?

How to create a link
There are two things you need to create a link:


 * The starting place, or where you want to put the link.
 * The destination, or where you want to send the user.

Steps for making a link:


 * (Click to see a video demo for most of this process.)

 If interested, see Using WikiText to create internal or external links.

Links To Family History Library Catalog (FHLC) entries
Link to the FHLC are done differently from other external links, since FamilySearch needs the ability to make small changes to it's site without affecting any of the associated Wiki links.

Here's what you do:

Images
How to find an image

Make sure it is not under copyright

How to upload it

Categorize the image

Include it on a page.

Citing Your Sources
People want to know where information came from. When you add information from another person, from a website, or from a published source, please create a reference.

Here's how:


 * 1) In Edit mode, click the Insert/Edit icon.
 * 2) Type the reference
 * 3) Click OK.

Categorizing

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