Merging Duplicates
When merging duplicates, there are two options: merge or not. I suggest a third option. When there is not enough info to be sure - mark it is "unsure" or "not enough info". That way it is not thrown out when it may indeed be a duplicate and it will not be merged at this time. Hopefully more info will be added someday that will allow a concise decision to be made.
Comments
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This has been suggested on a number of occasions, over a period of many years. I think its lack of implementation is connected with there being nowhere for the "unsures" to go. If they remain on the page, they would possibly be seen as causing clutter; if they disappeared from the page, their status would effectively be the same as if you had selected "not a match".
Are you suggesting to the developers that these hints should remain attached with a clear label, to warn other users (and yourself, for a later time) of further investigation being necessary before making another (or "final") decision on the likelihood of a match?
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@W Andrews , your suggestion could go a long way toward preventing incorrect merges, which are so prevalent in Family Tree.
@Paul W , you raise a good point about where "unsure" duplicate hints could go. What about on the Dismissed Hints tab, but they could be labeled "insufficient information" or something like that, instead of "not a match." That way, they would not show up as possible duplicates any more, but it would be fairly simple for users to view them.
Also, if someone tries to merge the two records anyway, maybe a warning could be displayed similar to the warning when someone tries to merge two records marked "not a match." Something like, "Another user has marked these two records as not having enough information to determine whether or not to merge." (Not these words, but this idea.)
I and others I know spend a huge amount of time repairing bad merges, so I would love to see better prevention. W Andrews' suggestion seems like it would help a lot.
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My vote: 3rd category; leaving it to come up again but with a WARNING: Not enough information. Then if they find additional information and add it, like I have, they can merge the two.
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Paul W; Yes to "Are you suggesting to the developers that these hints should remain attached with a clear label, to warn other users (and yourself, for a later time) of further investigation being necessary before making another (or "final") decision on the likelihood of a match?"
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No upvote from me. If you cannot decide, just back out and leave it. Clarity will come later.
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