How do I proceed when a viable Record Hint displays !Detach !Detach !Detach ?

JohnErbes

I have finally gotten to the point where I am comfortable with FamilySearch, having created 324 people and attaching 1,788 sources.

However, I'm uneasy with how to proceed safely when I am presented with a Record Hint where the names, dates and places all match up really well but the source I'm reviewing is attached to other people with the same or slightly different names, and showing !Detach !Detach !Detach between the people on the record and the people from Family Tree.

Is there any guidance anywhere on how to proceed when this comes up?

Note: The particular example I've given below is not that good of a match, but I have come across other record hints (which I can't find at the moment) that are perfect matches that do need to be detached and repaired.

Julia Szent-Györgyi

In FS's data model, index entries are unique to a person, i.e. each indexed person is supposed to be identified with and attached to a single profile in the Tree. If such an attachment has already been made, but someone goes to make a different one, Source Linker yells about it, because in this data model, it means either that one (or both) of the attachments is incorrect, or that the person has duplicate profiles in the Tree.

How to proceed depends on which reason applies for Source Linker's unhappiness.

If the problem is that the indexed record has been attached in error to someone else, then you should detach it and then attach it to the correct person.

If the problem is that it's already attached to the correct person, then you should stop: don't attach sources to people just because the names are similar. Verify that it really is the same person or people before you proceed.

If the problem is that the correct person has a duplicate profile, then you should merge the duplicates.

CDBurk

@JohnErbes

Thank you so much for providing the screen shot that describes your concern. When you open the Source Linker because you want to attach a source to the ID of one of your ancestors, you may discover that the source has already been linked different ID numbers. This can signal a couple of issues you will want to investigate.

1) You may discover a Possible Duplicate for your ancestor that the system didn't recognize because there was not enough information for the system to find the duplicate.

2) You may discover that someone has attached a source to the wrong individual or even the wrong family.

How you handle this situation depends on your investigation of the record that the source is already attached to. As you hover your mouse over the Warning Triangle you will see the ID number for the record that the source is already linked to and you can go to that record to see the details about that individual. If the general data and family relationships you find through the new ID number appear to be your ancestors, you can merge your record with the one that exists using the Merge By ID option. Making the merge will eliminate the need to reattach the source because the source will automatically be moved to the surviving record as part of the merge.

https://www.familysearch.org/en/help/helpcenter/article/how-do-i-merge-duplicates-in-family-tree-by-id

Please check to see if the other individuals who show the Warning Triangles are also duplicates. Be sure you merge all of the duplication you can verify and this should eliminate the problem you are describing.

If you decide that someone has attached a source to the wrong individuals, you can detach them and move them to your ancestor's Sources as outlined in this additional article.

https://www.familysearch.org/en/help/helpcenter/article/how-do-i-move-sources-to-a-different-person-in-family-tree

I hope this information is helpful. As you work with sources, carefully review all of the sources that may be attached to your ancestors to be sure they do belong to your ancestors. Keep in mind that sometimes inexperienced users think that every Record Hint the system finds should be attached to your ancestor's ID, and this is not true. The system is designed to help you do your research, however, if you are vague about the vital information or family relationships for your deceased ancestors, the system can return hints that are not necessarily about your ancestor.

Thank you for your question, and best wishes as you review sources that you find are already linked to someone else in Family Tree.

Gordon Collett

If you hover over the warning triangle, there will be a little pop up that shows who the source is currently attached to. This will be either:

1) A duplicate of the person you want to attach the source to

or

2) A random person the source is incorrectly attached to.

or

3) A different person of similar name and circumstances to whom the source is correctly attached.

Then proceed correctly:

1) In the first case, evaluate and merge the duplicates.

2) In the second case, click Detach to remove the source from the incorrect person. Due to a recent bug, clicking detach in the source linker does not always work and you have to go to that other person's page and detach the source from his source page.

3) In the third case mark the hint as Not A Match.

In your particular case, hovering over the warning triangle shows:

So you will want to go Johann Jacob Stoll MTSB-D7K (you go jump right there by right clicking on the ID number to open him in a new tab or window) and see if this is your Johannes Stoll. Taking a very quick glance, I don't think it is and you are looking at the third scenario above and should mark this hint as Not A Match.

Julia Szent-Györgyi

I've thought of a fourth possible reason for Source Linker to be unhappy: if the relationships are incorrectly indexed.

Paul W

@JohnErbes

You have been provided with some excellent advice here. In summary, it is down to ones individual judgment, based on the overall evidence of whether the source belongs to "a" or "b". If in any doubt, leave things alone for the time being, perhaps adding a note against the source (and/or under Collaborate) expressing your doubts on the connection of the attachment to the individual to whom the source is currently attached.

If you do decide the source needs to be moved and have decided where (against which ID) it really needs to be attached, use the "Review Attachment" option (instead of immediately clicking on "Detach") - this enables you to move the source across to the "correct" ID in one, smooth operation.

Finally, make sure you remove any details, which have now become irrelevant to the ID from which you are detaching the source. For example, if you are detaching a census source, the Other Information section on the Person page will need to have the (no longer valid) "Residence" detail deleted - provide a reason statement of, say, "Does not apply to this John Smith". Otherwise, another user will come along and be completely confused by, the person seemingly being at two totally different locations in the same year! More obviously perhaps, make sure any non-applicable "Vitals" details are also removed (when established they apply to another person of similar identity). In other words, if you are removing an 1876 death source, make sure you delete the current data from the "Death" field, too - even if you do not have any other data to replace it with, for the time being. (I usually leave a reason statement like, "Incorrect death details removed - wrong John Smith. Currently searching for correct details applying to this person.")

Gail Swihart Watson

Yes, that detach is there in case you (or someone) made a mistake. I have used it when the family group male has 2 spouses, the particular source is to be linked to only ONE of the spouses, and I inadvertently attached it to the wrong spouse. It is nice to see the detach, then you can properly attach to the correct person.

KayStephens84

If you think of that detach as as "do you want to detach this person" it may be easier to deal with. Whatever you do, think about what is going to happen when this person is detached and how that can be fixed to show what is true.