Consider adding ability to enter and display key data in a source.
Ever since the editing box has shown sources and information from indexed sources, I've been concerned that indexed information gets undo weight because information from them is shown right there in the View Data and Edit Data boxes:
Would it be possible to add to the user created source entry popup fields to transcribe key data, primarily vital information, that would display as appropriate when the source is tagged to the person's record? That is, for example, so that the user transcribed birth information would appear in the Birth View and Edit boxes when the source was tagged to the birth field? This should be entered just as straight text, no standardization or anything, and with a plea to enter it exactly as found in the record.
Something like this (not showing all the transcription fields):
that could then produce this:
This might prevent data being changed to match indexed information despite better quality non-indexed sources that may not even be available on FamilySearch just because the indexed information is visible and the best data is not.
Yes, people should check all the tagged and untagged sources to confirm information before doing any editing, but it is really tempting to just change the information when ten secondary indexed sources have the wrong information which gets displayed and only the one non-indexed, external source has the correct information which does not get displayed.
Comments
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I've never noticed those dates before. I think they're only available for some indexes: they're certainly missing from the source citations of the random forefather I chose to check. (Yes, that's an indexed source, for once.)
One problem I see is that the source-editing popup doesn't show the document. This means that putting transcription fields on it is essentially asking people to index blind or from memory. Yes, you could have the image open in another window, if you had sufficient screen real estate to fit it next to the popup, but it'd be a recipe for frustration and mistakes.
Also, it'd be nice to continue moving away from the "only Vitals can have sources" setup of the old person page.
I use the Notes field for transcriptions, on both indexed and unindexed sources, though more often on the latter than the former. Perhaps the idea could be simplified: instead of single-purpose transcription fields, show the first line or two of the Notes field? This could apply to every source in every edit popup, even in the Other Information section, reminding people that indexes aren't primary sources.
Of course, this would mean a lot of work editing citations for people like you who use the Notes/Description field for other things, but I think it'd be less work than filling in individual fields.
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My suggestion was only for user created sources, those that have the globe icon. If you are creating a source from a website external from FamilySearch, you have to have that external page open at the same time. To expand on my image, it would look like this:
I already have to have the page open to copy and paste the citation information and the two URL's that lead to the page so it would be easy to type in the information from the record while I am here.
Looking at your example that has no dates, I suspect that if you look at it you will see that the indexed record does not have any information labeled christening in it but just information labeled baptism (yes, another reason why changing what these events are called was a bad idea). Tagging only pulls the specific information for the specific Family Tree section. An indexed name only shows when tagged to the name. Indexed birth information only shows against the birth data.
For example, here are the same three sources in my first image and how they appear when tagged to Name:
Having the dedicated fields for specific pieces of information is what would allow globe-icon sources to show the same information as the tree-icon sources do.
How this could be incorporated for data in the Other Information section could get difficult. But I'm sure the programmers could think of something. Currently, sources tagged to other information do not have any specific information linked to the Other Information data, so nothing displays there even for indexed sources:
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