There's a glitch in the matching program that matches Wikitree with Family Search profiles. Current
The record I discovered the glitch by is through working on the Wikitree profie for Vlasta Sue Kovar and matching the FS profile in question. IN FACT, the matching hints for Family Search side are totally blank in the Parents category, but I caught this ISSUE that should be fixed, because I am the one who developed this FS profile for Vlasta Sue Kovar, so I knew there was parent information for her on FS. So I ran over there to see how it could be possible that I never linked Vlasta to her dad and mom, TA Kovar and Frances Elsik, BUT HER PARENTS WERE ON THERE. But the app or matching program didn't pick them up except for the Wikitree profile. So that is a big glitch in the matching program that needs to be fixed. Because that wipes out one whole category like Parents when you only see only half of the two sites; you need both Wikitree and FS to match up. Having just one means you cannot match it to the other. Having half the picture, either the WT or the FS data, is as good as none and without two halves, you can't use that category, so instead of having 4 categories to match, you only have 3, when that glitch happens. Missing a category is missing 25% of the matching you look at.
In this real example, the Wikitree - Family Search matcher picked up all the correct data points in birth and death categories, BUT ONLY picked up her parents from Wikitree BUT NOT her parents from Family Search.
On the matching program, the top data is Wikitree's; the lower one is Family Search and you can see the FS code under her name. While I wrote "These are ON her FS profile, you can see that the matching program indicates there is NO parental info on her FS profile.
All this time I've been using this tool, I assumed if either one does NOT have any data in the matching block, that it just isn't there on either Wikitree or Family Search, thinking that the matching program doesn't show it because there is nothing there to show. BUT NOW this is strong evidence that the "matcher" is FAILING to pick up information from Family Search and wrongfully not displaying it.
Here, I'm using the matching program, by having logged in to both Wikitree and Family Search. I entered it from the Wikitree website, at the top, using Find, then FamilySearch Matches. You see the two website's data and it appears there is nothing on Family Search so that one is blank. But that is an incorrect assumption. Below this image I have placed the Family Search image from Vlasta's profile showing her parents. And they have been on there for years.
Next, below here is Vlasta's profile on Family Search and it clearly shows the exact same mom and dad as the one on Wikitree. That's like one whole category rendered useless, right? That's 25% of the matching criteria. But this data here is not showing up in the matching results. Since it's automated, it's going to have this same problem for every single user using that matching program, and that means so many people are thinking there's not a match or need that to prove there is a match, to meet the minimum to prove it, when in fact, it is a perfect match. So I'm bringing this to your attention for EVERYBODY. And to provide positive feedback you can act upon that is clear and concise. Good luck fixing this. I imagine first the programmers need to figure out why it is skipping the data in Family Search's Parents category, and then go from there.
Here is her FamilySearch profile showing the same PID code and showing that her parental info is indeed there. So somehow the matcher program glitch did not pick that up.
Anyway, let me say this, that I really am enjoying the matching program, even with this glitch, that I am certain your guys will figure out. Congratulations on creating this app. Minor glitches or big ones, are to be expected or at least prepared for. I find it very exciting to connect all the profiles I have managed on both sites, WT and FS. I cannot express that enough. Great job. It's really going to have an increasing positive effect on the membership in both sites and all involved.
Best regards,
Greg Newman
Answers
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You need to post this in WikiTree's G2G forum, because the "FS Matches" application is written and maintained by a user there. FS doesn't have anything to do with it beyond providing the data from their end.
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That said.... It may not be a glitch, just outdated data: I'm running FS Matches right now (after not having done so for over a year), and it just offered me a profile that I merged away last April.
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