Nicknames and alternate names
When a record is identified that uses a nickname or alternate name of an individual, it would be nice if that alternate name/nickname would save automatically to the alternate or nickname dropdown at the same time the record is also being saved to the person and appears in the source box. It would save a step and ensure that the alternate name is saved in a convenient spot.
Example: Proper maiden name is Susan Smith, record identifies her as Suzie Smith or even Suzie Jones when she is listed with her spouse, etc. An adjustment to the software might be possible to include these variations. Thanks.
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I get worried about FS software doing automatic actions when there are multiple possible answers.
"When a record is identified that uses a nickname or alternate name of an individual..."
The problem is that while it might very well be a nickname or alternate name, it also could be an incorrect indexing / transcription. Or it could be a faithfully transcribed record of an error in the original. It requires a bit of thinking through, so I really wouldn't want the new value automatically put into the suggested nickname or alternate name. You could say, quite correctly, that if the thinking through says that it shouldn't have gone into that spot, then it can be removed. My concern would be that people are reluctant to remove something that the computer has put somewhere, so we'd be worse off.
The classic case for this is my Grandpa, who is in his school records as "John". But he wasn't. He was registered as "Jack" and officialdom has simply assumed that the reference to "Jack" must refer to a nickname so they've put the "correct" (not!) name of "John" into his school record.
Since I set him up in FS FT as "Jack", if the computer put "John" into his Alternate Name, there's every possibility that whoever was attaching his school record would have just gone with the suggested flow and entered "John" as his Alternate Name - incorrectly.
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Like Adrian Bruce, I'm leery of anything done automatically by or on FamilySearch, but perhaps the idea doesn't necessarily need to involve automation: it could be an option in Source Linker that if the indexed name doesn't exactly match the name it's being attached to in Family Tree, the indexed version could be "moved over" into an alternate name, same as how you can (optionally) add a residence from a census.
It still wouldn't be ideal, because as Adrian pointed out, indexes are full of errors of various sorts, and people have a tendency to take everything at face value. ("The computer said so, it must be true.") Just yesterday I attached sources that misindexed Johanna as Jahanna, Ratz as Katz, and Hermina as Aleumna (!). Yes, I could correct these particular indexes (and did so before attaching them), but when I work on my ancestors in places that are now in Slovakia, those indexes are not correctable. I wouldn't want to be offered those errors as alternate names, and more importantly, I would not want those errors offered as alternate names to users who are inexperienced or rushed or something that cannot be described so charitably.
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