Standardized dates and places

LegacyUser

Tom Huber said: Just as a follow up, the problem was with the API, which now appears to have been fixed. I just completed a transfer of data and all worked as intended.

LegacyUser

Wayland said: Display of standardized places and dates is inconsistent. For places, a symbol is displayed on the person page when the place is a standard place for all places except the marriage place. When you edit the couple relationship, the place is displayed with a symbol if standard. For dates, there is no symbol displayed on the person page. The only display of the symbol is on the edit pages.

Suggest this be made consistent by displaying the symbol for standard on all dates and places on the person page. Since it is important to have standardized dates and places, displaying the symbol on the person page makes it an easy check.

LegacyUser

Wayland said: Another option for displaying the symbol for standardized places is to do it by exception. For example, on the person page there is displayed a data problem symbol when the marriage place is not standard. This same thing could be done for all dates and places on the person page. This would serve the purpose of a quick check and yet not clutter the display on the person page. This approach may have some problems since it is possible to have a standard place and date on the edit pages but display something different on the person page.

LegacyUser

Gordon Collett said: The trouble is that the map pin does not mean that a place is standardized or not. It only means that the displayed name shown is the same as the standardized version it is linked to. Another way to say this, is that if a map pin is present, that precise location will be shown on the timeline map but if a map pin is not present, either that location will be shown or a larger, less precise location will be shown.

For example:

(Pin) Bozeman, Gallitin, Montana, United States will have a pin on that timelime map at Bozeman, Gallitin, Montana, United States.

(No Pin) Bozeman, Gallitin, Montana, United States may map at Bozeman, Gallitin, Montana, United States or it may map at Gallitin, Montana, United States; Montana, United States; or even just United States.

It all depends on which standard is available in the database to link to the display name. In fact, Bozeman, Gallitin, Montana, United States without a pin showing could even show on the timeline map as Marbury, Autauga, Alabama, United States if someone really fouled up standardizing it:



So don't worry about map pins showing whether things are standardized or not because FamilySeach has taken the route of your second option, that of exception. All places on the page get the red exclamation point if they are not standardized as shown here in this example from the beta site. Here, none of these place names are standardized:



Here, all of these place names are correctly standardized:



I am overdoing my explanation a bit because I can't stress enough that it is so important to understand that while our goal should be to get every place name standardized, out goal must not be to get every place name showing a map pin because if we insist on a map pin that will defeat the goal of having every place name as accurate as possible by using the historically correct place name which the standard may not use or by including additional information such as a street address which the standard will never use.

To summarize: Every displayed place name must be linked to a standard (that is, must not have a red exclamation point) but many place names will not be the same as that standard (that is, can not have a map pin).

Regarding dates, they will also show the red exclamation point if they are not standardized, but recent programming changes have made it nearly impossible to enter a date and not have it end up standardized.

For example, if I manage to enter a date like this:



After saving I don't have a red exclamation point although it should:

LegacyUser

Adrian Bruce said: As Gordon indicates below, the pin symbol isn't at all useful. Its absence does not mean that the place isn't standardized. The red exclamation mark means that it's not standardized. Absence of a pin simply means that the display name is not the same as the standardized name - which might be because I've "decorated" the standard name by adding a house address on front of the standard place name. That's exactly what the dual display and standard name is there for.

We have asked that the pin symbol be removed as many people, in the absence of clear instructions, assume its absence is "bad". It isn't. The exclamation mark is the "bad" situation.

LegacyUser

Wayland said: Gordon I have some more comments about date and place but need to show some screenshots. Can't figure out how to add a screenshot. Can you tell me how to add a screen shot. Thanks

LegacyUser

Gordon Collett said:

(The past few days the getsatisfaction upload system has been freezing and I've had to cancel the upload and try again several times but it has eventually worked.)

LegacyUser

Wayland said: Gordon Thanks for the reply on adding screen shots. My view does not have a "Reply to this Topic" selection and therefore no add image box. On my view is says "Edit Your Reply (some HTML allowed)" but is not an active prompt. Down where the image box shows it has the words "Add Image" but no active box since I don't have a "Reply to this Topic" selection. I wish I could send you a screenshot. Is there a setting I need or authorization to post screenshots. Also I couldn't tell if you were suggesting a new topic for date and place or was that part of your post on attaching screenshots. I will be glad to start a new topic. Thanks for your help.

LegacyUser

gasmodels said: Wayland go to the very bottom of the thread after all entries and you should see a box with the -- Reply to this topic--- as a header and an Add Image in the lower right. You do get the image if you are in a comment linked thread.

LegacyUser

Gordon Collett said: Wayland, I meant that you probably should create a brand new topic since this one is old and quite outdated. Also, it is getting pretty long to scroll through.

I have no idea why your "add image" box is inactive. What device are you using to access this site? What operating system and version? What browser and version?

LegacyUser

Wayland said: Gasmodel I see the box with the header Reply to this Topic as the header, in that is the box I am typing in now. But the Reply to this topic is not active and there is no
active add image box at the lower left

LegacyUser

Gordon Collett said: Also, do you have some type of pop-up window blocker running?

LegacyUser

Wayland said: Gordon I am using a desktop, windows 10, chrome version 83.0.4103.116 which is the latest version. Windows 10 is at version 1909 which is also the latest.

LegacyUser

Wayland said: No I checked on pop up blocker. But even if I did, I think that would come in when I click on Reply to this Topic but this prompt is not active. I just went to firefox and there I can load images. go figure. I will start a new topic later on and post some images. Thanks for all your help.

LegacyUser

Adrian Bruce said: "Reply to this Topic" is just a label - you don't click on the phrase "Reply to this Topic", you enter text in the box immediately under it, then hit the Reply button beneath.

Also, "Add Image" isn't a button or a link - it's the icon immediately to the right of the phrase "Add Image" that's the button to press (see where Gordon's arrow points to)

Apologies if you knew all that already....

LegacyUser

Wayland said: Thanks Adrian - Thanks, yes I knew this but my problem was that the icon to the right of "Add Image" was not there. I traced it down to an ad blocker I have running on a Pi-hole. Seems like sometimes it blocks more than ads. Thanks for you help

LegacyUser

Wayland said: I should have said a Pi-hole ad blocker running on a raspberry

LegacyUser

Gordon Collett said: Glad you tracked down the problem. Looking forward to your comments on standards.

LegacyUser

Adrian Bruce said: Ah - glad you sorted it, Wayland. I don't do anything as sophisticated as that but I have had issues with browser add-ons myself that have manifested themselves in ways that were not obvious.

LegacyUser

Wayland said: thanks for all your help and comments. As suggested by Gordon, I started a new Topic for Standardized Dates and Places. Add attaching images worked. Thanks so much.