FS App: provide easier way to change dates in person's record from source record

LegacyUser

Wayne Collens said: FS app: provide an arrow to change the birth dates and death dates from the source record to the person's record so we don't have to click the edit pencil then manually type the change. Many times the birth date is only the year and the Find a Grave source record will provide the complete date. Death dates have to be manually entered even when blank.

LegacyUser

Jeff Wiseman said: Welcome to the FamilySearch Forum on GetSatisfaction.com!

Most of the time, the full dates that shows up in the Find a Grave index are totally unsourced. If those full dates don't show up on the headstone itself, they cannot be trusted. They are just one person's unproven opinion and need real sources to be used. Those numbers that magically show up on find a grave memorials usually cannot be proven from evidence in the memorial.

Even though they are in the index, I will almost NEVER copy those dates over if they do not show up on the headstone or any attached sources. About the only data that you can properly use from those memorials is whatever can be read from the headstone and the location of the headstone. Everything else can provide clues but none of them can be considered facts.

LegacyUser

Heather McPhie said: Caution needs to be used when providing dates directly from sources. Currently, the computer makes suggestions of possible matches, but many patrons don't understand that those are just suggestions, and not infallible matches. Amateur patrons frequently attach incorrect sources to a record. Allowing them to overwrite the original data using these incorrect sources would be a mistake.

LegacyUser

Wayne Collens said: thanks for the reply Heather and I understand that reasoning re: amateur.
Would you consider making this an OPTION IF there is NO date in the current record
e.g. sometimes there is a location but no date or quite often there is a year only and the source record contains additional data (day/month)
Being a retired computer specialist this is some minor additional programming.
Just a thought and I love the new app user interface

LegacyUser

Jeff Wiseman said: Yes. Nothing should be automatically replaced. If the value is changed for any reason, that reason needs to be documented for that change that is made.

LegacyUser

Tom Huber said: If the equivalent field is empty (both date and place are missing) and if the record is a primary source for the event, then the option to add that information is provided.

But if there is a partial date and/or location, then the option is not provided. That's to prevent the problem that is associated with inexperienced users. One of the reasons behind not providing the option in the source linker as it existed prior to any recent changes) is to allow the user who is adding the source to read all of the details surrounding the event that may appear in the reason statement.

For instance, this appears with respect to a birth date

Note that this is the best we can conclude with regard to Pieter's birth and place. Both conclusions are based upon what we know and not upon any established source information.

The exact date is not known, but strong circumstantial evidence suggests that Pieter came from an area/estate called Wykhof located about six miles south of Norden. The standard now provides only the Holy Roman Empire for this time period.

As to his year of birth, he was decidedly an older teenager when he arrived, but not twelve as has been speculated and repeated by many histories. He earned a man's wages and would not have been able to do that if he had been a pre-teenager.

. Unfortunately far too many people make a change to the birth date/place without comprehending was is in the reason statement.