Please make it possible to correct misinformation.
My tree on this web site is a nightmare. There are persons included to whom I am not related, and I am unable to delete them. Generations are skipped. Parents are listed as offspring. My grandfather's name is misspelled and I can't correct it. In short, this web site seriously misrepresents my family history in a way that greatly distresses me. I've done my best to state the facts as "Collaboration," but my corrective comments are not readily visible. Please, please do something that will make it possible for me either effectively to correct my listing in the database or else remove myself and my family from it. This is disgraceful!
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You speak of "Collaboration", which is the label on one part of FamilySearch's Family Tree, so your concurrent mentions of being unable to correct errors is perplexing: Family Tree is an open-edit "one world tree". Anyone should be able to edit anything on it, after signing in.
Perhaps you should read some of the instructions in the Family Tree section of the Help Center: https://www.familysearch.org/help/helpcenter/family-tree
If there is something that you don't know how to fix even after reading those instructions, you can ask here, and fellow users like me can try to help you figure it out.
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You are looking in Family Tree and not another portion of the website, right?
If so, then you can correct pretty much everything. Since you say your tree is a disgraceful mess, then I would suggest you develop a plan to fix it in an organized, systematic fashion. It may take you a few months, but it will be worth it.
Do you have your family in a personal database or on another online site? If so, I would suggest you print out a pedigree chart of about six generations to start with. Then start with your parents and go one block on the chart at a time. Make sure every bit of information on their details page is correct. Edit and add information as needed. Add sources. Remove sources that are not about them. Take care of all hints and possible duplicates by confirming them or marking them not-a match.
Then do the same for your grandparents and all their children, then for the next generation.
You can correct your grandfather's name, just click on the Edit link next to his name:
You can fix any relationship you need to by using the relationship edit icons which is located by each name in the Family Members section:
Just go slow, be thorough, and stay organized.
If this seems too overwhelming, give some specific examples here or go visit your local Family History Library and get in person help. You can locate your closest library here: https://www.familysearch.org/help/fhcenters/locations. Sometimes the worst messes in Family Tree are due to incorrect merges and if you have not worked much in Family Tree, I would suggest you get some competent help to teach you how to identify and reverse bad merges. Good luck in your efforts!
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@Gordon Collett Love your answer.
I use a separate Database and find it so useful to use the record hints in FamilySearch FamilyTree to help prove or disprove members of families. This is why I build my ancestral line on FamilySearch Family Tree. Make sure all names, dates and places are standardised for record hints to appear.
Another idea is to add as many sources as possible to prove the information. Its not a failproof way to stop incorrect data but less likely.
You are able to add a life Sketch as well as sometimes sources get overlooked.
You are also able to Follow people in your ancestral line and you will be notified if any changes are made.
More than happy to help you if you need.
😀
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My tree was a mess and full of misinformation but I was able to make corrections and get it straightened out. It did take a while and I know it is frustrating when people post information that you know to be untrue. I try to get in touch with people who have posted incorrect information but if I don't hear back I just go ahead and change it, especially if it was posted several years ago. I also check relationships. I feel that if I am a close relative and the person who is posting incorrect information is a 10th cousin or not related at all, I have more "skin in the game" as they say.
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Contrary view here.
I like that Family Tree does not limit content disputes and does not favor those with skin in the game. That helps to keep the focus of a content dispute where it belongs: on the content not on who the contributors may be or how they may be related.
Disputed content often means there is also disagreement about relationships in the tree. So amount of skin in the game also would be in dispute, if it mattered. Fortunately, it does not matter.
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Perhaps I worded myself badly. What I mean is that if I know something to be incorrect I will change it. That means that I have either sources to back up the change or I have personal knowledge that the information is incorrect. For example, recently someone added several children born in England to the family of a 2x great uncle that I know for a fact never left the state of Georgia. I sent a message to the person who had added the children and then I detached them.
On the flip side, if I have information that is contrary to what is listed, I will leave it as is if the person who posted it is a close relative and/or is able to cite their source.
Plus I have my own trees on Ancestry and on FamilyTree Maker as I realize that FamilySearch is a collaborative effort.
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@ShSarff, no worries. Although I borrowed your phrase skin in the game my response was to the thread as a whole, but especially @s10297588641's wish for suppression of content disputes.
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Hello @JamesGraf2,
You were wondering how to make your comments more visible to others who may be looking at your ancestor. @MiriamJoyce21 suggested you use the Life Sketch. These comments are visible right on the top of the Person Page without having to click on Collaboration.
- The life sketch is a story of the person's life. It can have up to 10,000 characters. To enter a life sketch, you must use the Family Tree on the FamilySearch.org website.
- We recommend that you type your life sketch into a word processing document first, then copy it into Family Tree. Otherwise your session may time out, and you may lose your work.
You can also just add a few comments.
Best Wishes!
1 - The life sketch is a story of the person's life. It can have up to 10,000 characters. To enter a life sketch, you must use the Family Tree on the FamilySearch.org website.
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I feel no one really cares to listen.
We do care and do listen. However, when it comes to personal opinion we all have the same right to an opinion. We also have many years of experience on Family Tree, and many of us have experience on other platforms as well.
I understand exactly what you want. I just don't agree that what you want would be a good thing. Years ago I would have wanted exactly what you want, but my experience on a platform with "overseers" taught me I do not want that here.
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