How is it possible for someone to merge two people because of a GEDCOM file.
How is it possible for someone to merge two people because of a GEDCOM file. I have sources and and family records that show a certain person is part of my family tree. Someone merges my relative with a different person saying that they have a GEDCOM file and all links disappear.
Is there something that can be done to stop someone from merging two people "just because they want to"
Best Answers
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@Lee Bruegger The issue is with how a GEDCOM is uploaded and then integrated into the FSFT. It's supposed to be a step-by-step review of every person in the uploaded GEDCOM to assure that duplicates are not added and changes to existing profiles are not made without a careful check.
In practice, many upload the GEDCOM and "let 'er fly." I have spent many hours cleaning up the changes caused by uploads made by my cousins.
You will find a number of threads on the subject, including regular pleas to please STOP allowing the upload of GEDCOMs.
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This is an extremely important issue. Some people do not (or choose not to) realize this is a single family tree. They use GEDCOMs and their own (and others') family trees on Ancestry and MyHeritage to blow up well researched and sourced information about individuals in the FamilySearch Family Tree. It can take hours to restore the former profile(s) and then you have to sit back and wait to see if it will be blown up again. I'm about to give up on FSFT because of this issue [a second group of 17th century profiles has been blown up in just the last few days]. There needs to be more discipline. The answer is not locking down every person, but when the attitude is just "let 'er fly," you end up destroying someone's well-sourced work with unsourced information that another individual just believes is right. WikiTree has introduced discipline by having Profile Managers, Certifications and Honor Codes. They also have a Comments section on the main page of a profile. It promotes conversation. On FSFT, I've mostly had people completely ignore my messages and they sure never look at the Collaborate tab.
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Answers
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@Lee Bruegger you may be able to restore the profile; look in the change log for a RESTORE button before the improper changes.
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Could I add a little more detail on this? If there have been no changes since the merge, the merge will be listed at the top of the change log and you'll see an Unmerge option on the right side of the entry. When you click that, the profiles are unmerged and appear exactly as they did before the merge.
However, if any changes have been made since the merge, the Unmerge option won't be there. That's because the system can't tell who the new changes should belong to when the merge is undone.
In that case, you have to click on the name of the deleted person and navigate to their deleted profile page. On that page, you'll see a Restore Person option on the right. Click that option to restore the person deleted (archived) during the merge.
Here's the important diference between restoring a person and unmerging them. When you unmerge, both profiles go back the way they were before the merge. However, when you restore a person deleted by merge: 1) That person returns to their pre-merge state; 2) The surviving person stays as they are (including any incorrect vitals/sources). So usually, you'll have to clean that person up.
Hope that helps!
Kathryn
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2) The surviving person stays as they are (including any incorrect vitals/sources). So usually, you'll have to clean that person up.
Or you can restore that profile too.
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My antidote against GEDCOM clobbering is to standardize event dates and places on profiles in FSFT.
The rare repeat offenders I report to FS, because what they are doing is vandalism.
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So in other words there is nothing that can be done or FSFT choses to do nothing about the issue.
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