Help:Conventions

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WeRelate Conventions - A Style Guide

WeRelate has a number of conventions that contributors are encouraged to follow to make WeRelate:

  • more functional and thus more effective as a research database
  • more consistent and thus easier to read and understand
  • more focused and thus easier for readers to find relevant information
  • more pleasing to the eye so that the reader is not unnecessarily distracted

Quick references

What follows is a quick reference for each set of conventions, with links to further information.

Person names

The primary name is normally the name at birth (which means maiden name for women). Once a page is added, alternate names can be added for nicknames, alternate spellings, aliases, etc. Each name has up to 4 components: prefix, given name(s), surname and suffix; however, when adding a Person page, you can only enter the given name(s) and surname. Once the page is added, you can add a prefix and/or suffix.

For further information, see name conventions.

Dates

Enter dates in d mmm yyyy format - case doesn't matter. WeRelate automatically transforms any date it can interpret into d Mmm yyyy format (e.g., 4 Sep 1753). It supports standard GEDCOM modifiers (Bef, Aft, Bet/and, From/to, Cal, Abt, Est), which it automatically transforms to mixed case. Ambiguous numeric dates (e.g., 9/3/1876) aren't allowed. WeRelate supports dual dating - if you are entering dates prior to 1752 and aren't familiar with dual dating (d Mmm yyyy/yy), please read Month number and dual dating.

Proxy dates (e.g., christening date as proxy for birth date, or probate date as proxy for death date) should not be entered in the field that they are a proxy for, but should be entered as their own fact. When a christening or burial date is used as a proxy, do not enter a birth or death date that can be derived from the proxy (e.g., Bef christening date).

Source citations should give the date supported by the source in case the date in the date field is changed. If a non-trivial conversion is required, the source citation should include both the date as expressed in the source and the converted date (e.g., 6 (6) 66 [6 Aug 1666]).

For further information, see date conventions.

Person page titles

The person page title is formatted as "Person:Firstname Lastname (index number)", based on the person's primary name. It never includes middle name/initial, prefixes (such as Dr. or Capt.) or suffixes (such as Jr.). The index number is automatically generated by WeRelate, and should never be entered manually when renaming a page.

For further information, see Person page title conventions.

Family page titles

The family page title is formatted as "Family:HusbandFirstname HusbandLastname and WifeFirstname WifeLastname (index number)", based on the primary names of the husband and wife. It never includes middle name/initial, prefixes (such as Dr. or Capt.) or suffixes (such as Jr.). The index number is automatically generated by WeRelate, and should never be entered manually when renaming a page.

For further information, see Family page title conventions.

Source page titles

Source page titles are formatted depending on the nature of the source.

  • Government and church records are titled Source:PlaceCovered. RecordCollectionName
  • Newspapers are titled Source:NewspaperName (PlaceIssued)
  • Periodicals are titled Source:PeriodicalName (Publisher)
  • Other sources with an author are titled Source:AuthorSurname, AuthorGivenName. SourceTitle
  • Other sources without an author are titled Source:SourceTitle

Articles (such as "a" and "the") at the beginning of a SourceTitle are excluded. If a source has both a title and a subtitle, the subtitle is excluded from the page title.

For further information, see Source page title conventions.

Place page titles

Place page titles are constructed from the smallest jurisdiction (e.g., city or cemetery) to the largest jurisdiction (country). The type of jurisdiction (e.g., "Township" or "County") is normally excluded, but is included in parentheses when necessary for disambiguation. For cities in the United States, the name follows the pattern "City, County, State, United States" (township is excluded).

For further information, see Place page title conventions.