Talk:WeRelate Crowdsourcing Challenge

Give Points for Images [5 December 2012]

Appropriate and copyright unencumbered images should earn points. More if the image supports a fact, but still points if the image has biographical significance. --jrm03063 12:17, 30 October 2012 (EDT)

Yes, we will give points for photographs. The problem has been photographs are rare. So we don't see too many. But, yes, they are very important! --cthrnvl 15:26, 5 December 2012 (EST)

Could we have some people from our side of the Atlantic ? [8 December 2012]

Hi Would it be possible to open the contest up more. More Europeans please Thanks--Colin Madge 08:28, 5 December 2012 (EST)

Well, the problem is that Ancestry.com charges us Yankees extra for access to foreign databases. Therefore, if I have a contest subject that is European the people who have the full Ancestry.com service will have an unfair advantage. I want this contest to be international. I have had a couple non-Americans so far, but I haven't thought of how to solve this one problem. I have tried to choose Americans with parents who are recent immigrants so we can explore their foreign origins. I think the answer may be that some people are just going to have advantages in the contest. What are your thoughts?--cthrnvl 15:42, 5 December 2012 (EST)

Why Ancestry.com ? Surely is not the reason. As the small print on the adverts go - other family history websites are available. Give us a chance as well.--Colin Madge 08:25, 6 December 2012 (EST)

I would think that not all users participating in the contest have Ancestry subscriptions. So, even with U.S. subjects, those with Ancestry subscriptions could be seen as having an unfair advantage over those without. I don't think it's something that we need to worry too much about, and I support the suggestion of adding in more geographically diverse contest topics. --Jennifer (JBS66) 18:40, 7 December 2012 (EST)

Another point I wanted to make is that I am trying to draw in people by having easy ones at first and slowly build to more challenging people through next year. --cthrnvl 11:01, 8 December 2012 (EST)

Problems with access to information [26 January 2013]

First, thanks for including Harold Crowchild -- both Canadian and First Nations! Unfortunately, getting access to information for anyone in Canada who was born less than 100 years ago (or 120 years ago in Alberta) is difficult, as civil registration/vital statistics/vital records are much more tightly restricted than most places in the states. There are ways around the problem, but they take time and a lot of digging. On the other hand, I did a quick check -- important historical figures are almost non-existent on WeRelate for Canada, and those that exist lack the fancy formatting accorded many US historical figures. Even Prime Ministers are mostly missing. I would guess the same may be true for several other counties, as well. Maybe they could provide candidates for the Genealogy Contest??

Just a thought. --GayelKnott 23:34, 23 January 2013 (EST)

I like how the contest is bringing out these questions. I will take all this into consideration when choosing future subjects. --cthrnvl 06:27, 26 January 2013 (EST)

Ichijiro Kamio [20 April 2013]

I think this contest person is not ideal. The person and descendants are complete unsourced, there are surely living persons included in WeRelate which is not according to our policy. The first thing to do would be cleaning the records and removing the living people. User Ml135 was only one date active in WeRelate on 9 Sep 2007, all entries are completely unsourced--Klaas 07:10, 20 April 2013 (EDT)

I chose Ichijiro Kamio because 1. He already exists at WeRelate and I have been encouraged to use already existing people for the contest and 2. He had a child in 1905 so I know he must not be living but his dates are unknown which makes him a good contest subject. And 3. He is not American and I try to have more non- Americans in the contest.

I don't think it is bad for an entry with problems to be a subject for the contest - that's why we are here - to learn to collaborate. I agree, If there are living people they should be removed. Again, that is something we all need to learn about. Often people will upload their GEdcoms with "living Surname" entries and we should learn what to do about that. Maybe a 'bot could destroy all those?

Thank you for taking the time to make suggestions : ) Catherine --cthrnvl 13:44, 20 April 2013 (EDT)

I've been asked how I choose the subjects for the weekly WeRelate Genealogy Contest so here goes: [1 May 2013]

My main objective is to get more people to use WeRelate. So I tend to choose people who have some interesting thing about them in order to draw interest. In my free time I like to read old newspapers and very old books on the Internet. If I happen upon someone in my reading that has an interesting name, was born in an interesting place, or has had an interesting life, I might choose them for the contest. I don't want all the subjects to be famous but I will choose a famous person now and then. I don't like to because if they have a Wikipedia page that makes everything too easy for contestants. But people enjoy the famous people now and then. One criteria I have for a subject is that I must know, either by reading a newspaper article about the person, finding them at Findagrave or Wikipedia - I have to know that there is information about this person on the Internet somewhere. If I chose someone who stumped everyone it would not be fun and it would frustrate people. I don't want that! If you play my contest you can be assured that there is something to find about that subject. The second objective I have for the contest is that it will be a fun way to learn how to use WeRelate. If contestants make mistakes - that's OK! Mistakes are easily fixed and hopefully everyone who got involved will learn something. I am trying to introduce more non-Americans to the contest. I need to know that something can be found on the subject so those subjects will probably have a Wikipedia page and if I choose a non-American who already has a page on WeRelate I will need to know that something more can be found about the subject. That would be hard for me because I would have to research each person first before they are a subject for the contest and I don't want to do that. I want this to be fun for me too. And what is fun for me is to find a subject through happenstance, double-check that there is information to be found on that person and then watch to see what people come up with! So if you have been one of the contestants in the contest - Thanks! you are helping promote WeRelate : ) And I have enjoyed seeing you play the game. If you have any questions please leave them on my talk page. Catherine --cthrnvl 23:48, 7 January 2013 (EST)

A couple more things - I try not to include my family or my brick walls because the contest is not about me. I have only added one of my kin to the contest so far (Carrie Spys on the Enemy). If you are interested in brick walls you should see the WeRelate Brick Wall Project.

Would you like to help choose a subject for the contest? If you are an established WR user (100+ edits) you can submit one contest subject per year if you follow these rules - 1. Of course you won't be able to play that game. 2. We don't do brick walls or people with no available information for the contest subjects. The reason for that is we don't want people to become frustrated, we want to draw people in to WeRelate with an easy light-hearted contest that contestants can be sure they are not being sent on a wild goose chase. So you will need to do some research on your subject - is there an entry for them on Wikipedia, Findagrave, genealogy message boards, old newspapers - SOMEWHERE on the Internet that has not already been added to WeRelate? If yes I am interested. The best way to submit is through my personal contact link on my personal website deeAuvil. If I don't get barraged by entries I may open up to more than one entry a year for established users.--cthrnvl 14:52, 1 May 2013 (EDT)

Points for Relationships? [31 December 2013]

Are points rewarded for adding parents/siblings/spouses/children? If not, I think that would be good! :) -- Jdfoote1 06:56, 30 December 2013 (UTC)

I'll look into that : ) --cthrnvl 18:54, 31 December 2013 (UTC)

Recommendation for Article Page Restoration [24 December 2016]

Hi Catherine. Recommend restoration (via editing or reverting) back to 26 June 2015 appearance and layout for the Genealogy Contest Article Page. All usefulness of the previous page was lost when your "Crowdsourcing" revision was made in February, to include loss of "How to Play," "List of Previous Winners," and "Player's Badge" features, along with what I thought was the more inviting appearance of the former page in contrast with the newer, starker, less inviting format now. Also, not meaning to discourage you or criticize your efforts, but I've never personally been a fan of utilizing separate external sites for actively imbedded and utilized WeRelate features (versus referenced external sources), but since it appeared to have worked better for you, I've left it alone up to now hoping it would show further success and draw additional interest. But that doesn't seem to be the case. Even the links from the WR homepage to the challenge seem to be inconsistent and dead-ended. How do you feel it has worked for you? I do plan on bringing it up as a future topic of discussion to the Overview Committee to see how they feel about developing a more consistent internal standard, and think it fair to include your experience with it, your point of view, and any suggestions you have to improve it when I do. Thanks. --BobC 03:19, 1 July 2016 (UTC)

I will second BobC's suggestion to restore most of the content from the previous version to this new page, that is if the contest is still going on. Perhaps it has become something different now? Either way, the presidential election has ended, and I think the Main page needs updating. Catherine - would you let us know if you are still in charge of this, and if so, when you might be able to complete these updates? If Catherine does not respond within a few days or so or is no longer interested in hosting the contest, could you (BobC) take charge of this? If no response is received here from either parties in a week or so, I will go ahead and update the box on the Main page. Preferably before Christmas. Thanks. --cos1776 15:13, 15 December 2016 (UTC)

ok... these pages can be misleading sometimes. A review of the History strongly suggests that the contest is no more. Dallan renamed the page from Genealogy contest to Crowdsourcing to change the focus and didn't move the info over or leave an explanation to let readers know of the change. Catherine hasn't been involved for 3 years. I think it is fair to say that this area of the site needs someone to take charge. BobC - can you do it? Thanks again. --cos1776 15:22, 15 December 2016 (UTC)

About a year and a half ago, after not noticing any changes, updates or activity in the Contest in about a year's time (billed as a "weekly" contest), I had sent a note to Catherine on her TalkPage asking if she needed assistance, and she responded a little while later indicating that other obligations had taken her time and attention away from WeRelate activities. Shortly after that time she worked with Dallan in initiating the Crowdsourcing concept, for which I wrote and posted the comment above expressing my concern for the seemingly disjointed focus being initiated, for which I got no response until yours (Cos1776).

I would be glad to help temporarily, but I don't want to be seen as "highjacking" this effort from her as a volunteer. I would like to get her opinion and response. Maybe other members have their own thoughts to share on this as well.

Let's give it until the new year, okay? --BobC 17:12, 19 December 2016 (UTC)

Sure. That sounds fine. I'm glad to see you are still here. Happy Holidays! --cos1776 03:05, 20 December 2016 (UTC)

I thought I'd change it now and take advantage of the holiday slow-down now rather than delay improvement to the new year. While I really didn't like the Crowdsourcing moniker, use and reference (primarily because the entire WeRelate site is in fact Crowdsourcing), I thought I'd stick with it as part of the updated title for now out of respect for the previous volunteer manager and Dallan's implementation of the change last year. I'm hoping the addition of the Challenge will restore the competitive spirit of the former Contest and reinstitute the fun and game aspect of the feature. What do you think? --BobC 19:45, 24 December 2016 (UTC)

Crowdsource nomination [11 September 2017]

It isn't clear to me where to put nominations for the Crowdsourcing challenge, this seems the most logical place, so here goes... This weekend I visited the Wilder Homestead in Malone, NY and I just checked here for Person:Almanzo Wilder (1) and was surprised to see no information on his ancestors at all. I would assume that is just because nobody has bothered and not some sort of brick wall. I was about to do a little digging, but thought this may be more fun as part of the contest. --Trentf 17:06, 11 September 2017 (UTC)