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Quick reference
Use the narrative section to flesh out information more fully than appropriate in the facts/events section, and add information of interest to narrower audiences. Use it also to caution against incorrect information commonly applied to a person or family, or to present alternative theories.
Avoid repetition of information that is in the facts/events section.
Keep the focus on the person or family whose page it is. Avoid lengthy narratives by refering the reader to Wikipedia and/or other external resources as applicable.
Support information with source citations. Usage
Use the narrative section to:
- Link similar or related events (e.g., migration and/or property acquisition) into a cohesive narrative that is more engaging and easier to digest than a simple list of events.
- Flesh out information more fully than is appropriate in the facts/events section (e.g., description of the impact of an illness, rather than just the identification of an illness).
- Add information that might be of interest to a direct descendant or close family member, but is not as meaningful to a broader genealogical audience who want a brief overview of the person's life.
- Tell stories about a person whose life story is not published elsewhere.
The narrative is also the place to:
- Present alternative theories about assigning certain information and/or relationships to the person or family, or to caution against information commonly but incorrectly assigned to the person or family (especially if it has been published in a book or journal).
- Note that any back-and-forth discussion between contributors should be moved to the Talk page until such time as a balanced summary of the theories and arguments can be presented. This allows future readers to see the discussion that went into creating the summary without having to compare versions of the history.
- If the issue is still open to debate, a reference to it should go in the narrative, while the larger debate takes place on the Talk page.
- If refuting a relationship, a refuted relationship template should be added to the narrative or to the fact/event section.
Conventions
Readability
Avoid lengthy paragraphs. (Note that a single carriage return is insufficient to indicate a new paragraph. Use two carriage returns, or see Help:Formatting for more options.)
If the narrative is more than 2 or 3 paragraphs, consider adding headings and/or special formatting to make the narrative more readable. See Help:Formatting for how to do both.
Some suggested headings:
- Disputed Lineage (cautions/arguments about uncertain or refuted identification of parents)
- Origins (for immigrants where demonstrating connection with asserted birth/origins is an issue)
- Early Life
- Adult Life
- Military
- [Im]Migration [to X]
- Estate
Note: If your text is not displaying as you intended, see Help:Formatting for why that might be and what you can do about it.
Repetition
Avoid repetition.
Don’t simply convert events found in the facts/events section into narrative or copy auto-generated narratives from other sites (e.g., John Jones was born on ____ at ____. He married ____ on ____ at _____.) Not only does this create redundancy that needs to be fixed when data is found to be incorrect, but it is annoying for researchers who are looking for information beyond what they can read in the facts/events section.
- However, information that could be derived from events can be included for context in a larger narrative (e.g., After John was orphaned at the age of 4, he was raised by his aunt and uncle.)
Facts and events that are adequately covered in the narrative and not of key importance in identifying the person or family (e.g., birth, marriage, death, noble title) should be removed from the facts/events section. For example, if the narrative discusses the acquisition and disposition of property over the lifetime of the person, corresponding property events shouldn't be included in the facts/events section, unless they are key to distinguishing between 2 people of the same name who are commonly conflated.
Tone
Adopt, so far as appropriate, Wikipedia tone
A person's relationship to the WeRelate contributor is not relevant on a community page. Thus, references like my great-great grandfather or We are descended from [this person] through his daughter X are not appropriate, and should be removed if present.
- However, when including a story told by a relative, the relationship can and should be identified, and it should be clear whether the story is transcribed from a written or recorded memory, or is a summary of stories told (e.g., John, a grandson of [this person], used to tell his family that ...). Note: The name of the relative should be included only if the relative is deceased.
Focus
Focus the narrative on the person or family the page is for.
- Brief references to past generations or connections to immigrant or famous ancestors, with links to their pages, are acceptable, keeping in mind the page maintenance required if the lineage is discovered to have an error.
Don't include lengthy material about the family in general or past generations.
- If such material exists on a Person or Family page, it should be removed. If parts are relevant to other Person or Family pages, those parts should be moved appropriately.
- Any general commentary (e.g., origins of the surname, prominence of the family) should be replaced with a link to the book or web site where the commentary is found. Alternately, if the commentary reflects original research or is an integration of information from multiple sources, move it to an appropriate page (e.g., Surname page for the origins of the surname, or an Article page for an exploration of the prominence of the family during a particular time period).
Lengthy information on a place or event is not appropriate on a Person or Family page.
- Information about a place belongs on the Place page (where Wikipedia content is typically leveraged).
- A summary of an event can be created as a template and included where relevant. For example, Template:MayflowerInfo includes the dates and basic information about the crossing; Template:WindsorCTFounders includes the basic settlement story for the town.
- For more lengthy explanations, link to Wikipedia or another external resource, or, if no external resource is satisfactory, create an Article page with the desired information and link the narrative to it.
Scope/Length
The level of detail depends on the person.
- Many people appear in existing sources only in a very limited way, and therefore even a relatively minor reference (that has not already been created as a fact/event) should be included.
- On the other hand, extremely famous people covered by multiple books are better served by a brief summary and a link to Wikipedia or another comprehensive source. Alternately, include the introductory section of the Wikipedia article by following these instructions. (If doing so, there is no need to create a separate summary.)
- For people who are not well-researched outside genealogical sources but who appeared frequently in records, summarize available information in the narrative rather than listing all the references (jobs, land transactions, court appearances, etc.). If the underlying details are notable or otherwise not available, lists can be included with the summary, or in source citations.
The narrative should be kept to 5,000 words or less (preferably shorter than 3,000 words).
Wills
Wills, unless less than a few hundred words, should be abstracted in either the narrative or the source detail field, including the dates, beneficiaries, notable property, and other important references. A full transcript can go on a Transcript page if it might prove useful. Similarly, inventory lists should be abstracted down to any notable property and values rather than listed in their entirety.
- A will should be abstracted only on the page of the person whose will it was (to avoid redundancy), although relevant extracts can be included on the pages of beneficiaries as evidence of relationship. If a Transcript page is created for the will, the page of any beneficiary can link to it as well.
Alternately, links can be created to external sources with the full will and/or an abstract.
Quotations
Quotations from works under copyright should be limited to the information required to express a particular point.
Quotations of any kind in the narrative should be limited to no more than about four or five sentences, or possibly a brief abstract with one or two quoted passages to capture the flavor of the original document. Otherwise, information from various sources should be integrated together into one narrative, with footnotes appropriately sourcing quotes and factual material.
Evidence
Support information in the narrative with source citations and/or notes (both display in the References section), and add appropriate reference/footnote links to the narrative - see Help:Formatting for how to do this.
Related information and tasks
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