Help:HowTo

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I change a page title?

To change the title of a page, click on the rename link in the left side bar and edit the portion of the page title after the namespace (that is, after the ":"). Be sure to follow page title conventions. For further information, see how to rename a page.

How do I contact other users?

For public discussion about a specific page, use the Talk page attached to that page to post messages. See Help:Talk pages for more information.

For public correspondence to a specific user, use the Talk page attached to that user's User page. There can be several ways to get there, including:

1. Going to the user's User page by clicking their User name and selecting Leave a message for User name near the top of the page.
2. Selecting Talk directly next to their User name, if it is available.

For private correspondence, use WeRelate to email a user with no exchange of personal email addresses.

1. Go to the user's User page by clicking their User name.
2. From the left menu, select More > Email this user to enter the WeRelate email program.
3. Note: Email will only work if the user has enabled it for their account.

For more information, see the Help page.

How do I email a page?

Go to the page and select more > Email this page from the left menu.

Note: The email address you entered in User preferences will appear as the "From" address in the email, so the recipient(s) will be able to reply to you.

For more information, see Help page.

How do I enter a place name?

Quick reference

Selecting a place name

To select a place name from WeRelate's database of places, you must enter part of the place name exactly as it exists in WeRelate's database, but you may not enter any words that are not in the place name. Therefore, if you include the municipality name, do not enter the name of the township, because WeRelate place names that include the municipality do not include the township. If you start with the township, do not enter the word "Township" unless you know that the place page includes the word "Township" for disambiguation. Do not enter the word "County".

Do not enter more than is known. If only the state is known, start with the state name; if only the country is known, enter just the country.

Select a place name from the dropdown list in order to have your page link to a place page. If your place name does not exactly match a name in the list, it might not be linked, and if it is not linked, it will display in red.

Refining place information

Display name

Some place pages include alternate names for a place (e.g., New Amsterdam for New York City). These show up in the dropdown, and you might select one of them. If so, the place field will show:

place page title|display name

This will link to the place page identified by the title and will display as the name after the "|". You can change the display name if you wish.

You can also manually enter a display name if there isn't one, by appending "|" and the display name to the place name selected from the dropdown.

For more information, see place name conventions.

Qualifier

Once a place name has been selected, you can add one of the following qualifiers before the place name (or the display name if there is one):

• probably, prob, or prob.
• possibly, poss, or poss.
• near
• of

If there wasn't a display name already, WeRelate will create a display name that includes the qualifier. Note: Don't add a comma after any of these qualifiers.

Additional detail

As a general rule, WeRelate's place database does not support any place smaller than a municipality, except for cemeteries. That is, it does not include neighborhoods, hospitals, churches, wards, census divisions, or street addresses. If you wish to specify that an event took place in a particular church, enter the municipality name in the place field and the church name in the description field. If you want to specify a particular street address for a residence, it also goes in the description field. (The description field is not available on the Add a Person or Add a Family screen, but is available once you have added the person or family.)

Alternately, additional detail can be entered in a display name, as described above. Make sure to separate this information from the rest of the place name by a comma.

If you don't get a list

If you don't get a dropdown list after the first space, continue typing - you will most likely get a list after the next space. If you still do not get a list and there is no spinning wheel indicating that WeRelate is working, it may be because:

• your spelling does not match the spelling of the place name in WeRelate's database
• the place does not exist in WeRelate's database
• the place exists, but under a different jurisdiction than you have entered - for example, a municipality was in a different county 200 years ago than it is today and the database does not have this information

It this happens, see If you don't get a match below.

If you don't get a match

If you fail to get a match, open another window and search for the place (the search is more forgiving regarding spelling). If the place name is not in WeRelate's database, you may use the place name anyway, but it will show up in red to indicate it is not linked to a WeRelate place page.

Note: WeRelate's database of places is not 100% complete, especially outside the United States, and it is possible that you have run across a legitimate place name that does not exist in the database. If so, seek the advice of a mentor or pose a question on the Watercooler on whether and how to update WeRelate's database to add the place name. (It is possible that the correct solution is to add an alternate name or alternate jurisdiction to an existing place page rather than to create a new place page. It is also possible that the place does not meet WeRelate's criteria for having a place page.)

Related information and tasks

• Place page title conventions
• Place name conventions
• Creating new person pages
• Creating new family pages
• Editing person pages
• Editing family pages

How do I find other users with common research interests?

Users interested in a specific page will be listed on that page under Watchers in the left menu.

To find users interested in general topics, such as surnames or places, one quick method is to Search for them:

1. Go to the main Search page by selecting Search > All from the drop-down menu at the top of any page.
2. On the Search page, select Namespace > User from the drop-down menu, enter search words in other fields, and click Search to see a list of User pages linked to those search words.

For other methods, tips and tricks see the Help page.

How do I find the user contribution page for myself?

• Log in, go to your user page by clicking your User name in the top menu, and then click Contributions in the left menu.
• Log in, go to your Dashboard by clicking My Relate > Dashboard in the top menu, and then click View contributions.

See How To page for details.

How do I find the user contribution page for another user?

• Go to their user page by clicking their user name and then click Contributions in the left menu. See other ways to find someone's user page.
• Go to the recent changes log by clicking Admin > Recent changes from the top menu and then click contribs by their user name.

See How To page for details.

How do I find the user contribution page for all users at once?

• Click Admin > Recent changes from the top menu.

See How To page for details.

How do I receive messages from WeRelate?

To manage your email notification settings,

• Log in and select Settings from the top menu of any page.
• In the Email section, select when you wish to receive email notifications.

Email notifications about page changes, including messages left for you on Talk pages, will contain a summary of the change, a link to View the changes (known as the diff screen), a link to View the current version of the page, and a link to Leave a message on the Talk page of the User who made the change.

Please note: if you do not click on View the changes when you receive the email, you won't be sent any further notifications of additional changes to that page.

See Help page for more details.