User talk:Cottrells

Non-English articles
Steve: I created that article in my sandbox thinking it would only be in my sandbox, but I guess not. How do I keep it in my sandbox? Charles -- ccsmith (talk | contribs) 00:21, 31 July 2011 (UTC)


 * Hi Charles, you may have created the main page in your sandbox, but this page includes template and links to other pages that are not in your sandox. Any page that you wish to be within you sandbox must start with the prefix User:Ccsmith/Sandbox. My question to you is why not develop these Spanish pages directly in the Spanish wiki? --Steve (talk | contribs) 16:19, 31 July 2011 (UTC)

Today's meeting agenda
Thanks Steve for explaining exactly what I was trying to get at only so much better. I do think there's a bit of a difference between say content projects and support projects, and then also the committee examples that you mentioned. Are there any other "types" that you can think of? I hope that we can come away from the meeting today with a specific list of needs. Thanks again! -- janellv (talk | contribs) 17:11, 9 August 2011 (UTC)

Side bar template for Oxfordshire
Steve,

In checking a page, Oxfordshire, personal names, I thought the page should be deleted. It had a To Do template on it, but the pages that link out from it are already deleted and the subject doesn't fit the wiki scope. In checking what links to this page, there are several pages and one of them, Oxfordshire uses the side bar template that you put there. If I delete the personal names topic from that template, will it cause a problem? L Avery 20:05, 17 August 2011 (UTC)


 * Hi Lynda, my understanding of the situation with the page Oxfordshire Names, Personal was it was the content that was a problem, not the page itself. According to the Category:Names Personal articles about the subject Names, Personal should be about the etymology, history, and meaning of names of individuals, either surnames or given names. So I would say remove the content, but not the page. --Steve (talk | contribs) 15:33, 19 August 2011 (UTC)


 * Shall I just leave the template alone for the topic, Personal Names, then? By taking out the content, there won't be much left on the page, itself.L Avery 17:01, 19 August 2011 (UTC)


 * You are right there will be no content left, but the subject is legitimate, so you could add a Stub template. If you do delete the page do not say that the page was invalid - only that the content was misplaced/not suitable. The template used to create the sidebar on the Oxfordshire page Sidebar and the other one creating the other links to the page Place do not need to be amended. --Steve (talk | contribs) 17:10, 19 August 2011 (UTC)
 * Thanks. Did as recommended.L Avery 19:29, 19 August 2011 (UTC)

User Templates for Mentoring
Steve, thank you for fixing my wikibus image. I had put the template on first, then saw another page with just the text and changed my mind. Also, thanks for adding the construction template to the Mentoring page. I forgot that was available. We could use your help on the new Mentoring pages we're doing. Wikipedia has an adopter program that is similar. They have some userboxes that are pretty nice. Could you help us with one for Mentor's user pages, that would say something like, "This experienced user is willing to mentor a new user". We could possibly put the wikibus on it. Let me know what you think. Lynda 17:18, 26 August 2011 (UTC)


 * Hi Lynda, I have created a userbox using the Wikibus.svg.png image you suggested. I've called it User Mentor and added it to the resources section of FamilySearch Wiki:Mentoring and to your userpage as an example. In addition to the image I used the colours already used for User Welcoming Committee, just switched around. I hope you like it. Let me know if you would like anything tweaked. --Steve (talk | contribs) 07:51, 27 August 2011 (UTC)


 * Steve, that template is absolutely perfect! Thanks so much and for adding it and Welcome to the page.

Geograph Template
I have used the template for about a dozen Geograph images but support@familysearch.org do not appear to be familiar with this. The following has been included in each image loading email to me:

"PS: The actual format we use for the information template is: If you could build the information in this format it would speed us up as we submit your image."

You may wish to check with those handling image loading requests to ensure that the submissions processed are being handled in the way that your template was intended.

There is also an issue if the geograph title is used by image loaders as it may not be possible to identify the image loaded from the "St Mary's Church" title using search in Wiki. Although some of the punning titles in geograph or " crocuses around St Mary's in spring" may be rare enough to pin down the correct image it would be helpful if those loading could use the place&gt;Parish name&gt;county format to enable search to retrieve the image simply. There is a wide variation in support handling of image submissions at present "Downloaded" and a series of numbers hides in search the identifier for the image needed to load. You may wish to discuss the revised template with those responsible.

Ps1964 07:07, 27 August 2011 (UTC)


 * Hi Paul, thanks for your feedback about this issue. I will make those I know in Wiki Support aware of the problem and hopefully we will be able to rectify the situation. With regards the image naming, do you change the file name before submitting, but find that the person who uploads it changes it again? I'd like to understand the process that take places. Henry has suggested using a standard naming convention for these images place name, Church dedicatory name (where available) or "Former" "redundant", County or unitary authority. Thanks for all that you do to improve the wiki. --Steve (talk | contribs) 09:16, 27 August 2011 (UTC)


 * We've been made aware of the Geograph template, in the support area of the Wiki and will keep an eye out for these in the future. We apologize for any inconvenience we've caused. Lynda 22:11, 30 August 2011 (UTC)

Thanks from the Wiki:
The FamilySearch Research Wiki is delighted to let you know that the WikiProject England page you helped create was a Featured Article, highlighted on the Main Page of the Wiki 8/22/11, and remained there for seven days. Thank you for your excellent work to help others quickly access records. Your contributions are appreciated and have assisted others in finding their ancestors.

You have made a difference in research!


 * Thank you for your note Gloria, I have made some recent changes to the WikiProject page, but it is the people that have worked on the tasks that made a real difference to the information available about research in the wiki. --Steve 07:20, 31 August 2011 (UTC)

Thank you templete
Steve once again I thank you, this template will help countless folks in sharing their thanks to countless other folks who have contributed in the wiki. Dawne 13:12, 31 August 2011 (UTC)


 * You're welcome --Steve 06:23, 2 September 2011 (UTC)

Michael ask
Good Morning Steve-

Miachael asked me to ask you if you would be the lead on a team made up of you, Nolan Clark and James Tanner, this team would be led by you but the other two would be doing the leg work. You would be there to give leadeship. The mandate is for them to look at policies regarding conflict with Wiki contributers, disputes resolution, Third opion, arbitration and mediation. Michael has two lawyers, one serving as volunteer the other as a missionary, he and I and would hope you would guide them in what will be best for the Research Wiki and contributers. What do you think? Dawne 14:34, 1 September 2011 (UTC)


 * Hi Dawne, this sounds like an interesting and worthwhile project. Michael phoned me yesterday and left a message. I've emailed him and hope to be in touch with him later today. --Steve 06:30, 2 September 2011 (UTC)

Resource badges
Steve, question for you. I would like to put a "campaign ID" to track the clickthrough links on the resource badges. I'd like to add it to the template if at all possible so that we don't have to add it to each link, just append the following at the end of each URL link on the badge itself:


 * Forum: ?cid=wiki-forum
 * Research courses: ?cid=wiki-course
 * Indexing: ?cid=wiki-indexing

Is that doable? Thank you!! -- janellv 16:27, 1 September 2011 (UTC)


 * Hi Janell, yes to make this work is doable, in fact it is now done for the forum badge and the indexing badge, but using the same way of implementing this for the online course badge produces an undesired result. Try it out, look at the results filter. Tell me what you think. I can do this another way, but making this change would break the links in the current badges already in place. I'm going to give this some more thought and hopefully think of another way of tackling this. --Steve 07:06, 2 September 2011 (UTC)


 * Thank you! I see what you mean about the research courses. I'll do some checking too to see if there's something that can go before the cid so that it won't be picked up in the search. -- janellv 14:04, 2 September 2011 (UTC)


 * I found something out - with the URL parameters, the first one is a ?, and then any later ones use an &amp; sign. So try &amp;cid=... and let's see if that works? -- janellv 16:44, 2 September 2011 (UTC)


 * Yes, good point. I've changed the link for the online courses. I'm interested to know if the other two are working, producing stats or do I need to tinker with them too. --Steve 22:40, 4 September 2011 (UTC)

Thank you.
Hi Steve,

We in the SLC area can't thank you enough for all you are doing and have done for/and in the Wiki! We are especially appreciative of your contributions to the British Isles article that was featured on the Main page of the FamilySearch Wiki on August 8th of this year.

Thank you again for your outstanding service in assisting wiki users to quickly access records. Your contributions are treasured. You are making a huge difference in research!

Thanks again Steve!

joy Featured Article Committee member -


 * Thank you Joy, the recognition received from you and your colleagues is appreciated. --Steve 07:14, 2 September 2011 (UTC)

Thanks for reminder
I have problems changing the upload image names. Many times the computor won't allow me to then upload them to the Wiki. Any tips. Sandralpond 14:17, 2 September 2011 (UTC)

Found the note on one of the pages that took me to ways to correct my errors thanks to much.Sandralpond 14:22, 2 September 2011 (UTC)

Michael and I have visited
Steve-

After talking to Michael you now know more of the story and we know more of your story. But since there are many things that will take time Michael has ask me to go ahead and invite you, if you are agreeable, to work with Elder Nolan Clark and Brother James Tanner in you leading a Governance Team. I will contact you to find out if you are aggreeble to this. Thank you Steve Dawne 20:18, 2 September 2011 (UTC).


 * Thanks Dawne, I have emailed you about this and I'm looking forward to getting this rolling. --Steve 22:41, 4 September 2011 (UTC)

Thanks from the wiki:
The FamilySearch Research Wiki is delighted to let you know that the FamilySearch Wiki:WikiProject/Projects Seeking Contributors page you helped create has become a Featured Article, highlighted on the Main Page of the Wiki, and will remain there for seven days. Thank you for your excellent work to help others quickly access records. Your contributions are appreciated and will assist others in finding their ancestors. You have made a difference in research!

Glo Featured Article Committee member -

Thanks from the wiki:
The FamilySearch Research Wiki is pleased to let you know that the FamilySearch Wiki:WikiProject page you originated has become a Featured Article, highlighted on the Main Page of the Wiki, and will remain there for seven days. Thank you again for your excellent work. You continue to made a difference!

Glo Featured Article Committee member -


 * Thanks Glo. I changed the image on the FamilySearch Wiki:WikiProject page as the one that had been added File:Help-content.png represents help or support and not really projects. --Steve 18:00, 9 September 2011 (UTC)

Alberta Vital Records
Steve, do you know why the Alberta Vital Records sidebar went screwy after I changed it? Mark


 * The only problem I saw was that the link using the words Vital Records was red. The template was designed to link to article using a standard naming convention. The current article Alberta, Canada, Birth, Marriage, and Death Records 1870 to the Present does not fit that convention. I could see that you tried edit the template to link to that file, but it was easier to redirect the standard name to the article instead. Does that answer your question? If not, define what you mean by "screwy". --Steve 14:38, 15 September 2011 (UTC)

Dispute resolution: third-opinion
Do you have any particular procedure in mind for obtaining a third opinion? Nolan Clark

17:41, 15 September 2011 (UTC)


 * Hi Nolan, the way I see the third opinion part of the process working. Is that following discussion between the two parties (third opinion is only suitable for helping resolve a dispute between two others) if they can not come to a compromise then one of them lists the dispute on the third opinion page, active disagreements section (the link opens an edit window with instruction about how to list the disagreement). I think the most difficult part will be to find someone who is neutral. As the research wiki is a fairly small tight community most active contributors have had dealings with others and so would not qualify as neutral. --Steve 06:17, 16 September 2011 (UTC)

trying to figure wikitext
Steve- I have been doing some changes on those that are working with me i did not figure you would mind thanks so much for what you are doing with James and Nolan. Dawne 17:21, 16 September 2011 (UTC) Featured Article Committee member -


 * Hi Dawne, I see that you've been editing signatures. Have you read the section about nicknames in user preferences? --Steve 17:28, 16 September 2011 (UTC)

help
Steve thanks I have read it but to be honest I just don't understand. Please help me again. I have put in this code Dawne Featured Article Committee member - and I don't understand why my name comes up without a link, in red. I thought I was doing the same thing for Joy and Glo and theirs works fine. sorry I just don't get it and no one is here to ask. thanks again, Dawne 19:46, 16 September 2011 (UTC)


 * Hi Dawne, links to wiki pages are case-sensitive, so you need to link to User:HoleDL rather than User:Holedl. --Steve 20:06, 16 September 2011 (UTC)

Steve my name is still red? help Dawne 20:18, 16 September 2011 (UTC)


 * Your name in the paragraph above has lower case dl - change them to DL and the red link will disappear. -Fran 21:20, 16 September 2011 (UTC)

Welcoming
Steve-

Please would you take a look at the Welcoming members page. We have two persons "Anupong" and "Zazouit" who have added their names to the committee. The page is now a mess. Joy has left messages on thier talk pages and "Anupong" did do something in the last 12 hours but the page is till not appearing at all correct. Joy or I could work on it and help it but it would take a lot of time, with your ability and talent I don't think it would take you very long, would you do that or I would be happy to do it but no one else is here today to ask how. Michael is sick Fran is on vacation and I don't think Darris is coming in at least I have not heard from him. The page has been this way for alittle while and I just want to have it look good again. I am sorry to ask again for your time. I really do want to know how to change it, but if you can't take the time to explain to me would you just change it back so the links are in place, I think "Zazouit" will appear blue but "Anupong" will I believe still be red.

Steve THANK YOU! Dawne 14:41, 23 September 2011 (UTC)


 * Hi Dawne, you were right it didn't take me long to fix at all. Both new additions are blue links ie they have a userpage. Looking back at the history either the rich text editor or an add-in they have in their browser decided to convert wikicode to HTML. This was the reason for the text not displaying as normal. --Steve 14:46, 23 September 2011 (UTC)

Edit and Contribute Page
Steve ... thanks so much for cleaning up my Edit and Contribute Page. I knew I needed to change that link and somehow it didn't make it from my brain to my fingers!! I didn't know the NOTOC and NOEDITSECTION went at the bottom....I have some other clean-up to do if that is the case.

Thanks for all the help you give all of us. Jane evancol


 * No problem, Jane. The code for NOTOC and NOEDITSECTION can go anywhere on the page, but when they are before any text they create un-needed white-space at the top of the article. As the Help:Edit and Contribute page is predominately a big table then moving them from the top to the bottom seemed the best option. --Steve 21:31, 27 September 2011 (UTC)

Deletion requests page
Hi Steve,

We are working on the deletion pages and found two pages that are in the England Place template that will not fit when they go to the new titles. England Merchant Marine, and England Websites are beting changes to British Merchant Marine and England Major Websites. We are asking for what can be done to work around or solve this problem. Sandralpond 18:49, 28 September 2011 (UTC)


 * Hi Sandra, this issue was brought up during the contributors meeting on Tuesday. Janell raised this issue, using the examples of the Philippines Websites and England Merchant Marine pages. The answer is not to delete these pages that conform to the standard naming convention, but to change them to redirects to where the content has been moved. For the Philippines Websites the redirect is to a specific section of a page, not just a different page. In my opinion redirects should be used more often and that pages only need to be deleted if there is a spelling mistake or if the title suggests inappropriate content. By doing this, if a person has bookmarked the original page they will find the information once again not a page that has been deleted. --Steve 13:25, 29 September 2011 (UTC)

How-To-Articles Template
Steve ... I put a new design of the How-to-articles template on the talk page there so you could see it. Janell wanted to change it up a bit to reflect the new Edit and Contribute format. The top part will just have a few selected help titles and then the bottom will have the 12 basic categories that are on the E&amp;C page. Please let me know if you have any thoughts after looking at this. Thanks, as always, for your help. Jane evancol


 * Thanks Jane for making me aware of this. I can understand why you want to make some changes as the content has been reviewed and reorganised. What I'm not clear about is how you see the template working on pages that are in the tabbed style. The idea behind the helpbox style navigation like How-to-articles, is that each page included in the template includes the template on the page, meaning that however you come across one of the articles you can find the other related articles. The way these page have been put together the tabs are the way of navigating between the related articles. Perhaps you can give me a better understanding of your vision. --Steve 13:51, 29 September 2011 (UTC)


 * We have again regrouped our thinking, and have come up with what we think is our "final answer" on how we want to do the box. What we want is to list every "category" we have in the blue box. In other words, on the main page, anything you click on that only goes to a single page would have that single page listed. If you click on something that goes to a 4-tabbed page, all 4 tabs would be listed. You can see our example in my Sandbox pages. It is the first one on the page.-  Thanks again, Jane evancol


 * Hi Jane, thanks for your explanation. That and the example helps me understand what content you want to have included in the template/menu box. What I'm still not clear about is if you plan to include the template on all the pages that are listed in the box and if you do how and where you plan to place it. The template you are asking about changing How-to-articles does not include any of the pages that you now want to list in the new template. So rather than change How-to-articles maybe you want to create a new template for these new pages. The only thing I can see that overlaps is that the title of How-to-articles was changed from the original How-to to Contributor Help. If the title was changed back then the title Contributor Help could be used for the new template. --Steve 11:49, 8 October 2011 (UTC)

United States Civil War project page
Hi, Steve,

You wrote: 'I've noticed that you've recently created a series of sandboxes... The best places for these are as subpages to either a userspage or a project page (if they relate to a specific project). The reason why they should not be left in the where they are is because any article created in the main namespace, the contents of these pages will show up in default searches. If you would like some moving them, please let me know.'

I need to set up a project page for the Civil War and learn more about namespaces. MarkhamMJ 22:45, 28 September 2011 (UTC)


 * Hi Marilyn, I noticed some time ago that you created the page Template:User WikiProject United States Civil War which looks like a project page. Today I have renamed/moved this to FamilySearch Wiki:WikiProject United States Civil War. So that's the project page created.


 * Information about namespace can be found in Help:Namespaces.


 * Shall I now move your series of sandboxes so that they become subpages of the Civil War project page? --Steve 13:25, 30 September 2011 (UTC)

FHL Catalog
Hi, Steve,

Is there a Wiki template or could a template be made that would handle a link to the FHL catalog for a Subjects search for a place with a subject? For example, a Subjects search for Illinois, Knox - Cemeteries.

This type of search will bring up cemetery records for the county and for towns in the county. This works well unless the name of the county is the same as the name of the state, like Utah County, Utah.

It would be nice if we could exclude a place. For example, a Subjects search for New York, Monroe - Church minus Rochester.

If you have questions about this, please let me know.

Thank you, MarkhamMJ 22:59, 28 September 2011 (UTC)


 * Hi Marilyn, there is a template FHL that can link to the results of a subject search in the FHLC. The code to use for you example of Illinois, Knox - Cemeteries would be.


 * As for searches excluding results. I'm not familiar with the syntax available for FHLC searches, but if it's possible to do manually, it will be possible to pass that search via a template.


 * I suggest if you have further questions about the FHL, how it works, requested changes to it's functionality that you post them on it's template talk page. --Steve 14:07, 29 September 2011 (UTC)

Meeting tomorrow? - copyright
Hi Steve, do you think you'll be at the meeting tomorrow? I have some questions about copyrights that I hope you'll be able to be there for, because I am confused. :) Thanks! -- janellv 21:57, 3 October 2011 (UTC)


 * Hi Janell, all being well I plan to attend the meeting today.The question you raise about copyright is similar to a question I posted in the forum thread Uploading non-free or copyrighted images. The license templates currently used in the wiki are less restrictive or more open than the general wiki license, but I know that some contributors wish to use images that are non-free or permission has been granted by the rights holder to use in the wiki, but only the wiki or perhaps even just a particular article. This is not a straight forward issue. --Steve 06:45, 4 October 2011 (UTC)


 * Thank you for being there! We really do need to get this figured out. -- janellv 11:46, 5 October 2011 (UTC)


 * Ok, question - what's the purpose of the GNU license as being separate from the CC license? Are we just using that on things that are being pulled over from Wikipedia? Is there a reason for using it in other areas? And what does "You may select the license of your choice" mean? -- janellv 18:18, 5 October 2011 (UTC)


 * Hi Janell, the reason they are separate is that the licenses were drawn up by different bodies the Free Software Foundation and Creative Commons respectively. If an author has licensed their work using one or the other then that is the license that we must display in the wiki (also note that there are different versions of each). In today's wiki-world is the most popular but the  predates the current era (back to 1980's). Authors can publish their work using more than one license and if this is the case they may invite other to "select the license of your choice". --Steve  19:03, 5 October 2011 (UTC)

Thank YOU for helping on the FA of Italy
Hi Steve,

Steve, I hope I get to meet you someday, you are such a wonderful person and so sharp. I just wanted to give you this "thank you" so you can see that my skills are getting better. Thank YOU again for all that you do.

joy

The FamilySearch Research Wiki is delighted to let you know that the Italy page you helped create has become a Featured Article, highlighted on the Main Page of the Wiki, and will remain there for seven days. Thank you for your excellent work to help others quickly access records. Your contributions are appreciated and will help others find their ancestors.&lt;br&gt;'You have made a difference in research!'

joy Wyzer17 15:34, 11 October 2011 (UTC)

Media Wanted template
Hi Steve,

I was wondering if creating a Media Wanted or Photo Wanted template could be created for users that create a page or come across a page that they believe could be improved with an image but cannot upload a file them-self due to inability to find one or for whatever reason. This could help to put them all in one category where users that enjoy seeking out photos and uploading them can go to see what pages need photos or other media. Let me know what you think.

Larry0011 00:06, 13 October 2011 (UTC)


 * Hi Larry, I think you raise a worthwhile need. Following your request I have created the template image requested that can be placed on an article talk page to indicate that an image is requested. This template includes parameters that allows contributors to group requests relating to location and or subject together into distinct categories. --Steve 07:25, 13 October 2011 (UTC)


 * Thank you Steve. This is exactly what I had on mind. It's amazing how fast you get things done. Thanks, Larry0011 15:50, 14 October 2011 (UTC)