FamilySearch Wiki talk:New Contributors Training

The meeting ID 6173 has been set up for 52 weekly meetings today.

Kara 15:52, 24 August 2010 (UTC)

Proposed Combining of Meetings, with Name Change
The two consecutive meetings, “Genealogists Helping Genealogists” and "Genealogists Helping Newbies," have evolved. Previously, the meetings were loosely structured. Those who attended where directed to the "Help:Edit and Contribute" page, some of the links that pertained to their particular situation were reviewed, and questions were answered. That worked well for first-time attendees, but those who returned wanted more training.

Although, once, someone came to request help about the Wiki in general, all other attendees have been contributors who wanted help with the necessary skills for that endeavor.

These two meetings have been combined into one, with a structured training agenda. Time is left at the end for questions and individualized help. Attendees have expressed the feeling that this was helpful to them and was meeting their needs.

The proposed training agenda was reviewed and approved by training attendees and Janell, who is currently in charge of Wiki Community Support for FamilySearch.

Thus, the name of this meeting is being changed to reflect its current direction and purpose. The new name will be "New Wiki Contributors Training Meeting." It will replace the “Genealogists Helping Genealogists” meeting page, to preserve the already established meeting links. The "Genealogists Helping Newbies" meeting page will be directed to this new page.

If you have any comments or questions, please include them here. --Judy 20:26, 1 March 2011 (UTC)

Wiki Meeting 5252
I attended a training meeting at the RootsTech conference in order to help update a page for Monterey, California, but thought I should refresh what I learned that day. I clicked the link for the Wiki Meeting and went to Meeting Place and entered 5252 to check a past recording of a meeting.

I saved the file for 7 April 2011 but could not hear it later when I tried to play it even though I tested my microphone settings and device settings. So I tried to click on the Web recording but still could not hear the sound. I could not figure out how to use the sound. I'm going to other programs to see if I can hear the sound in case I have just developed a problem with my new Windows 2007 computer.

Karen Clifford, 801-420-9915, [mailto:karenmpc@aol.com karenmpc@aol.com]


 * Karen, by any chance, when you were trying to hear, did you always start at the beginning of the recording? The recording for this particular meeting starts automatically the moment that the first attendee dials in, even if they're early. There may not be any sound until a second person comes in, and they begin to converse. If you haven't already, try dragging the slider to a later section of the meeting and then listen for sound. That may be the problem. --Judy 07:19, 25 April 2011 (UTC)

Clarification request.
New Wiki Contributors Training -  Edit This Page

I am a little confused by the wording in Past Meetings, # 8. I reworded it according to my understanding. Is my understanding of it correct?

The Web Recording is in two modes, audio and video. The video can be played, but not downloaded.. The audio recordings and attachments can be downloaded. To do so, right-click the icon or link, and then select Save Target As....

Thank you,

Warren Daniel Newly assigned library Wiki Trainer Los Angeles Family History Library


 * You're right. It was a little confusing. The Web Recording is a single recording which has both audio and video. It cannot be downloaded.


 * The audio recordings are separate, even though they're from the same meeting. They can be downloaded.


 * Other attachments may include documents, images, PowerPoint presentations, etc. They can also be downloaded.


 * Hopefully, the change I made to instruction #8 is clear enough. If not, please let me know. Thanks for bringing this to my attention. --Judy 07:32, 13 August 2011 (UTC)

I think hiding "New Wiki Contributors Training" under or within "Community Meeting" is a bad idea. First of all, I would not expect "Community Meeting" to have anything to do with how to do Wiki editing and training in how to do so. Would more than 50 people in the whole world expect this? Second, there should be Wiki Contributors Training and How-To's that do not eliminate: a) people who work; b) people whose internet connection is dial-up. Third, the Training and How-To's should begin with a Wiki Contributors How-To's Page that has a text outline of a Wiki editing overview, with links to other text pages that give details on how to do stuff. This Contributors Training and How-To's page should on that page explain that there is strange and arcane terminology and vocabulary that surrounds and defines the structure of information pages concerning how to do Wiki editing, such as the term "Help:" is some misguided person's substitute, indirect and obtuse term embracing "How To" as well as other elements of Wiki How-To subjects. Give three examples, so that the reader will know where exactly to find all the How-To pages prefaced with "Help:". Give the exact URLs for these pages and give examples of how to search for them and where to search for them. Then the same Contributors Training and How-To's page should have links to a glossary page and vocabulary page. These pages should explain the arcane Wiki terminology and give good reasons for keeping the strange terminology. The text-based training should contain all of the information in the videos. Videos are not searchable. Those of us on dial-up cannot view them effectively. Thank you. 04:19, 18 October 2011 (UTC)