Talk:User group meeting & agenda 18 November 2008

Proposed agendum item: Disappearing written articles about How-to-Wiki. Some of us have learned to love reading and hate videos and prefer something in print. Diltsgd

I have no love for the videos as long as they are NOT captioned. Personally I don't care for the videos, preferring the print. dsammy 05:02, 14 November 2008 (UTC)

FamilySearch Library Call Numbers
It appears we are going to still have problems with the adding of FS Library call numbers to every book and film set in the Library. See (North Dakota Military Records and Oklahoma Military Records as examples.) And it appears that its our own missionaries that are adding all the call numbers to the Wiki. My understanding was that we were not going to repeat the catalog in the Wiki. We need to discuss what we should and should not be doing in this regard and then hold to that convention in all we do. If we are not going to add the call numbers, and things remain as they are going, the Moderators will have their hands full just removing the things that shouldn't be added. Or has something changed that I don't know about?

Jbparker 07:27, 14 November 2008 (UTC)

In most cases, should not be added. At least one exception would be probate records, where the catalog does not tell what's in each roll such as Worcester County, Massachusetts and Rensselaer County, New York whereas we already know what is in Madison County, New York probate records. I know what is in each roll of these counties. If the catalog itself is clear about what's in each roll, then the numbers should NOT be added to the Wiki. dsammy 09:45, 14 November 2008 (UTC)

What we have been doing in the past was not dumping the catalog entries themselves into the wiki, but links to the pages that display the full catalog entries. The wiki has helped us to identify groups of records that might be cataloged in several different areas, sometimes due to time periods, where it would not be evident that the items are all related in some way.

An excellent example of how this is useful to the researcher is the National Library of Scotland page, where there is an extensive table listing what is known to be listed in the catalog, what the target location the researcher might be looking for is and its year range, then a column with the catalog number, then other very brief notes. The catalog number is a link, and you go to the page for that item in the catalog (look for the paper clip symbol to the right, and if that is not there, the link is misconfigured and will go back to the wiki instead of the catalog entry.

I've seen a few book call numbers too, all shown as an external link, and again these links redirect straight to the catalog entry itself, outside the wiki. JamesAnderson 05:13, 16 November 2008 (UTC)

Navigation bar wording and width changes proposal
I propose the Users as a group ask the wording on the navigation bar be simplified as follows


 * Go the the Main page --&gt; Main page


 * Find articles by country --&gt; Browse by country


 * Find articles by topic --&gt; Browse by topic


 * Learn how to get started on this site --&gt; Getting started


 * Give your feedback --&gt; Give feedback

I further propose that as a group we request the navigation bar area be as narrow as possilbe withough causing word wrap.

Diltsgd

Secure &amp; Unsecure Items
What is the status of the secure &amp; unsecure items security window that pops up on most pages. This is discussed and a suggested fix is in the forums. Thomas Lerman 18:33, 17 November 2008 (UTC)

Find articles by country
Recently, the Canadian provinces were added TWICE into the Find articles by country article. For example, "Alberta, Canada" and "Canada Alberta" both exist. I am curious the reasoning behind adding the provinces.


 * 1) It seems that if the Canadian provinces are included in the browse by country, then it is no longer browsing by country.
 * 2) It seems that the provinces should be listed in the Canadian portal as it is.
 * 3) If the Canadian provinces are added to the browse by country, then this opens a can of worms. Why would the 50 states not be added, etc.? And twice?

Thomas Lerman 18:42, 17 November 2008 (UTC)

I would be concerned if that's the way it is in browse list. It should be country level only in browse list, then taken to portals for provinces/states, etc. dsammy 18:57, 17 November 2008 (UTC)

How does one make a link to a category?
When I try to make a link to the category about Research Analysis the editor thinks I'm trying to put that page in that category. Is there any way on a Wiki page to make a link to a category without at the same time putting that page in the category (and having the link end up in a box at the bottom of the page) instead of looking like a normal link from one page to another? Diltsgd 19:34, 17 November 2008 (UTC)

Put a colon in front of the Category link. For example, Please see the category Beginners Thomas Lerman 20:06, 17 November 2008 (UTC)