FamilySearch Wiki:Patrolling

When we “patrol” an article, it means that we read it to see if it contains appropriate content. We are not looking to see if subject matter is correct or if it is well written. We expect the contributor to do this. The following explains more about patrolling and its policies.

All Namespaces
While patrolling, it is important to be aware that the content is in line with the following:


 * Guidelines
 * Policies
 * Purpose and Appropriate Topics

Common Problems
The most common problems relate to pages with:


 * Content on a person's own genealogy, or biographies about specific individuals.
 * LDS-specific doctrine or information that is not research related.
 * Inappropriate content, such as offensive language.
 * Derogatory statements about people, things, etc.

Handling problematic content
Problems with the content will be:


 * 1) Tagged by adding the appropriate Maintenance Template to the page
 * 2) Resolved by working with the contributors to help them become successful in the wiki.

See Help:Patrolling new pages for additional instructions.

Small pieces of inappropriate content within an article


 * If there is a concern about small bits of text within an article - a sentence or even a paragraph - it can be deleted with an explanation in the summary.
 * If the information to be deleted is more extensive, it would be good to put an explanation on the discussion page.

Entire articles outside the scope of the Wiki


 * If the article is about a topic related to genealogy but is outside the scope of the Wiki, such as an article or page about a specific ancestor, or LDS-specific doctrinal information, it will be vitally important to work with the individual to help them understand the purpose and scope of the Wiki, and to help them in the future be able to make valuable contributions to the Wiki.

Discussion/Talk Pages
On Talk/Discussion pages, we are looking for something different. We are looking for:


 * Questions that patrons ask
 * Problems, concerns, or other issues that may need to be resolved
 * Trends that may indicate larger concerns or issues to resolve Each of these items may be handled differently. When you see them, bring them up to the patrolling team to discuss.

See Help:Patrolling new pages for additional instructions.