for curators: my profile is good enough to be a Master Profile!

I agree with Lois (not that i think i get a vote in the matter) that the new "disappearing" of deleted posts is very odd.

With the Geni/MH staff being "oh so busy" why are they wasting time with this sort of thing?
I can't think of any other forum where a deleted post disappears, if a user chooses to delete their own post a simple message as was previously displayed is fine. When a admin deletes a post there should be a brief (3 or 4 word) explanation as to why it is deleted.

I'm confused, the Game of Thrones reference piqued my interest so i went to take a peek at the profile of Rose Leslie but because she is a living person i get the privacy screen.

Several people (presumably all curators) has since posted on the quality of the profile which implies that curators can view Private profiles of living people without much trouble.
That seems a huge breech of the privacy blanket which MH insisted on throwing over all living profiles on Geni.

I'm not complaining that i don't thrust you guys (i don't dare, you might delete my post ;) but what level of clearances does Geni put curators thru that they can arbitrailly[sp] breach privacy settings?

I could tell you, but then I'd have to "make your profile deceased" - which oops, I can't, because there is claimed family nearby.

In other words, the curator menu and permissions is configured to align with posted privacy policies.

So you're saying you can only look at Rose Leslie's profile because she is outside of any User's Family Group?

I suppose the logic being that if the profile is built by someone not closely related to them that it is likely to contain only information sourced from the public domain.

I'm saying that this is my favorite discussion I started for the purpose of honoring the outstanding work done by Geni members. Let's stay on topic, please.

LOL
The first page of the thread is 90% conversation about pirates!

Yes - it was a creative and enjoyable conversation, lead to two of the 1st projects on Geni:

http://www.geni.com/projects/Pirates-and-Privateers/978
http://www.geni.com/projects/Pirates-in-Petticoats/389

To me, making a Master Profile is an artistic and historical endeavor, intellectual and engaging. The more I do it, the more I learn.

I enjoy this discussion so I can be stimulated by new ideas and approaches. Geni profiles have depth - they tell stories.

What could be better?

Keep them coming, everyone !

Can ANY profile be made into a MP? I was thinking about starting with my parents (deceased) and expanding out generation by generation.

Dea - actually it would be the OLDEST to the most recent in terms of curator MP "protection" -as they have the most descendants and therefore most prone to mixup.

Except for "notables" the time period I work with would fall outside the Family Group, so I look to Revolutionary War or earlier.

BUT for "quality MPs" to be honored - outside the Family Group, i would think, as a "rule of thumb."

Dea, I personally have no problem with making MPs for non-notables and people with few descendants *as long as* the profile is well done. For a living person, I expect to see documents uploaded, a bio, a photo, and all the BMD info filled in.

However, since MP status means a public profile and increased traffic, I always urge users to really think about whether they want to be so public with a living person. (In fact, users really ought to ask living relatives if they even want to be public.) A better approach in my view is to simply invite the people to join Geni by claiming their profile.

(I should stress that I know your parents are deceased; I'm just speaking generally, since I've been asked about recent and living relatives quite a bit.)

As Ashley said, it can be helpful to make MP's of entire families for several generations -- because then if there is a merge (whether correct or incorrect) it generally makes it obvious which profiles should merged and which need to be re-connected elsewhere. But there needs to be some documentation of those relationships!

Several of the 'curatorium' will mark profiles as a MP even without a lot of information when there are a lot of similar profiles nearby, just in order to "put a stake in the ground" to begin to untangle them -- or to prevent a mis-merge with a "nearby" profile which has the same name but different family relationships (e.g.: mother-daughter, cousins, etc).

While there is no 'rigid standard' for how to document those situations, I personally will put in the Curator Note as "Merge Master" -- by which I really mean that "I'm reasonably sure this is a person in correct relationship to the parents and/or siblings and/or children; please update as documentation is added." It also means (to me) that any other curator can 'take over' that profile if they have new information and wish to update the Curator Note.

MP should be used as a quality marker, not a merge guide.

... and that was the original intent of the MP (solely as a quality guide), but it is useful for mis-merge protection as well.

It is still is, - just read the Help section.
http://help.geni.com/entries/20385782-What-is-a-Master-Profile-

Just a slight difference of opinion (grin).

The original intent - and common usage - of the MP designation is

"MPs cannot be merged with other MPs"

It's a disambiguation software tool.

... which reads "standard, most comprehensive and accurate profile for a given person."

That does not mean that profile is "completely documented"; it can also mean just that it is the best that exists at the present time.

But as said - outside the family group.

When you you've spent a couple of years separating the 7 Thomas Clark(e)'s of same name & similar dates to figure out which is YOUR ancestor, you become very grateful for this tool.

This reminds me of my "Joe Carpenter" story.

There's a wonderful Geni member named Joe. From a long line of Joe's.

And there are "also" OTHER Joe Carpenter's from. - do I need to say it? OTHER long lines of Joe's.

They've been confusing genealogists since at least 1880. I imagine the Joe Carpenters back in medieval England also confused the genealogists of that era.

They should have had MP tools ....

Thank you Erica, Ashley, Bjorn and Dan. for your answers. I have a segment in my tree (Copeland) that had 4 sons with the same name. when I first saw that I thought it was error, but turned out each subsequent son was born after the previous one died. sad, but probably not uncommon.

Dea, I always MP in those cases. If you'd like me to MP those profiles for you, feel free to leave the links and I'll take care of it.

And you're right -- that's not uncommon at all in earlier generations.

@ ASHLEY, ok, I will have to find my family sheets, as I do not think I have added them

Please consider for MP: Mirra Alfassa

Best wishes,

Karol

Private User done, what an interesting profile & tree. Have you looked to see if there's a good project or two for her?

Erica Howton thank you for the nice words. I tried to find a proper Geni project for Mirra Alfassa but couldn't yet find one. I'll keep on searching. :)

http://www.geni.com/projects/Visionaries-and-Dreamers/394 perhaps?

True! I've submitted her for authorisation. Thanks a lot, Erica!

Master Profile? Capt. Joseph Fuller

Thank you

Alice Zoe Marie Knapp Done but you should make some corrections. For example, Connecticut was a colony not a state until 1776.