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The objective of this project is to identify all the profiles that are temporarily locked, pending arrangements for them to be unlocked. The Project Merge Issues turns this job so much easy.
All curators are invited to participate. Feel free to improve this description.
Explanation of Locked Profiles
Geni allows the curators to create Master Profiles (MPs). Any PRO user has the power to edit an MP. However, curators can also 'fully lock' the MP, or they can lock individual fields. Locked profiles and locked fields can only be changed by a curator; if only some of the individual fields are locked, then the other fields are still open for updating by other Geni users (e.g. Pro or co-managers).
Geni's Policy
According to Geni, the original intention for allowing MPs was to serve as an official version of a particular profile (as determined by curators) for searching and merging. Other uses that serve the greater good are also permitted.
Locking is intended to be a time-saving device (especially for curators) to prevent other users from changing information that has been determined (by curators) to be accurate, particularly in cases where contradictory information is common or keeps resurfacing on the same profile.
Adding Profiles to the Project
Curators add profiles to this project (if they choose) for a variety of reasons. The project can be part of a personal system for keeping track of locked profiles. It functions as a disclosure to users that the curator is conscious of locking. And, it is easy to find and resolve conflicts for profiles in a project. Profiles are typically not added to this project if only "field locking" is done (at the discretion of the curator).
How to Change a Locked Profile
If you want to change the information in a locked profile or a locked field, you should work with the curator for that profile. You should be prepared to provide citations to quality sources to make your case.
You can:
- Contact the curator in a private message.
- Start a public discussion from the profile.
It is not helpful to:
- Create a duplicate and hope someone will notice.
- Ask another curator to unlock the profile.
Curator Statements
Günther Kipp: Looks like I'm one of the curators with most locked files, and in my opinion they are not no be unlocked, they are locked because I think they are central profiles in the familie typical ruling kings/duke by locking them I am sure to be involved if someone wants to merge another profile in!! - any better idea??
Justin Swanström: I lock sparingly, and only to prevent data corruption from bad merges. I believe that Geni never intended locking to interfere with our collaborative effort. If you disagree with the information in one of the profiles I have locked, please start a public discussion from that profile, or send me a private message. I will be happy to work with you to improve the information.
Hatte Blejer: I lock, usually in Colonial American or Norman French lines, when there have been repeated incorrect merges and where there are known issues with wrong data out on the Internet. I put a Curator's Note explaining and encouraging users to contact me if they need the profile unlocked in order to edit. I lock to help preserve the correctness of the tree, not to prevent users from merging or editing, when that is called for.
June Barnes: I lock profiles which are repeatedly wrongly merged (often siblings of the same name for example) despite Curator notes. I also lock public profiles where these are duplicates of the family of public figures who also have private profiles on Geni, and where the managers of the private profiles do not wish to merge, or do not respond to any approaches from me. I sometimes lock the public profile for the "public or celebrated" person for the same reason, but mostly just add a curator note. I am also open to any request to from users wishing to contribute to or edit a profile I have locked.
Sharon Doubell: I lock only when the alternative is that the profiles get mis-merged on a weekly basis. I really hate doing that, but in those cases it's a full-time job just fixing the bird’s nest that is created, and Geni doesn’t have the money to pay profile-babysitters.
I love people who want to help and work together on researching and improving the profiles, so please just contact me if you want to come and play :-)
29/11/2012: I'm locking down Charlemagne & his immediate family descendants as a temporary precaution in case merge-ins on historical profiles get hectic while the Geni and the My Heritage families start to cross pollinate. The long-term benefits of resource and people access of this joining of the two companies is FANTASTIC, so the locking down is just an attempt to set a fixed reference point over the transition period. The Charlemagne family template is here: http://www.geni.com/projects/Charlemagne-Emperor-of-the-West. If anybody needs to do work on these while they're locked, just drop me a note to unlock them for you. The idea is not to exclude people; just to protect the data.
Maria Edmonds-Zediker, Volunteer Curator: I lock sparingly, most often in families where there are frequent mis-merges. I also lock dead babies who had younger siblings given the same name, but I don't lock the younger sibling.
No matter why I lock a profile, I try to put an explanation either in the Curator text box at the top of the profile or at the very beginning of the Overview write-up. If you need access to a profile that I have locked, send me a message. I'm on Geni almost daily, so you will get a prompt response.
Anne-Marie Healy - I sparingly lock profiles that are mis- merged on a very regular base but will put a reason in the curator box. I have no problem adding additional information on request.
Kevin Hanit - If I lock a profile, I will always put a reason in the curator box. I sparingly completely lock down a profile. I will add additional information to the curator box on request with backup given to me.
Jessica Marie German (Duffey) - I have locked the profiles of a number of US Presidents and their families because of vandalism and to keep their relationships stable. In addition, I lock on request for the same reason. I will unlock a profile, temporarily, to add new provably correct information when requested.