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Locked Profiles (Permanent) - Field locked

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PROJECT UNDER CONSTRUCTION

The objective of this project is to identify all the profiles that are field locked.
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All curators are invited to participate.

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 "field lock" individual fields or they can "relationship lock" the profile.
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 to prevent other users from changing information that has been determined to be accurate (and preferably sourced), 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 for a variety of reasons. The project

  • can be part of a personal system for keeping track of locked profiles.
  • function as a disclosure to users that the curator is conscious of locking and tells the users how to get the locked information updated.

How to Change a Locked Profile

If you want to change the information in 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:

  1. Contact the curator in a private message.
  2. Start a public discussion from the profile.

It is not helpful to:

  1. Create a duplicate and hope someone will notice.
  2. Ask another curator to unlock the profile.

Curator Statements

Leanne Minny, Volunteer Curator - I field lock for a number of reasons
1) when the profile contains a source for the information - in these cases when the profile is merged with another profile, sourced data is often overridden causing more work for profile managers and interested users. By locking the field the sourced data is maintained and data conflicts are NOT created. It also stops other users from changing the information without a discussion. This saves a lot of work for profile managers who go to the effort of adding sources
2) for consistency particularly in name fields - when the profile is merged with another profile, the locked data is maintained and data conflicts are NOT created - This saves a lot of work and keeps consistency in the tree.

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