Working with Projects

Officially, projects are collections of profiles, typically tied together with a project overview page. Projects can be created for a surname, an event, or a topic - anything that connects a number of profiles together.

Unofficially, projects can be used also to provide portals for regional genealogy projects, information about genealogical standards, tutorials, and just about any topic where is it useful to create message "forums" for a particular topic.

This page is intended to be a quick reference. If you don't find your answer here, look at the Geni Help pages or start a project discussion.

Simple Introduction

• Any user can create a Project.
• Basic users might encounter some limitations in working with projects.
• Follow a project if you want to follow project discussions, or find the project more quickly. To follow a project, go to the project overview page, and click the Follow button.
• Collaborate on a project If you want to help edit profiles in the project. To collaborate on a project, go to the project overview page, click the Actions button, then on the drop-down menu click 'Join the Project'. This sends a request to the other collaborators. If this option is not available to you then contact a collaborator and ask to be added to the project.
• Most projects are open to all users, but some projects have additional requirements for collaborators.

Project Features

• Projects have an overview page that functions as an introduction, sets out guidelines and conventions, and often gives some history of the period or event that ties together the profiles in the project.
• Projects have their own merge center.
• Projects can have their own discussions.
• Projects can have their own photos, documents and videos.

Navigating to the Project Page

The Genealogy Projects page is the main page for working with projects. You can see lists of existing projects, search for projects, or create a new project.

To get to the Genealogy Projects page.

1. Click Research.
2. On the drop-down menu, click Projects.

You can also click here: http://www.geni.com/projects.

Searching for Existing Projects

Geni has thousands of projects.

To search for existing projects:

1. Go to Genealogy Projects.
2. In the Search Projects box, enter the keywords most likely to find the project.

Creating a New Project

Before you create a new project, make sure there is not already a project that has the same or similar purpose.

To create a new project:

1. Go to Genealogy Projects.
2. Click the green Start a New Project button.
3. In the Create New Genealogy Project window, enter at least a name for the project.
4. Click the Create Project button.

Editing a Project Overview

It is common to edit project overviews, even for well-established projects. Only a collaborator can edit the overview.

To edit a project overview:

1. Go to the project overview page.
2. Click the edit hyperlink near the top of the page (next to the "history" link).

Be cautious about editing overviews of projects where you are not the only collaborator. Many projects have a particular person who is responsible for updates.

Linking to a sub-heading

If you want to build a Table of Contents for a long overview page, or if you want to put links in other places that point not just to the project's overview page but to a subheading within that page, here's what to do:

1. When you have put in the sub-heading and saved your edits, the system will create an ID string for each heading in the page.
2. To see one of these IDs, right-click the heading and select "Inspect" or "Inspect Item", and you'll see it highlighted, in this case //*[@id="Linking-to-a-sub-heading"]
3. To make a link that points to that anchor within the page, right-click the id= part, then choose Copy->Selector (or CSS Selector). That will put what you need into the clipboard.
4. Paste it at the end of the link to the whole page, to become like this:
   

https://www.geni.com/projects/Working-with-Projects/12487#Linking-to-a-sub-heading

If people click that link, they should find their browsers opening at the section heading.

Using Project Templates

If you need help writing a project overview, you can use a template.

Some existing templates:

• Project Template
• Template for a Project About A Family Name in South Africa

Tip: You can use the edit link to reveal formatting, copy it to Notepad, then paste it to a new Project.

Formatting Project Text

Projects use standard wiki markup, although some extended features are not available.

For a basic cheat-sheet of wiki markup, you can use two cheat-sheets:

• Geni Wikitext, Unicode and Images (these work on Geni)
• Wikpedia's Cheatsheet (some of these are not functional on Geni)

You can also find some useful ideas about organization and format in the About Cleanup project, which focuses on cleaning up the About Me section of profiles.

To alias a Geni profile listed in the project overview, one way to do it is:

• Open bracket
• Paste the copied address bar
• Three apostrophes (to bold) add chosen name, repeat apostrophes
• Close bracket
• Then SAVE

Adding Profiles to a Project

Profiles are added to projects when they fall within the purpose of the purpose of the project. You can add profiles either (1) using the project overview, or (2) using the profile.

To add profiles to a project using the project overview:

1. Go to the project overview page.
2. Click the Actions button.
3. On the drop-down menu, click Add Profiles.

To add profiles to a project using the profile:

1. Go to the profile.
2. Click the Actions button.
3. On the drop-down menu, click Add to Project.

You must be a project collaborator to use this method.

• Profiles cannot be added to a project unless their privacy is set to Public.
• Any collaborator of a project can edit any profile in the project.

Listing Profiles in a Project

1. Go to the project overview page.
2. In the quick navigation section, click Project Profiles.

Removing Profiles from a Project

Profiles are typically removed from a project only when the subject of the project does not apply. You can remove profiles either (1) using the project overview, or (2) using the profile.

To remove a profile from a project using the project overview:

1. Go to the project overview page.
2. In the quick navigation section, click Project Profiles.
3. Locate the profile to be removed, and click the remove hyperlink.

To remove a profile from a project using the profile:

1. Go to the profile.
2. Click the Actions button.
3. On the drop-down menu, click Add to Project.
4. On the Projects window, click the x.
5. Click Done.

Approving Collaboration Requests

When a user requests to collaborate on a project, the request goes to all collaborators. These show up as Requests in the Notifications area. They take the form of "N.N. asked to join the X. project."

Any collaborator can approve a collaboration request. Approving these requests means that the new person will be able to edit the project overview, as well as all project profiles.

Before approving a request, you should be sure that the person meets the criteria (if any) established for collaborators in that project.

Listing Collaborators

You can review a list of collaborators for the project when you want to find out who is working in a particular area.

To review a list of collaborators:

1. Go to the project overview page.
2. In the quick navigation section, click Project Collaborators.

Tip: If you are involved in working on a project, you can use this screen to Follow other collaborators. Their actions will display as Recent Activity on your Geni home page.

Tip: When you create a public or private message about the information in a profile, consider including (or tagging) the collaborators on the project. You might not want to do this if there are many project collaborators, but on small projects this can be an effective strategy for reaching the people who are officially working in the area.

Removing Collaborators

Any collaborator can remove any other collaborator from a project. As a safeguard, curators are able to join any project without the approval of other collaborators.

To remove a collaborator:

1. Go to the project overview page.
2. In the quick navigation section, click Project Collaborators.
3. Locate the person to be removed, and click the remove hyperlink.

Adding Documents to a Project

Documents should pertain to the whole project, not the individual profiles in the project.

To add documents to a project:

1. Go to the project overview page.
2. In the quick navigation section, click Photos and Documents.
3. On the Photos and Documents page, click the hyperlink add documents.

Adding Photos to a Project

Photos illustrate the project as a whole, not the individual profiles in the project. There can be many project photos, but only one displays on the project overview page.

To add new photos to a project:

1. Go to the project overview page.
2. In the quick navigation section, click Photos and Documents.
3. Click the add photos hyperlink.

To add existing photos to a project:

1. Go to the photo you want to add.
2. On the Edit Photo page, next to the Project field, click the Edit hyperlink.
3. In the Find a project box, begin typing the project name.
4. Select the project.
5. Click the x.

Removing Photos from a Project

To remove photos from a project:

1. Go to the photo you want to remove.
2. On the Edit Photo page, next to the Project field, click the Edit hyperlink.
3. Click the x next to the project name.

Setting the Default Project Photo

When a project has more than one photo, the last one added displays on the project overview, unless a default photo is set.

To set a default project photo:

1. Go to the project overview page.
2. In the quick navigation section, click Photos and Documents.
3. On the Photos and Documents page, click the photo you want to set as the default.
4. On the Photo page, click Set as Project Photo.

Adding Tags to a Project

Tags make it easier to search for projects.

To add tags to a project:

1. Go to the project overview page.
2. Click the edit hyperlink.
3. On the Edit Project page, add tags in the Tags box, separated by commas.
4. Click the Add button.
5. Click the Savebutton.

Adding Videos to a Project

Videos should pertain to the whole project, not the individual profiles in the project.

To add videos to a project:

1. Go to the project overview page.
2. In the quick navigation section, click Photos and Documents.
3. On the Photos and Documents page, click the hyperlink add videos.

For tips on creating how-to videos, see:

• How to Do It Video

Reading Project Discussions

Project discussions contain information about the project.

To read project discussions:

1. Go to the project overview page.
2. Click the Actions button.
3. On the drop-down menu, click View Discussions.
4. Click a discussion to read.

Starting a Project Discussion

Project discussions make it easy for collaborators to work together on project goals . Project discussions are public. All users, not just project collaborators, can see them.

To start a project discussion:

1. Go to the project overview page.
2. In the quick navigation section, click Start a New Discussion.
3. In the Start a New Discussion window, enter a Topic and Message.
4. Click the Start Discussion button.

Reviewing a List of Related Projects

The list of related projects helps users find projects that might also interest them. The list, in alphabetic order, is abbreviated to the first ten projects.

To review the full list of related projects:

1. Go to the project overview page.
2. In the Related Projects section, click the show all hyperlink.

Adding Related Projects

It is very common to find a project that should be listed as a related project.

To add to related project:

1. Go to the project overview page.
2. In the Related Projects section, click the edit hyperlink.
3. Under Add a Related Project, click the arrows to display a list of projects. This list shows only projects where you are a collaborator.
4. Scroll through the list, and click on a project you want to add. It will be added immediately.
5. Click the Done hyperlink.

Removing a Related Project

The list of related projects can become cluttered with projects that are not really related.

To remove a related project:

1. Go to the project overview page.
2. In the Related Projects section, click the edit hyperlink.
3. Locate the project to be removed, and click the x.
4. Click the Done hyperlink.

Working with the Project Merge Center

When profiles in a project have merge issues, an project merge center option appears.

To work with the project merge center:

1. Go to the project overview page.
2. In the quick navigation section, click Project Merge Issues.

There seem to be some problems with this function (August 1, 2012). It seems to go to the users' merge center, not a project-specific center.

Deleting a Project

The option to delete a project is currently disabled (August 1, 2012).

Additional Resources

(to be added)