Are you on WikiTree? Have you ever participated in one of their events?
Although I’ve connected many of my ancestors to WikiTree over time, I had never taken part in a WikiTree event. Curious about what a Connect-a-Thon involved, I signed up for the January event just a few days before it began, joining the TreeNuts team.
Once registered, I started by identifying areas of my RootsMagic database that were missing from WikiTree. My initial plan was to use GEDCOM files to quickly add these individuals. To make the process more manageable, I created WikiTree groups so I could generate smaller GEDCOMs. However, I quickly learned that even uploading a small GEDCOM file was not a fast process. After a short trial, I abandoned that approach.
While I set aside the GEDCOM idea, I did not abandon the Connect-a-Thon.
Instead, using my identified group of “missing” individuals and my RootsMagic database, I settled into a steady, repeatable workflow:
- Created a narrative report in RootsMagic for each individual, complete with endnotes (source citations)
- Began the process of adding a spouse or child on WikiTree, manually entering birth and death details into the appropriate fields
- Copied the endnotes from my RootsMagic narrative report into WikiTree to complete the sourcing
- Copied the narrative portion of the RootsMagic report into the WikiTree biography section and saved the profile
Over the three-day period of the Connect-a-Thon, I added 198 profiles to WikiTree.
I consider that a success—and a great introduction to participating in a WikiTree event.