Questions tagged [discussion]
The question you're asking is designed to solicit opinions or best-practices on a particular topic, with the goal of reaching community consensus.
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Weekly Topic Challenge: Finding and using Probate records
It has been a while since we had a Topic Challenge. Let's ask questions -- or share our prior work with self-answered questions -- about probate records. How can you find them? What pointers can ...
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Genealogy Chat week of 18 Sep 2015 | Keeping up with the Joneses
How do you keep up with the new record releases from your favorite websites? And how do you incorporate the 'new' collections into your research plans? Share your tips and techniques.
The chat will ...
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Is there a census record that you've looked and looked for but cannot find?
Census Records that seem not to exist?
Every genealogist has at least one example of an elusive census
record!
Feel free to ask for help on how to locate your most elusive census
record ...
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Ask your ANZAC ancestry questions on 100th anniversary of Gallipoli landing!
For our first Topic Challenge of 2015, I am setting one from World War I:
Do you have any ancestors connected to the Australian and New Zealand
Army Corps (ANZAC) landing at Gallipoli in Turkey ...
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Genealogy Chat week of 14 Aug 2015 | The Genealogical Proof Standard: a soundly reasoned, coherently written conclusion
In Genealogy Chat 12th July 2014 | Working to the Genealogical Proof Standard, ColeValleyGirl asked:
What is the Genealogical Proof Standard? Why does it matter? Is it applicable outside the US,
...
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What is the "Elevator pitch" for Genealogy SE?
JustinY asked What should our FAQ contain? This is one of the 7 essential meta questions that we must answer in order to form a healthy community.
One of the items that needs to go in the FAQ is the "...
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How to sell strength of Stack Exchange platform to larger genealogy community?
I haven't had enough gumption to work on my own research lately, so to fire up my imagination and take a bit of a break, I've been watching videos on YouTube, particularly the Ancestry.com videos that ...
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Genealogy Chat week of 7 Aug 2015 | The Genealogical Proof Standard: resolution of any conflicting evidence
In Genealogy Chat 12th July 2014 | Working to the Genealogical Proof Standard, ColeValleyGirl asked:
What is the Genealogical Proof Standard? Why does it matter? Is it applicable outside the US,
...
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Genealogy Chat week of 24th July 2015 | The Genealogical Proof Standard: source citations
In Genealogy Chat 12th July 2014 | Working to the Genealogical Proof Standard, ColeValleyGirl asked:
What is the Genealogical Proof Standard? Why does it matter? Is it applicable outside the US,
...
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Genealogy Chat week of 17th July 2015 | The Genealogical Proof Standard: a reasonably exhaustive search
In Genealogy Chat 12th July 2014 | Working to the Genealogical Proof Standard, ColeValleyGirl asked:
What is the Genealogical Proof Standard? Why does it matter? Is it applicable outside the US,
...
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How can we clean up our date/event tags?
In an effort to clean-up our tags several groups of tags have been identified as needing review to bring consistency to their use. At the top of that list is the time frame related tags.
Previously ...
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Genealogy Chat week of 10th July 2015 | The Genealogical Proof Standard: analysis of collected information
In Genealogy Chat 12th July 2014 | Working to the Genealogical Proof Standard, ColeValleyGirl asked:
What is the Genealogical Proof Standard? Why does it matter? Is it applicable outside the US,
...
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Should there be a tag for top level domains for web-based questions?
In https://genealogy.stackexchange.com/a/1599/70 I provided a suggestion on how to use a particular on-line product. It turns out that although this is a global enterprise, particular features depend ...
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I'm Submitting a Presentation about G&FH SE to RootsTech 2016
Genealogy & Family History SE needs a bit more notice by genealogists.
Today, I got notice of the RootsTech 2016 Call For Presentations. I was at RootsTech in its 2nd year (2012), in its 4th ...
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How can we encourage new users to provide more information?
I am sorry to be the persnickety 'expert' scaring off newbiews by downvoting too hastily, but I am bothered by the question Ship Passenger Manifest showing Theresa Briget Connellan as it is currently ...
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Thanking other members: courtesy, clutter, or both?
Over on Meta Stack Exchange, I see there has been a lot of discussion about whether community members should refrain from posting thanks in their questions, and whether it is good practice or rude to ...
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Is the same question in a different geographical area a duplicate?
We have a new question, How to find place of burial or cremation in Gloucestershire? which was originally flagged as a duplicate of Verifying birth & death details in England for the 20th century? ...
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Can we make a section on the FAQ for DNA questions?
I'd like to suggest a question in the FAQ on how to write a good question if it involves DNA matches. My ideal entry would give newbies to DNA research a checklist of information to include in order ...
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Was your ancestor in a fraternal organization?
For our next Topic Challenge of 2015, I am setting one from @JanMurphy:
We have some questions about the Masons already. There are MANY other
fraternal organizations. I'm sure if we scoured our ...
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Vote for the next Topic Challenge!
Our History SE counterparts were the first to run a Weekly Topic Challenge and from time to time we use a similar concept here to see if it can help us to generate more questions.
Here's how it ...
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What should our policy be on Q&A in Language Other Than English (LOTE)?
This question is inspired by an answer to What is biggest problem facing Genealogy & Family History Stack Exchange? where @lejonet says:
Focus on English language and thereby no user base for ...
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Are Twitter hashtags working optimally for StackGenealogy and G&FH SE?
I have just had a bit of a look at how Twitter hashtags arise for our StackGenealogy Twitter account that is fully automated.
Currently, the first (most common) tag on a question that gets tweeted by ...
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Is our tagging structure fit for purpose? Do we agree what its purpose is?
Recent discussions about tag synonyms prompted me to check whether we have an emerging consensus about the structure of our tagging system, or whether things are still in flux.
I tried to review ...
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Should we be allowing specific support questions for specific software or online genealogy sites?
Should we be allowing specific support questions for specific software or online genealogy sites?
It seems to me that we should and we can keep things straight with tagging.
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Are you still looking for one particular Birth/Baptism/Marriage/Death/Burial Record?
We have done this as a Topic Challenge before but I think it is time to dust it off and run it again:
Vital records that seem not to exist?
Things like elusive birth, death or marriage ...
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Making the most of clues from Probate Records and Wills?
The Weekly Topic Challenge enters its sixth week and this week's challenge is:
We currently have 9 questions with the tag probate.
Wills are an especially rich source of names, which is a ...
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Are "accuracy" questions too broad?
Recently we've had two questions about how accurate particular sources / tests are.
The set of questions Is this compiled genealogical record generally accurate? Stowell family of Higham, MA and the ...
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Is royal genealogy on- or off-topic? (Country irrelevant)
Relationship between Baldwin II and IV of the Crusades? asks about determining the relationship of two kings in Jerusalem based on their names.
Is this on - or off-topic for this site?
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Applying geographic tags to questions?
Should we be encouraging the use of geographic tags for questions, at least at the country level, maybe state, province, UK county?
A lot of questions (most?) are about a specific area. If they ...
PolyGeoMod
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Weekly Chat | Genealogy Do-Over Week 2: 9-15 January 2015
To kick off our Weekly Chats for 2015, for the first 13 weeks, let's follow along with Thomas MacEntee's Genealogy Do-Over.
Thomas posted Genealogy Do-Over – Week 2: 9-15 January 2015 yesterday (8 ...
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Genealogy SE needs some new leadership. Is it you?
I've recently been on the lookout for a new pro-tem moderator for Genealogy. Unfortunately, I've had a bit of trouble finding an enthusiastic, dedicated individual to take part in some community ...
Jan MurphyMod
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Who's that in your old family photo?
The Weekly Topic Challenge enters its fourth week and this week's challenge is:
to identify details in an old photograph that you need help with.
The photographs will preferably be of an ...
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Weekly Chat | Genealogy Do-Over -- Week 13 – 27 March – 2 April 2015
To kick off our Weekly Chats for 2015, for the first 13 weeks, let's follow along with Thomas MacEntee's Genealogy Do-Over.
The topics for Genealogy Do-Over – Week 13 (the final week) are:
Securing ...
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Weekly genealogy chat topics - now a week long event!
Starting Saturday, Aug 23, 2014, our weekly genealogy chat, which just entered its 2nd Year (born Aug 10, 2013), becomes a WEEK LONG event!.
Feel free to drop in and share your thoughts anytime. If ...
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2015: Year (okay, thirteen weeks) of the Do-Over?
On 15 December 2014, Thomas MacEntee posted on his blog GeneaBloggers: Announcing the Genealogy Do-Over
Starting January 2nd, I’m setting my 20+ years of genealogy research
aside and starting ...
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Weekly Chat | Genealogy Do-Over – Week 12: 20 -26 March 2015
To kick off our Weekly Chats for 2015, for the first 13 weeks, let's follow along with Thomas MacEntee's Genealogy Do-Over.
The topics for Genealogy Do-Over – Week 12 are:
Sharing Research
Reviewing ...
Jan MurphyMod
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Let's get critical: Feb 2015 Site Self-Evaluation
We all love Genealogy & Family History Stack Exchange, but there is a whole world of people out there who need answers to their questions and don't even know that this site exists. When they ...
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On- and off-topic questions: Locating records and documents
As mentioned at On- and off-topic questions: an attempt to reach consensus (please read first) this is one of a set of questions attempting to reach consensus on the scope for this site.
This ...
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How to encourage New Users (and help the Moderators)?
Related to the Moderators Pro-Tempore Nomination thread... and more of an observation than a question...
Notwithstanding the need to Encouraging new users through comments and refraining from swift ...
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Weekly Chat | Genealogy Do-Over – Week 11: 13 - 19 March 2015
To kick off our Weekly Chats for 2015, for the first 13 weeks, let's follow along with Thomas MacEntee's Genealogy Do-Over.
The topics for Genealogy Do-Over – Week 11 are:
Reviewing Social Media ...
Jan MurphyMod
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Weekly Chat | Genealogy Do-Over – Week 10: 6 - 12 March 2015
To kick off our Weekly Chats for 2015, for the first 13 weeks, let's follow along with Thomas MacEntee's Genealogy Do-Over.
The topics for Genealogy Do-Over – Week 10 are:
Reviewing DNA Testing ...
Jan MurphyMod
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How strict should we be with Not An Answer flags/closure on new users?
I would like to ask our community a question, using as an example a recent question that I asked, which was answered by a distant cousin of mine, who I have otherwise never had any contact with:
When,...
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Should mods upvote featured meta posts?
The Community user just bumped an old Weekly Topic Challenge -- I assume it was due to lack of activity (zero upvotes on the original question and on the answer summarizing the results of the ...
PolyGeoMod
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Weekly Chat | Genealogy Do-Over – Week 9: 27 February – 5 March 2015
To kick off our Weekly Chats for 2015, for the first 13 weeks, let's follow along with Thomas MacEntee's Genealogy Do-Over.
The topics for Genealogy Do-Over – Week 9 are:
Conducting Cluster Research
...
Jan MurphyMod
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Who needs help deciphering some old handwriting in family history documents?
The Weekly Topic Challenge enters its seventh week and this week's challenge is:
What about tutorials on old scripts / old handwriting?
Use this challenge to pull out those hard to read Wills, ...
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Let's get critical: Mar 2014 Site Self-Evaluation
We all love Genealogy & Family History Stack Exchange, but there is a whole world of people out there who need answers to their questions and don't even know that this site exists. When they ...
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Let's get critical: Aug 2014 Site Self-Evaluation
We all love Genealogy & Family History Stack Exchange, but there is a whole world of people out there who need answers to their questions and don't even know that this site exists. When they ...
CommunityBot
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Weekly Chat | Genealogy Do-Over – Week 8: 20-26 February 2015
To kick off our Weekly Chats for 2015, for the first 13 weeks, let's follow along with Thomas MacEntee's Genealogy Do-Over.
The topics for Genealogy Do-Over – Week 8 are:
Conducting Collateral ...
Jan MurphyMod
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Weekly Chat | Genealogy Do-Over – Week 7: 13-19 February 2015
To kick off our Weekly Chats for 2015, for the first 13 weeks, let's follow along with Thomas MacEntee's Genealogy Do-Over.
The topics for Genealogy Do-Over – Week 7 are:
Reviewing Genealogy ...
Jan MurphyMod
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Weekly Chat | Genealogy-Do Over Week 6: 6-12 February 2015
To kick off our Weekly Chats for 2015, for the first 13 weeks, let's follow along with Thomas MacEntee's Genealogy Do-Over.
The topics for Genealogy Do-Over – Week 6 are:
Evaluating Evidence
...
Jan MurphyMod
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