WeRelate
{{more citations needed|date=August 2012}}
{{Infobox website
| name = WeRelate.org
| logo = Werelate.org-logo-small.png
| url = {{URL|werelate.org|WeRelate.org}}
| commercial = No
| type = Family history
| registration = Yes
| language = English
| num_users = 110,770 (May 2020){{cite web |url=https://www.werelate.org/w/index.php?title=Special:Listusers&limit=50&offset=110750 |title=User list |publisher=WeRelate |access-date=May 2, 2020}}
| content_license = Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
| owner = Foundation for On-Line Genealogy
| author = Dallan Quass
| launch_date = {{Start date and age|2006}}
| current_status = Active
}}
WeRelate.org is an American wiki genealogy Web site that provides genealogy tools and data.{{Cite book |last=Kennett |first=Debbie |url=https://archive.org/details/dnasocialnetwork0000kenn/ |title=DNA and Social Networking |publisher=The History Press |year=2011 |isbn=978-0-7524-5862-5 |location=Great Britain |page=174 |url-access=registration |via=Internet Archive}} WeRelate is a nonprofit organization, funded by tax-deductible donations, and is managed by unpaid volunteers.{{Cite magazine |last=Meitzler |first=Leland K |date=December 2007 |title=WeRelate—a New Genealogy Networking Site—and Much More! |url=https://archive.org/details/sim_evertons-genealogical-helper_november-december-2007_61_6/page/111/mode/1up |magazine=Everton's Genealogical Helper |publication-place=Utah, United States |volume=61 |issue=VI |pages=111–112 |issn= |access-date=September 19, 2023 |via=Internet Archive |url-access=registration}} WeRelate had over 2 million person pages by March 2011 and claimed to be the "world's largest genealogy wiki".
WeRelate is supported by the Foundation for On-Line Genealogy and the Allen County Public Library in Fort Wayne, Indiana. The site runs on the MediaWiki software.{{Cite web |title=WeRelate |url=https://meta.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=WeRelate&oldid=25485163 |access-date=September 19, 2023 |website=Meta |type=Wiki}}
Background
The site and software were developed in 2005 by the Foundation for On-Line Genealogy, led by president Dallan Quass, and subsequently launched in the spring of 2006 with the help of Solveig Quass. WeRelate is partnered with the Allen County Public Library, Genealogy Department Indiana, which houses one of the world's largest physical collections of genealogical materials.{{cite web |title=Genealogy |url=https://www.visitfortwayne.com/plan/trip-ideas/genealogy/ |access-date=September 19, 2023 |website=Visit Fort Wayne, Indiana}} WeRelate has been listed in the top 101 websites for genealogy by Family Tree Magazine from 2008 through 2013,{{cite web |last=Fryxell |first=David A. |date=October 14, 2011 |title=101 Best Websites for 2011 |url=https://familytreemagazine.com/uncategorized/101-best-websites-2011/ |access-date=September 19, 2023 |website=Family Tree Magazine |publisher=}} and listed among the "best family tree and sharing websites" 2023 listing also from this publisher.{{Cite web |last=Fryxell |first=David |year=2023 |title=Best Family Tree and Sharing Websites of 2023 |url=https://familytreemagazine.com/best-family-tree-sharing-websites/ |access-date=September 19, 2023 |website=familytree}}
In 2007, WeRelate and the University of South Florida's Africana Heritage Project{{cite web |url=http://www.werelate.org/wiki/Category:Africana_Heritage_Project |title=Africana Heritage Project |publisher=WeRelate |date=March 13, 2010 |access-date=August 7, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111012075711/http://www.werelate.org/wiki/Category:Africana_Heritage_Project |archive-date=2011-10-12 |url-status=live}} launched a research project on slave genealogy, supported by South Carolina's Magnolia Plantation Foundation, including the resulting data in the global genealogy collection.{{cite web |title=Africana Heritage Project |url=http://www.africanaheritage.com |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160129182301/http://www.africanaheritage.com/ |archive-date=January 29, 2016}} See also: {{cite press release |url=http://www.afrigeneas.com/newsdata/archives/(1)2007-06.html |date=June 26, 2007 |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101212074542/http://afrigeneas.com/newsdata/archives/(1)2007-06.html |archive-date=December 12, 2010 |title=USF Africana Heritage Project and WeRelate.org to Collaborate on Groundbreaking Slave Genealogy Research}} See also: {{cite web |url=http://www.werelate.org/wiki/User:Africana_Heritage |title=User:Africana Heritage |publisher=WeRelate |date=March 13, 2010 |access-date=August 7, 2013}}
Organization
WeRelate encourages users to upload GEDCOM (.ged) files,{{Cite magazine |last=Wolinsky |first=Howard |date=April 2010 |title=Just the Facts—Using a Wiki |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Yg4iWBma2eQC&pg=PA62 |magazine=Ancestry Magazine |volume=28 |issue=2 |pages=62–63 |access-date=September 19, 2023 |via=Google Books}} each person listed in the file being allocated a new person page on the wiki. The system produces a comparison screen for likely candidates, allowing users to determine if subjects are the same person; duplicate pages for common ancestors can be merged at upload. Information about living people is not accepted; it is automatically replaced by the software with the word "Living".{{Citation needed|date=September 2023}}
Registered users are able to document their research, which can then be edited by anyone else. WeRelate has over 926,000 Source pages{{citation needed|date=April 2012}} which contain reference and access information along with relevant links. Source pages also provide space for review and research tips. Users may link Person and Family pages to any relevant source pages. Users may also create MySource pages for references relevant to only their research, such as family bibles, birth, death, and marriage certificates. Scans of documentation may be attached to any relevant page.{{citation needed|date=April 2012}}
Place information is essential to genealogical research. WeRelate has over 900,000 referenced place pages.{{cite web |url=https://www.werelate.org/wiki/Special:Search?sort=score&ns=Source&watch=wu&a=&st=&g=&s=&p=&bd=&br=0&bp=&dd=&dr=0&dp=&fg=&fs=&mg=&ms=&sg=&ss=&hg=&hs=&wg=&ws=&md=&mr=0&mp=&pn=&li=&su=&sa=&t=&k=&rows=20&ecp=c |title=Source List |publisher=WeRelate |access-date=January 2, 2019}} Where applicable, Place pages are linked to Family History Library Catalog,{{cite web |url=http://www.werelate.org/wiki/Source:Population_of_States_and_Counties_of_the_United_States:_1790-1990 |title=Population of States and Counties of the United States |publisher=WeRelate |date=September 3, 2010 |access-date=August 7, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130722052910/http://www.werelate.org/wiki/Source:Population_of_States_and_Counties_of_the_United_States:_1790-1990 |archive-date=2013-07-22 |url-status=live}} and Wikipedia. Where geographic coordinates are available, a Google map is provided. Many pages also include timelines, population history, contained places, history, research tips and images.
Compared to other projects that let people publish and share similar data, WeRelate focuses on sourcing files with links to primary genealogy records, and rather than letting users maintain separate personal family trees, aims to align data from different sources into a unified global record.
= Collaborative tools =
WeRelate includes a family tree explorer, annotated images for sharing images of primary source documents or photos, and generates pedigree maps of up to five generations of data.
References
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External links
- {{official website|WeRelate.org}}
- {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070910233535/http://blog.eogn.com/eastmans_online_genealogy/2007/09/werelate-a-vide.html |title=2007 Interview with Dallan Quass, by Dick Eastman of Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2020}}
{{Genealogy software}}
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Category:American genealogy websites