Suggesting Updates
This family wiki is a living document. If you have corrections, additions, photos, stories, or new information to contribute, here’s how to help.
How to Contribute
Option 1: Quick Suggestions
- Click the “Suggest Update” button on any page (bottom right)
- Describe what should be added or changed
- Include any sources or documentation you have
Option 2: Email Updates
Email Nicholas Loui directly with:
- The page(s) that need updating
- The specific changes or additions
- Any supporting documents, photos, or sources
Nick will review and sync the changes to the wiki.
Option 3: Direct Editing (Advanced)
For family members comfortable with technical tools:
- Download a local copy of the wiki
- Make edits using Obsidian (free)
- Use Quartz Syncer to synchronize changes to Quartz (the application serving the website) changes
What Kind of Updates Help Most
- Corrections - Wrong dates, misspelled names, incorrect relationships
- Missing Information - Birth dates, locations, occupations we don’t have
- Photos - Family photos with context (who, when, where)
- Stories - Family memories, anecdotes, oral history
- Documents - Certificates, letters, official records
- New Family Members - Births, marriages, partners
See Research-Priorities for a list of specific information gaps we’re trying to fill.
How This Wiki Works
Technology Stack
This wiki is built with:
- Obsidian - A markdown-based knowledge management app for editing and organizing content locally
- Quartz - A static site generator that publishes Obsidian vaults as browsable websites
How Content is Structured
- All content is written in Markdown (.md files) with YAML frontmatter for metadata
- Files are organized into directories:
people/,events/,places/,sources/,stories/, etc. - Wikilinks (
[[Person Name]]) connect pages, creating the relationship graph - Dataview queries automatically generate tables and lists from page metadata
Publishing Workflow
- Content is edited locally in Obsidian
- Changes are committed to a Git repository
- Quartz builds the static website from the markdown files
- The site is deployed/hosted for public access
Why This Approach?
- Portable - Content is plain text, readable by any tool, never locked in
- Interconnected - Links between people, places, and events create a navigable family graph
- Queryable - Structured metadata enables dynamic views (by generation, by date, etc.)
- Collaborative - Git versioning tracks all changes over time
- Durable - No database or server required; files can be preserved indefinitely
Last updated: November 2024