Verifier guide
You decide what a note is worth. The bars for Verified and Likely, and what counts as a source, are on thepolicies page; read that first. This page is the rest: which button, when, and how the board works.
Two levels
Everyone starts as a researcher. Researchers claim streets, add leads, post answers, and propose a call (Verified, Likely or Disputed) on someone else's note with the Propose buttons. Nothing changes on the map until a verifier agrees.
Verifiers make the calls below, and see each open proposal on the note with Uphold andDecline. Upholding makes the proposed call; making a different call, or declining, leaves it unheld. Decline with a reply that says why. When three of a researcher's proposals are upheld, they become a verifier automatically. Nathan can also promote someone directly.
Waiting proposals are listed at the top of the research board. One open proposal per note: if you see it differently, say so in a reply.
The buttons on a note
Every action is logged with your name. That is the point: a reader can see who checked what.
| Button | Press it when | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Verify | You have seen the source yourself, it meets the Verified bar (it says "named for", it is the naming, or it passes the landowner rule: same name, their land when the street appeared, no rival), the note cites it well enough for the next person to find, and it isn't your own note. | Labels the note Verified with your name on it. The street shows as solved by the community and takes the note's category. |
| Mark likely | You have seen the source and it meets the Likely bar but not the Verified one: it hedges, the land was only nearby, there's a rival candidate, or the note makes one written-out inference from it. | Labels the note Likely with your name on it. The street shows as Likely, with the note's category, and joins the Likely list on the Mystery board. |
| Dispute | A checkable source says otherwise, or the cited source doesn't say what the note claims. Not for "I doubt it": you need a reason you can state. | Labels the note Disputed and opens a reply for your reason. Write it; the next reader needs it. |
| Unverify / Unmark likely / Undispute | You or another verifier made a call that no longer holds. Say why in a reply. | Returns the note to Sourced (or Unverified if it has no source). |
| Pin | A street has more than one note and one is the best answer. | Shows that note first. One pin per street. |
| Hide | The note doesn't belong: off topic, personal information, abuse, spam, a duplicate. | Removes it from view. Reversible, and logged. Never hide a note for being wrong; dispute it. |
| Move to | A note is filed as the wrong kind: a comment about the houses posted as an answer, or a story told as fact. | Moves it and its replies to "Why it's named", "Heard it around" or "About this street". A call the new kind can't hold is taken back. |
| Make it a lead | A "Heard it around" story is worth chasing. | Copies it to the street's research board as a lead, credited to the note's author. The note stays where it is. |
| Category | You are verifying or marking likely a note on an Unsolved street. | Sets the kind of name the map shows (founder, developer, civic, nature, and so on). "None" is fine when you don't know. |
Verify, Mark likely and Pin only appear on top-level notes: replies discuss, they don't answer. Only "Why it's named" notes can be Verified; a "Heard it around" story can be Likely when it says who told it and when; "About this street" notes take no calls at all. The site also refuses to let you verify your own note. Anyone can Reply and Report; three reports hide a note until one of us looks.
One answer per street
- A street can only be Verified if nothing credible contradicts it. If two sourced notes conflict, neither gets Verified. Mark the stronger one Likely, or dispute both with a reply explaining the conflict, and set the street to Needs a source.
- The person who posts the answer doesn't verify it. Post the note, set the street to Ready to verify, and let a second verifier check the source. Nathan may verify alone on streets where no one else is active, and says so in a reply.
- A note that challenges one of the book's Verified entries goes through the same test. If the new source is checkable and the two really disagree, email Nathan; the street becomes Disputed until one source wins.
- Set the category when you verify. A verified note with no category leaves its street gray on the map.
The research board
The board tracks streets, not notes. Its statuses are stages of the hunt.
| Status | Means | Who sets it |
|---|---|---|
| Open | Nobody is on it. | The default. |
| Researching | Someone has claimed it. | "I'm on this" sets it. "Step back" clears it when the last person leaves. |
| Lead found | A hint worth chasing (a name, a plat, a family), not yet a source. | Adding a lead sets it. |
| Needs a source | We think we know the answer and can't cite it yet. A Likely in waiting. | Set it by hand. |
| Ready to verify | A sourced note is posted on the street. A second verifier should check it. | Set it by hand after posting the note. |
Claim a street before you dig, so two people don't chase the same plat. Claims lapse after 30 days of silence. Leads are private to verifiers; the answer, once you have it, goes public as a note on the street.
The usual path
- Claim the street on the board ("I'm on this").
- Add leads as you find them. When one turns into a real source, you have your answer.
- Post the answer as a note on the street page, with the source cited well enough to find again. Attach a photo of the plat, clipping or page if you have one: whoever checks it can then read the source on the spot. If it's an inference, write the step out.
- Set the street to Ready to verify.
- Another verifier reads the source and presses Verify or Mark likely, and sets the category.
- Nathan folds it into the permanent entry, with the author credited.
Points and the leaderboard
Points reward finding things: 20 when your note turns a street over (the Verified answer on a street the book hadn't verified), 5 for the Likely answer on a street the book left unknown, 2 for each street you add a lead to, 1 for each street you post a note or reply on. Verifying earns nothing, so there's never a reason to hurry a call. Points are counted from the notes as they stand, so an answer that's overturned stops counting. The leaderboardresets each season; badges and all-time totals don't.
Conduct
- Post under your listed name. Your badge shows on your notes.
- Take your time on calls. They earn no points; they're worth getting right.
- Living people: say only what a published source says. No addresses, no speculation about families.
- Paraphrase sources; don't paste pages from a book. A photo of a record (a plat, a deed, an old clipping) is welcome; from a book, photograph just the passage you cite.
- Photos: no people's faces, house numbers or anything private in the frame. Crop it to the source.
- Be kind in replies. The person who posted a wrong guess brought the street to our attention.
A case these rules don't cover? Email namedforlakewood@nathannoll.com and we'll add it here.