Talk:Model County, Statename

Yes, I think this a reasonable arrangement of data if what we want are County pages to capture useful information about counties. I don't see any point in repeating the information on Wikipedia---at least not as a simple data dump, but the information that appears there could be imported in part where it has particular relevance to genealogical pursuits, and then a link to the WK would take care of the occassional need for more in depth data on present day counties.

The selection of categories in the model template seems quite reasonable. Robin will recall that once upon a time I played with setting up some county pages to capture data. I still work on that occassionally, but I think realism set in and I came to realize that I simply wasn't interested in doing massive data input---just for the sake of having the data on the site. One could spend a lifetime doing that, and still not have everything. Doing something like that requires either a) great dedication, b) corporate financing, or c) a team of a whole lot of volunteers, which is something genealogy is good at.

At anyrate, yes, I think this a reasonable display/layout for setting up a county page. Looks good to me.

But re my comments about the overall utility of templates---that was not intended as a criticism. If it was seen that way, please accept my appologies. As Robin pointed out, realistically, people do run out of steam on projects. In my own case, I'll get a great idea and explore it for a bit, (like a template), then forget all about it. Unless I'm actually using it on a daily basis, I probably won't even remember I ever did something with it. Perhaps my experience is different from others. But, if someone wants to dedicate themselves to establishing a repository of information about Counties, focused on genealogical needs, that would be really useful. And if someone is going to do that, having a template to establish the form and function upfront is the way to go. My recommendation would be to pick a couple of counties, and set them up the way the template is organized. Then point them out for comment, let them sit for awhile, comeback a few weeks later, and see if the organization still seems good. Bill 15:06, 22 September 2007 (UTC)