Talk:Meta:US Structure

US State / County Structure
In navigating through the US portal, I have come up with a suggested structure for the US.

I am most interested in building a resource for people looking for vital record repositories in locations in the US. I think this is an important resource, as it is very easy to verify its accuracy, and imminently useful to new and potentially new users. Working in the US gives me a chance to try this in a well understood environment. It is hoped that the lessons I learn here can help those looking to build a similar resource for other areas of the world.

So I propose that we make it simplicity itself to get to a given county in a given state in the US, and post the contact info for local FHCs, vital record offices, and allow locals to post contact info if they are willing to help with the footwork. Links to local research lines, or prominent families could be available here as well.

Structure as follows:

Main articles:

Additional levels may be needed for large cities, or public prominent family histories, but these would be added as-needed.

Corresponding Template and Portal sections would be needed as well. It is hoped that with a proper template system, very little work would be needed to build out and maintain this area. Additionally, the portals would allow easy navigation and summary of the main articles.

{| ! Portals Portal:United_States US Portal Page (existing). Redirect from Portal:US Portal:US/ Individual state portal pages (existing would be moved here). State portal sub-pages would be put under here. Portal:US/ / County portal pages ! Templates US/State Template for US States US/County Template for US County etc...

It is anticipated that this 'gazetteer' would be a small part of the wiki, but a great resouce for people looking to start family history. Additionally, basing the structure on the country code would allow other country structures to mirror this one, with minor modifications if needed.

Thanks The Earl 17:50, 7 March 2008 (MST)