Talk:List of counties in Alabama

message: I propose the following edit to this page to indicate the two-digit code for each county in Alabama.  Since it is relatively significant to the format of the page, I am posting it to talk.  Should there be no comments in seven days, I will post to the main article.  --EazieCheeze 21:25, 9 June 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: (Obsolete proposal removed. The suggestion has been incorporated into the current article layout.)--Dystopos 23:13, 8 August 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: License Plate Proposal

message: :(Obsolete proposal removed. The suggestion has been incorporated into the current article layout.)--Dystopos 23:13, 8 August 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: Proposed Change

message: Some helpful information on U.S. county lists can be found at WP:COUNTYLISTS. Tompw (talk) (review) 16:21, 24 June 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: Wikiproject help

message: * In accordance with WP:COUNTYLISTS I recommend reformatting the page with :Template:County7 or a successor which accommodates Alabama's numeric codes for license plates. I have seconded someone else's request for that addition to the template and received a favorable response at Wikipedia talk:WikiProject U.S. counties/county lists. --Dystopos 22:28, 2 August 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: * Figuring that if the template is updated that it will be simple to transpose, I started filling in data at User:Dystopos/Alacounty. It would appear that the information is largley redundant with List of Alabama county name etymologies, but since that's part of a series of Lists of U.S. county name etymologies I guess I'll leave it alone, even though redundancy is a incubator for error. --Dystopos 04:09, 3 August 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: * OK, I've got a complete list. I guess for now I'll add it here underneath the image map. --Dystopos 04:45, 4 August 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: Template

message: * That's a hell of a lot of work represented in the image map, but it doesn't seem to serve the same purpose as a "list of counties". Is there precedent for moving that off to "Map of counties in Alabama" or something? In my opinion it takes up more screen space than it's worth here. --Dystopos 22:30, 2 August 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: What I am seeing is a large map superimposed over the table and other maps. Anyone else having the same problem? JodyB yak, yak, yak 17:04, 4 August 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Hm. I usually have my browser window set to 800px, which works fine, but I see the problem as soon as I stretch it wider. I don't know much about page formatting. My preference would be to move the image elsewhere (if not delete it), but I don't want to undermine all the hard work that went into creating it without a clear consensus of other editors. --Dystopos 17:09, 4 August 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: Image map

message: * I think we're putting too much explanation into the "Named for" column -- especially when an article exists for a wikilink. To me, that's the purpose of having links in the first place, so you don't have to explain terms every time they're mentioned. For the ones with red links, I suspect that having a county named after you makes you notable enough for a stub article, at least. Also, my reference (Foscue-1989) says that Autauga County was named for Autauga Creek, which was in turn named for the village which went by various western spellings. I think we should stick with the reference (otherwise we might as well say that St. Clair county was named for the Saint who gave Arthur his family name. I'll change that one and leave the other points for discussion. Oh, and since the image map is at the bottom and the table includes 67 more maps, I think I'll nix the one at top, which is still interfering with the layout. --Dystopos 23:14, 4 August 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Thanks for your recent work on the article.  I think you have done a really good job so far.  With regards to your comments regarding the "named for" column, please have a look at the lists which have reached featured list status: List of counties in Arizona, List of counties in Connecticut, List of counties in Maryland, List of counties in Rhode Island, List of counties in Texas, List of counties in Wyoming.  All use more detailed descriptions of the source of the name.  I would really like to follow the precedent since it also provides a substantial benefit to the user.  The user receives a lot of information from 5 to 10 words when he may not want the entire article.  With regards to Autauga County, I believe a good compromise would be to list the creek as the name source but also to indicate the name source of the creek. Leeannedy 23:38, 4 August 2007 (UTC)

text: * Regarding precedent, I have found it to be most helpful in adopting a suitable format for this article. It is unfortunate that those which have reached featured status have not benefitted from my editorial taste. However, since I do not act alone, I will not argue further against the added detail, except to say that, in principle, adding redundancy to the encyclopedia multiplies the opportunites for errors to appear and to remain uncorrected. --Dystopos 06:20, 5 August 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: *I have made a first pass on adding an appropriate level of detail to the "Named for" column.  I have limited the information and removed the dates of tenure for officials.  I think after a couple of rounds of fact checking (I will start a round now) the stability of the article can be ensured.  Articles with easily verified and established facts should be much less prone to inconsistency and errors than other redundancies. Leeannedy 21:23, 5 August 2007 (UTC)

text: I ultimately would like to add a few paragraphs of prose at the top of the article as a lead-in.  In my opinion, it seems to soften the stark appearance of lists.  This should alleviate the formatting problems with a map at the top.  I would propose using the population density map.  It is used for several of the featured lists, has a nice appearance, and shows county boundaries.  What do you think of the location of the clickable map? Leeannedy 23:38, 4 August 2007 (UTC)

text: * As you wish. I used the geographic origin when it was spelled out by Foscue and the legal origin when it was not, since that was my only available reference. Since it is possible to derive the legal origin from a knowledge of the date and the history of Alabama's governing bodies, I propose that, when references are available, geographic origin be used in the table. --Dystopos 06:15, 5 August 2007 (UTC)

text: *I have added the geographical origins that I have.  I will attempt to locate the information for the other states. Leeannedy 21:23, 5 August 2007 (UTC)

text: * All population numbers are 2006 US Census estimates as given in the FIPS code links. --Dystopos 06:15, 5 August 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: Tabular format

message: * We appear to be relying on more references than are explained. --Dystopos 02:42, 6 August 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: * The link to a FIPS footnote is dead since there is no corresponding footnote.  Based on the List of counties in Texas article, an appropriate reference for the FIPS identification numbers is "County FIPS Code Listing for the State of Alabama - Envirofacts Multisystem - United States Environmental Protection Agency" (http://www.epa.gov/enviro/html/codes/al.html). Leeannedy 22:33, 7 August 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: * It would be easier to help with the task of resolving inconsistent references if they were all noted. --Dystopos 23:16, 8 August 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: References

message: * I've updated the table to :Template:Countyrow, which allows us to have a column for license plate prefixes. I added some background on that subject to the article lead. I also reduced some of the extraneous detail in the "named for" column, moved the clickable image map to the main illustration (I didn't realize before that it could be resized), and renamed the table section "sortable table" rather than "alphabetical list". --Dystopos 23:10, 8 August 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: Updates

message: * Foscue includes some line maps showing Alabama counties between 1820 and 1903. I think she had them drawn for the book, so they're probably copyrighted to the extent that creative effort was involved in interpreting extant historical maps and land records (but not, of course, to the extent that they merely reflect uncopyrightable facts). I'll leave that question to be sorted out by whomever may have the ambition and skill to make a graphic for us to use here --Dystopos 23:10, 8 August 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: Historical maps

message: * Another respondent makes this suggestion: "But I think the fictional counties are okay. We have them in List of parishes in Louisiana and I think it's just fine. However, both these section needs proper sourcing." (User:Circeus),
:* I would imagine that the work of fiction itself (which is referenced, though not in full bibliographic form) would suffice to back up the claim that the allusion to the named county in Alabama exists. Therefore I suppose what is being requested is a fuller discussion of the manner in which fictional Alabama counties have been utilized in fiction? I'm not sure that scholars have broached that subject. If anyone has tips on where to look, I'll do my best. --Dystopos 03:25, 23 August 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: Sourcing fictional counties

message: The summary history of Alabama geography has been extracted from Wikipedia's History of Alabama article. I have directed the reader to there for more detail and for the relevant references. --Dystopos (talk) 22:35, 11 December 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: History

message: 11-Sep-2008: I have added subheaders above as "Topics from 2006" (etc.) to emphasize the dates of topics in the talk-page. Older topics might still apply, but using the year headers helps to focus on more current issues as well. -Wikid77 (talk) 05:59, 11 September 2008 (UTC)
thread_title: Retrofit topic year headers

message: The FIPS links show new population numbers of 2008. For example, Autauga County increased from 49,730 to 50,364	.--Diaa abdelmoneim (talk) 15:08, 27 September 2009 (UTC)
thread_title: Update population to the 2008 census

message: The article for Russell County states that it was formed from territory ceded by the Creek Indians, while the information on this page states that it was formed from Barbour, Bullock, Lee, and Macon in 1832. Yet, also according to this page, Bullock and Lee weren't formed until 1866. I don't know what the correct information is (though this site might be able to sort things out). Perhaps someone who is more familiar with Alabama counties can fix this? Reade (talk) 14:58, 20 May 2013 (UTC)
thread_title:  Russell County 

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*Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20111027140704/http://www.coffeecounty.us/History.html to http://www.coffeecounty.us/History.html
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thread_title:  External links modified 

message: Hello fellow Wikipedians,
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thread_title:  External links modified