Template talk:Maine
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[edit] Regions section of template
I have concerns that the regions section of the Maine state template is being filled with increasingly meaningless and personal POV entries.
My own POV and background: I am a Maine native and have lived all my life so far here (57 years). I was born and raised to adulthood in Oxford county, my family always remained there, and I am living there again now, after having lived in the Portland area for 25 years.
That given, I have never heard spoken, nor have I ever read about, the High Peaks region or the Maine Lake Country region, yet both of these template links refer to slight articles, which strike me as created solely to back up these so-called "region" names, and even though these so-called regions supposedly exist in the very portion of the state with which I am extremely familiar!
The link to a "region" of Maine called Acadia brings one to an article on that word and area, but which article rightly says nothing about the state of Maine. Acadia IS the name of a National Park in Maine, but since the link is listed under "regions" and the link points to an article on the Acadia culture area, and not the National Park, I don't feel that link should be listed in Maine's state template regions section. While the word Acadia, the National Park, even the Acadian family names and people, all do have a link with Maine still there is no "region" of Maine known by that and thus it should not be listed on the template under Regions.
And to continue with my opinions on this section of the state template, I feel some of the other "names" of regions are not accurately presented. For instance, the use of the word "Maine" within several of them is both redundant and inaccurate as far as the commonly used names of regions in Maine. For example: I live in the region of the state frequently called: Western Mountains (or sometimes Western Mountain Foothills) but never called "Western Maine Mountains"....after all this is a link on a template of the state of Maine, not the Rockies, so it is unnecessary (and not typically heard in use) to add the word Maine to the name of this region. Being the sate of Maine template, and the sub-section "Regions", the link should simply read "Western Mountains" which is the more accurate name by which the region is known.
Same situation and reasons go for "Maine Lake Country" (although as I've already stated that whole name strikes me as fabricated simply to include on this template). The link to the so-called region of "Maine Atlantic Coast" simply brings one to the main article on the state of Maine itself; therefore there is no "region" of the state known by that name. It's simply redundant. There are the Southern Coast, the Mid Coast, Down East, and the North Woods regions. But listing here the Penobscot Bay region strikes me as approaching the transformation of every town, river, bay and mountain into a "region" which then begins to render the classification "Regions" as meaningless and no differnt than a listing of towns, rivers, mountains, etc.
So to repeat and sum up: I suggest that Acadia, High Peaks, Maine Atlantic Coast, Maine Lake Country all be removed from the Regions section of the template. And I suggest that the Western Maine Mountains link be changed to the more accurately used and known name of simply Western Mountains.
If those who created the articles on these supposed regions, and added these "region" links to the template which I'm criticizing can offer some outside corroborating reference to prove they exist in print or in wide usage independently of Wiki, I'll readily withdraw my criticism of their use here.
[edit] U.S. state templates
Wikipedia:WikiProject U.S. states/state templates lists and displays all 50 U.S. state (and additional other) templates. It potentially can be used for ideas and standardization. //MrD9 07:16, 19 March 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Standardization of state templates
There is currently an ongoing discussion regarding standardization of state templates (primarily regarding layout and styling) at Wikipedia talk:WikiProject U.S. states/state templates. An effort was made earlier this year to standardize Canadian province templates (which mostly succeeded). Lovelac7 and I have already begun standardizing all state templates. If you have any concerns, they should be directed toward the discussion page for state template standardization. Thanks! — Webdinger BLAH | SZ 22:48, 27 August 2006 (UTC)
