Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Kansas

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[edit] I'm ready...

... but just don't know where to start... tagging articles with the project banner? or is there something better I should do? ----Steve 21:11, 15 March 2007 (UTC)

    • That's a start. In all honesty, I don't know much more than you. I saw that other states had a project page and Kansas didn't, so I created one. Until more editors join in, I'd say go ahead and add the tags to the talk pages. Also, continue editing and polishing Kansas articles on topics in which you are knowledgeable. Thanks StudierMalMarburg 12:39, 16 March 2007 (UTC)
      • Added the banner to the regions, except ozarks and kansas city area. Will do more work as I get time. ----Steve 16:40, 16 March 2007 (UTC)

I'm glad someone finally started this. NapalmSunday 00:57, 21 March 2007 (UTC)

I agree, this is a great idea! I was thinking we may start with a collaboration on the main Kansas article -- get it to feature status. Right now it has a B rating :(. Any objections? Wrad 19:43, 2 April 2007 (UTC)

I guess I'll be on board. haha, let's not change the intro though, I wrote the intro a long time ago, I like it and I think it gives a good summary of the state. User:Burroughsks88 1:23, 3 April 2007 (UTC)

    • I think we should start with something smaller like Topeka, Wichita, Salina, etc for practice then move up to Kansas History, Kansas Politics. That way we'll have a base built and be able to work our way up to the Kansas page. It needs a lot of work. NapalmSunday 14:41, 4 April 2007 (UTC)

You are right about that. It does need a lot of work. Maybe we should come at it from both ends. If I had a choice among those, I would pick either Topeka or history or politics. Also, as a side note, the only featured state article on wikipedia so far is Minnesota. Take a look if you like. Wrad 15:11, 4 April 2007 (UTC)

How come no one mentions Derby? Just because we kick everyones ass in football rofl. But seriously, I live in Derby, and the page embarrasses me. I propose this be our first collabo: other big cities get enough press, lets get the lesser known into the limelight! Quatreryukami 02:39, 15 April 2007 (UTC)

I dunno. I don't know anything about Derby, and I doubt the web has enough that I could find more than a couple paragraphs of information. Since you live there, you may be able to find more. If that's what you want to do, go for it! I've been working a little on Scandia's page myself. However, as a collaboration, it may be a problem. Wrad 03:03, 15 April 2007 (UTC)

yah, dont know how to do this edit crud but, "carry on my wayward son"(song) has this kansas related thing. the bands name is kansas. not the state.

[edit] Regions of Kansas

I'd be willing to try to take on some projects related to the "Kansas Regions" articles listed on that Kansas Template. My first thing would probably be to try to get maps that indicate what counties those regions cover. Right now, only some of them have that. I haven't really determined from any of the articles exactly where my Wichita falls in those regions. That being my hometown, I've a vested interest in figuring out those geographies. I'll go ahead and work on those articles. ----Steve 14:28, 22 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Highways

I've had some experiences trying to put a Kansas project tag on the major highways passing through the state -- particularly the Interstates. There are some editors involved with the Wikipedia:WikiProject U.S. Interstate Highways who are very territorial around these articles and consider them their personal domain. They will delete any Kansas Project tag you attempt to put on them. StudierMalMarburg 13:43, 30 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Recruitment

I saw StudierMalMarburg was already doing this but to everyone else if you find a well made page while tagging, check the history and see if there was a person or two who did most of the work. If their profile/contribs shows they're already trying to improve Kansas articles try inviting them on their talk page. Just make sure we don't do any double invite spam. Something like:

You're cordially invited to become a member of the WikiProject Kansas. If interested, simply add your name to the members list on the project page and add the template {{User WPKansas}} to your own user page. (personalizing it to the specific user isn't a bad idea to show that you're not doing this to just anyone) Cheers, NapalmSunday 14:46, 30 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] New articles

Dear Wikipedians, a list of possible Kansas-related articles found by bot is available at User:AlexNewArtBot/KansasSearchResult. Colchicum 14:46, 6 April 2007 (UTC)

[edit] New rating template

As can be seen on the project's main page, a new rating template has been created. Feel free to tag Kansas articles with it and rate them. In fact, I think that this template should replace the old one. It will put articles into categories by rating and importance automatically as users assess each article. This will give us a better idea of our progress within the project.Wrad 04:25, 8 April 2007 (UTC)

I agree that this should replace the other template. I was able to tag the largest cities and the kansas article with "importance" assessments, but thought I would leave the "class" assessments to other eyes. My motivation was mostly to provide the bot that makes this chart data to work with. Tomorrow, we should have a chart of our very own, and can put it on the project page. ----Steve 17:16, 10 April 2007 (UTC)

My only reservation was that the previous tag was building up the category for the Recent changes page, but I fixed the new template so that it would put all pages with the new tag in the same category, subcategorized by either importance or quality, so it should be fine. Eventually we can make an assessment page to provide a broad view of the general quality of Kansas articles. Wrad 21:28, 10 April 2007 (UTC)

Great template! I just want to make sure that the new one is replacing the old one so we don't have to do any retagging right? Also how do we objectively grade? I think the Kansas Supreme Court is good but I don't know what the wikiteers would say. NapalmSunday 02:54, 17 April 2007 (UTC)

Now that we've put the template up, we have a chart that is updated every 24 hours that we can put on our project page. I put that on just now. We just need to apply the assessments to more articles, now. ----Steve 17:10, 20 April 2007 (UTC)

Nice Work!!!

In answer to the previous question, other projects have clear criteria for rating. We should take a look at those, take what we want, then post it on an assessment page with the new chart. Quality ratings are more complex, but importance ratings are usually based on the likelyhood that the average wikiuser will visit the page. For example, the Kansas and Topeka, Kansas articles are more likely to be visited than other pages. This help prioritize our workload. Wrad 21:45, 20 April 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Mission Creek (Kansas)

This is a town right? I get some results that it's a town ... and others that it is a creek. Web vs maps. J. D. Redding 16:10, 21 April 2007 (UTC)

  • Mission Creek is a Township located in Wabaunsee County, Kansas, just west of Topeka. To my knowledge there's no town of that name today, although that doesn't mean one hasn't existed in the past. StudierMalMarburg 19:42, 22 April 2007 (UTC)
    • Here is the link to the creek map ... and here is to the township result. I was thinking that since it was parenthesized [sp?] that it was to the waterbody. Is the township notable? Did something happen @ the creek and I am ignorant of? Guess it calls for more digging. J. D. Redding 22:23, 23 April 2007 (UTC)

I should probably clarify this as I was the one who put it up for de-redlink. I think it was in the Kansas article history section, but was removed (probably because it was a red link). I'm not sure what it's historical significance was, though. Wrad 00:23, 24 April 2007 (UTC)

Ok, I looked it up according to this [1] it was an underground railroad site, among other things. And this site [2]. Also, this book [3] apparently talks about the area, if anyone can find it in a library. That's a start. Wrad 00:31, 24 April 2007 (UTC)

the historicsageinn.com and amazon.com/Kansas-Indians links talk of the creek (water).
the skyways.lib.ks.us talks of creek (township) a'lil differently.
seems as if it is a tributary of the Kaw river ... and it does go into Wabaunsee County, Kansas (passing to the west of topeka to the kaw). The township probably is named after the waterbody ... it's between dover and eskridge around state (?) highway 4 and goes under I-70 ...
As to "historical interest", seems to have the "injuns" around there during the territory years ... and the underground railroad later ...
thanks, J. D. Redding (... now can rest the 'lil problem to bed in my head)

[edit] Battle of Lawrence → Lawrence Massacre

There's a survey over whether we should move Battle of Lawrence to Lawrence Massacre (or another name). Talk:Battle of Lawrence#Requested move. -Will Beback · † · 19:59, 2 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Wikipedia:WikiProject Kansas/Kansas recent changes

PLEASE ADD TO Wikipedia:WikiProject Kansas/Kansas recent changes. J. D. Redding 23:58, 9 May 2007 (UTC) ... Got the first page down ... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:WikiProject_Kansas_articles

[edit] Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks

So, I am under the impression that this is a government agency, and therefore any images taken by its employees would be public domain. However, I want to make sure people agree with that, and see if you think it is safe to take images from their website: http://www.kdwp.state.ks.us. If so, there is definitely plenty of material on there that could be used to spruce up some of the State Park articles. I wouldn't have even hesitated if not for their stupid copyright notice. I think they were just trying to cover themselves by saying that it was all copyrighted and requires permission, when in fact it does not. Thoughts? CharacterZero | Speak 18:16, 19 May 2007 (UTC)

US federal stuff is public .... State, County, and City stuff may not be. I'll see if I can find some info ... J. D. Redding 18:50, 19 May 2007 (UTC)

You may want to send them a email asking permission. There is a form somewhere here at wikipedia .. worth a try. J. D. Redding (PS., or have you considered some vacations? Take a camera with you ... if so ... )

Found it ... Wikipedia:Example requests for permission ... J. D. Redding 02:46, 20 May 2007 (UTC)

Click on the "Legal Notices" link at the bottom of the Kansas Department of Wildlife Page. There is a copyright notice that reads: "Any use of the photos, graphics and logos on this site without permission from the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks is prohibited." Hence, the material is not in the public domain and you will need permission to use them here. StudierMalMarburg 17:46, 29 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Requesting review of Concordia/Cloud County-related links

Gang, I've been putting some work into pages centered around Concordia, Kansas and I would appreciate comments and review of the following (not only from the page standpoint itself, but also how we can make each page match better to other similar pages on WikiProject Kansas).

Towns: Clyde, Kansas, Concordia, Kansas, Glasco, Kansas, Jamestown, Kansas, Sibley, Kansas
Places/Buildings: Blosser Municipal Airport, Brown Grand Theatre, Camp Concordia, Cloud County Community College, Cloud County Health Center, Concordia Blade-Empire, Concordia Junior-Senior High School, Jamestown (Kansas) Wildlife Area, Nazareth Convent and Academy, U.S. Route 81
People: Napoleon Bonaparte Brown, May Louise Cowles, James Manney Hagaman, Robert E. Pearson
Other KS-Related Pages: Samuel J. Crawford, Detroit, Kansas, Southwestern College (Kansas)

Please put comments on the TALK page for each subject. Thanks! --Paul McDonald 19:55, 12 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Added Governor Hagaman

Recently added Frank L. Hagaman page, former governor who replaced Frank Carlson. Could use a picture, could also have someone fix the Governor Template so that it directs to "Frank" instead of "Fred L. Hagaman" ...--Paul McDonald 14:01, 17 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Suggestion for "Members" section

For the "Members" section of this article, what say we put our "areas of interest" next to our names. That doesn't mean we couldn't contribute to other articles, of course, or that someone else couldn't come along and add to it... just that we can see what bases we have covered... For example:

I don't think we want to get too detailed... maybe just "Cloud County" would be enough... or "Concordia" would be enough. Or maybe someone would take "Governors" or "Scouting" or "Arkansas River" or whatever... whadayathink?--Paul McDonald 13:32, 6 July 2007 (UTC)

Wikipedia:WikiProject Dinosaurs has an effective way of organizing members' efforts and expertise. They churn out FAs like clockwork. Wrad 16:46, 6 July 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Challenge: historic places

Okay, check out the page List of Registered Historic Places in Kansas and here's my challenge: Pick a county (I chose Cloud and get pages set up for those historic places. Even if it is just a short stub, you can include some relevant information. Once a good-quality stub is set up, it becomes easy to add to it. For example, I'm headed to Cloud County in September and plan to take photos of all the historic places--but maybe someone else will get there before me.

In just a few hours apiece and a little research on the web, we can kick-start this section of Kansas encyclopedic knowledge.--Paul McDonald 14:17, 10 July 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Governors

All governors now have an article, even if it is just a stub. I'm still adding infoboxes and looking for images of governors (post-1923 publication) that are in the public domain. I can get a pic from John Carlin, but the others might be tricky. Please help if you can. Spacini 13:29, 26 July 2007 (UTC)

I, for one, say "great job" on the governors!--Paul McDonald 06:01, 15 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Unincorporated places

I've managed to create stubs for unincorporated places in Cloud, Republic, Mitchell, and Dickinson counties. These small, rural "wide-spots-in-the-road" are in my opinion CRITICAL to understanding Kansas history. These small towns and ghost towns are a heritage that I believe is encyclopedic.--Paul McDonald 06:07, 15 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Grant County

Could someone please create a decent article on some community in Grant County, aside from Ulysses? It's the only city in the county, and there are no other communities in the county with articles. It's the only county statewide without either multiple cities or a city and at least one unincorporated community. Nyttend 02:32, 17 August 2007 (UTC)

Gotcha started, created stubs for the unincorporated cities. --Paul McDonald 04:50, 17 August 2007 (UTC)
Thanks much, I've expanded the articles somewhat. Nyttend 14:16, 17 August 2007 (UTC)
I add my wish here: The article on Ulysses is a pity, as it relies on the census dates only and does not mention the unusual history of the place. Did you know, that the whole city fled from public debt in 1909, by loading all the (wooden) houses onto some kind of sled and moving them three miles into the prairie? One building had to be sawed in three pieces. Only the schoolhouse remained in place as it was made from stone and could not be moved. Please check out http://www.legendsofamerica.com/OZ-Ulysses.html and improve the article. And please, if there is a wikipedian in south easter Kansas or the neighboring states, can we get a few pictures? The historic building, that had to be sawed before moving it, is a museum now. We have one historic image from 1911 Image:New_ulysses_grant_ks3.jpg and could use lots of todays town. --h-stt !? 05:35, 14 September 2007 (UTC) (author of the German language article about the town at de:Ulysses (Kansas))

[edit] Greeley County-Tribune unification

Just ran across this news story: Greeley County and Tribune are going to consolidate, like Wyandotte County has done. Nyttend 16:14, 8 November 2007 (UTC)