Welcome to Wyoming Places

 

Partner's Instructions

Instructions for Moderators and Contributors

 

Access

Moderators:   Currently, staff of the Wyoming State Library and University of Wyoming Libraries are given moderator access. Moderators can delete pages and files, including revisions and revision histories.

 

1. Contact Wiki Administrator (Erin Kinney) to get login information. She will ask you to read and agree to the Contributor AgreementWyoming Place Names Entry Standards, and Disclaimer

Using the Wiki

Adding to the Place Names Wiki

Adding information to the "Origin of Name"

1) Search for the name on which you are working. Make sure the name matches on location and spelling.

2) In the "Origin of Name" field, type the information you are adding. Below the information, type Source: [Name of Source] 

in italics.

3) Create a Link for the [Name of Source] by selecting the "link" symbol from the top menu bar and selecting the correct wiki page from the "link to wiki page" (Most of the sources are listed on the "Sources cited" page)

Creating a Source Page:

Go to the "Resources" page on the side bar. Go to the section, "Sources Cited By the Place Names Wiki" and click on the link.  Add the name of your source in alphabetical order. If you have addional information about the source, you can link to it, either from the title or from a shortened version of it (abbreviation, acronym, etc) The link can either be to a Wiki page that describes your source or to a URL about the source. Examples of both are in the sources that have already been added. The WPA source has a Wiki page that describes it; the Annals and Casper Star-Tribune sources link to their web pages.

Adding a Place Name:

Sometimes, the place name for which you have information will not be in the wiki. Then you will need to add a place name.

First, go to the GNISwebsite and search. If you find the name, proceed to add it following the instructions below. If you can't find it in the GNIS, then proceed to add it as it appears on your original source. As an example, add the place name "Rawhide Buttes Stage Station."  Search GNIS for Rawhide Buttes Stage Station. You will find that "Rawhide Buttes" is in GNIS but "Rawhide Buttes Station" or "Rawhide Buttes Stage Station" is not. Your source lists it as "Rawhide Buttes Stage Station" so you will add it under that name.  First, you will need to determine what kind of feature it is add it to the Features page. Click on the Features link located on the sidebar.  "Rawhide Buttes Stage Station" is a locale since it is a place at which there was once human activity. Select the Locales link and a list of locales will appear. Next, right click the row where you would like to insert a new row. A menu will pop up. Select row, then insert row.  You will see a blank row appear. Next, type in your new place name in the blank row (in our example type Rawhide Buttes Stage Station). After that highlight the word Rawhide Butte Stage Station then click the link button and click the ok button to create your new link. Next, add the county name and if known, the 1:24000 map name. Finally, click the save button to save all changes. 

The Place Name lists are also sorted alphabetically so you will need to add "Rawhide Buttes Stage Station" to the alphabetical list. Click on the R section. Next, scroll down to where the name you are inserting should be. Type your new place name in the space (in our example type Rawhide Buttes Stage Station). After that highlight the word Rawhide Butte Stage Station then click the link button and click the ok button to create your new link. Finally, click the save button to save all changes and then click on your new link to create the new page. 

 

Finally, you will add the place to the county in which it is found. Click on the County link. Select the correct county. On the bottom of the county page, click on the Places of  ??? County Link. Next, scroll down to where the name you are inserting should be. Type your new place name in the space (in our example type Rawhide Buttes Stage Station). After that highlight the word Rawhide Butte Stage Station then click the link button and click the ok button to create your new link. Finally, click the save button to save all changes and then click on your new link to create the new page. 

 

Creating a New Place Name Form: 

First, search the Wiki for the place name you added in the previous step. After finding the place name, click on the link. You will see a screen with the new place name. Click on "Create New Page." A blank web page will be displayed. Next, copy and paste the form below to your new wiki web page. Information about the fields in the form can be found on the Field Names page.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 

Name:

County:

Authority Name:

GNIS Entry

Longitude:

Latitude:

Legal Description:

Elevation:

(ft/m)

Feature Type:

Origin of Name:

Other Names:

Alternative Spellings:

History:

Stories:

Maps:

Newspapers:

More Information:

Pictures:

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 

If you were able to locate the new place name in the GNIS, go there now to complete some of the fields of the form. Simply copy and paste to your new Wiki Page the Name, County, Latitude, Longitude, and Elevation of the place. Copy and paste the Feature Class to the Feature Type field.    

If you did not find the new place name in the GNIS, fill in the fields for which you have reliable information.

Next go to the Library of Congress website to retrive the Authority Name for your place name.  Click the "Search Authorities" button. To narrow your search make sure to include the word "(Wyo.)" or "Wyoming" in your search. For example, type Saratogaometimes you won't find the authority name. In this case, just leave your Authority Name field blank. (Wyo.) in the text field. Your results should come up with authority headings of Saratoga (Wyo.). Next copy and paste the Saratoga (Wyo.) authority heading into your wiki. 

You can now start adding information to the wiki page. Add "origin of name" information following the guidelines listed above. You can also add a picture or contribute to the oral history field.
Adding pictures:

It is best if you add pictures by uploading a picture file. We recommend you use .jpg, .png or .gif images.

Please see our Adding Pictures Tutorial