Template talk:Cite bcgnis

Needs updating
The BCGNIS database changed its website and URLs a while back, breaking this template. The new search page is at http://geobc.gov.bc.ca/bcnames/ ... At the moment the database is broken, so I can't determine what the URLs are now for specific entries. But wanted to post this info here before I forgot. Pfly (talk) 05:43, 4 May 2013 (UTC)
 * The item numbers are the same, so might just be a matter of tweaking the template; and not that I'll use this one with its cumbersom fields, it takes time unlike the much easier to use bcgnis which to me is far preferable and was created to be fast, not picky and time-consuming or in need of "date accessed" bulls**t for what are fixed records.Skookum1 (talk) 05:59, 4 May 2013 (UTC)

TfR? And more....
A simple TfR won't do what's needed here, which is to change the parsing of BCGNIS to BC Names URLs. I was contacted yesterday by that office (now called BC Names) about that, as pages I'd sent her using the BCGNIS template and some with the cumbersome cite bcgnis template that was imposed on "us" without proper discussion no longer work and yield 404s. There are too many in use for the adjustments to be done manually. Also, these are permanent records and do not need the "access date" and other fields of the cite bcgnis template or anything like it. The whole point of the BCGNIS template was to speed things up, not slow them down, as filling out the cite bcgnis one does.Skookum1 (talk) 16:18, 13 June 2013 (UTC)
 * Where is it broken? Everything seems to work fine for me. I realize now it seemed broken when I wrote above, in May, because the BC Names website itself was broken at the time. Also, works just fine: : . Even leaving the page name out, which done here uses this pagename ("Cite bcgnis"), but actually links to whatever feature code was used (Fairweather Mountain here): : . In other words, I don't see the problem, except that the BC Names people might change their URL again. Pfly (talk) 21:59, 13 June 2013 (UTC)
 * Hm, the two she mentioned, and I've seen others, are D'Arcy, British Columbia and McGillivray, British Columbia. Maybe some were updated...when I get a chance I'll check through the Boundary Peaks links and have a look......maybe some URLs were changed at the BC Systems end (that's the government's computing division).Skookum1 (talk) 03:37, 14 June 2013 (UTC)
 * McGillivray had bare URLs (broken), so I replaced them (and made them proper footnote refs). D'Arcy had no references at all, and no BCGNIS links, so I added one. Pfly (talk) 04:34, 14 June 2013 (UTC)
 * Also, I think a Google search on "bcgnis listing" site:en.wikipedia.org returns pages with bare URL links fairly well. I'll fix some. Pfly (talk) 04:38, 14 June 2013 (UTC)
 * Hm, I'm sure I saw some with templates that didn't work; maybe the parsing has been changed by now, as I'd requested a while ago. Atlas of Canada and CGNDB links had the same issue, also Census Canada links.Skookum1 (talk) 04:40, 14 June 2013 (UTC)

Found some examples, including the link on this template to the BC Names search page which is now here, I tried editing the template but there's so many stacked codes it's impossible for a non-code-using editor to deal with. Another reason why this template is cumbersome and not useful. Cite bcgnis does not work, it goes to "http://apps.gov.bc.ca/pub/bcgnws/names/34543.html" instead of "http://apps.gov.bc.ca/pub/bcgnws/names/65715.html" -indicating that the pagename/number has changed. If the purpose of cite bcgnis was to ensure that such changes would be tracked and dealt with, then 'nobody's minding the store'. I continue to use bare URLs as easier and "wiki-er" (faster) than filling out the cumbersome cite bcgnis fill-in-the-blanks b.s., which also makes working with articles with lots of cites very unwieldy and difficult to read in edit display. Nesikep Indian Reserve No. 6, which redirects to Nesikep, British Columbia also does not work...... I find these fairly regularly; bcgnis was fast and easy to use and never should have had a more complicated, time-consuming template "deprecate" it, written by somebody who doesn't even use it for citations, only to "harmonize" with the micro-formatting agenda that makes Wikipedia more and more complicated to use/write for, instead of simpler and easier.Skookum1 (talk) 04:38, 19 May 2014 (UTC)

name of BCGNIS has changed
The official name of what had been the BC Geographical Names Information System is now "BC Names"; on raw URL-link cites I've been using "BC Names/Geo BC entry "FOO" and this template should be updated to the new name. GeoBC is  the larger part of the government ministry that BC Names is part of.Skookum1 (talk) 01:57, 20 March 2014 (UTC)