FamilySearch Wiki:WikiProject Historical Population Tables

Contact Person: Heather Mecham

Purpose
Finish putting Historical Population Tables on the all the counties in the United States.

Task List
Task List

Step 1: Choose a state and counties

 * 1) Go to the task list.
 * 2) Choose a state and range of counties.
 * 3) Put your name in the name column.
 * 4) Check each county for a table before creating one. If there is one, you will find it on the right side of the page below the Census Records heading. Some states were partially done with no record of what was done. This will keep you from having to do work that's already been done. 
 * 5) '''Some counties have an old table, with no source citation or a citation for USA Fact Finder. When you find those, just replace the table.

Step 2: Creating Historical Population Chart Code
1. Copy and paste the above wikitext code into your sandbox area and edit all the census data there. Then, when finished, paste the completed wikitext over to the county Wiki page.

2. The first number on each line represents the census year (1800, 1810, 1820, etc). The "xxxx" represents the population number for that census (usually a 3-6 digit number WITHOUT commas). The percent of increase/decrease will be calculated automatically when the chart is embedded on the Wiki page.

The population numbers go immediately after the second pipe, with no space. Example:

1890 |791

1900 |1043

Step 2: Retrieve the census populations.
1. The data can be obtained by going to the county on Wikipedia. 2. Go to the heading, Demographics and copy the information into your chart on your sandbox wiki page. You are only concerned with the population number, which is the middle column on the wikipedia table. The percentages will calculate automatically when you save your work. NOTE: Not all tables will begin with the year 1800. Delete the lines of code up to the year that your population count starts. 3. When you are finished, copy the URL and paste it into the "zzzzzzzz" section on the template.

Step 3: Instructions for Inserting the Completed Chart onto the County Wiki Page
1. Go to the heading, Census. 2. On the line immediately following that heading, paste in your Hist/Pop box code from your sandbox page. 3. Preview your page to be sure you have it inserted properly. 4. When your previewed changes look the way you want them to, then save your page. 5. Enter "added census chart" in the edit summary box at the bottom of the page. Always put your Hist/Pop Chart as the beginning information in the census topic. 6. Once you have saved the page, go to the next county on your list.

Example
For an example of what this heading should look like when it is complete, click here.