Talk:Tributaries of the Columbia River
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[edit] Name of article
Shouldn't this be List of tributaries of the Columbia River? Any plans to make it anything other than a list? -Pete 09:24, 7 May 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Why a table?
How come this list uses a table, and a sortable one at that, instead of a plain list? My guess is that the plan was to add columns for things like length and discharge, so one could resort the list on those values. If so, it may be hard to find enough sources to fill in all the values. Some of the rivers don't even have pages.
A tributary list I'd personally like to see, and could add, is a "hierarchical" list that includes tributaries of tributaries (not exhaustively). The Columbia's tributaries themselves often have tributaries themselves that are significant rivers in their own right. Also, the Columbia's tributary network is fairly confusing even when one looks at a map. The fact that its on the US-Canada border makes it harder as well, since too many sources (like the USGS) only describe streams in one country or the other. So I'm proposing a hierarchical tributary list to help those who, like me, have trouble understanding which streams connect to which. I'm thinking of something like Tennessee River#Tennessee River tributaries; something like:
Since there is a whole page devoted to tributaries of the Columbia, we might as well add detail. In any case, I'll add this if I find the time, unless anyone thinks its a bad idea. Also, I agree that the page name should be "List of tributaries of the Columbia River", unless there's a good reason why not. Pfly 18:40, 9 May 2007 (UTC)
- I did the hierarchy for the Oregon rivers, the majority of which are Columbia River tributaries, in List of rivers in Oregon. Be sure to grab from there instead of working it out on your own. —EncMstr 19:00, 9 May 2007 (UTC)
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- I converted the list to a table, and may have jumped the gun in doing so. There were two lists - one by sequence along the Columbia, and another (with the same rivers) alphabetically. I made a sortable table to "simplify" that, and (as Pfly posited) with the idea that data on each river might be added some day.
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- The table does make it difficult to add in new rivers without disrupting the order, and definitely makes the "hierarchical" structure now being discussed extra-cumbersome. So, go ahead and change it back...flesh it out...be bold! -Pete 20:00, 9 May 2007 (UTC)
Ah ha, that makes sense given the two-list format from before. And now that I look at the history I see you added the table just a few days ago. Here I was thinking it was not nearly so recent. Sorry if I came off wrong. I think I will be bold and change to a hierarchical list (not sure what else to call it... recursive?). I think I have a fairly good list about ready to go. And thanks EncMstr for the pointer -- I'd looked at List of rivers in Oregon before, but apparently not close enough to realize there was a hierarchical list after the alphabetical one.
One thing I can't quite decide on is how detailed the list should be. My starting point was to include every stream that already has a page on wikipedia (although there are a few that seem quite minor). It's interesting how pages on rivers in Oregon are more thorough in coverage than rivers in Washington, and that more than rivers in Idaho or Montana. British Columbia has good coverage of the Fraser River system, but is pretty sparse on the Columbia system. So I figure I'd add redlinked rivers for those that seem worthy of someday having a page, at least as it occurs to me, for whatever random reason. In any case, feel free to edit. It's a big river basin, and I'm not all that familiar with large portions of it. Building this list has certainly shown me which rivers in the basin need attention on wikipedia!
I'm also thinking of including major "features", like lakes (how can one not include Lake Pend Oreille or Lake Coeur d'Alene?) and major dams.. at least dams that have turned the Columbia or a tributary into a significant lake, with a wikipedia page about it. But this might end up confusing, and beyond the topic of "tributaries of the Columbia River". Since I have the info already I'll probably add it, but please remove anything that seems confusing or beside the point! Pfly 04:29, 10 May 2007 (UTC)
