I, too, have noticed this "apparent deprecation" of the importance of our wiki and would like to see it remedied. Not only do I find the wiki drop-dead easy to search and "read up on" how to do something in OSM (as in "this is how we already do it" or "this is how far along we are on a particular (local, specific) endeavor or sub-project") — encyclopedia / wikipedia style — but there is a comparatively low bar of entry should even a novice user wish to change / update a wiki that is already substantially written, but can benefit by a casual user coming along and discovering it needs only a slight update to be ship-shape. In my opinion, this makes our wiki one of the most powerful reference and communication vehicles in the project, as even for novices, it is not only highly accessible and helpful, but encourages simple (or yes, even complex) contributions which strengthen it.
Let's continue to "market" our wiki (to newer users, especially) as the very potent resource that it is. If this means improvement in how we point (newer) users to our wiki, let's do that. If there are other, more noticeable or visible places where we can do this but now do not, let's fix that so we do. SteveA California > On Feb 22, 2020, at 2:21 PM, Clifford Snow <cliff...@snowandsnow.us> wrote: > > > > On Sat, Feb 22, 2020 at 12:49 PM Wayne Emerson, Jr. via talk > <talk@openstreetmap.org> wrote: > The OSM World Discord server usually has people on that can answer basic > questionshttps://discord.gg/q6HnfNZ > Doing the iD tutorial teaches the basics and is easy to learn. One can learn > the basic tags by using the presets found using the iD search box. Tagging a > basic individual object can be learned from the wiki. > > The iD tutorial is very helpful for new mappers. Completing the tutorial only > takes a few minutes. Unfortunately only a small percentage start or complete > the tutorial. Since the first of the year of the nearly 6800 new mappers > only 29% complete the entire tutorial. While it doesn't get at complex edits, > it does cover what I see a typical new mapper contribute. > > However some tagging situations are more complex, like how to tag a school > (What tags go on schoolyard vs. the building) or bus routes, or admin > boundaries, etc. There are some nice guides buried in the wiki but it can be > difficult for a beginner to wade through all the component tags before > finding a guide to the whole. This can be discouraging to a new mapper. Even > more so when you do find a guide, for example, on tagging bus routes but then > not being sure if its the new scheme or the old scheme and so many > contradictions can make people give up. > > I agree with this assessment. Just yesterday a new mapper added a new park, > unfortunately one already existed. Because it was a complex multipolygon I'm > sure they did realize it. > > > > Wiki cleanup & a front page link to an index of authoritative & current > tagging guides for complex entities would be nice. Maybe call it "Special > Mapping Guides" > > Creating nicer guides would be nice, but my experience, most new mappers > don't start looking at the wiki until much later. I do point to wiki articles > when giving feedback with the hope they will read it. > > One of the other problems facing new and occasional mappers is the complexity > and density of many of the cities. When I started in the US I was able to > add glaciers and parks with a clean palette to work from. Today when mapping > we have unlike features joined, complex relations, streets with lane counts > and turn lanes, streams, culverts, sidewalks, buildings, etc.. It's much > harder to for a new or occasional mapper to contribute without problems. > > Some might suggest we force new mappers to go through the tutorial. I don't > think that's the answer. It would turn too many people off. The only solution > I can suggest is to make our editing software more robust with better hints > and presets. For this I applaud iD for the many improvements that have been > made over the years. > > Best, > Clifford > -- > @osm_washington > www.snowandsnow.us > OpenStreetMap: Maps with a human touch > _______________________________________________ > talk mailing list > talk@openstreetmap.org > https://lists.openstreetmap.org/listinfo/talk _______________________________________________ talk mailing list talk@openstreetmap.org https://lists.openstreetmap.org/listinfo/talk
