I did two things yesterday. Technically three:
- Broke the desk in my office.
- Painted my ceiling
- Used the new MapBox ID editor for OpenStreetMap
I’ve been not editing much lately. I’ve been busy with trips for work and trying to grow the business. So I sat down last night at my new old desk and stared at my computer. I pulled up OSM and started playing around with online editing. I’ve never been a huge Potlatch fan – I like JOSM. So I gave the ID Editor a shot.
So far – I like it. It’s simple. The tools are intuitive. I think about anyone can sit down and work through the editing and make a contribution. I usually tell everyone to add a point. So I did – I added a point.
Adding a point gives you the option of adding parks, hospital, places of worship, etc. Things that a new user would like to put into the map. I tell everyone – Map what you love. You can add points, lines, and polygons. Each geometry has pre-defined tags. I like the interface for tagging – it’s nice. If you fill out everything with which you are presented, you’re going to have a really complete tag list of the item you’ve added. I like that. I can never remember everything I could/should add.
I even closed the browser before I was done – reopened ID adn was prompted to start from where I left off. Maybe Potlatch does this – it’s been a while since I edited anything online.
The only thing I don’t like – you finish saving and you’re asked to look at your edit, tweet it, or post to facebook. That’s fine – I’m not crazy about clicking that off every time – BUT – the kids at the school I work with will most likely enjoy that. I understand why you do it – hey – advertising.
Overall – two thumbs up. Give it a shot. If you’ve never edited – get a login – and start. After all – this map is what you make it.
