Wikivoyage:Dynamic maps Expedition

Cities with mapframe [?]
20073 / 20912 = 95.988%

See also: Wikivoyage:How to use dynamic maps

The Dynamic maps Expedition is a Wikivoyage Expedition to foster collaboration on dynamic maps.

The classic way of making maps on Wikivoyage was to draw them with a drawing software, and upload a static image. While this approach has its merits, a more dynamic approach can coexist.

Various tools are being written to make both map generation and map usage dynamic. The goal of this expedition is to facilitate collaboration around these tools.

How to help

The easiest way to help is to add geographical coordinates to listings, see below. Or if you want to add maps to an article, see How to use dynamic maps.

Help test PoiMap2: does your browser support it? Design suggestions and technical help are also welcome.

Dynamic maps are only as good as their base map data, so collaboration with OpenStreetMap is highly recommended, especially in areas where transport and building information is missing. Adding roads and points of interest (POIs) is as simple as using an in-browser editor like Potlatch or the new iD editor.

Or take a look at Types of maps and their desirable features for other map development ideas, as well as other current projects.

Utilities

Various useful tools and utilities for finding co-ordinates and generating GPX traces:

Points of interest:

Right-clicking on any blank area on a dynamic map in Wikivoyage will display (lat, long) co-ordinates
OpenStreetMap may already have POIs which overlap our project scope (hotels, eateries, landmarks and attractions); these will have at least a name and co-ordinates but typically carry less information than a complete Wikivoyage {{listing}}.

GPX:

http://gpxcreator.com is a free, open-source Java desktop app which displays an OpenStreetMap and allows a user to trace a path, generating a GPX file.
OpenStreetMap provides JOSM as a utility to generate GPX traces, see http://josm.openstreetmap.de/download/josm.jnlp

GeoJSON: Multiple utilities provide GPX → GeoJSON conversion, as required to use the data with mw:extension:Kartographer.

See Wikivoyage:How to use dynamic maps and Wikivoyage:Geocoding.

Types of maps

Various types of maps can be thought of:

Map type	Type of page the map is found on	What the map shows	Status
A	Destination article	Detailed map of the destination, showing the points of interest	Implemented, not slippy in-article yet, thumbnail has to be generated manually
B	Region article	Map of the region, showing the areas belonging to each sub-page. Ideally should show the area belonging to each sub-page, but points might be shown if border info is not available	Manually created, not slippy
C	Itinerary article	Map showing the steps of the itinerary	Manually created, not slippy
D	Main page	World map	Manually created, not slippy
E	Destination article	Position of the destination within its wider area, as seen here	Necessity not debated yet. Might show similarities with B
F	Region article	Position of the region within its wider area, as seen here	Necessity not debated yet. Might show similarities with B

Desirable features

Here are a few features that might (or might not) be desirable, depending on the type of map:

Zoomable, scrollable
Embedded in article
Rendered as a static image in the print version of the article
Link to fullscreen for mobile readers
Link to GPS navigation software for mobile readers
Integration of a Wikivoyage article's listings that have latitude and longitude
Integration of a Wikivoyage article's Template:Geo (for center coordinates and zoom level in lowest-level destination article map)
Integration of OpenStreetMap data
Integration of usable satellite images
Clickable POIs (point of interest)
Clickable destinations
Clickable regions
In case of an itinerary map, show track
Boundary definitions
Simplified map style to emphasise relevant details (e.g. CloudMade or Mapbox or set "transport" layer as default)
Non-overlapping POIs. When 2 POIs are very near or at the same coordinates, space them a little bit so that the number can be read
Scale, orientation, title, legend
Borders of the article, for instance greying out the area that is outside the scope of the article
Navigation to other articles
POI addition directly from the map

Projects

Project	Status	Embeddable in article	POIs shown	POIs of other articles shown	Demo	Source code	Goal
Ideal	Dream	Yes	Yes	Yes, loaded when scrolling	-	Open Source	Embedded in each destination article, each region article, and on main page
PoiMap2	de: used in 500+ articles ru: used in 1800+ articles fr: embedded in 1900+ articles en: 19,000 pages using {{geo}}, embedded in 5000+ articles	Yes when use {{Mapframe}}	Yes	No, but layer with destinations that are adjacent.	city map bike route Gpx-tracks	Open Source, GPL	Slippy OpenStreetMap (OSM) map with special-icon, numbered, thumbnails, picture preview, clickable points of interest (in articles and maps), geolocation in mobile mode, free aerial tiles layer for USA with OSM labels, Wikivoyage and Mapquest layer with a simplified map style, parameters are now read directly from templates: listing, see, do, buy etc., marker. New layers destinations, GPX tracks, Contour lines, public transport lines, edge markers, frame layer.
Extension:Maps	Not installed	When extension is deployed	No	No		Open Source, GPL	Show a slippy Google map at given coordinates and zoom level. Seems bound to replace Slippy Map.
Slippy Map	Usable	Yes	No	No	below	Open Source, GPL	Show a slippy OSM map at given coordinates and zoom level. Quite print-friendly, even though navigation controls could be removed in print version.
Mapserver	Widely used	?	?	?	?	Open Source, MIT-style license
Mapsources	Widely used	No	No	No	below	Open Source, GPLv3	Links to a page with a slippy OSM map at given coordinates and links to other map websites. Points Of Interest are not shown.
ArtMap	Usable	No	No	No		Should be open-sourced soon by Joachim	Shows all geocoded articles on an OSM world map
geomap	Usable	No	No	No		Should be open-sourced soon by Joachim	Generate POI listing for a given point selected on a slippy world map
Cheriot	Usable	No	No	Yes		Proprietary?	Google Maps with articles. Articles are bookmarkable after Facebook login, show summary when clicked.
Wikisherpa	Usable	No	Yes	Yes		Proprietary	Google Map of listings. See/Do/Buy etc. can be filtered, information displayed in sidebar. Articles are also displayed. Scrapes from WV and uses Google Map Geocoding API.

Current stage: PoiMap2 broader deployment

Dynamic maps have now been deemed ready for broader manual deployment (although not an automated large-scale deployment):

Manually add maps to articles where an editor feels that a dynamic map would be beneficial and would not be adversely affected by known issues using {{mapframe}}. Guidelines for adding a dynamic map:
1. Only add dynamic maps to articles at the lowest levels of the article hierarchy: cities, districts, and regions that are not further divided into additional regions.
2. Dynamic maps should usually be added to the top of the "Get around" section, or the "Cities" section for a region article. If a map is added to a different location be sure to explain the reasoning in an edit comment or on the article's talk page.
3. Do not add a dynamic map when a Wikivoyage-style static map is already present.
4. Use the default map size (width/height) unless there is a specific reason for using a different size, in which case the reasoning should be explained in an edit comment or on the article's talk page. Zoom should be modified as appropriate.
Update {{listing}} tags with appropriate lat/long coordinates as outlined in Wikivoyage:Dynamic maps Expedition#Sub-expedition: Fill all the latitudes!.

To do

Printing of external links - fix by totally removing all links? does Mediawiki:Print.css do anything? -- done, pdf version still wonky
Include same CSS code in Mediawiki:Mobile.css -- done
Guide on Wikivoyage:Geocoding, GPX tracks and template usage -- done
Open source code, code review - accessing a page may mean the page is effectively called twice, once for text and second time for parsing listings to map? Recommended practice? -- done
Refine icons on map server - reduce overall size, possible redesign
Allow the user to filter by type of POIs, for instance only "See", only "Eat", etc.
Show same icons on wiki, not just coloured squares?
When clicking on a POI number in a listing, move to embedded map instead of opening full-screen map
- Is it really a good UI? What would be the best here?
- Fine as is, maybe open second floating iframe instead? -- torty3 (talk) 07:48, 10 July 2013 (UTC)[reply]
Continuous auto-numbering, non-continuous has problems matching up -- done, now continuous
Better title and legend
Change {{listing}} to match {{listing/sandbox}}. {{Mapframe}} and {{PoiMap2}} to be marked non-experimental.
Multilingual maps, street names are localised and not always in English - wait for Wikimedia tile servers
Internationalisation - only en, de, fr, ru and uk working for now, other WVs have their own listing templates
Image tool to copy static maps from dynamic maps - possibly ShareMap or other SVG tools
When POIs overlap, show the "See" POIs on top, as they are the most useful. Generally, the nearer to the top of the article the more important. Currently overlapping works the opposite, with hotels overlapping everything else.
Non-overlapping POIs. When 2 POIs are very near or at the same coordinates, space them a little bit so that the number can be read

Works on IE8 and above, Firefox 22. {{Mapframe}} may have compatibility issues with non-HTML5 compliant browsers.

Sub-expedition: Fill all the latitudes!

Goal: Every listing should have a latitude and longitude. Personal geodata and OpenStreetMap coordinates are preferred over other derivative sources. See also Wikivoyage:Geocoding.

Method 1: GPS

Go to the place with a GPS or smartphone, and add the listing in this format: lat=12.3456 | long=45.6789

Method 2: GeoMap

Open GeoMap. Select template "Lat/Long". Fill in a address eg. 33, Long Row, Nottingham or Wall Street Bar, Roppongi. The search is multilingual, but is limited to OSM recognized terms. Click on the red marker. Then transfer the values displayed with copy & paste to the article.

GeoMap always returns coordinates with five decimal places. Thus, the markers in the dynamic map can be set precisely. Overlapping with other markers and existing map content will be effectively prevented.

Method 3: Geobatcher

Use Geobatcher to find and map up to 100 coordinates at a time.

Enter the city and/or country in the first field.
Choose to search by either Name or Address. Searching by name matches OpenStreetMap's Points of Interest database, while searching by address relies on block addresses which may have gaps (eg cannot find 20 Main St between 1 Main St and 50 Main St).
From the Wikivoyage article's Edit tab, copy-paste the listings into the large text field.
Press the Find coords button. 1 listing generally takes 1 second to find.
Listings whose coordinates have been found are mapped, and those without coordinates are marked with a question mark on the map.
Drag and drop the markers to adjust the coordinates. If you don't know where the other listings are, press the Remove ?s button.
lat/long attributes have been inserted in the third text field.
Copy the listings of the third text field back to Wikivoyage.

Bonus: Search OSM using the textbox above the map, and the returned coordinates are listed and mapped with the red marker.

Method 4: ShareMap

ShareMap.org - open, creative commons, social mapping tool (http://sharemap.org) can be used to generate entire list of POI's for some articles. With ShareMap user can easily use search services (Nominatim), import OSM data (wizard or XAPI queries) or even calibrate old raster maps (please be careful the create content on CC licenses)

Detailed tutorial screencast can be found here - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xc5F98q87uo

Method 5: OSM

Go to this site and either use the search or zoom the map to the location of your listing. Center the map so the cross is exactly on top of your point of interest. Map coordinates are given under the search bar: copy/paste to Wikivoyage and you're done. Be aware that, just to annoy us, coordinates are given as long/lat instead of lat/long.

Method 6: Google Maps

Please avoid relying on this method if possible as it would introduce a lot of licensing issues when collaborating with OpenStreetMap. If this method is used, be sure to name Google Maps as the source of the co-ordinates in your edit summary, if you have not just used it or Streetview to get a preliminary idea of the co-ordinates before refining them with OSM or another open source product.

Enable Google Maps's LatLng dropper as described here. Then find the place, and right-click, drop LatLng, copy-paste, add the lat= and similar parts. This also works on Google Street View, which is very convenient to recognize places where you have been, or check the name written in front of a restaurant.

You can also right click any spot on a Google Map, select "What's here?", and the coordinates will pop up in the search field.

Similar instructions at Wikipedia

Category:See listing with no coordinates - currently 7,480 articles
Category:Sleep listing with no coordinates - currently 9,711 articles
Category:Eat listing with no coordinates - currently 7,587 articles
Category:Drink listing with no coordinates - currently 4,122 articles
Category:Buy listing with no coordinates - currently 3,693 articles

Statistics for listing coordinates

As of 17 June 2018

476 guide and star status city articles with listings without coordinates

See

As of 9 May 2019

Articles with *See* listing with no coordinates by type and status in Category:See listing with no coordinates
Type/Status Matrix	Outline	Usable	Guide	Star	Unranked	Total (line)
District	39	222	62	4		327
City	3854	2815	126	1		6796
Airport	17	13	5	0		35
Park	99	85	27	2		213
Total	4423	3238	236	7	16	7919

Sleep

Articles with *Sleep* listing with no coordinates by type and status in Category:Sleep listing with no coordinates
Type/Status Matrix	Outline	Usable	Guide	Star	Unranked	Total (line)
District	55	320	80	20		475
City	5357	3350	332	12		9051
Airport	10	14	3	0		27
Park	212	122	28	3		365
Total	5872	3888	488	35	9	10341

Eat

Articles with *Eat* listing with no coordinates by type and status in Category:Eat listing with no coordinates
Type/Status Matrix	Outline	Usable	Guide	Star	Unranked	Total (line)
District	54	370	112	25		561
City	3183	3177	353	10		6723
Airport	4	18	6	0		28
Park	54	46	12	4		116
Total	3465	3678	490	39	4	7762

Drink

Articles with *Drink* listing with no coordinates by type and status in Category:Drink listing with no coordinates
Type/Status Matrix	Outline	Usable	Guide	Star	Unranked	Total (line)
District	33	284	94	24		435
City	1480	1942	276	10		3708
Airport	2	2	2	0		6
Park	18	14	4	2		38
Total	1626	2288	378	36	2	4373

Buy

Articles with *Buy* listing with no coordinates by type and status in Category:Buy listing with no coordinates
Type/Status Matrix	Outline	Usable	Guide	Star	Unranked	Total (line)
District	32	322	78	25		376
City	1417	1670	233	11		3331
Airport	3	7	3	0		13
Park	212	122	28	3		365
Total	1530	1955	321	39	2	3883

Sub-sub expedition: Spotting mistakes

Wikivoyage has a huge quantity of POI information, and thus contains mistakes as well. There are many ways to help fix the mistakes:

Check each article one-by-one.
Fix the errors listed at http://datahub.io/dataset/fixes.
Downloading the spreadsheet of all POIs and doing your own sorting/filtering to try and find incorrect values.
Also with the spreadsheet, you could try using outlier detection to find coordinates that are probably out-of-place.

Sub-sub expedition: Geo templates

Every destination (cities, parks, airports and countries; regions?) should have a latitude and longitude.
Currently 28,647 articles have associated coordinates out of 28,689 destinations.
Useful CatScan2 tool to check, though more robotic means should probably be used.

Sub-expedition: OpenStreetMap with style

Goal: Produce the best possible visualization layer for OpenStreetMap (OSM).

Desirable map features:

Appropriate for a destination article. Country/area articles would use another style, but let's first concentrate on final destination articles.
Generally less colorful than default, so that POIs are immediately visible.
Print-friendly: No large zones of deep colors.
Do not make highways' color more visible than other roads: the map is intended for pedestrians, not for cars crossing the country.
Show tourism-related details more than other details.
See the procedure used when creating maps manually from OSM.

Proposed designs

http://maps.cloudmade.com/?lat=35.66262&lng=139.73060&zoom=16&styleId=92720 (Torty3)
Choose layer WikiVoyage or layer Tourism at https://wikivoyage.toolforge.org/w/poimap2.php?lat=49.14378&lon=9.21903&zoom=16&layer=M&lang=de&name=Heilbronn (Joachim)
(Add your design here. If possible add sources so that others can remix your work)

Expedition members

Peter ^Talk
JamesA ^>talk
Nicolas1981 (talk)
Joachim Mey2008 (talk)
Torty3 (talk)
Bigpeteb (talk) (Don't know how much use I'll be, but I'd love to help)
Jonte-- (talk) (90% av my work now has to do with georef, so I thought I'd better sign up)
SelfieCity (talk) (I do some work adding coordinates to listings, and I'm not part of many expeditions presently, so I'm signing up)
SHB2000. (I work on getting geolines, coordinates and coloring mapshapes). SHB2000 (talk | contribs | meta.wikimedia) 01:10, 17 September 2021 (UTC)[reply]