Wikivoyage talk:Roadmap/Generated user maps

"Who's been here"

Swept in from the pub

An idea just struck me, something to supplement the underutilized docent system - only 93 articles have docents, many of whom are probably long-gone WT users, and because of its low visibility, I´m not really sure just how much interaction that system has generated. So, this idea is something that I suppose may be useful and relevant to us and potentially helpful for travellers. Laying aside for now the somewhat tricky technical side, here is what I am imagining:

• When Wikivoyagers make their user page, they often list the places they have been. We create Template:HasBeenTo. For each link to a place they've been, the user puts {{HasBeenTo|Placename}}. The template simply creates a normal wikilink but also adds the userpage to the hidden Category:Has been to Placename.
• When you visit a page which any user has tagged on their user page as having been there, in the sidebar along with "What links here", there is a link for "Who's been here". A similar search box is placed on the Help page.
• When you click on that link or use the special search box, you see a page which lists the users who have been to that destination, preferably in order of users who most recently posted on WV. (there's the tricky part)
• Users can use this tool to find active users who have been to particular place to ask for personal recommendations or ask more detailed questions.

I actually haven't yet put much more thought into this than the time it took me to type it, but it strikes me as something potentially cool that might stimulate interaction, and I think it is likely to be used more than the docent system, since it's a lot easier than going to every article for destinations you've visited and adding yourself as a docent. Opinions? Thoughts? Texugo (talk) 17:33, 22 February 2013 (UTC)

People do not come here to ask questions. Otherwise, we would have a flow of questions posted on talk pages of individual articles, but this is not the case. I think that readers see the Wikipedia-style format, which tells them that it is more like encyclopedia, and certainly not a place for questions or requests. If we hope to change this, the idea of a travel forum is more promising than some additional link that 99% of readers will never notice. --Alexander (talk) 21:04, 22 February 2013 (UTC)

Perhaps some tool of this kind could be implemented in the Tourist Office? --Nicholasjf21 (talk) 21:25, 22 February 2013 (UTC)

Something like Texugo has suggested might be useful for editing - when there is a districting discussion, for example, it would be nice to be able to contact editors with some knowledge of the area. This idea would also fit in nicely with the larger discussion about userboxes (can't immediately find the link, but I'm sure someone can add it). -- Ryan • (talk) • 21:40, 22 February 2013 (UTC)

I agree with both Alexander and Ryan. The Tourist Office is a more likely way to get more readers actively participating in the form of Q&A, but this idea would be really helpful to me as an editor. If I could see a list of people who know at least something about Miami, then maybe I could finally take down that rfc and get started with the districts! Similarly, I just wrote an "eat" overview section for Saint Petersburg, but I haven't actually been there in 10 years.

Userboxes would work, but they still require a higher level of expertise (basic wiki editing) than the vast majority of our readers have. Could we maybe add a button to the top left/right/center of articles that says "I've been here!" or something like that? Logged in users would then be added to that article's list, and ip users would get a prompt to log in or register? Then you could look at a list of people who have clicked the button. --Peter ^Talk 22:38, 22 February 2013 (UTC)

I like the general idea, and think it could work. As Peter and the others said, however, templates and userboxes could be too confusing and mean the feature is underused. Another major issue that strikes me is that what if you've travelled to thousands of towns and districts and countries? Are you meant to add the templates for just the main towns, or your favourites, or the overarching districts, or all of them? Having a button that says "I've been here" on the top of each page makes it 100x easier to add places. Then, the page should be added to a profile or subpage on their userpage, as well as category that can be used for the "Who's been here?" sidebar link. Not only does it increase the social aspect of this site which will encourage many more users, it also will help us when improving/discussing articles and needing someone in the know. I see the feature growing even further in the future; maybe users could even have their own map with all their visited places plotted out. Now that would be cool and a real drawcard! JamesA ^>talk 01:30, 23 February 2013 (UTC)

I've moved this idea over to Wikivoyage:Roadmap#Generated user maps. I won't have time to work on developing this idea further today, but will soon. As James says, I think this could be a huge draw—people absolutely love seeing their travels plotted on a map. --Peter ^Talk 20:30, 23 February 2013 (UTC)

What's next

So there was some support last time we discussed this, and a few users have mentioned it in brief since February, but we're really no closer to seeing this feature come to fruition. I've started this page in the hope of giving this idea some direction. So what's the next steps. I think firstly, we need to work out how to get a button in the article menu. Are there any instructions on the MediaWiki site, or could we possibly copy the code that creates the 'Add Watchlist' star or the 'WikiLove' heart? James A ▪ talk 13:11, 9 November 2013 (UTC)

This might help James. --Saqib (talk) 19:26, 9 November 2013 (UTC)

"I've been here" button

I very much like the idea of "I've been here" button. I think there should be several options the user can associate with a destination (all mentioned in the main article):

• I've been here
• I live here / I've lived here
• My dream destination

These could appear in the map in different colors. Maybe this is important for the developers to take it into account from the start? Danapit (talk) 18:04, 9 November 2013 (UTC)

Sounds awesome!. It could perhaps be a drop down menu beside the Wikilove button where you could check "Visited", "Lived" or "Wishlist". ϒpsilon (talk) 18:34, 9 November 2013 (UTC)

There's a very quick possible version, that would add links to say User:Someone/BeenHere, User:Someone/LivedHere and then they can be mapped easily. This would all be public and show up in the logs, so not really feasible. Technically I could dynamically map all the links in my userpage right now. The proper way would probably be to create something similar to the watchlist. -- torty3 (talk) 10:58, 17 November 2013 (UTC)