Beginners Guide 1.4.1
Adding Tags
In the previous section you learned about OpenStreetMap's geo elements. It is time to learn a little about OpenStreetMap's tagging scheme. The basic tagging scheme can be found in Tagging. The tagging page links to the Map Features page which lists most of the keys accepted by the OSM community. Many of the examples on the Map Features page, particularly those regarding roads, are specific to the U.K. Users in other countries will want to look at Tagging for guidance in applying the tagging scheme to their country.
Types Of Geoobjects
OpenStreetMap's Tagging Scheme has 3 data types that may be tagged:
- Node: Just a node/point used to mark a particular point on the map. For example:
- Linear: A way used to mark a particular linear item on the map. For example:
- Area: A closed way to mark a particular area on the map. For example:
There are many tags that can be used to list all the facts about a road (or whatever you happen to be mapping), but to start with, and just to get your first render you only need to add a highway tag for a road. From this point on, you should be able to see your work rendering on OSM's maps, and add more and more details.
- Q: I have added highway=Unclassified, yet it doesn’t show up.
- A: The renderers are case-sensitive, it should be highway=unclassified. All tags are lower-case, except for names.
- Q: I have added tags to the nodes, yet it doesn’t show up.
- A: You should add tags that apply to the whole way to the way itself, not the nodes that it is made from. Tagging nodes is for marking specific spots, such as a petrol station. Also, note that the map layer may not be visually updated for some time (Rendering).
