User:GOwin/drafts/tips-for-newcomers

Welcome to OSM! We're glad to have you, and thank you for your recent edits in the Philippines -- they contribute towards making better maps for everyone!

Tips to get you rolling

• The editing tools in OSM make it easy to map things, and the wiki provide details, alternative techniques, and related information about mapping features in OSM.
• When you save your changeset, add a concise but clear comment on what changes you've made. What are Good changeset comments?
• If you want to know how to "tag" something, do the advanced search by inputing site:wiki.openstreetmap.org [search term] (without the quotes) in your favourite search engine.
• Make sure roads connect to each other, but don't connect them to landuse such as fields or residential areas, or make them cross each other without a common shared point.
• Catch up with what's happening in OSM communities worldwide. Subscribe to the weekly newsletter: OSMweekly.
• Curious about how you (or anybody elses) contributed to OSM?
• There's an FAQ about data sources that are relevant to contributors in the Philippines.
• Every third Wednesday of the month, there's an online "Map-py Wednesday" event with lightning talks, and Q&A for mappers in Asia. A great opportunity to meet local neighbors, or make new friends across the region.

Active community channels

The local community maintains multiple communication channels on various platforms, and below are top resources you can check out:

• OSM Discourse Forum - Check out topics with the "Philippines" tag
• Telegram - OpenStreetMap Local Communities (LoCo) in the Philippines
• Facebook - OpenStreetMap Philippines
• X (erstwhile Twitter) - posts with #osmph hashtag