WikiProject Belgium/Resolving notes
Anyone can open a note on OpenStreetMap, even anonymously. It's a handy way to tell mappers that something should be mapped or edited. However, notes do not always get closed and too many open notes litter the map. This project has the goal to close as many as possible in a coordinated way. By joining the efforts of mappers, we can divide the work in a structured way, we can ask a second opinion when something is not clear and we can motivate each other to 'flatten the curve'.
Methodology
Tools
- The MapComplete theme for notes can be a very handy tool:
- it can be used to filter notes (based on e.g. age or message content)
- it shows all notes in the map view
- it can be used to add photos to the note and view those photos
- https://observablehq.com/@vgeorge/oldest-osm-notes-by-country
- https://ent8r.github.io/NotesReview/
Changesets to resolve notes
Every time a note is fixed, mention the note number and the hashtag #notesBE in the changeset comment, together with information that you would usually put in a changeset comment. An example:
Mapped [...] based on note #[...] #notesBE
Afterwards, the note can be closed. This will automatically send a message that the person who created the note will receive (if it is not an anonymous note).
Resolution messages
To see the progress of the project, we use the hashtag #notesBE when closing notes. An example
Thank you for contributing to OpenStreetMap. This note was resolved with changeset #[...] during a notes mapathon. More info on https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/WikiProject_Belgium/Resolving_notes #notesBE
Criteria for closing notes without further action
These criteria were based on other wiki pages and on discussion within the Belgian community:
- using notes as markers for personal use (we could leave a standard message for this, see the example at https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Notes/Common_errors)
- notes mentioning a source that cannot be used, e.g. Google
- notes that are too general / not clear (e.g. not related to a specific location, just some gibberish)
- notes mentioning things that are already mapped
- anonymous notes where someone already asked for more details but there was no answer
Mapathon 08/05/2024
- meetup event
- online discussion happens in this room
Mapathon 01/06/2022
- meetup event
- umap to track progress
- online discussion happens in this room
Links
Thanks to MaptimeBogota for the inspiration.