
My OpenStreetMap Workflow: Mapping the Village of Marmari, Evia - politelemon
https://code.mendhak.com/openstreetmap-workflow-marmari/
======
dhekir
I used to walk around taking pictures and memorizing some key points to later
upload the data from JOSM, but it was very time-consuming and a lot of time
was spent matching the aerial view with my street-level pictures.

So I started trying to use Vespucci from my Android, but it's interface is
really sophisticated and not ideal for "lightweight" work, such as adding POIs
(when the streets, paths and shapes are already in place).

I also liked a lot Street Complete, but it does not allow _adding_ new POIs,
just completing existing ones.

Finally, a Frenchman developed OSM Go!
([https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=fr.dogeo.osmgo...](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=fr.dogeo.osmgo&hl=en_US),
open source on Github, but not yet available on F-Droid), which is the sweet
spot for me: not as powerful as Vespucci, but much easier to use for
adding/updating POIs. It has recently been translated into English, and though
the UI is not perfect, it greatly improved the ease of contribution.

So now I am much more inclined to, when walking around somewhere with
incomplete mapping, simply stop for a few seconds, add some missing data
(wheelchair accessibility, opening hours, or a minor POI such as drinking
water or even trash basket), and keep on walking. No extra homework required!

The amount of effort the community devotes to such apps and to OSM in general
is incredible and contagious!

~~~
vanous
Thank you for the OSM Go! Tip.

------
jmkb
N.b., it's the stated policy of OpenStreetMap to _not_ take information from
Google... not primarily out of zealotry, but because Google's terms of service
conflict with the ODBL license, and they don't want the organisation in legal
trouble.

Normally this means no copying from Google Maps or Google's satellite or
street-level imagery. (It also means no using Google's geocoding API if you
have addresses that you want to add, but don't know where they should be added
-- low-budget SEO companies tend to do this a lot.)

Using Google Translate -- and not even to translate, but just as a way to get
copy-pastable handwriting recognition -- is a greyer area, but I probably
would still recommend avoiding it. But nor do I know of any free alternatives
offhand.

~~~
privong
> Normally this means no copying from Google Maps or Google's satellite or
> street-level imagery.

Just to note for general use that the standard web-editor for OSM pulls in
Bing satellite imagery. So one can use satellite imagery without having to
rely on Google or risk that type of legal issue.

~~~
maxerickson
There's several different satellite/aerial mosaics available. They often
differ in resolution and freshness, so it pays to check which one best matches
what you are trying to map.

Maxar (formerly DigitalGlobe), Mapbox and ESRI are additional global layers,
and in many places there are local imagery sources that can be both the
highest quality and the freshest.

------
lukeqsee
I recently attended the State of the Map conference (OSM's annual, global
conference), and that inspired me to start improving the map around my area. I
discovered a lot of small details I assumed would have already been mapped.
There's a lot left to do, even in a fairly well-covered area of the world.

This helped me plan better for when I go out mapping—all of the apps are
slightly wonky to use, so you have to develop your own custom flow to be
efficient.

~~~
alex_duf
Out of curiosity, what type of feature are often left to improve?

I've been mapping my area as there was quite some drastic changes to my local
park, but aside form that and the occasional post box I struggle to find
meaningful edits.

Granted I live in London so it's fairly populous.

~~~
lars_francke
You might know this already but the app (Android only I believe)
StreetComplete
([https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/StreetComplete](https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/StreetComplete))
can be used as a low-effort way to fulfill minor improvement quests in your
area.

------
huskyr
I've done some light editing on OSM and i was surprised by how usable the
default web editor is. Uploading GPX tracks and editing them on the map is
pretty easy as well. Can recommend to anyone who is even slightly interested
in contributing: just start and add a couple of easy points of interest like
trashcans, cafes, etcetera.

~~~
bhousel
Thanks for the kind words! I'm one of the maintainers, and we are always eager
to hear what new users think of it.

------
abyssin
I recently started adding Points of Interest to OSM using OsmAnd during my
holidays, and the biggest obstacle for me was the number of available
categories. The list is huge! I haven't started tracking my GPS position full-
time because I was afraid of draining the battery.

~~~
maxerickson
Yep, there's lots of options. And then the OpenStreetMap tagging isn't really
capturing exactly what stores do in all that much detail.

Hopefully OSMAnd eventually implements the Name Suggestion Index, which was
built mostly for the online editor (iD). It suggests how to tag brands, so you
can map quite a few POIs just by putting in the name.

[https://nsi.guide/](https://nsi.guide/)

------
sparsely
It's always impressive to me that OSM has (or at least exposes) better off
road walking data than Google does.

~~~
marble-drink
Why? Google is a low-quality road map for cars. They don't put much effort
into walking. In the OSM community Google is considering a very low bar. We
aim to meet or exceed the quality of mapping like Ordnance Survey.

~~~
obliobli
I take the parent comment to mean it's impressive that a community project
outperforms one backed by a multi-billion dollar company - i.e. it's a
compliment.

~~~
rmc
Yep! The multi-billion dollar company doesn't see a commerical reason to get
good at walking details. Cars are more profitable. So they don't put effort
into it.

A goal of OSM is to map _what we want mapped_, not what makes commercial sense
to map.

~~~
berkes
Which is also a reason you'll find rural areas mapped really well in OSM and
not at all in Google Maps: Why invest in a place where you cannot run
advertisements?

I'm not saying OSM is more complete than Google maps, just that the incentives
are different and therefore the coverage is different.

------
twic
Aside from the altruistic utility, this seems like a great way to get to know
a new place in a certain kind of deep detail, in the same way i find that
taking a photo of something makes me _really_ look at it.

------
Philipp0205
I am starting getting used to mapping right now and I got much value out of
this post. Ty!

------
Krasnol
Obligatory link to StreetComplete:
[https://github.com/westnordost/StreetComplete](https://github.com/westnordost/StreetComplete)

The easiest way to fill holes in your neighbourhood. No further tools or
knowledge needed.

~~~
nicolaslem
I never really thought about contributing to OSM but after seeing this comment
I downloaded the app. I just spent an hour answering questions about my
neighborhood and it was quite fun.

~~~
Krasnol
I have some amount of work related travel, since I've found the app, I learned
new corners of the cities I travel to.

Spread the word! :)

------
aloukissas
It's interesting to see that Google translate will not stay within the Greek
alphabet in a single word and will try to insert the closest matching letter
from another alphabet. In your example, it matched "ΡΕΓΓΟYKOY" to "ΡΕΓΓΟVKOV",
even though there is no letter V in the Greek alphabet.

~~~
StavrosK
Is that what that says? That road sign tripped me up so much, since it
definitely looks like a "V" to me (the uppercase ypsilon looks nothing like a
V).

------
StavrosK
This is a fantastic intro to OSM. As someone who's been wanting to do this for
my own village, this post gives me everything I wanted to know, and props to
the author for doing all of this without being able to read the language at
all.

