Everything #OpenStreetMap related is welcome: software releases, showing of your work, questions about how to tag something, as long as it has to do with OpenStreetMap or OpenStreetMap-related software.
OpenStreetMap is a map of the world, created by people like you and free to use under an open license.
Join OpenStreetMap and start mapping: https://www.openstreetmap.org.
There are many communication channels about OSM, many organized around a certain country or region. Discover them on https://openstreetmap.community
https://mapcomplete.osm.be is an easy-to-use website to view, edit and add points (such as shops, restaurants and others)
https://learnosm.org/en/ has a lot of information for beginners too.
Running around with StreetComplete, the app sometimes tells me to leave a note instead, which I do. Short time later, I receive an email that another person has resolved my note. That's nice, but wouldn't it be better to do it all on my own?
I think I need a more powerful Editor for that, and installed Vespucci. Now I'm scared to break things. What are the next steps, how to proceed?
Vespucci is great once you get the hang of it! No need to be to afraid, as you will get to review your changes before you upload (unlike in StreetComplete). Just abort if there's something weird looking.
Find something you want to fix, and then head to the wiki to see how it's supposed to be mapped. E.g. maybe you want to add a bench. The wiki tells you that it should be either a single node or a way, and that it should be tagged amenity=bench. (It also lists a bunch of other tags that may be used). Then just try to implement that with Vespucci. Most of it is just tagging. (There is actually a bench preset in Vespucci, so you could just search for it there, but this is the general process.) Refer to the wiki, a lot. We are basically lawyers interpreting the wiki.
As a beginner you can also check the "I would like someone to review my changes" box when uploading, if you're unsure of something.
Thank you! I feel this advice will help me when checking out the other resources amazing people have proposed.
And yeah, lots of the hesitation is probably just being afraid of the unknown. Taking a few simple steps should dispell that.
Welcome to the team! And also keep in mind that every mapper makes mistakes from time to time. It's not the end of the world. And if it's really something crucial then it will get fixed very soon ^^
As a first step, I would recommend checking out osm.org from a computer. Once logged in you can use it as an editor straight from the browser. The embedded documentation really helped me initially.
You can see, edit and close notes on https://Mapcomplete.org/notes . You can also edit the map and add new points with MapComplete as well, within many thematic maps.
I've been impressed how quickly people do this and I've wondered how they notice these so quickly and take care of them
Right, how do they do this? Is there a ticket system of some sorts to which one has to subscribe? Or did they just happen to browse the area proactively shortly after I was leaving a note?
I feel taking that seat, viewing things from that perspective might help me learn about the next steps.
Also thanks to all other replies, will check them out in time.
I am a OSM notes "specialist". The notes will appear in your OSM profile, you can go there and find them one by one, but if you're using StreetComplete they'll be all together, you just need to activate the Notes layer in ID.
Other way to find notes to solve is by visiting the the Neis Pascal site with your specific country of interest, like https://resultmaps.neis-one.org/osm-notes-country?c=Canada
You don't need a third party for that, you can subscribe to an rss feed of notes from an area straight from osm, just change the bounding box in this url: https://api.openstreetmap.org/api/0.6/notes/feed?bbox=18.9154,47.3695,19.2686,47.6182
This also documented in the wiki: https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Notes#Monitoring_notes_in_a_selected_area
Sure, you don't need a third party. I simply find it more practical.
I hate seeing unresolved notes in my area. They can often sit for over a year, and then we don't know if the information is still relevant. So when someone creates a note in my neighborhood, I try to make the necessary changes right away. I leave the notes layer on in the website and check them out whenever I'm verifying changes in my neighborhood.
I hate seeing unresolved notes in my area.
Haha, I guess that's the spirit! The other things you say make also make lots of sense. I also feel the completionist's call. Hence I'm here, to become a bee like you. And sorry for creating notes.
What exactly is "the notes layer in the website", and how do you check it out? Is it as simple as pressing F5?
I think my area (Hamburg, Germany) is free from notes in quite a wide radius. So maybe other diligent workers are doing the same here.
When you open openstreetmap.org, on the right-hand side there are some buttons. Click the one that looks like a stack of papers (it'll say "layers" when you hover it) and there will be an option to enable a notes overlay.
In the editor on the site (called iD) you click the icon on the right that looks like a line and a square (Map Data on hover, or press the U key) and it will have an option to show notes as well.
Generally I leave notes alone for a week or two to see if the user intends to resolve it themself (I talk to myself a lottttt in notes while I'm surveying) but if it's still there after that, I do my best to resolve it.
You probably can monitor them somewhere (maybe OSMCha?) but I just encounter notes randomly in StreetComplete. Then I'll switch to Vespucci and try to do something about it.
There are a lot of tools to monitor changes in osm, To check notes regularly you can use several tools, they are listed in the wiki: https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Notes#Monitoring_notes_in_a_selected_area
For checking all changes on the map there are other tools: https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/OSM_viewer#OSM_changeset_viewer
I personally use osmcha.org regularly and an rss feeds of notes, in my area.
@Spzi @twistypencil I've a few RSS feeds in area of interest which I check daily to keep it sorta clean
StreetComplete uses OSM's built-in note system to leave the notes, so basically any OSM user can see them and react to them.
I use Vespucci now and them, but most of the time I find it too fiddly to use on the go. What I usually do is also have OsmAnd open and use its own note system to make a local audio or photo note. And when I'm home I go through the list of notes and change the things in ID or JOSM.
I feel like OSMAnd is easier to use than the super advanced Vespucci. Haven't gotten many cases where I couldn't solve my StreetComplete issue in OSMAnd, and idk, Vespucci is just very overwhelming for me.
If you want a simple but powerful editor, try Every Door. It's nice and easy to master.
@Spzi IMO if what you need to do isn't covered by MapComplete you may already have the knowledge to maintain the data by yourself through your editor of choice. Just make sure to check the wiki to keep your way of tagging up to date
I haven't used Vespucci yet, but here is a good instruction video (in german): https://diode.zone/w/6cb63519-558c-4bd0-b8f1-1e7ab2c5d7d3
