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OpenStreetMap Launches a New Easy To Use HTML5 Editor

Posted by Unknown on from the map-freely-and-now-conveniently dept.

SWroclawski writes "On the heels of the news that OpenStreetMap is allowing anonymous contributions with its 'note system,' the project has launched a new in-browser editor called iD, which is not only easier to use, but written completely in JavaScript, using the D3 library for rendering. With all these improvements, OpenStreetMap is gaining popularity and has started a new donation campaign for additional hardware to support all the new contributors." This replaces a flash based editor (really great news!). The code is, naturally, available (under the WTFPL).

5 of 53 comments (clear)

  1. lowering the bar by ssam · · Score: 5, Interesting

    It was not hard to edit before (I mostly used josm), but lowering the bar is probably a good thing.

    What I would like to see is better history viewing. on wikipedia it is quick to see if a page has been edited recently and by who. obviously this is a harder problem for a map. clicking history on openstreet map does not show much of use (right in the middle of an inland city i am seeing edits like "Update harbour tags ").

    1. Re:lowering the bar by bluegutang · · Score: 4, Informative

      What I would like to see is better history viewing. on wikipedia it is quick to see if a page has been edited recently and by who. obviously this is a harder problem for a map. clicking history on openstreet map does not show much of use (right in the middle of an inland city i am seeing edits like "Update harbour tags ").

      This is a much requested feature (#6) and progress is apparently being made on it...

    2. Re:lowering the bar by Mirar · · Score: 4, Interesting

      My problem and the main reason that I stopped editing OSM is related to this - I used to spend 4-8 hours a week on it.

      A lot of my changes would get reversed for some reason, and I had no idea why. A lot of my changes simply vanished.
      I suspect some of this is due to people clumsily committing changes they did in JOSM and other off-line editors. Or it's database problems.

      A lot of my changes would be reverted to people with different ideas on how to tag things, without comments or corrections.

      In the end, seeing a majority of my work vanishing after a few months, I just gave up. (I have the feeling wikipedia is suffering from the same; lot of people rather correcting mistakes than creating content.)

      OSM isn't the only one suffering from demotivating "fixes" to the map - Waze is suffering even more, since you get points from poking around everywhere.

      ((If you feel like commenting that I shouldn't add stuff to the map that suck that much, you're doing the same thing again, demotivating me from commenting on Slashdot. Maybe that's what you want...))

  2. not actually replaces flash-based editor by welshie · · Score: 4, Informative

    not actually replaced flash-based editing, but adding another option. You can edit openstreetmap in a number of editors, with a number of different technologies: Some of them are: iD : HTML5-based, in-browser editing Potlatch : Flash-based, in-browser editing via flash player plugin JOSM : Java-based application, run from local machine, or via JNLP Vespucci : Android application, works nicely with touchscreens Meerkartor : QT application Openstreetmap is open, and as such there's loads of different ways of using it (or updating it). I've been contributing to openstreetmap since the days of the java applet editor (which used the processing libraries), before the data structures had been fleshed out. It's come a long way from a few scrawls representing the paths around Regents Park in London.

  3. Re:HTML5 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    Didn't you get the Memo? Web 2.0 has been retroactively based on HTML5 and other emergent technologies for providing responsive UXI, with a focus on agile, iterative development practice paradigms.