[Imports] [Talk-us] Introducing OSMLY

[Mike Dupont]

Great Idea!

On Thu, Sep 19, 2013 at 7:24 PM, Aaron Lidman <aaronlidman at gmail.com> wrote:
> The following post is best viewed at http://osmly.com full text is posted
> below for posterity.
>
>
>
>
> ========================================
>
>
> OSMLY is a simple browser based importer for OpenStreetMap. It makes
> importing easy by presenting each feature one at a time, allowing users to
> manually review the item, make any needed adjustments to positions or tags,
> and upload directly to OSM. It also allows for reporting problems that other
> users can look over and a quality assurance mode where administrative users
> can confirm everything that has been uploaded. The aim is to make simple
> imports easier, more cooperative, and less error prone.
>
>
> http://osmly.com/screenshots/example.jpg
>
>
> Try the demo: http://osmly.com/la-parks.html
>
>
> OSMLY was born out of a frustration with the way imports are organized. I
> was preparing some imports for Los Angeles County, reading up on past
> imports and organized things according to how I see they are being done
> today (wiki, spreadsheets, many .osm files, JOSM). I wasn't into it. The
> organization and tools involved seems too complicated and clunky for getting
> more than a small number of people involved.
>
>
> Even with very simple data we would have to deal with many .osm files each
> containing many features themselves, a central spreadsheet for tracking who
> is doing what and the status of each group of items, and everyone would have
> to use JOSM. Then editing involves managing multiple layers in JOSM,
> downloading the area around each feature, looking around and resolving any
> conflicts, uploading in a small batch, and making sure to tag changesets
> correctly. Ideally, someone would then go back, search for the changesets
> and confirm everything was done correctly.
>
>
> http://osmly.com/screenshots/overview.jpg
>
>
> That's too complicated for my liking and the pool of users who know how to
> do all this without making mistakes is too small. On the other hand, most of
> that complexity is necessary for organizing the people involved and
> maintaining some quality to the data going into OSM. I want a simpler and
> more automated way of handling the most manual and repetitive parts for
> really basic imports. I just want a simple way for someone with OSM
> experience and knowledge but not necessarily a GIS data or programming
> background to help out with basic tasks and share their knowledge to get
> more data on the map.
>
>
> http://osmly.com/screenshots/QA.jpg
>
>
> I built OSMLY to reduce the complexity of doing simple imports with many
> people and many features. It's just the essentials: editing geometry, fixing
> tags, displaying relevant nearby features from OSM, flagging problems and
> uploading to OSM. Features are served from a simple database to keep track
> of everything/everyone and different actions are allowed based on an
> feature's status. Once an item is submitted it's available for Quality
> Assurance where other users can confirm everything was done correctly and
> flagged results can get attention from more experienced users in JOSM.
>
>
> http://osmly.com/screenshots/geojson.png
>
>
> Technically, OSMLY takes in GeoJSON data and makes sure geometry is valid,
> simplifies, flags obviously difficult items, adds bounds for each item, and
> converts everything to a sqlite database ready to be served up to the world.
> A simple server takes care of routing requests from the browser to database
> queries and returning results. Once the user has received a new feature the
> surrounding area is download from an OSM server and those results are
> filtered for relevant geometry. Then it's all displayed on the map. From
> there it gets a bit more complex depending on the user's actions.
>
>
> http://osmly.com/screenshots/basic.jpg
>
>
> Some key features:
>
>     * Context - nearby relevant features that may conflict are shown
> alongside the item being edited along with complete tags. Context filtering
> can be set using regular OSM tags. http://osmly.com/screenshots/context.png
>
>     * Quality Assurance - administrative users, specified in the settings,
> can review everything that has been submitted and confirm each item has been
> done correctly
>
>     * Edit in JSOM - every item can be remotely opened and completed in JOSM
> if you prefer. http://osmly.com/screenshots/inJOSM.png
>
>     * Tag Manipulation - depending on your data source, you might not have
> to do any tag manipulation before OSMLY. Tag keys can be renamed, added, and
> removed.
>
>     * User Whitelist - specify exactly which users are allowed on an import
> or allow everyone (default)
>
>
> Limitations:
>
> Currently OSMLY only works with polygons. Eventually, time allowing, I'd
> like to expand to other GeoJSON feature types (points and linestrings).
> OSMLY is only ment for simple imports so there aren't plans for implementing
> multipolygons or anything else too complex. Some of this is technical but
> mostly it comes down to ease of use. Right now if a complex item is found
> OSMLY pushes the user to edit in JOSM.
>
>
> ========================================
>
>
>
>
> OSMLY has been working great on the OSM development server for the past
> month. You can see my test edits here:
> http://api06.dev.openstreetmap.org/user/namdil-testing/edits
>
>
> Source code @ https://github.com/aaronlidman/osmly
>
> Technical bugs @ https://github.com/aaronlidman/osmly/issues
>
>
> I'd love to hear your thoughts/concerns/questions. Just to make it clear,
> this isn't live but currently works on the OSM dev server and I'd like to
> flush out a discussion here with the eventual goal of doing real imports. I
> have a couple imports with ready proposals I'd like to complete with OSMLY
> but only after I work through concerns you may have here. Thanks for your
> time.
>
>
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-- 
James Michael DuPont
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