[OSM-newbies] Adding filter on attributes to the openstreetmap.org interface ...

[Richard Weait]

On Mon, Aug 23, 2010 at 11:09 AM, Daniel Tremblay <tremblad at gmail.com> wrote:
> I am not a map specialist.  But I like the Openstreetmap concept.

Hi Daniel and welcome

> For the past month, I have been adding details regarding cycleways in my
> area.  The new opencyclemap have been generated lately and I must admit that
> I am a little bit disappointed.  The major problem is that cycleway=track
> doesn't show on the opencyclemap.  Same for bicycle=designated.  I've seen
> discussion where that were already exposed and nothing seems to be done.

OpenCycleMap has a new server.  It is either just deployed or will be
Real Soon Now.  So some things may have slipped through the cracks.
Consider sending a bug report, or checking again in a while.

> I looked at way to do my own rendering of maps.  For a non-specialist like
> me, it seems fairly complicated.  Even if I spend time to work on it, how
> another non-specialist users will make it through?

Some folks offer a simplified interface to do limited customization
without the deep technical requirements of creating a fully custom
map.  And there are companies who will be pleased to help you.  OSM as
a project is only six years old.  I would expect more tools will
continue to appear as we go.

> I've come to the conclusion that the tagging I can put there is almost
> unusable by "normal user" like me.  Unless ...
>
> Unless openstreetmap.org website proposes a simple way to filter
> attributes.  There could be a "simple filter" and a "advanced filter" about
> the same as what is proposed on JOSM.  It could appear when we click on the
> "+" sign (Overlays / Data).  As an addition, saving (with cookies to
> simplify things) and sharing (just copy/paste for now would do the job) our
> filters would be great.
>
> That way, I could filter things like (cycleway=* OR bicycle=designated OR
> bicycle=yes).  Those would show greyed on the map (just like when we select
> an area on the map for overlays / data).
>
> That kind of filter might by usefull for many many needs.  Example:
> -surface=paved
>
> Just a thought.  Just a suggestion.  I have no idea what that implied!

That does sound interesting.  Is that something you might pursue?