[OSM-newbies] POIs as single points or areas?

[Craig Wallace]

On 04/10/2011 00:11, Alexandros Papadopoulos wrote:
> What´s the best way to enter (for example) a campsite on the map?
>
> 1. Insert a single point (e.g. with drag´n´drop from Potlatch2) or
> 2. Mark the area of the campsite using Bing as reference and set the
> area´s type to campsite?
>
> I am looking at http://osm.org/go/MeOXrGAa and the top campsite is
> denoted in both ways.
>
> Seems to me #2 is the best/cleanest way of updating the map, but...

Yes, number 2 is definitely preferred, where possible.
As it provides more information, eg how big the campsite  is, and the 
land it covers.

Per the good practice of "one feature, one element" 
(http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/One_feature,_one_OSM_element), if 
there's only one feature there (ie a campsite), there should be only one 
object tagged as such. So either a node or an area tagged as a campsite, 
not both.
Otherwise you end up with duplicate icons on the rendered map, or in POI 
searches.

> will then my old GPS be able to find the POI when I search for
> campsites?

This does depend on what your GPS device is, and how you are generating 
the maps / POI for it.
eg if its a Garmin, and you are making maps with Mkgmap, then it has an 
option for "add-poi-for-areas". So it will create a point of interest 
for each object, which will be searchable as usual, whether its mapped 
as a node or an area.
I think most ready made Garmin maps use this option.

For other devices, it will depend on what software you use to make the 
maps. It may require some sort of pre-processing to convert areas to nodes.

Craig