[Talk-us] A new openstreetmap.us

[Alex Barth]

Martin -

Sorry for sitting on this for a while. State of the Map US took up a lot of
attention.

Thanks for your feedback.

- Added a more prominent link to Wiki in community section. It's now the
first on the list and linked explicitly.
- There's intentionally no link off of the front page 'slide show' - it is
all designed to lead you to the bottom of the page with no distractions in
between.
- Start mapping is intentionally kept super simple. We don't want to lose
anybody here. For any deeper information there's a link on the bottom.

The entire site is designed having the first time visitor to OSM(-us) in
mind. At every step, we have chosen offering a simple first start over
comprehensive introduction, counting on the theory that folks learn by
doing, that no one spends more than a few seconds *on a first interaction*
and that an early success experience will lead to interest to dig deeper
and fast paths to action are hence to be preferred over comprehensive
introduction.

Further, many of the issues of making this experience comprehensive are to
be fixed at the core: OpenStreetMap.org. I don't want the US chapter to
squander energy that should go into OpenStreetMap.org directly.

Hope this makes sense!

Cheers -

Alex




On Mon, May 20, 2013 at 11:27 AM, Martin Koppenhoefer <
dieterdreist at gmail.com> wrote:

>
> 2013/5/20 Alex Barth <alex at openstreetmap.us>
>
>> OpenStreetMap.us relaunched today. Head over to http://openstreetmap.usand check it out.
>>
>
>
> I think it really looks great!
>
> Some issues I think could be addressed:
>
> 1. There seems to be no link to openstreetmap.org on the front page. I'd
> suggest to link for instance from
> "We help grow *OpenStreetMap*, the free and editable map of the world, in
> the United States." (probably you had the intention to do so and simply
> overlooked to do it).
>
> 2. IMHO the wiki on osm.org is a little bit underrepresented. On "
> http://openstreetmap.us/start-mapping/" there doesn't seem to be a link
> to the various instructions and explanations in the beginner's section of
> the wiki (e.g. http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Beginners%27_guide ).
> Right now you write: "create an account, choose an editor and start", but
> you can only choose from Potlatch and iD to start right on, while the rest
> of the editors require installation. Now it depends on the type of mapper
> the person looking on this page is likely to become. If the future mapper
> will add every now and then some points of interest or correct a street
> name, doesn't want to use WMS-imagery, ... the online editors are probably
> the best choice. Still, every editor needs some time to familiarize with
> it, and so the initial decision of choosing the right editor is an
> important one (otherwise you will have to learn not only one but several
> editors). If the mapper chooses "remote-control" it won't work unless he
> has an editor installed and enabled remote control.
>
> 2b. also here: http://openstreetmap.us/community/ in "resources" there
> could be at least one link to the wiki, the main documentation of OSM.
>
> cheers,
> Martin
>



-- 
Alex Barth
Secretary
OpenStreetMap United States Inc.
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