Harry Wood harry@cloudmade.com
Community
smoothness

Tags
Open tagging system
>50,000 tags in the database
“What tags should I use???”

“Map Features”
Agreed set of tags
Wiki
Easy editing
Open & inclusive
Discussion Mediation

Tagging debates
Different ways of thinking about mapping the world
Different understandings of words
horse=yes?

Smoothness
How smooth a road or footpath is
Suitability for transport types
smoothness=excellent
smoothness=good
smoothness=intermediate
smoothness=bad
smoothness=very_bad
smoothness=horrible
smoothness=very_horrible
smoothness=impassable

Poor use of English language
Unprofessional
Imprecise very_horrible?
Subjective
a subjective judgement
poor verifiability

Discussion → Debate → Edit War
Discussion and refining
Voted through
Edit War!
Calls to ban him - Support
Long-winded debate
Chriscf's disruptive behaviour
Smoothness tag in particular
Tag approval processes in general

Process problems
Constant stream of proposals, discussions & votes
Respected long-standing people not participating
Gang of "wikifiddlers" don't understand real
mapping
Too bureaucratic. Don't like voting
Ideas to improve?

Tagging committee
Less open and inclusive
Who would get to do it? Elections? Nominations?
Who would want to do it?
Not a fun job - Deal with proposals
swiss-image.ch/Photo by Andy Mettler

Lock map features
"Protected page"
Wiki sysops are effectively the tagging committee

Split the page up
Because it's too big and to relieve the tension
BUT "what tags should I use???"

Tag cheat-sheet
http://bit.ly/1vW7Qu
Condensed list
Open & inclusive?
Who maintains?

“presets”
Condensed list
Open & inclusive?
Who Maintains?

"Map Features" application
List tags
Handle translations nicely
Machine-readability
Group discussion and decision:
Linked to forum for discussion.
Using a polling app for votes.
but... reach agreement on documentation of hotly
debated tags?
More difficult. Wiki
"Featurama" is vapourware

Tagwatch

osmdoc.com

Usage stats
Blunt instrument
More intelligent
metrics

Floaty-Cloud-Tagwatch-on-Steroids
"Tags I use" page
Tag page has descriptions from various users

Tagstat

Social Solutions
Wiki based solutions
Shift in attitude

Tagging Principles
Instil our core principles
Write out tagging policies e.g. "Verifiability"
Link to these in all discussions

Be Critical
Over-enthusiastic about proposals
Motivation to be more critical
Process for removing previously "accepted" tags.
One in one out? change in process

Who to respect?
Expansion. Large number of newbies.
Waffling on mailing list/wiki editing energy
Don't know who to listen to
Experienced long-standing OSMers → Respect

Grumpy old fart
“us and them” attitude
holding back enthusiasm
Work on your reputation
Participation!
User page. Document achievements
Too modest? Give awards. Write testimonials
Photo CCBYSA jonnykeelty http://www.flickr.com/photos/jonnykeelty/462802956/

Tag documentation
Raise the standard
Currently poor in places
alcohol/beverages shop, pharmacy, art gallery, leisure=park
Good tag documentation
reduces international misunderstandings
helps match search keywords
raises the bar for new proposals

Message to the wiki enthusiasts
Don't make proposals. Do mapping!
Message to long-standing community members:
"wikifiddlers" are OSM enthusiasts too!
Set out principles. Raise doc standards
Message to everyone:
Debates are inevitable, and healthy
Seek positive outcomes. Take action.

harry@cloudmade.com
http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/User:Harry_Wood
Thank you
Feel free to re-use slides under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/