Mapzen: An easy to use editor for OpenStreetMap
Mapzen: An easy to use editor for OpenStreetMap
At the recent State of the Map conference we unveiled our plans for an OpenStreetMap editor: Mapzen. Mapzen is a web based map editing tool that will make it far easier for new-commers to OpenStreetMap to get started editing and creating maps. Lets take a look at some of Mapzen’s features:
In Application Tutorials
No one likes searching wikis and web pages to learn how to use a tool. With Mapzen, you learn as you map. In application tutorials teach you to map, step by step.
Graphical Menus
Many new mappers are confused by the large number of different road, track and point of interest types. Mapzen has an intuitive graphical menu, letting you pick out different features to add to the map.
Context Sensitive Menus
After choosing which object you want to add to the map, the next hurdle is knowing which attributes to add. Mapzen’s context sensitive menu prompts you to add only the attributes that are needed for a particular object.
Specialized Junction Editing
Modeling complex junctions, with one-ways and turn restrictions can be difficult, with so many tags and relations to keep track of. Mapzen gives mappers a graphical interface that makes modeling junctions quick and fun.
Find Out More
Mapzen is currently under active development. We’re going to be carrying out user testing over the summer – if you’d like to take part, please mail mapzen@cloudmade.com.
Mapzen is open source (GPLv2) – if you are a developer, you can get hold of the source from here (right click in the window).
If you have any feature requests, or would like any more information, please send us a mail.
Mapzen: An easy to use editor for OpenStreetMapJuly 22nd, 2009 - Posted by Nick Black in openstreetmap, products, tools | | 15 Comments
on July 22nd, 2009 at 5:09 pm
You might want to rename the “POIs” tab. I doubt many people will have a clue what that means. But meh, they’ll probably just click on it anyway to find out
on July 23rd, 2009 at 5:30 am
Awesome work guys, I have been playing around with the openstreetmap editor and have found it pretty clunky. Will be breath of fresh air to use such a slick looking web app.
on July 23rd, 2009 at 9:01 am
Er… tetriary?
on July 23rd, 2009 at 10:02 am
Clearly there to check our testers are paying attention!
on July 23rd, 2009 at 3:14 pm
I want to help test it
on July 23rd, 2009 at 11:27 pm
nice!
Had a quick skip through the code. Couldn’t find a single comment. Is there a version with comments available perhaps?
on July 25th, 2009 at 11:41 am
Wow guys, this looks amazing! From the screen-shot only I’m already in love with the restriction editor, it’s absolutely lovely!
on July 28th, 2009 at 4:22 pm
[...] you’ve been dying to hear more about Mapzen, CloudMade’s under-development OpenStreetMap editor, you should call into the next [...]
on July 28th, 2009 at 10:11 pm
[...] special about this one is that Cloudmade’s in-development mapping editor, Mapzen, might be being demoed. The screenshots look very interesting, this could be pretty [...]
on August 4th, 2009 at 9:42 am
So when will the user testing start? Want to take part of it!! Looking good!!
on August 4th, 2009 at 10:09 am
Using testing will start in the last few weeks of August. We are primarily looking for people who have not used OSM tools before to test on. I’ll post again to this blog with details about the user testing closer to the time.
on August 13th, 2009 at 2:55 pm
[...] current and new Mapzen Community Panel members to take part in hands-on testing sessions of Mapzen. The sessions will be held at our London and Menlo Park offices and will give you the chance to be [...]
on August 13th, 2009 at 5:34 pm
I’ve been using OpenStreetMap’s online editor (”Potlatch”) for several months, and have observed noticeable improvement to that editor. I think Potlatch works well with my skill level and editing style. That said, I haven’t tried the offline editors like JOSM because they look a bit complicated. Also, I can see how Potlatch can have that effect on some people. This Mapzen looks slick, especially the turn restriction editor.
Will the in-application help cover tagging practices, or will that be deferred to the OSM wiki? If the former, I hope you guys can keep up with the periodic changes.
on August 14th, 2009 at 8:18 am
Hi Vid the Kid,
Glad you like the look of Mapzen. I’m glad your getting on well with Potlatch – I agree there have been some great improvements over the last few months. Potlatch 2 looks even better, especially the rendering engine.
Mapzen mappers will use a graphical menu to choose objects to input, so using tags will not be necessary. We will keep the graphical presets synced with the current community best practices.
on October 21st, 2009 at 3:44 pm
[...] ha permesso anche la crescita di numerosi programmi e software di terze parti come ad esempio Mapzen di Cloudmade, ancora in versione alpha, un editor molto ben fatto per OpenStreetMap.La stassa [...]