OSM bits...

[richard-gNTHUr35LhcAvxtiuMwx3w at public.gmane.org]

Merv wrote:
> On January 18, 2009, Colin McGregor wrote:
> When I looked at my residential area I saw that almost no streets were
> named
> and someone had entered 'fix-me' on some.  I figured I would do as you
> suggest and add the names BUT
> it seems to be a difficult involved process.  I haven't gone back to see
> if I
> can figure out  'HOW-TO'. So in simple language
> HOW-TO?

A recent discussion on OSM-talk indicated that the use of name=fixme, is
deprecated and considered dangerous.  There are tools for mappers that
will highlight unnamed roads for us.  name=fixme breaks that.

HowTo add a name to a street?  General steps.

0) Use an unencumbered source for the name.  That is, only name streets
that you have confirmed with your eyes.  OpenStreetMap does not want names
taken from other maps.

0.5) Get an API account from here.  http://www.openstreetmap.org/user/new

1) Use your favorite editing tool.

2) Navigate to the area of your interest.  Zoom in fairly tightly so that
you are only editing a "small" area.  You'll learn the right size area
with experience.  Large areas take too long to download.  Areas that are
too small mean you have to wait for another download before your next
edit.

3) Select the unnamed road that you want to name.

4) Add the correct name from your personal observation in the form key:
name, value: Name Street/Avenue/Road/etcetera.  Please note that accepted
use in OSM is to spell the road type in full.  So, Road, Avenue, Street,
Place, Way, Crescent, Croft, Court, rather than the shorter versions.

5) Upload your changes now, or further further editing.

Some editor specific examples for JOSM and Potlatch.

Browse with OpenStreetMap.org, while logged in, and zoom in to your area
of interest.

Note that you can shift-click drag on the map to select your rectangular
area of interest.  Thank you, OpenLayers.

For JOSM, copy the "permalink" from the lower right corner, then see below.

For Potlatch, click the edit tab to change from "browse the map" to the
Potlatch editor.  Read the note and choose edit (or play).  The map will
refresh with live data from the server.  Watch the top right corner for a
progress indicator.  Hover over the street of interest and the pointer
will change to a hand.  Click the street to select it.  It will be
highlighted in yellow, and the current set of tags will be shown in the
lower pane.  Change the name=fixme tag to name=Proper Street by clicking
in the text box and changing the text.

If no name=fixme tag exists, use the "+" icon on the right of the tag pane
to add an arbitrary tag.  Edit the key to "name" and the value to "Proper
Street".

Potlatch uploads your changes when you select another item on the map, so
click on the next street you wish to edit, and your changes are uploaded
as you go.

For JOSM, start JOSM, choose the download icon from the menu bar and paste
the permalink for your area of interest.  A progress bar will tell you
when the live data download is complete.  Use the select tool (second
icon, left hand toolbar, or s shortcut key) to select your street of
interest by clicking it once between nodes.  The current tags will be
shown in the properties mwnu on the right.  Select the current name tag
then the edit button, or use click the add button if no current name tag
exists.  Complete the "Change values?" dialog box and click okay to queue
your edit.

Edit more roads, or upload to the server using the upload icon (or
ctrl-Shift-U) to send your queued changes to the server.

See?  Easy.

Come on out to the next mapping party for some help if this wasn't crystal
muddy.

Best regards,
Richard

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