User:Wauteurz/Mapmaking

To serve the traveller, Wikivoyage makes use of maps to convey information to its readers. Whether it be a visual guide to what area an article encompasses to showing where that one specific café is located, maps can, when applied well, serve the traveller by conveying large amounts of text into tangible and accessible forms.

Wikivoyage uses two different kinds of maps across its website. Both of them are generally made by its own editors. These two kinds of maps are:

• Static maps are, as the name implies, static images that display a certain area. The map requires manual updating, making them more resource-intensive to maintain.
• Dynamic maps, with "dynamic" meaning that the reader can interact with these maps. They are built upon the Kartographer extension, which uses maps created by OpenStreetMap users. This map can be interacted with by the reader as any other online map tools or navigation tools might and likewise can be updated automatically when editors change or add templates that work with the extension.

This page serves as a launch page for finding the help you need when working with maps. It does not contain information, tips, tricks, et cetera, but instead links directly to pages where this information can be found.

General

• Wikivoyage:Mapmaking Expedition

Static maps

Existing guides:

• Wikivoyage:How to draw static maps
  • Wikivoyage:How to draw a map/Common map symbols

Work in progress, replacing the above:

• Starting out
  • How to draw district maps (SVG)
  • How to draw region maps (SVG)
  • How to make dynamic maps with static elements (Dyn.)

Dynamic maps

• Wikivoyage:How to use dynamic maps
• Wikivoyage:Dynamic maps Expedition
• Wikivoyage:Geocoding

Dynamic map templates

• {{Listing}} and the templates built upon it
• {{Mapframe}} - The template for entering a dynamic map. It is customisable to a certain degree, the methods of which are documented here.
• {{Mapshape}} - Template allowing for elements to be fetched from (OpenStreetMap via) Wikidata, and, as the name suggests, display these as a mask on the dynamic map.
• {{Mapshapes}} - Template allowing for adding multiple line elements from OpenStreetMap that are all contained within the same Wikidata category (for example: tram and metro networks).
• {{Mapmask}} - Template allowing you to enter map elements like shapes and lines based upon manually defined data.

Which dynamic map template do I use?

What kind of data are you looking to add?

1. Points and locations ⇒ The appropriate {{Listing}}-based template, the type depends on the section of the article that it belongs in.
2. Areas and regions:
   Do you have access to manual, raw data?
   1. Yes ⇒ {{Mapmask}}
   2. No
      What category below best describes the type of data you wish to display?
      1. Boundaries
         • You can create boundaries manually, refer to {{Mapmask}}.
         • If the boundaries match those of actual administrative districts, refer to {{Mapshape}}, which uses data available in Wikidata and OpenStreetMap.
      2. Public transit
         • Most of these exist in OpenStreetMap, but aren't yet linked to Wikidata. Refer to {{Mapshapes}} for a manual.
      3. Trails
         • These aren't always marked in OpenStreetMap. You most likely will have to create manual data in this case, or export it from OpenStreetMap. Refer to {{Mapmask}}.