Ask Slashdot: Easiest To Use Multi-User Map Editing? 52
Lordfly writes "I'm part of an online group of local hobbyist, semi-pro, and professional photographers. I want to start an editable map that showcases interesting places to shoot photos — parks, old buildings, interesting infrastructure, etc. Ideally I'd like to be able to tag/organize the markers (public/private property), as well as add example photos for each location to give people an idea of what the place looks like.
I've used the Google Maps 'Create a Map' feature, but have found that sharing for other users to see/edit is a bit ... off. Also, given Google's propensity for dropping features without much pretext, it makes me wary to sink time and effort into a possibly ephemeral map. It does most of what I'm looking for it to do, but are there more robust alternatives out there I'm not finding?"
I've used the Google Maps 'Create a Map' feature, but have found that sharing for other users to see/edit is a bit ... off. Also, given Google's propensity for dropping features without much pretext, it makes me wary to sink time and effort into a possibly ephemeral map. It does most of what I'm looking for it to do, but are there more robust alternatives out there I'm not finding?"
Dude! (Score:1)
Rand McNally! Plus pencil!
Ask the OSM community. (Score:5, Informative)
This is a problem that OSM (open street map) has solved. Either use their service, our even create your own clone - their software is likely to be all open source, and their mapping data certainly is.
Re: (Score:2)
Works on android too as a pretty good replacement for the Google maps api.. I've found it fo be a little slow at times and google maps api is a bit more mature. Gotta get your hands dirty and write some code.
Re: (Score:2)
This is a problem that OSM (open street map) has solved. Either use their service, our even create your own clone - their software is likely to be all open source, and their mapping data certainly is.
Nice. I was going to say if everyone is collocated to use a big paper map on a wall. He did say they were "local". Sounds like he's trying to use tech he doesn't really need to solve a problem. But, that's most Ask /. questions these days, that and not knowing how to use a search engine to do your own research.
Re: (Score:2)
OpenStreetMap is not really suited to what he is doing since we are making a 'base map' which is just the underlying features, roads, buildings, etc. The personal notes the OP is looking for can however be added to uMap which is a tool one of the OSM people developed to make maps overlay on top of the map. I am not sure what the public terms of service are though or how long it will be available. It was developed for coordinating information about humanitarian disasters but it would work for that as well
Re: (Score:2)
Try this one (Score:2, Funny)
http://www.ea.com/simcity-4-deluxe
Google.. (Score:5, Insightful)
"why perpetuate the myth that Google "drops products without warning/reason"?
Well, you're right... that's a bit unfair. There's usually some warning, and occasionally even a reason.
But relying on their stuff is indeed somewhat risky.
Re:Google.. (Score:5, Informative)
There's usually some warning, and occasionally even a reason. But relying on their stuff is indeed somewhat risky.
Why, how on earth can you say that?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Google_products#Discontinued_products_and_services [wikipedia.org]
Oh, Right. Now I remember...
wikimapia is for this (Score:2, Informative)
not sure how hard you're looking if you're aware of neither wikimapia.org nor openstreetmap.org but this is *exactly* what they're for
Well to start.... (Score:5, Funny)
Re: (Score:2)
I think you just described the OpenGeo suite from Boundless [boundlessgeo.com] except with less Java because enterprisey.
Another idea would be something based on Django with the GeoDjango functionality, a simple model for location with picture and whatever other attributes you want in your model, and job almost done. Buy some hosting and run it, or plug an Rpi into your home network and punch a line through your router.
ownCloud ODF support (Score:2)
Clippy (Score:2, Funny)
I see you are planning to blow some buildings up.
Ushahidi (Score:2, Informative)
Try Ushahidi, originally developed more for crisis management and political activitism it may be useful for you. There is also an online version at crowdmap.com you can play with. I have used it for various reasons from the downright comical to the extremely serious and I have not had any issues using it, once you get past the learning curve.
save the data, don't depend on anyone (Score:3)
ANY company or service can go away or change.
That's why you keep a copy of the data, coordinates, etc. Then you can display that data with Google maps, openstreetmap, or a dozen other ways and you're not dependent on anyone.
If you keep a copy of your data, you don't need to decide based on one option having a 0.01% chance of going away versus another with a 0.02% chance.
Comment removed (Score:3)
Re: (Score:1)
Integrating with mapping tools (Score:1)
I think that Nokia's Here (formerly Navteq) has tools to let you do this. Not sure since I haven't tried, but they are still ahead of Google Maps for such stuff.
geonames.org (Score:2)
Try Mapbox (Score:2, Interesting)
It's based on OSM but less rough around the corners. It's a hosted solution used by some pretty big players like Foursquare and Yelp.
I have a similar project in mind and they are my top alternative for Google Maps.
Google Earth Layer (Score:2)
Ideal for me would be to have a Google Earth layer that when I edit, my edits appear on others who share the layer and vice-versa. Any solutions?
Related: Calender (Score:2)
Think Magic/Game Events!
Each event may have a different owner, or group of owners posting them.
It should be easy to view on the map for people to easily see what Events are close to them for any particular day.
Currently we're thinking multiple Google Calenders but it loses all coloring and requires everyone who wants to do a calender to have google. P
uMap (Score:2)
ScribbleMaps.com (Score:1)
LocalWiki (Score:1)
GeoServer and the OpenGeoSuite (Score:2)
The easiest way is to set up GeoServer as part of the OpenGeoSuite [boundlessgeo.com]. The OpenGeoSuite sets up PostGIS and GeoServer and another application called GeoExplorer, which is a web-app that sorts out authentication and editing of spatial data, as well as simple styling.
That said, you can't just 'make a map.' You need to set up multiple tables, all with an appropriate schema, to hold all your different layers. That stuff takes experience, or will require you to iterate over time in order to get it right.
You could s
Try using the GitHub geoJSON ability (Score:1)
GitHub has built-in geoJSON mapa capabilities:
https://help.github.com/articl... [github.com]
Example:
https://github.com/benbalter/d... [github.com]
A GitHub organization may have multiple contributors.
There's forum and wiki support.