Welcome to OSM. :)

I helped with about 100 things in that area too:

• changeset/164517949

Drew a few houses/ponds, added some fire hydrants, and even did a few addresses for you.

Thanks watmildon + thanks redd. :)

I’ll be sharing this with some folks for a mapping party.

Awesome! That’s great! Let me know how it goes. :)

One of the things I noticed last year, while fixing 300+ OSM Notes, was a lot of StreetComplete users were leaving Notes like:

• “A yellow fire hydrant is here!”
• “There is a group of 3 benches here!”

So, as I added it to the map, I gave those users a step-by-step breakdown of how to do it right in StreetComplete!

(And screenshots are a HUGE HELP. :) )

I use OsmAnd to add POIs like fire hydrants or benches as OsmAnd is very convinient for this task.

Nice! I haven’t used OsmAnd before.

How do you add things using it? What does it do better?

Thanks, it seems that its not straight forward to add things with StreetComplete.

Once you put the “Things” mode ON (Steps 1+2)…

You’re pretty much just doing a lot of:

1. Pinch/Zoom + Place the crosshair.
2. Click the Add button.
3. Click on type.

I don’t see how that can be done much differently, but maybe I’m wrong. :P

As I was writing this tutorial, I was thinking of a few other potential enhancements.

Because, often, you’re adding multiple of the same type of object (for example, 3 benches)…

So maybe after adding an object:

• 1 extra button appears to quickly “drop” another version of the same thing.

So during Step 2, you’d have 2 buttons at the bottom:

• A + to “Add New Object”
• A [new icon] to “Add Previous Object”

That’s about the only way I can currently think of to make it faster.

But I’m definitely open to hearing new ideas.

Notes that require some information that is not available with strictly what is presented to a remote editor, such as local knowledge, or something in the person who wrote the note’s mind.

Yes, that one is frustrating, especially when the Notes are cryptic.

To help keep tiny/minor issues from clogging up the public Notes…

I leave myself “personal notes” by using:

• Organic Maps’s “Bookmark” feature to set a pin.
  • You can even color-code it!

For example, I use:

• Orange = something basic I can look into later.
  • Like a potential typo on a street/business name.
• Red = Missing info
  • Like a business without a website / phone number.
• Purple = Actual error in the data.
  • Like a house that has “the wrong address” or was supposed to be a 2x1 duplex.
  • I then “Edit Bookmark” and leave myself info on exactly what the issue was.

When I get back to the computer, or am mapping in that area again, I can then go through each of the pins and fix it myself.

No need to have someone else fix a basic typo when I could just log in and do it myself later! :)

PS.: (for the author and other readers of this diary) which tools you personally use to find OSM Notes?

These 3 sites are my favorites:

1. https://resultmaps.neis-one.org/osm-notes-country?c=United%20States
   • Lists all the recent Open/Closed Notes.
   • (That’s the US-specific page.)
   • Nice visuals per month too.
2. https://resultmaps.neis-one.org/osm-notes
   • Lists Open/Closed stats per country.
3. https://brzozo.ws/random-note/list
   • It sends you to a “random Open Note” after you pick a country.

The 1st one lets you:

• Quickly see/scan/search for keywords that interest you.
  • Like anything with “park” or “bench” or “StreetComplete”.
• Quickly see Open/Close/Commented stats.
  • For example, here’s my page:
  • https://resultmaps.neis-one.org/osm-notes-info?uid=21307313

This sometimes lets you close Notes really fast too. Like one time, I fixed it MINUTES after a user submitted from StreetComplete—so OSM was probably updated before they even got back to their car! :)

The 2nd one gets addicting if you “set a goal for yourself”. For example:

• When I first started, the United States was just over 36k Notes open.
  • I wanted to help “push it below 36k”…
    • Now it’s under 34.5k. :)
• You want “your country’s number” to drop below the next one!
  • 34.5k open for US vs. 33.3k open for UK.

The 3rd one I use for fun or a change of pace, because it sometimes digs up some really old/obscure Notes that may have been long-forgotten about. :)

Side Note 1: I’m a new user to OSM (just started 4 months ago)… and when I first started, a helpful OSM user fixed and answered a handful of my Notes.

I then stumbled across a link to those 3 sites…

So I decided to “pay it forward” by fixing >250 Notes. :)

Now my stats currently say:

• 21 Opened
• 252 Closed
• 51 Commented

so I think that’s a pretty good open-to-close ratio. :)

If everyone closed a few more Notes than they open, we’d be smooth sailing!

Side Note 2: Another “trick” I like to do in ID is…

Whenever I finish mapping an area, I:

• Toggle on Map Data (U).
• Check the box for “OpenStreetMap Notes”.
• Scan the area for any “red X” bubbles (open Notes).
  • See if I can fix/answer it.

Sometimes a user even left multiple of the same type in the same town—like “wrong address” or “this building has to be split”—so they might be very easy to fix.

I find it’s much easier to tackle many Notes in a single pass/area/city too. :)

Okay, ~450 more things mapped:

• changeset/151558373
• changeset/151561852
• changeset/151616169

That takes care of a nice chunk of the eastern/northern part. :)

Added a whole other chunk of ~150 things too:

• changeset/151556953

Well thank you for being the first person to help out

No problem. :)

you’re allowed to pop in at any time to add more if you like besides I accept the help

Sure. I might check in every so often. :)

For now, I’m also mapping a lot of rural/suburban + severely undermapped US areas.

(Like I tackled a whole small town in PA. According to someone who lived there, there “wasn’t much there”… turns out it was ~4k buildings! He “didn’t even KNOW there was that many”! But all those garages, sheds, and farm buildings sure do add up!)

Last month there was maybe a few dozen things there (a few restaurants, the post office, the fire department)… now the entire town is probably 99% complete. :)

it may not be much but that’s ok every building counts!

Yep, every little bit counts. :)

What I tend to enjoy doing is… any place I check in on or get linked to, I tend to:

• Map things around it.
• + Follow a road and update/map that too.

If I see a school/church/park, I tend to “spiral” out from it.

Hopefully seeing a bigger chunk mapped inspires others to “continue the pattern” or “fill in the blanks” too. :)

It gets addicting when you are zoomed in, mapping everything along a road, then you meet up with another section that was already filled in. :)

Hey, I helped by adding ~160 things in that area:

• changeset/151555202

Hope that helps take a little bite out of it. :)