This article is intended for someone that has just heard about OpenStreetMap (OSM), and would like to add a road (or several) in an area they know well (eg your home area). It assumes that you live in the UK and that you do not own a GPS. You will need a web browser that supports Flash (the latest version of Gnash will work).
To edit OSM, you need a free account. Go to the OpenStreetMap web site, and click the "sign up" link in the top-right. Enter an e-mail address, display name and password. When you receive the activation e-mail, follow the directions to activate your account.
The OpenStreetMap web site has a search box to the left of the map. Use this to search for your local area, using either your postcode or town name. Once your area is displayed in the map, click the "Edit" tab above the map, then enter your login details.
Potlatch (OSM's online editor) will now be visible in your browser. Click the tick in the bottom-left to open the options dialogue. Select "UK: OS StreetView" from the drop-down box at the top of the dialogue box. The other options can be left as they are, or altered to your preference. [screenshot]
A road in OSM is defined as a series of connected points, called nodes. To add a new road, click on the map at one end of the road, then click at each node in turn. Double-click to mark the end node. If you make a mistake, press Delete to delete the last node. If you need to cancel the entire road, click Esc. If the road joins onto another road, make sure that the final node is on the road it joins (Potlatch will highlight the other road when the cursor is over it).
Now you need to add information about the road. This is done by adding tags, each of which has a name and a value. Potlatch has presets for most types of road. Under the main map view, there is a drop-down list where the type of road can be selected. Select the appropriate type, and Potlatch will display a number of tags, some of which will be already filled in. Fill in the details for any that have blank values.
Since the road has been traced from Ordnance Survey StreetView, and they require attribution, it is important to add a "source" tag. To do this, click on the + icon at the bottom right. A new tag will appear. In the left-hand box, replace the word "key" with "source", and add "OS_OpenData_StreetView" in the right-hand box.
You have now added a road to OSM. You can repeat the above two steps to add more roads. When you are finished, click "Save" in the bottom-right corner. Add a short description of your changes, then click "OK" to save the changes. Note that your changes may not appear in the main map immediately, and they may appear at some zoom levels sooner than others.
This article deliberately concentrates on a very specific task. If you would like to do more, the following links should be a good start:
This tutorial is copyright © 2010 Russell Phillips.
This article is hosted on mappage.org