Commons talk:Graphic Lab/Map workshop

Individual Engagement Grant Notification

Hello! I have posted a draft of an Individual Engagement Grant titled GIS and Cartography in Wikimedia. The grant calls for increased contributions of map content to Wikimedia projects through outreach to GIS and cartography communities that are currently not exposed to the idea and practice of contributing content to Wikimedia. This will be led by Darin Jensen, the Department Cartographer and a Continuing Lecturer in UC Berkeley’s geography department and Evelyn Hammid (myself), a UC Berkeley geography student and Wikipedia editor. We will recruit GIS and cartography courses in colleges, universities and possibly high schools into the US Education Program and assist these classes in contributing their projects to Wikimedia. We will also conduct outreach to GIS and cartography communities outside of schools to encourage freely licensed map contributions. If you are interested in this project or have any questions or concerns, please take a look at the draft and comment on the discussion page. Thank you and I look forward to hearing from you. EHammid (talk) 05:00, 16 February 2013 (UTC)

Resolved requests

There is a very long list of resolved requests. Is anybody able to force them to be archived? Any ideas? --maxxl2 - talk 18:22, 8 March 2013 (UTC)

Automatic archival of Graphic Lab requests

Dear Graphists,

resolved requests are slowly but steadily accumulating on our workshop pages, cluttering them needlessly and concealing requests that need our attention. Since manual archival is a tedious task it was often neglected in the past adding to the problem. I therefore propose we introduce a consistent and functional system for automatic archival of requests in all Graphic Lab workshops.

To find a solution that fits our needs best your valued input is needed. Please join the discussion at Commons talk:Graphic Lab#Automatic archival of Graphic Lab requests. Take the chance and voice your opinion! --Patrick87 (talk) 21:35, 3 July 2013 (UTC)

Following the discussion linked in my initial comment I set up automatic archiving by User:SpBot on all Graphics Lab workshops today. SpBot will automatically archive sections which are marked with {{Section resolved}}. Therefore in future:

• Please mark requests which are resolved satisfactory with {{section resolved|1=~~~~}}
  Remember to put your signature (~~~~) there, since it contains a timestamp (which is needed by the bot). The template we used so far ({{resolved}}) is not necessary anymore.
• After the template is applied the bot will wait 30 days before archiving the section. This will allow other editors to review the changes and to reopen the request (by removing the template) in case of any problems that were not yet solved completely.

--Patrick87 (talk) 04:57, 14 July 2013 (UTC)

Uploader requested deletion of own maps

Please see Commons:Deletion requests/Files in Category:Template:fr with no text displayed. IMO several of the maps should be kept. --Leyo 09:13, 16 July 2013 (UTC)

rhetorical edit request

for the "Upgrade 3 Maps: Remove Southern Sudan" section.

"Under normal circumstances, it wouldn't be necessary to point out just how badly drawn the border is, previously when the lab was a peaceful place to work, I'd just leave this one here in case someone else wanted to improve the border, however, with the zealous archiving, I have to point out just how bad my own work is in order to give other real artists the opportunity to work on improving this image, and I have to point it out so that it won't be archived too soon. The embarrassment of having to point out just how poor one's own work is, is just one more reason the graphics lab is no longer a comfortable place to work. Penyulap ☏ 09:09, 18 July 2013 (UTC)"

This would normally be an edit request, as the graphics lab has now been protected so that only admins can edit it. Normally, I would accept the invitation given here :

This section is resolved and can be archived. If you disagree, replace this template with your comment. Patrick87 (talk) 11:13, 15 July 2013 (UTC)

..and replace it with the above comment. however, given the unparalleled hostility of the graphics lab environment that has been brought on by 'automatic archiving'. I think it's just better to leave the crap work I did on the "Upgrade 3 Maps: Remove Southern Sudan" section to be archived, there is no point in anyone trying to improve the image or the quality of work on commons in general. Penyulap ☏ 09:09, 18 July 2013 (UTC)

SVG guidelines

There is a discussion on SVG guidelines at Commons talk:SVG guidelines. JKadavoor Jee 17:06, 5 August 2013 (UTC)

ShareMap cloud mapping & Wikimedia grant request : community endorsment needed

Hi members of Graphics Lab,
ShareMap is a collaborative map creation tool and is currently applying for Wikimedia grant to continue project development.

There is already dozens of maps created with ShareMap, you can see them all here:

• Commons category page

We will be very happy for endorsement, opinions or even criticism from all community members on Wikimedia grant project.

The ShareMap idea is perfectly coordinated with other project requesting for grant meta:Grants:IEG/Wikimaps_Atlas. All Wikimaps Atlas scripts and practices can be easile reused within data generated from ShareMap to generate pixel perfect map from user contributions.

Both the Wikimaps and Sharemaps grant requests are coordinated. Wikimaps are for short term, stand alone maps, which perfectly fit in current wikipedia cartographers' practices. Sharemap is actually a long term, but more powerful cloud approach, which is the future of in-wikipedia map making. Both initiatives may also eventually merge, thus recycling hundreds high quality SVG maps. Most importantly for now, both initiative need your support. Yug

• Please add your comment on Grant Request page

If you would like to learn more about ShareMap project please visit:

• ShareMap Twitter Channel
• ShareMap on Wikimedia Commons
• Project home page

• 
• 
• 
• 

--Jkan997 (talk) 00:09, 28 October 2013 (UTC)

Old/resolved requests

I haven't been active so long and I need to know this;

• Can I use the {{done}} template or just the {{section resolved|1=~~~~}}?
• There is a lot of very old request which is just hanging there. Should they not be removed after a year?
• There is also some where a graphist has asked for more information to be able to fulfill the request but is not getting any more information. Should they not be removed after a year? --Goran tek-en (talk) 12:12, 3 January 2014 (UTC)

• You need to use {{section resolved|1=~~~~}} since this template is triggering User:SpBot to automatically archive the request. {{done}} is only an informal marker you can use to notify the requester in a graphical way.
• If there is no chance of getting them resolved: probably yes. If there is a chance to get them resolved: probably keep them around, since resolving as much requests as possible seems like a reasonable goal. As there is no automatic archiving for unresolved requests someone needs to archive them manually at some point.
• Rationale as above: If the request can be resolved without the requested information in a reasonable way this is the way to go. If it probably won't be resolved it can be archived.

--Patrick87 (talk) 17:49, 3 January 2014 (UTC)

Thanks for that, it's helping me a lot in learning how to work with the requests here. --Goran tek-en (talk) 22:02, 3 January 2014 (UTC)

Animal species distribution maps IUCN

There are multiple different sets of instructions on how to use IUCN data to create species distribution maps. I have been simply using the bezier tool in Inkscape and working off the IUCN website. Does anyone have a simple set of instructions on how to improve this method for accuracy and ease of use? The IUCN data is available in GIS format, but I have just been taking screenshots off their website. I don't have Gis capable software and not interested in trying out the multiple suggested open-source applications Samples of my maps can be seen here. Gaff (talk) 19:04, 7 January 2015 (UTC)

{{Stale}}

Yann marked a bunch of ancient requests as {{Stale}}. SpBot doesn't do anything with these (see Special:Diff/167709954/167714605). I will manually archive them, but I propose we change the instructions to SpBot to |timeout=185 to archive sections with no edits in over 6 months. Objections? Storkk (talk) 12:40, 5 August 2015 (UTC)

OK with me. Yann (talk) 12:42, 5 August 2015 (UTC)

OK with me. -- Maxxl² - talk 12:47, 5 August 2015 (UTC)

I can't imagine he will object, but since Goran tek-en seems to be one of the main contributors here, I'll let him chime in before just carrying it out. Storkk (talk) 13:07, 5 August 2015 (UTC)

It's not a problem for me so I think we should go for this. --Goran tek-en (talk) 18:39, 5 August 2015 (UTC)

 Done. Hopefully the page will remain a little cleaner going forward. Cheers, Storkk (talk) 21:51, 5 August 2015 (UTC)

"please help" or "someone please take over" template

I am thinking of creating a template, with which to graphically indicate that the graphic designer currently working on a request would like assistance from someone else, or would even like for someone else to take over completely. this situation might occur when a requester specifies wishes that then change the work to be done considerably (be it with regard to quality or quantity). for other graphic designers skimming the page, it looks like there is activity, so they do not look closer at the discussion. do others think this is a good idea, or am i just imagining problems where none really are? cheers.--Lommes (talk) 23:06, 2 May 2017 (UTC)

I'm not sure it's a problem that big so we need another template. I can see that the situation can occur but not to often. If I realize that a request I have Taken doesn't really fit me any more I change my Taken text and what else that is necessary to strike through text, then it becomes quite visible. But if a lot of people here think it's necessary it's fine with me. --Goran tek-en (talk) 15:35, 3 May 2017 (UTC)

New request link

Why has the the Map section another layout than the other sections and most important: The New request link is not longer on the Map section so we don't get the code we need to work on a request?
Sure I can add it myself but why the difference and change? --Goran tek-en (talk) 16:39, 1 August 2017 (UTC)

Map cleanup

File:Map of Mustang.jpg has a lot of awesome data. But it also is highly unreadable, and contains blatant advertisement. Can someone do something about it? Aditya (talk) 16:18, 18 November 2017 (UTC)

@Aditya Kabir: This should be a New request on the Project page, not here at the discussion page. Please move it so that the graphic workers there will see it, thanks. --Goran tek-en (talk) 12:24, 19 November 2017 (UTC)

@Goran tek-en: Apologies. But, where do I post my request? I could not find any particular place where I can post a request. Probably a link to the proper destination is all that I need. Can you help? Aditya (talk) 14:41, 19 November 2017 (UTC)

@Aditya Kabir: This Commons:Graphic_Lab is the place were all requests like that go. There are four different sections, yours should be under Map Workshop, click there. A bit down there is a green/blue plate, Make a new request, click on that. In the gallery part you can put your image and then follow the rest of the instructions. Bear in mind that we, the graphic workers, probably have zero knowledge of the topic your request concerns, but you probably have a great knowledge. So be as specific as you can, tell us what you want and how. Like in your case, write what you want to be part of the new map, what type of map you want, topographic or plain map showing roads, cities, borders or what ever. On this page map conventions if you look at 9-12 you can see examples of different types of maps. Then of course we can do what you want, it doesn't have to follow this exactly. Hope this helps. --Goran tek-en (talk) 16:09, 19 November 2017 (UTC)

Thanks a lot. I have just followed your instruction, and it worked like a charm. Thanks again. Aditya (talk) 17:10, 19 November 2017 (UTC)

Centralized discussion on standardizing format of COVID-19 maps

 You are invited to join the discussion at w:Wikipedia talk:WikiProject COVID-19#Continued discussion on standardizing map format. Sdkb (talk) 21:21, 21 May 2020 (UTC)

Following up, the discussion ended up at this:

• There is no consensus about which color schemes to use, but they should be consistent within articles as much as possible. There is agreement that there should be six levels of shading, plus gray (#cdcdcd) for areas with no instances or no data. Link 1, Link 2

• There is no consensus about whether the legend, the date, and other elements should appear in the image itself. Link 1, Link 2

• For map legends, ranges should use fixed round numbers (as opposed to updating dynamically). There is no consensus on what base population to use for per capita maps. Link 1, Link 2

I would say that further discussion is needed to try to reach consensus on these matters, and Commons is probably a better place to hold it than Wikipedia given that maps are multilingual. Anyone who wants to organize such discussion, please feel free to do so. Regards, Sdkb (talk) 01:22, 16 June 2020 (UTC)

I've posted at the Commons Village Pump, so further discussion should probably be directed there for now. Sdkb (talk) 01:26, 16 June 2020 (UTC)

Blue Earth Bathymetry (Public Domain)

Some little news on oceans' map making

• "I am pleased to announce Blue Earth Bathymetry, an edited GeoTIFF DEM for small-scale [large areas] seafloor mapping. Worldwide coverage. 21,600 x 10,800. Public domain. Learn more about it here: http://www.shadedrelief.com/blue-earth/" -- Source: https://twitter.com/MtnMapper/status/1275002607216611329

The geotiff is 420MB large. Yug (talk) 10:08, 22 June 2020 (UTC)

Tool for coloring the world map

I've created a python code that makes effortless to color the world map. Feel free to check it out:[1]--Mikey641 (talk) 22:22, 10 January 2022 (UTC)