Grants talk:IEG/Wikimaps Warper 2.0

Eligibility confirmed, round 2 2015

This Individual Engagement Grant proposal is under review!

We've confirmed your proposal is eligible for round 2 2015 review. Please feel free to ask questions and make changes to this proposal as discussions continue during this community comments period.

The committee's formal review for round 2 2015 begins on 20 October 2015, and grants will be announced in December. See the schedule for more details.

Questions? Contact us.

Marti (WMF) (talk) 05:26, 4 October 2015 (UTC)

More technical details?

Great to see effort to improve on the map warper. I would like to see a bit more technical details:

• Where can I find the current map-warper? Where is the documentation and source code?

http://warper.wmflabs.org/ and from Commons pages with a Map template with parameter warped set to any value

https://github.com/wikimaps-dev/mapwarper (a fork of https://github.com/timwaters/mapwarper (timwaters being Chippyy)

Documentation for the project is found in https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Wikimaps. We must update the documentation of the plans.

• What's the current architecture and what is going to new the new one?

Ruby on Rails with tightly coupled Javascript front-end on the maps-warper instance on Wikimedia Labs infrastructure. Uses Postgres & PostGIS, GDAL and Mapserver libraries.The plan is to have better modular JS front end with the Rails backend working as an API with Auth layer.

• In what language is the software being developed?

Ruby and JS with various geospatial software packages. PHP was desired but is not feasible given the scope of the project, lack of existing code and available resources for the pilot.

• Are you going to use the Wikimedia development infrastructure? (Phabricator, Gerrit, Jenkins, etc.)

Phabricator is already in use by the project for major issues. It's a labs instance so I think it has the default monitoring. We'd like to use the others fully - might need some assistance here. Github issues have also been used.

Thank you, Multichill (talk) 13:05, 4 October 2015 (UTC)

Thanks for the questions! We will give detailed answers and update the documentation soon. --Susannaanas (talk) 17:53, 4 October 2015 (UTC)

I've added some answers above to the 4 questions. Many thanks! Chippyy (talk) 11:08, 5 October 2015 (UTC)

Examples

I understand that you don't include statistics on usage because the tool is not yet ready for prime time, correct? The tool sounds interesting, so I'm curious to see some examples of maps on Commons which have been treated with it. --Nemo 13:18, 4 October 2015 (UTC)

Yes, you are right. There are several issues that don't allow the tool to be extensively used. Many of them are related with performance and storage and must be solved.

About the architecture: The image files in Commons are copied to the Warper but currently they are not saved back to Commons. It's our goal to save necessary information back to Commons, but we need to discuss the options with Commons-savvy volunteers, and help with Commons related development tasks, such as this one.

We can show many great uses of the warped maps around the world, and we have plans how they can be displayed in Commons and also in the Wikipedias. Some ideas can be found in the https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Wikimaps/Design page --Susannaanas (talk) 18:19, 4 October 2015 (UTC)

I agree with Nemo and Susanna you can just make a little youtube film where you explain one example - that would be enough. Maybe you can use something you already have? You need to link it in the lead section. --Jane023 (talk) 15:27, 25 October 2015 (UTC)

How can I help?

Hello all! I'd love to jump in and contribute where I can. You can find me on the various corners of the web here. –Todrobbins (talk) 21:18, 5 October 2015 (UTC)

Hi Tod! I am happy that you are here! At this stage I think you can give valuable comments, and you can propose directions or connections which way to develop. The project phase itself tries to be as concise as possible, realizing the proposed enhancements. --Susannaanas (talk) 07:19, 8 October 2015 (UTC)

Architecture/integration with WMF maps

Hi, historical maps would be a huge plus to Wikipedia, and a tool to match historical scans to the geo coordinates would be amazing, especially during the upload! That said, we should also make sure that it can scale to the Wikipedia usage. It would be bad if this tool can only work from the labs, without becoming an integral part of the general Wikipedia. Lastly, the end result should work well with the maps service that the Discovery team is building, and for that I hope we can establish a plan to integrate the Warper with the other mapping systems.
I have started thinking how <maps> tag could be implemented in Wiki so that other data such as historical maps can be easily added to it. Any thoughts about that are also welcome. --Yurik (talk) 02:23, 14 October 2015 (UTC)

Thanks, we must give this serious thought. How the work would be carried out is not entirely clear to us yet, but since so much work is already done in the WMF infrastructure, it will be possible to come up with the right solutions. I hope you will propose good working methods.

We will subscribe to the map tag discussion and give our input. Thanks a lot for your consideration! Best, Susannaanas (talk) 09:17, 14 October 2015 (UTC)

Susannaanas, I have posted at the Village pump about the <map> tag proposal. Let me know what you think. --Yurik (WMF) (talk) 02:06, 13 November 2015 (UTC)

Aggregated feedback from the committee for Wikimaps Warper 2.0

Scoring criteria (see the rubric for background)	Score 1=weak alignment 10=strong alignment
(A) Impact potential Does it fit with Wikimedia's strategic priorities? Does it have potential for online impact? Can it be sustained, scaled, or adapted elsewhere after the grant ends?	6.2
(B) Innovation and learning Does it take an Innovative approach to solving a key problem? Is the potential impact greater than the risks? Can we measure success?	6.8
(C) Ability to execute Can the scope be accomplished in 6 months? How realistic/efficient is the budget? Do the participants have the necessary skills/experience?	6.8
(D) Community engagement Does it have a specific target community and plan to engage it often? Does it have community support? Does it support diversity?	5.8
Comments from the committee: We need something like this to be able to show how maps of places change over time The proposal appears to be primarily for back-end infrastructure development work,It’s not clear how this would result in direct impact on the projects. I have worked with a Map Warper at the National Library of the Netherlands and was astounded at how enlightening it can be. At the time it was a very expensive software package and I never dreamed we could have this on Wiki. The proposed metrics are unclear: how will greater participation by developers correlate with project success? I have seen a demo and I think these people have the proper background to get this done The implementation plan is vague, and it is unclear what specific tasks will be performed and how the schedule will be structured. Since the backend work is the focus, it’s not clear why other project members are allocated funds. Their roles need better explanation. There are not many endorsements, but this fits with the map/coordinates community, which is fairly small on Wiki (perhaps because our current support of maps and mapping tools is so poor). There is minimal community engagement and support. I think maps are an easy way to visualize places in relation to each other, and we are a long way from dynamic mapping software, but this will be a new way for us to share the old maps we already have on Commons. Would like explanation of budget.

Round 2 2015 decision

Congratulations! Your proposal has been selected for an Individual Engagement Grant.

The committee has recommended this proposal and WMF has approved funding for the full amount of your request, 7500 €

Comments regarding this decision:
We appreciate this talented team’s longstanding investigation into opportunities to bring more sophisticated mapping technology into Wikimedia projects. We see the value of the proposed back-end infrastructure development, and we look forward to seeing what concrete outcomes will come from your important work.

Next steps:

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