Base Map Github Repo

[Max Olson]

Tue Jan 28 2014 09:52:16 GMT-0800 (PST) @maxolson:

http://github.com/atlastory/base-map

You can fork and issue a pull request to contribute data. Files are in the GeoJSON format. Shortly these will have the ability to be uploaded directly into the Atlastory database for rendering.

More info on the structure of the repository and contributing is in the Readme in the link above.

Brief tutorial on contributing to GitHub:

First: Although GitHub is currently the preferred method, if you want to contribute without it, upload your Shapefile or GeoJSON to a file-sharing service somewhere (Dropbox, etc.) and post the link to the forum. Someone here will be able to integrate it for you.

1. Step 1: Sign up for a GitHub account.
2. Step 2: Download and install the GitHub desktop app for Mac or PC.
3. Step 3: On the Base Map repo above, click "Fork", which creates a copy of that repo in your account. In your Github app, find the forked repo and click "Clone to Computer". This will download the folder to wherever you specified. There you can edit any file you need to contribute.
4. Step 4: When finished, double-click the repo in the Github app. Go to "Changes" on the left, and write a quick summary of your changes in the input box, and hit "Commit". Clicking on "Sync" will upload your changes to Github.
5. Step 5: In the main "Repositories" section of the app, right-click the base-map repo and click "View on GitHub". 
6. Step 6: On your base-map repo page, click "Compare and Review" (the green button), then "Create pull request" (another green button), then "Send" (the last green button). No we'll be able to look over and approve your contribution.

3/24/2014: Further changes to Github repo structure

The folder structure was changed to sort maps under region > type > time period. This was changed to better match the structure of the future Atlastory database. So any GeoJSON added to the repo should be put into the structure of:

├── africa
├── asia
│ ├── admin-1
│ │ ├── 1871-1900.geojson
│ │ └── 1900-1910.geojson
│ └── admin-2
│ └── 1900-1920.geojson
├── central-america
└── central-asia

More information can be found on the Readme at Github.

[Max Olson]

Wed Jan 29 2014 12:18:52 GMT-0800 (PST) @Marably:

Hey maxolson is there a particular format that you prefer the files in that we are pushing?

[Max Olson]

Wed Jan 29 2014 15:40:10 GMT-0800 (PST) @maxolson:

@Marably: Welcome!

Originally was leaning toward Shapefiles because of their ubiquity within the GIS community, but I think GeoJSON is probably the best way to go, despite the increased file size.

With GeoJSON we can better collaborate on GitHub by adding incrementally to single GeoJSON files. As an added benefit, GitHub allows you to view .geojson files right in the browser, which will make a good method to see the maps before importing them into the Atlastory database.

[Max Olson]

Fri Jan 31 2014 17:21:48 GMT-0800 (PST) @maxolson:

After thinking about it a bit, I think we should split the GeoJSON files up into sub-continents so that: (1) the files are smaller and easier to work with; and (2) it minimizes conflicts when multiple people are contributing.

So my latest changes adds "north-america.geojson" and "antarctica.geojson" to the 1935 period (2 continents that don't change from then till now).

I think a good split should be 10 regions: (with possibly some overlap if necessary)

1. North America (+Greenland)
2. Central America (+Caribbean)
3. South America
4. Africa
5. Europe
6. Middle East
7. Central Asia (+Russia)
8. Asia (+Southeast Asia)
9. Oceania
10. Antarctica

[Max Olson]

Sat Feb 01 2014 20:05:09 GMT-0800 (PST) @nrealon:

good idea but remember that Alaska and Hawaii did not become states until 1959!

[Max Olson]

Sun Feb 02 2014 11:22:34 GMT-0800 (PST) @maxolson:

@rnealon True, and there are probably a few other places where the region boundaries aren't ideal -- but in the Git repo, as long as all shapes are accounted for, it should be fine as all regions will be combined into 1 layer later.

So if in one period Hawaii is in North American and another it is in Oceania, that should be fine. 

This is just a better way of dealing with Git/Github's limitations for now before the backend database/API is up.