[OSM-talk] GSoC 2012 - Application

[Shivansh Srivastava]

Hi,

I am Shivansh, pursuing Engineering at BITS Pilani, currently in my 3rd year.

I am well versed in Web Technologies, that include HTML5, JavaScripts (jQuery), 

CSS; with PHP & MySQL and App Development for Windows Phone 7.

I have worked in my college on several websites with the same knowledge. I had 

also given a talk at the 3rd WikiConference held at Mumbai on "Improving Wiki UI 

using AJAX & jQuery" & presented 4 ideas/projects with the Wiki community.

I am interested in pursuing the OSM Widget Creator listed on the Ideas page.

I have a few queries regarding the same-

1. Most of it can be done through javascript (more effectively through jQuery).

But since I am new to OSM, I want to know how would I work on it? Would it be in 

a similar way as MediaWiki, by downloading the software & developing, or working on

my user common.js?

2. Could I also be enlightened on the kinds of widget expected to be developed?

I would like to take the opportunity to learn as much as I can working on the ideas & 

contribute during the summer.

With Regards,

--
Shivansh Srivastava | +91-955-243-5407 | http://in.linkedin.com/pub/shivansh-srivastava/17/a50/b18

Secretary, BITS Alumni Affairs Division | Web Expert, Newsletter, BITSAA International
3rd Year Undergraduate | B.E. (Hons.) - Electronics & Instrumentation
BITS-Pilani.

[Graham Jones]

Hi,
Thank you for your interest in applying for GSoC with Openstreetmap.
I am sure the person that raised that project idea will reply with some more information, but here are a few thougts from me.
- It is important to understand the fundamentals of what OSM is, so please start by creating an account and making some improvements to the map in your local area.
- It would also be good to look at the data structure so that you appreciate that OSM is really a database of geographic information which can be turned into map images.  Details of the xml file format can be found on our wiki - Provision of map tile images is a secondary service, and a number of companies provide map tiles based on OSM data.
- I would be very keen on any 'end user' applications like this one having clear links to a 'how to improve this map' page to help encourage contributions, not just use the data.
- In terms of your specific questions on the project idea, the idea listed quite a few features that could be made available - I would search for these things on the osm wiki to see what is available at the moment, which you could integrate into widgets.
- I am not familiar with widgets for blogs etc, but as you say, I think they are javascript programmes which interact with both the host environment (wiki, blog etc) and the osm based service.   I think it should be possible to make it a stand alone system where you can say 'copy this code into your website'?  From your mail I think you know more than me about this bit though!

Hope that helps.   Please feel free to ask more questions as you develop your proposal.

Regards

Graham

from my phone

_______________________________________________
talk mailing list
ta...@openstreetmap.org
http://lists.openstreetmap.org/listinfo/talk

[Shivansh Srivastava]

Hi Graham,

Thank you for your reply & insights.

I have already made my account, & was browsing through the Wiki.

Could you give me a link to the svn, so that I can familiarize myself with the working of the code.

I have various jQuery (Javascripts) + CSS based ideas in mind.

1. Interactive jQuery Dialog box - the widget can be loaded & it would give a brief description about the place.

2. MouseOver Effect - When mouseover some geographical unit, that part/area will cjane country, when viewed from a large distance.

3. jQuery Tooltip - a descriptive message which passes html element as a parameter onmouseover.

4. Any other such UI which comes to mind from anyone in the community?

Could you please send me the link to the git/repo which I need to fork out, to get familiar with the project.

Also, I couldnt find the desired repo on -https://github.com/cyclestreets - for the routing panel. If I am missing out on any link, please direct me to it.

Cheers,

[Graham Jones]

Hi Shivansh,

If you look at the OSM wiki and search for SVN, you will find the links to the SVN and GIT repositories for the main OSM code ( http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/SVN ).

It sounds as though your thoughts on what the 'widgets' project idea is about are slightly different to what I thought the proposer was thinking of.   I think you are thinking of an interactive map where the user can interact with map elements to see more information?

In which case I would recommend looking up kothicjs, which is a client side map renderer.  I am sure that code could be extended to add this sort of functionality?   It also sounds like a good idea to me - I know a few people are using kothicjs now.

I thought that the 'widget' idea was more about making it easy for non-techical users to add maps to blogs etc.   In that case you do not really need the main OSM code - you will need to use a map display javascript library (openlayers.org or leaflet.cloudmade.com), and get that to interact with the blog software etc.

I think either of these would make good GSoC project proposals.

Regards

Graham.

--
Graham Jones

Hartlepool, UK.