openstreetmap
Combine Export and Share panels
I propose to eliminate the separate Export page in favor of an enhanced Share panel. This will reduce user confusion between the two parts of the site while leaving more room for other important functionality.
Background
Originally, “Permalink” and “Shortlink” were two links at the bottom-right corner of the map on the homepage. The 2012 redesign moved these links into a new Share panel with additional options, while keeping the Export page more or less the same (if I remember correctly).
In a sense, the Export page and the Share panel now do the same thing. It’s essentially the difference between downloading the raw data in the viewport versus downloading a rendered image of the same data (or a link to it). There are a few differences: a different license applies to the data versus the rendered image. Also, precise controls for setting the bounding box are probably more relevant to the use cases for working with raw data. These controls take up more horizontal space than the right sidebar has available. The Export page additionally lists options for downloading more than just the viewport’s worth of data.
Problem
Exporting the data is something that (more technically savvy) end users would do, but philosophically the site is geared more towards mappers than end users: https://github.com/openstreetmap/openstreetmap-website/pull/6543#issuecomment-3582745462. A link to donate to OSM would be more relevant to both mappers and end users, but we might not have room for it because of Export: https://github.com/openstreetmap/openstreetmap-website/issues/6517#issuecomment-3514642209. In fairness, the availability of raw OSM data is one of the main things that differentiates us from other crowdsourced sites. But “Export” doesn’t really communicate that difference in my experience, not as well as the “Open Data” section of the About page could.
The Export page is accessible from the main site navigation, which means the user can access it from any page. If the user arrives there from a page that doesn’t have a map, it defaults to exporting whatever they last viewed on the map, probably something unrelated to their current task. This is a symptom of the fact that exporting is really tool for interacting with the map, just like sharing is.
I’ve spoken with both mappers and developers who wind up on Export when they want Share or vice versa, and they don’t know where to go for the other one.[^study] #651 suggests adding a message pointing to the other side of the page, but we shouldn’t have the same kind of functionality split between two sides of the site anyways. A symptom of this split-screen effect is that both panels let you get into the same custom bbox editing mode on the map simultaneously, and only one of the panels lets you exit the mode:
Proposed solution
I suggest merging the Export page into the Share panel, moving additional download links to the About page, and turn the “custom dimensions” bbox-drawing mode into something that can be as precise as the existing Export page’s controls. More specifically, I think a redesign could involve the following steps:
- Remove Export from the site navigation.
- /export opens the Share panel automatically.
- Add a “Data” section to the bottom of the Share panel that exports the raw data or shows a warning if the viewport is too big.
- Replace the “Set custom dimensions” checkbox with a button, and add the same button to the “Data” section.
- Add fine print under the “Data” section saying that the ODbL applies. (If images exported from Cycle Map or Transport Map have license terms, we should add similar fine print under the “Image” section.)
- Move the existing Export panel’s north/south/east/west fields to a “Custom Dimensions” doorhanger (similar to the closable welcome banner) that only appears when setting custom dimensions. Closing the doorhanger exits custom dimensions mode.
- Add links to Overpass, planet dumps, Geofabrik, etc. to the “Open Data” section of the About page.
- Add a link to the bottom of the Share panel that goes to the “Open Data” section of the About page.
Have I missed any other aspects of the Export page that would need to be preserved in any redesign?
[^study]: This also came up several years ago when I tried to introduce someone in my area to mapping in OSM. With their professional background in usability research, they mistakenly thought we were looking for usability feedback. This was the very first thing they brought up. Unfortunately, I believe their very nice PDF writeup is lost to the winds of a free Slack plan…
I would probably do it the other way around and move the Image download to the Export section, improve the bbox selection, etc. The concept of "Exporting" something from OSM would then equally apply to both raw XML data as well as rendered maps.
If images exported from Cycle Map or Transport Map have license terms, we should add similar fine print under the “Image” section
We're already adding license terms on the generated image for the Carto style. Cycle Map and Transport Map could probably do something similar when rendering a map.
Add links to Overpass, planet dumps, Geofabrik, etc. to the “Open Data” section of the About page.
The Overpass link needs a map, because the current bbox is embedded in the link. You can't move that to the About page as is.
The Export section is on the left side because it’s in the sitewide navigation bar. I assume we’d want to keep the site navigation consistent across pages, but the sharing options aren’t useful on any page other than the homepage. The Export link also takes up room that we can use for other functions that are relevant on every page. For example, I don’t see why we shouldn’t have a Donate link accessible directly from the About or Communities page or the dashboard.
One way or another, I think a combination of the Export and Share panels would need to be called “Share”. Less technical users (including mappers) are less likely to recognize “Export” as something they have the skills for, and it makes less sense to “export” a permalink. If we move the sharing options to the left sidebar, then they’ll need to respond to switching layers.
On the bright side, a combined panel in the left sidebar would be a lot less cramped. The segmented control for choosing the type of link would have enough room to offer Overpass Query as an option. But how would the user access a left-hand panel, other than from the site navigation bar? Maybe we could stick the sharing button on the search bar, next to the directions button?
I'm happy for some sort of changes to be made, but I don't agree with the current proposal.
In fairness, the availability of raw OSM data is one of the main things that differentiates us from other crowdsourced sites.
This is a key thing for me. We originally had three primary buttons, for putting data in (Edit), seeing what's there (History) and getting the data out (Export). Don't get me wrong, History and Export are far from perfect, but this data accessibility can be seen as the entire purpose of OpenStreetMap, so hiding it away would be a big step.
- Add a “Data” section to the bottom of the Share panel that exports the raw data or shows a warning if the viewport is too big.
I don't agree that these are the same thing, or similar enough to combine. The only commonality is having a bounding box selector.
With the share panel, you get a rendered map. Either as a link to a map, a shortlink to a map, some html that shows a map, a link that goes to the map of your choice, or an actual map image. Getting the raw data isn't getting a map - you get something different, for a different audience, with a different license. The only similarity is that some of the Export options have a bounding box.
If the user arrives there from a page that doesn’t have a map, it defaults to exporting whatever they last viewed on the map, probably something unrelated to their current task.
But that's an argument for removing the Edit link from the main menu too. After all, if I'm on the communities page, and then click Edit, it "defaults to [editing] whatever they last viewed on the map, probably something unrelated to their current task."
- Add links to Overpass, planet dumps, Geofabrik, etc. to the “Open Data” section of the About page.
That splits the Export use-case up and spreads it around unrelated places. I think someone who wants to access the raw data would be better served by having all the "small, larger, largest exports" information in the same place, so they can decide what to do.
A symptom of this split-screen effect is that both panels let you get into the same custom bbox editing mode on the map simultaneously,
This feels like a bug, rather than a fundamental problem. Perhaps we should be making our panels exclusive, or only having panels on one side, or having the two bboxes in sync, or something else.
I feel like the intended audience for the sharing and the export are two distinct groups of people, trying to achieve two different tasks. I don't think that it's a good solution to split the export task between different parts of the website. And I'm cautious about moving the raison d'être of OSM out of the main navigation, even if it's something that's infrequently used - I think it has a narrative purpose beyond its immediate usefulness.
However, we shouldn't be constrained by what we have already.
For example, there's no need for the export page to look the same as the home page - it's on a different URL, for a start. It could look like an article (c.f. the welcome page, which looks like an article yet takes URL parameters) but with a form at the bottom for choosing your area (c.f. home locations). Or it could keep a similar layout to currently, but we make the map turn into wireframe mode to indicate that you are in the "raw data" mode (c.f. xray mode on kosmtik, maputnik etc). Or something else.
For the sharing panel, there's a lot of changes that could happen here too. Is "Link / Shortlink / HTML" actually two different tasks? Why is there a geo url there, since it's the only thing there that doesn't necessarily get you an OpenStreetMap-based map? Is it helpful (or not) that overlays are included in some options (links), but not others (images)? And that there's no overlay control or even indications that they will be included here?
Overall I think the best approach is to consider all the tasks that the various users are trying to complete - what are they trying to achieve, not what bit of the UI they are using - and then make the user experience of those tasks as best as possible.
Since a more targeted solution is undesirable, I’m going to think out loud a bit:
But that's an argument for removing the Edit link from the main menu too. After all, if I'm on the communities page, and then click Edit, it "defaults to [editing] whatever they last viewed on the map, probably something unrelated to their current task."
That’s a good point. We used to have more of a distinction between full-fledged pages and half-pages that sit next to the map: Edit, History, and Export all looked like tabs, or later like buttons, while other things were just links sitting next to those buttons. Now that #5151 has restyled everything but Edit to look like a normal link, we no longer make a clear distinction, leading to confusion like #6506.
This is a key thing for me. We originally had three primary buttons, for putting data in (Edit), seeing what's there (History) and getting the data out (Export). Don't get me wrong, History and Export are far from perfect, but this data accessibility can be seen as the entire purpose of OpenStreetMap, so hiding it away would be a big step.
Don’t get me wrong, I deeply value OSM as a reusable dataset, but the Export page is probably underselling that aspect of OSM. If we think about all the people who could be using OSM data, only a small subset would use an OSM XML extract or realize that “export” is the function for getting started. Should we place Query and Embed links beside Export, to emphasize those other ways of using OSM data? Those are currently hidden away in side panels and context menus.
For example, there's no need for the export page to look the same as the home page - it's on a different URL, for a start. It could look like an article (c.f. the welcome page, which looks like an article yet takes URL parameters) but with a form at the bottom for choosing your area (c.f. home locations). Or it could keep a similar layout to currently, but we make the map turn into wireframe mode to indicate that you are in the "raw data" mode (c.f. xray mode on kosmtik, maputnik etc). Or something else.
The site navigation has one other link that could signal our data’s reusability, but it’s called “Copyright”. It leads to a page that briefly introduces OSM before skipping forward to the steps you have to take after you’ve successfully created a project based on OSM. Of course we need a direct link to the Copyright page, but we already have one in the proper place at the bottom-right corner of the map.
What about replacing the Copyright link in the site navigation with a “Reuse” page that covers this aspect of OSM more directly? It could be something interactive like you suggest, or for the time being it could be a compilation of the existing reuse functionality. A more prominent tie-in to switch2osm would be nice. Meanwhile, if someone is literally looking for the word “Copyright”, we could add it before the © symbol in the attribution string.
There’s a lot of possibilities here. But since this discussion split out from the one about moving Donate to site navigation, do you see an overhaul of site navigation as a blocker for addressing that more clearly defined issue?
The 2012 redesign moved these links into a new Share panel with additional options, while keeping the Export page more or less the same (if I remember correctly).
For completeness, I slightly misremembered: #351 moved Export out of the main navigation bar and into the secondary navigation bar on the side, but #498 put it back in when removing the navigation sidebar.