Francais | English | Espanõl

WikiMapia

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search

WikiMapia is an online map resource that combines Google Maps with a wiki system, allowing users to add information (in the form of a note) to any location on the globe. Created by Alexandre Koriakine and Evgeniy Saveliev, the project was launched on May 24, 2006 and is aiming towards "describing the whole planet Earth".

Contents

[edit] Growth

By 16 August 2006, one million localities had been identified. By 2 October, the number of localities had increased to more than 1.6 million. The counter passed two million on 22 November 2006.

In the initial implementation, WikiMapia had no registered users and no administrative hierarchy. All users edited anonymously and there was no mechanism for monitoring or disciplining problematic users.

WikiMapia is unrelated to Wikipedia and the Wikimedia Foundation, but the website states that it was "inspired by Wikipedia". A free license, the major goal of Wikipedia, is a policy yet to be determined, however.

[edit] New features

A registration system was introduced on 8-9 October 2006. Users registered for three days or more are granted some administrative powers, including the power to move, resize, delete, or protect objects. "Points" are granted to active users for adding, reviewing, and correcting places; as points accumulate, a user is granted additional powers. Active users of Wikipedia, and users in contact with Wikimapia before 5 October 2006, are exempt from the three-day waiting period.

WikiMapia allows contributors to add a "Hotspot" to any map by marking out a rectangle (with the maximum length of any one side being 20 kilometers) which is wiki-linked to a note providing information about the locality. The note may be in any of 35 languages currently supported, and may be modified by any contributor, as in a wiki. The link is activated by clicking within the rectangle.

One feature of WikiMapia is the sight "car" which zooms in and out over smaller and larger areas. It is used for exploring both maps and satellite photographs.

WikiMapia may be incorporated into any internet website. One opens WikiMapia, selects the desired option, and chooses "Map on your PAGE" from the menu. The user then selects the map coordinates and inserts the indicated HTML code into the desired website.

[edit] Licensing

WikiMapia is yet to decide on license terms for the information contributed by users. [citation needed]

[edit] Interoperability

A GPS receiver can be connected to WikiMapia using a plug-in program (beta, download for Windows OS from WikiMapia site).

Limited WikiMapia functionality is available on:

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

es:Wikimapia eo:WikiMapia fr:WikiMapia ko:위키매피아 mk:ВикиМапија pl:Wikimapia pt:WikiMapia ru:WikiMapia ta:விக்கிமேப்பியா th:วิกิแมเปีย zh:WikiMapia

Retrieved from "http://en.wikivisual.com/index.php/WikiMapia"
Personal tools