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OpenStreetMap Foundation - Organised Editing Guidelines
Approved November 2018

Preamble
OpenStreetMap is powered by its community. While originally supported by individuals, thecontinuing growth and popularity of OSM have also spawned organised mapping efforts bycompanies employing mapping teams and unpaid groups like school classes that are directed
to work on OSM.
Organised mapping efforts are an integral part of today’s OSM contribution landscape and,
when done well, help make OSM better and more widely used.
The OSM Foundation has created the following guidelines that summarize expectations,consensus and established conventions based on discussions with the community, the OSMF
advisory board and humanitarian mapping efforts. Their goal is to provide a framework to bothorganised mapping initiatives and the communities to encourage good organised mapping.
They are not meant to apply to community activities like mapping parties between friends or
doing a presentation on OSM at a local club. If you’re not sure whether you should apply them,
contact the local community for advice.
They are not a policy, but following them is the best way to make your organised edit successful
and receive constructive community feedback.

Scope
The organised editing guidelines apply to any edits that involve more than one person and canbe grouped under one or more sizeable, substantial, coordinated editing initiatives. While
primarily aimed at map editing, they can also be applied to other aspects of the project, e.g. theWiki.
OpenStreetMap Foundation is registered in England and Wales with Company Registration No: 5912761.
Registered Office: St John’s Innovation Centre, Cowley Road, Cambridge, CB4 0WS, United Kingdom

1ProcessIt might not always be easy or possible to check all the boxes. A best-effort approach isexpected and enough; more substantial initiatives are expected to spend a more substantial
amount of effort.

Documentation on the wiki
Organised edits should have a Wiki page named [[Organised Editing/Activities/Name of theActivity]] for the particular activity, and record the page in the list under Organised
Editing/Activities. (Sample Wiki pages are here) This is not just useful in interacting with thecommunity but also a good preflight checklist, and a way to get constructive feedback. This
page should truthfully describe, where applicable:• the coordinating person or organisation• a way to contact the organiser• a unique hashtag to be used in the changeset comments• the goal of the activity, explaining also why the goal is being pursued• the timeframe for the activity• any non-standard tools and data sources used, and their usage conditions• links where the community can access any non-standard tools or data sources used
• the accounts of participating persons that wish to be identified, with any details they wish toinclude• if the success or performance of participants will be measured in any way, a description of the metrics used for this• if participants will receive training material or written instructions, a copy of, or link
to, these materials• plans for a “post-event clean up” to validate edits, especially if the activity introduces
new contributors to OpenStreetMap• after the activity has completed, or at least once a month for ongoing efforts, a description of the results
If an organisation has many different activities, it can create one page for the organisation thatlists the common elements, and point to that from each activity page.

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OpenStreetMap Foundation is registered in England and Wales with Company Registration No: 5912761.
Registered Office: St John’s Innovation Centre, Cowley Road, Cambridge, CB4 0WS, United Kingdom

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Communication with the community
All related communications should use channels that are• open (no non-OpenStreetMap registration required),• public, and• archived.
Discussions on the OpenStreetMap forum, mailing lists, wiki, or using OpenStreetMapchangesets will typically fulfill all of these requirements. Private messages (for example
OpenStreetMap messaging or email) can be used exceptionally. Discussions should not be“moved” from a public venue to a private conversation unless they concern personal matters.

Informing the community
After the Wiki page is set up, the affected OSM communities should be informed through asuitable post: the general-purpose “talk” mailing list or, if the activity is limited to one country orregion, on a regional mailing list or other channels which the community uses the most. Thisshould be done no less than two weeks before the activity is started. The community shouldhave reasonable time to discuss, and any suggestions for improvement made by thecommunity should be carefully considered. If the activity is a response to an emergency and noadvance discussion is possible, the community should be informed as soon as is practical.
An explicit go-ahead from the community is not required, and implicit consensus or evensilence is enough. Ignoring justified criticism and pressing on regardless can, however, lead toan activity being stopped and reverted.

Communication with other contributors
Contributors should respond to communication attempts made in good faith by othercontributors. Communications can also be escalated to a person in charge of communication,for example a coordinator.
Messages should be answered within two working days while the activity is ongoing, andresponses should actually answer any questions and not just say “thank you”.

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OpenStreetMap Foundation is registered in England and Wales with Company Registration No: 5912761.
Registered Office: St John’s Innovation Centre, Cowley Road, Cambridge, CB4 0WS, United Kingdom3Duties and training of editors
Any person or organisation whose actions affect the OpenStreetMap project has the duty tocare for the project, and should respect the community’s consensus, mapping practices andguidelines. They should make sure any person they instruct to contribute to OpenStreetMap isfamiliar with them.
An user’s profile page should also include links to the wiki pages of the organised edits andorganisations they participate in on an ongoing basis.

Edits to the map
People looking at individual changesets that are part of a organised mapping activity should beable to tell as soon as they look at a changeset. Changeset comments should include the unique
hashtag described on the wiki page under Organised Editing/Activities/Name of the Activity (asdescribed in the Process section), and link to that page.

What NOT to do• Trying to hide activities or make them difficult to follow, for example by using many different
accounts, selecting misleading user names or changing user names frequently• Contributing very large or very small changesets• being dishonest in discussions• specifying wrong sources.

Possible actions on problematic edits
Problematic edits may be reverted. In cases of severe or repeated problems, individuals andorganisations may be banned from editing OpenStreetMap.

These Organised Editing Guidelines have been approved by the OpenStreetMap Foundation
Board of Directors on the 15th of November, 2018.
Kate Chapman
Chairperson of the Board of DirectorsOpenStreetMap Foundation

OpenStreetMap Foundation is registered in England and Wales with Company Registration No: 5912761.
Registered Office: St John’s Innovation Centre, Cowley Road, Cambridge, CB4 0WS, United Kingdom

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