Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Maps
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| WikiProject Maps was featured in a WikiProject Report in the Signpost on 30 April 2012. |
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- Related WikiProjects
The parent of this WikiProject is the Geography WikiProject. WikiProject Maps also is a management type WikiProject for pictorial representations displayed within Wikipedia. The following illustrates the position of WikiProject Maps within the Wikipedia WikiProject lineage:
Lineage of WikiProject Maps |
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WikiProjects that have made use of geographical maps include:
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Map for Antarctic Plateau
[edit]I wonder if someone could either make a map for Antarctic Plateau, or develop code for improved interactive maps in the polar regions. The map there is particularly useless. Melozone crissalis (talk) 23:40, 31 May 2026 (UTC)
I am deeply sorry
[edit]Hi, it’s me, Central Place. Today I was making a template for a map of IHeartMedia-owned top 40 radio stations. I removed everything else—this was a personal project and I never meant to accidentally publish it. I undid it immediately. I am sorry—I don’t have the words to say. Central Place (talk) 20:07, 16 July 2026 (UTC)
- Making an editing mistake that sits on the site for less than a minute before you self-revert is not a big deal. Don't sweat it. 05:36, 17 July 2026 (UTC) –jacobolus (t) 05:36, 17 July 2026 (UTC)
Technical Coordinate Correction: Lake Gistova / Gramozit (Official State Telemetry)
[edit]Hello, I am requesting a routine technical correction to the geographic coordinates and corresponding templates for the article on Lake Gistova / Gramozit. The current localized coordinates are based on legacy commercial map errors and travel blogs. To ensure absolute data accuracy on the global project, we need to synchronize the article with the official, sovereign primary geodetic sources provided by the Albanian State itself. The official, undisputed cartographic telemetry is documented across three primary state authorities: State Authority for Geospatial Information (ASIG): The official national geoportal logs the exact cadastral telemetry for the water body at coordinates: 40°22′10″N 20°47′46″E. National Agency for Territorial Planning (AKPT): The master planning portal under the Office of the Albanian Prime Minister confirms that the official bilateral border delineations place the entire perimeter of the lake outside Albanian administrative jurisdiction. Korce Military Topographic Surveys: Official historical and current state military topographic sector maps align precisely with the ASIG cadastral data boundary lines. Under global guidelines on Verifiability (WP:V) and Reliable Sources (WP:RS), official sovereign state cadastral telemetry always overrides third-party commercial errors or localized revisionism. We request that a neutral cartography specialist verify these primary datasets, synchronize the coordinates across the master templates, and apply the correct geographic data alignment. Official Data Record Reference: Talk:Lake Gistova#Official Geodetic Consensus (AKPT / ASIG) — Resolving the Dispute Status Thank you for your technical expertise, Aetolia (talk) 07:40, 21 July 2026 (UTC)
Infobox Map RFC for Tang Dynasty
[edit]Looking for input & contributors for an RFC at the Tang talk page. Guile's Theme (talk) 14:28, 26 July 2026 (UTC)
Technical Coordinate Correction: Lake Gistova / Gramozit (Official State Telemetry)
[edit]Geographers, I am formally requesting specialized administrative assistance to resolve a critical, long-standing geographic error and localized source suppression regarding Lake Gistova / Gramozit. Following a formal 7-day bilingual Request for Comments (RfC) on the local Albanian Wikipedia talk page, the local administrative circle completely defaulted, providing zero policy-compliant state cartographic sources to dispute official geodetic datasets. To prevent local text ownership from overriding global project guidelines on Verifiability (WP:V) and Reliable Sources (WP:RS), the case was escalated to the WikiProject Maps noticeboard on July 21, 2026. The automated global database synchronization triggered by this data request has exposed structural failures in the local wiki's rigid, outdated templates, causing the local article page (sq:Liqeni_i_Gramozit) to collapse into live Lua "Script errors" because it is hardcoded to reject accurate global updates. We request independent global geographers and database administrators to evaluate the official sovereign telemetry, bypass the broken local firewall, and implement a permanent central lock (Wikidata) on the verified coordinates: 40°22′10″N 20°47′46″E. Primary State Telemetry Ledger: * Sovereign Geoportal: State Authority for Geospatial Information (ASIG) * Planning Master Portal: National Agency for Territorial Planning (AKPT) * Geodetic Baseline: Korçë Military Topographic Survey Master Files Aetolia (talk) 07:30, 31 July 2026 (UTC)
Image map trouble
[edit]Hi map people!!! The map image at Point Malcolm Lighthouse indicates Adelaide, and I can't figure out why. Could a kind cartographer (someone who likes maps and photographs carts for some reason) please fix the coords? Many thanks, and happy mapping. Anna Frodesiak (talk) 21:21, 2 August 2026 (UTC)
- Never mind. I see now it's not exactly at Adelaide. ...and sorry about the cart crack. :) Anna Frodesiak (talk) 21:29, 2 August 2026 (UTC)
How to make precinct level election results maps?
[edit]Precinct level election results maps exist on several pages but California's Prop 50 is an example: 2025 California Proposition 50#/media/File:2025 California Proposition 50 results map by precinct.svg
I'd love to know how to make these kinds of maps. NVTRX (talk) 20:28, 14 August 2026 (UTC)
I'm planning on nominating map for WP:FA status soon. It went through a PR recently, which was closed today, after receiving some excellent feedback. If there are any cartography experts interested in the map article, it is not too late to provide constructive criticisms before the FAC nomination. Thanks! Noleander (talk) 22:16, 14 August 2026 (UTC)
WikiProject Homepage
[edit]Hello! I’ve currently been working on making WikiProject pages look nicer, and I was wondering if you would at all be interested. Look at WP:CRUSADES, WP:MA, WP:ANGSAX, and WP:VEX for examples of my work. If the answer is no, I completely understand! 🌷Reverosie🌷★talk★ 00:34, 28 August 2026 (UTC)
- @Reverosie - Sounds good to me. The current project page is very bare-bones, as one can see, so any aesthetic improvements would be welcome. If you change it, I'd suggest: (1) Don't eliminate any significant info or links from the project page; and (2) Don't make it worse.
- If no one objects here in this Talk page by, say, 2 September 2026, you can probably take that as a green light. Noleander (talk) 00:50, 28 August 2026 (UTC)
- Thanks! I never change any information on the project page, I just re-format it :) I'll probably get going with my revamp now, but if there's an objection I'll stop. 🌷Reverosie🌷★talk★ 00:59, 28 August 2026 (UTC)
- I'd recommend against using unusual background patterns. These are distracting and make the content harder to read. –jacobolus (t) 01:02, 28 August 2026 (UTC)
- I won't do that. I'm going to theme the page around looking like a map (probably a treasure map), but there will be no unusual backgrounds where there is text. 🌷Reverosie🌷★talk★ 01:03, 28 August 2026 (UTC)
- What about trying to style something like the clearest and most legible map you can find, with a clean modern style?
- I'd also recommend against the general graphical style of putting all of the content into a bunch of boxes with limited whitespace and a bunch of thick dark box borders next to each-other. Finally, I'm not sure any benefit in visual flair is worth the potential confusion of e.g. changing the colors of wikilinks. –jacobolus (t) 01:09, 28 August 2026 (UTC)
- Ok, thank you! The approach I'm probably going to take based on your advice is using the classic golds, beiges and greens of a map, but making the page easy to read and maximizing whitespace. I'll keep the links their default color too (and use the default font) 🌷Reverosie🌷★talk★ 01:11, 28 August 2026 (UTC)
- @Jacobolus I've started the redesign, you can see it at User:Reverosie/sandbox5. Does this look like what you were suggesting? 🌷Reverosie🌷★talk★ 02:06, 28 August 2026 (UTC)
- Ok, thank you! The approach I'm probably going to take based on your advice is using the classic golds, beiges and greens of a map, but making the page easy to read and maximizing whitespace. I'll keep the links their default color too (and use the default font) 🌷Reverosie🌷★talk★ 01:11, 28 August 2026 (UTC)
- I won't do that. I'm going to theme the page around looking like a map (probably a treasure map), but there will be no unusual backgrounds where there is text. 🌷Reverosie🌷★talk★ 01:03, 28 August 2026 (UTC)
- I'd recommend against using unusual background patterns. These are distracting and make the content harder to read. –jacobolus (t) 01:02, 28 August 2026 (UTC)
- Thanks! I never change any information on the project page, I just re-format it :) I'll probably get going with my revamp now, but if there's an objection I'll stop. 🌷Reverosie🌷★talk★ 00:59, 28 August 2026 (UTC)
Wikivoyage Maps
[edit]Wikivoyage has amazing maps such as
Wondering folks thoughts about getting this functionality working here? Have asked at Module_talk:Mapframe#Feature_request
The distance bare at the bottom is very nice, plus having the potential overlays including relief maps. Doc James (talk · contribs · email) 00:33, 29 August 2026 (UTC)
- That map in WikiVoyage is using two templates:
- Background map: https://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Template:Mapframe
- and
- Overlaid track line and points of interest: https://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Template:Mapshape
- English WP has a template a lot like the WV Mapframe template, but the name is different: Template:Maplink.
- I don't see a comparable version of the Mapshape template with the same name; but I recall seeing a similar functionality in some template (it takes a list of geo coordinates from a WikiData file, and overlays them on a map). So English WP might support this already, but I'm not sure. Maybe a template expert will see this and enlighten us. Noleander (talk) 00:56, 29 August 2026 (UTC)
- I guess the question is should I just import the EN WV stuff (under different names) and see if I can get it to work... Doc James (talk · contribs · email) 01:00, 29 August 2026 (UTC)
- I suggest starting with Template:Maplink/doc and Template:Maplink ... I think they provide a _lot_ of capability, approaching what you seen in the WikiVoyage map. But I'm not an expert in those templates. Noleander (talk) 01:05, 29 August 2026 (UTC)
- I guess the question is should I just import the EN WV stuff (under different names) and see if I can get it to work... Doc James (talk · contribs · email) 01:00, 29 August 2026 (UTC)
- Here is an article in English WP that has a map like the WikiVoyage map: Sounder commuter rail. In the upper right InfoBox SideBar, you can see a map with scale bars and overlaid lines and icons. [That infoBox is using an image switcher, so you might need to select the "Show interactive map" button]. So English WP definitely has the capability to produce similar maps. Noleander (talk) 01:01, 29 August 2026 (UTC)
- Thanks. Would be nice if it took up the full width of the infobox. Also would be nice if there was a distance bar. Will poke around more :-) Doc James (talk · contribs · email) 02:21, 29 August 2026 (UTC)
See discussion: Wikipedia:Village pump (technical)#Allow Wikivoyage style maps on EN WP. --Timeshifter (talk) 20:22, 31 August 2026 (UTC)
Discussion on accuracy of widely used map
[edit]This discussion on the usage and accuracy of File:Celtic expansion in Europe.svg may interest members of this WikiProject, it also has implications for other similar maps. Other voices would be appreciated. GastonN'estPasBon (talk) 15:59, 10 September 2026 (UTC)
Proposal to enable improved versions of Our World in Data maps on English Wikipedia
[edit]Dear all
I've created a proposal on the village pump here to propose enabling an improved version of the Our World in Data maps that are enabled on English Wikipedia, which is already enabled on other language versions. Please feel free to take a look and ask questions etc.
Many thanks
One of your project's articles has been selected for improvement!
[edit]Hello, |
Too many red pogs for labels
[edit]This version of the sandbox has a preliminary version of a map (using Template:Location map many) that, if I can be bothered to persevere with it, will eventually have many more red pogs. Adding a label for each would turn the map into an illegible mess. |link=article works even in the absence of |label=name (which is good); but mousing over a red pog pops up a tooltip displaying not the name of the target article ("Legnano", "Valduggia", etc, which would be informative and helpful) but instead the name of the source article/page (here, "Sandbox", which is uninformative and perhaps confusing).
Is there some setting that will switch the tooltip to displaying the target? Alternatively, is there some setting that will make the label for a mark invisible unless the mark is moused over? Again alternatively, is Template:Location map many the wrong tree for me to be barking up?
(Just 24 hours ago I knew squat about maps, so I'm a complete newbie: but all the same please feel free to laugh at the ignorance likely displayed above.) -- Hoary (talk)WWU 👍︎ 06:00, 28 September 2026 (UTC)
PS (i) There'd eventually be about seventy marks. Template:Location map many/doc has no mention of a relevant limit, but I wonder. (ii) Template:OSM Location map/doc#Scenario_3:_Numbered_dots_with_labels_and_auto-caption describes a quite different system that, if used without labels on the map itself, looks promising. But A 2025 overhaul has [... enabled] additional features and 'unlimited' dots and graphical elements
, yet on the same page In addition to the un-numbered mark parameter set, there are 60 numbered ones.
-- Hoary (talk)WWU 👍︎ 10:19, 28 September 2026 (UTC)
- There are about 50 templates for Italian regions
- A.find
- 1.Search box:WP: Maps for Wikipedia CLICK
- 2. ("//n" means go down n pages //2"Automated mapping"//, "location map+" CLICK
- 3. //6"Available maps"
- 3a.// "List of templates" CLICK and search
- 3b.// "Special:Prefix/Module:Location map/data" CLICK and search (must click "Next page" at bottom many times. This has things not in "List of Templates" above)
- B.make
- CLICK on selected Map and note the NAME field. A location map is (replace XX with {{ and YY with right squiggle):
- XXLocation map+ |NAME | width = 400 | caption = whatever | places = XXLocation map~|NAME |lat=10.00|long=-80.00|position=top|mark=Blue pog.svc|label=10/80YY YY
- Benjamin Trovato (talk) 01:55, 30 September 2026 (UTC)
Thank you for the response, Benjamin Trovato. I may be misunderstanding something, but I think that I already knew what you're telling me.
Well, I've made, and added, my first map. You'll see it within the article Gironimo!.
The map is confusing. (Some readers may prefer the map atop 1914 Giro d'Italia.) For the northernmost one third (or so) of the ride and the southernmost one fifth (or so), its route is obvious. But the middle is incomprehensible. Ideally, a straight line would join one blob to the blob that was the next within the ride depicted, and there'd also be a zoom facility. But I don't suppose that any template offers either of these.
Really silly stuff: Although virtually all the red blobs are linked to articles, mouse over any and you're told "Gironimo!". Mouse over any of various other areas of the map and you're told "Gironimo! is located in Italy", which is inane. (It's a book; copies are all over the place. My own copy is nowhere near Italy.)
Suggestions (or edits) for making the map more comprehensible (or making certain aspects of it less inane) would be most welcome. -- Hoary (talk)WWU 👍︎ 10:35, 30 September 2026 (UTC)
- see "icon collection" on my user page. It's scratch notes and even I have difficulty in following it. I'm pretty sure there is no way to draw a line. Benjamin Trovato (talk) 17:53, 30 September 2026 (UTC)
- Benjamin Trovato, I suppose I could differentiate the 32 days by color: All points on the first day in green pogs, all those on the second in yellow pogs, and so forth. your icon collection gives enough options. Doing this ought to make the map's messy midriff a lot more comprehensible. But use of pogs, triangles, diamonds, etc ought to be accompanied by a 32-item legend: even more bulk! I'll think about it. -- Hoary (talk)WWU 👍︎ 23:34, 30 September 2026 (UTC)
- maybe a special color for every seventh one or something and two more for start and end. These things often don't work unless you are lucky.Benjamin Trovato (talk) 01:16, 1 October 2026 (UTC)
- Benjamin Trovato, I suppose I could differentiate the 32 days by color: All points on the first day in green pogs, all those on the second in yellow pogs, and so forth. your icon collection gives enough options. Doing this ought to make the map's messy midriff a lot more comprehensible. But use of pogs, triangles, diamonds, etc ought to be accompanied by a 32-item legend: even more bulk! I'll think about it. -- Hoary (talk)WWU 👍︎ 23:34, 30 September 2026 (UTC)
Benjamin Trovato, thank you. An idea came to me, and I implemented it (see Gironimo!). The result is still pretty bad, but less so than it was. (Incidentally, the westernmost red pog is a mystery. I'm keen to blame some Mediawiki bug, as I looked hard to find a mistake of my own but didn't find it.) -- Hoary (talk)WWU 👍︎ 11:23, 1 October 2026 (UTC) [Struck through what I have now fixed. -- Hoary (talk)WWU 👍︎ 22:28, 1 October 2026 (UTC)]
Request for info on creating maps for Wikimedia
[edit]I asked this on Wikimedia Commons Wikimaps, and have never gotten any response. I'm trying asking here; if there is a better place I should ask, pointers or suggestions are very welcome.
Can someone please point me in the right direction for learning how to create maps - for example for neighborhoods and historic districts of my city - perhaps using Open Street Maps or something similar as a base? I asked at Help Desk and was steered here. More details in case it's relevant in answering my question: I'm particularly interested in making maps of subdivisions of my city New Orleans, which can be divided in various ways, such as traditional neighborhoods (sometimes 19th or 18th century separate municipalities), numbered wards, City Planning Commission divisions etc - in addition there are multiple Federally designated Registered Historic Districts, sometimes with boundaries different from any of the previous. So maps showing such boundaries can be useful in multiple projects (here on Commmons for clarification, Wikipedia articles, perhaps Wikivoyage or other projects as well). As someone who grew up map literate in the pre-digital era, I'd know how to do that on paper easily - from an existing street map, draw lines showing the boundaries (eg, "these 3 streets and the Mississippi River form the boundaries of the Carrollton Historic District"). I've played around a bit on Open Street Maps but haven't figured out how to do the digital equivalent. I'd like to learn how to do something like that. Thanks. -- Infrogmation (talk) 21:51, 29 September 2026 (UTC)
- @Infrogmation - I had the same questions a year ago, when I was working on the Nile article. My journey was:
- Ask volunteers at Wikipedia:Graphics Lab/Map workshop to create maps ... they are very helpful, but response times can be slow, and you may not get exactly what you envisioned.
- Tried to create maps myself using free apps/websites: Very complex processes: there is no one-stop shopping. Lots of research involved, and the procedures I found were very complex and poorly documented. Some web sites such as OpenStreetMaps seemed easy to use, but some of their data (esp the base maps) was not "free to use" as is required for WP (note that "only non commercial use" licenses, as found with some base maps, are NOT acceptable for WP). I was never able to create a good map: the learning curve was way too steep.
- Finally, I found success using blank (empty) base maps from Wiki Commons, then using the free Inkscape app to draw graphics on them. You can draw legends, text, lines, polygons, you name it. Any color, any shape, any line thickness, any text font, etc. Save the file in SVG format, and you can revise it easily by changing or deleting any individual graphic overlay.
- If you use process (3), and you also have a copyrighted map with desired geographical locations in it, you can load the copyrighted map into an empty Inkscape file, then trace the geographical points, then delete the copyrighted map. If you use only fragments of the overlay data, the usage may comply with copyright laws, because coordinates of geographic objects cannot be copyrighted. Refer to Fair_use#U.S._fair_use_factors for details of fair use concepts. You should never include any pixel/image from copyrighted maps, per Wikipedia:Non-free content.
- So, I ended up mostly using (3) ... gave me rapid response, and maximum flexibility. The only drawback was I was unable to get shaded relief backgrounds for some base maps. Also: some base maps have political boundary lines, which I did not always want. Noleander (talk) 22:29, 29 September 2026 (UTC)
- Wow, thanks much for the prompt response. I'll look into your advice in detail later. Cheers, -- Infrogmation (talk) 00:14, 30 September 2026 (UTC)
- So most Wikipedia advice for this is pretty bad, and the result is that Wikipedia has a lot of really bad maps. QGIS exists, it is free to download, and has tons of tutorials online. It allows you to use OpenStreetMap as a base map, and you can create layouts from there. Using Inkscape or other graphic design software to make maps is like using it to make engineering schematics. Fundamentally, the files you're using to make maps should not be SVGs. Cartography is a real job, that requires some effort. Making a bad map is easier then making a good one, but if you want to make good maps, you should probably use appropriate software. GeogSage (⚔Chat?⚔) 01:40, 30 September 2026 (UTC)
- GeogSage, what information there is about GIS software in the article Comparison of geographic information systems software puts QGIS among half a dozen or so options that might appeal to me. But the article doesn't say much. (If it said more, then in my current state of complete GIS-ignorance I probably wouldn't understand it.) Commons has c:Category:Maps by file format but not "Category:Maps by software used". Could you perhaps point to just three or four maps, used within articles here, that were made or could have been made with QGIS and that would have been impossible (or prohibitively time-consuming) with Wikipedia templates? -- Hoary (talk)WWU 👍︎ 23:35, 30 September 2026 (UTC)
- Wikipedia templates are literally a violation of some cartographic ethics codes. They are bad practice. It's the digital equivalent of giving children a map and having them use crayons on it. Generally, the maps I've made were done with ArcGIS Pro, however any of them could have been made with QGIS. I have ArcGIS Pro, and have an obscene amount of training with it, so that is what I default to, I've only taken two or three classes that use QGIS, so I'm not as quick with it. It's like changing from a Microsoft OS to Linux, QGIS has much of the same functionality, but is perhaps a bit clunkier in ways. GeogSage (⚔Chat?⚔) 04:12, 1 October 2026 (UTC)
- GeogSage, I was expecting my first map (in Gironimo!) to be poohpoohed for illegibility and other crimes of "usability" failure, but not for violating ethics codes. So it's the gulag for me.... If I say that the Microsoft OS I changed from was Windows 2000, you'll understand that this happened a long time ago; MX Linux (which I'm using right now) works well for me. -- Hoary (talk)WWU 👍︎ 11:21, 1 October 2026 (UTC)
- Cartography is a very technical skill. The actual graphic design aspect of making a Map layout is probably only 2-10% of the actual time involved. Different theoretical frameworks approach them differently, but I tend towards viewing them as a type of mathematical model of the Earth (or other entity). The Cartographic design process is pretty involved. Once you have an idea about what you want to show, you have to choose the type of map to use. Each one has it's own set of pros/cons, and basic requirements to avoid being misleading. Once you have that, you generally choose an appropriate Map projection, Scale (map), and an acceptable level of Cartographic generalization. There are conventions around Map symbols, Map coloring, Typography (cartography), and other stuff specific to each type of map. There are essential elements that are needed in the layout, such as indication of scale, indication of direction, and documenting the sources, projection, date of creation, and map author (Wikipedia struggles with this, as people don't want to look like they are taking ownership, but this is about accountability when the map inevitably leaks and is used somewhere outside Wikipedia). Unfortunately, there are no ethical oversight boards or regulations to enforce good cartographic practice, so bad maps dominate the world. Graphic design software can take a template and make changes, but depending on how dramatic those changes are, it is likely amateur at best. If users are actually drawing new boundaries or putting new content on a blank outline of a study area, it is very likely to make a mess. For example, not Geocodeing a point and just drawing it on will very likely place it in the wrong location relative to other stuff on the map. QGIS is a program that is free, can handle everything I've mentioned, and is used by professional cartographers all over the world. It has great tutorials online, but people do not want to learn how to do it "right," they just want to slap together an image and get head pats. One fun post on ethics is Ethics in mapping which discusses three different attempts at ethical codes. Wikipedia maps violate some part of these as general practice, for example:
- The Locus Charter lists "Provide accountability" as a founding principles. The chain of map editing on Wikipedia makes this quite difficult when users are not including a user name on the map itself, are not citing where they got boundary files, or making changes to existing templates that have had many hands on them.
- The British Cartographic Society lists "Competence" and "Responsibility" in their code of ethics. Wikipedia does not enforce any form of competence on the cartographers (the instructions to make maps are not how competent professionals do it), or responsibility when someone makes a really bad map. There is really no check to ensure the map is following any conventions or avoiding mistakes that can mislead users. For example, c:Category:Choropleth maps using absolute numbers is nothing but misleading maps, but trying to get them all deleted without providing replacements is an exercise in futility. Uneducated editors would rather keep misleading garbage then nothing at all.
- The Mapmaker’s Mantra includes, "Be Transparent and Accountable." This is another issue with anonymous editors making chains of edits to templates.
- Borden Dent proposed a "code of ethics," and the author of the first article I linked made some changes. Among these are "don’t let defaults drive your design." The use of templates literally forces us to let defaults drive design.
- (I've done a bit of work professionally within the domain of ethics and cartographic theory. Nothing significant, but it is something I care about that I see essentially ignored. If you're interested, I recommend How to Lie with Maps.) GeogSage (⚔Chat?⚔) 23:41, 1 October 2026 (UTC)
- Thank you for the thoughtful response, GeogSage. Feeling rather guilty for having hijacked Infrogmation's thread and not wanting to fly it into the ocean, I've responded on your talk page. -- Hoary (talk)WWU 👍︎ 10:56, 2 October 2026 (UTC)
- Cartography is a very technical skill. The actual graphic design aspect of making a Map layout is probably only 2-10% of the actual time involved. Different theoretical frameworks approach them differently, but I tend towards viewing them as a type of mathematical model of the Earth (or other entity). The Cartographic design process is pretty involved. Once you have an idea about what you want to show, you have to choose the type of map to use. Each one has it's own set of pros/cons, and basic requirements to avoid being misleading. Once you have that, you generally choose an appropriate Map projection, Scale (map), and an acceptable level of Cartographic generalization. There are conventions around Map symbols, Map coloring, Typography (cartography), and other stuff specific to each type of map. There are essential elements that are needed in the layout, such as indication of scale, indication of direction, and documenting the sources, projection, date of creation, and map author (Wikipedia struggles with this, as people don't want to look like they are taking ownership, but this is about accountability when the map inevitably leaks and is used somewhere outside Wikipedia). Unfortunately, there are no ethical oversight boards or regulations to enforce good cartographic practice, so bad maps dominate the world. Graphic design software can take a template and make changes, but depending on how dramatic those changes are, it is likely amateur at best. If users are actually drawing new boundaries or putting new content on a blank outline of a study area, it is very likely to make a mess. For example, not Geocodeing a point and just drawing it on will very likely place it in the wrong location relative to other stuff on the map. QGIS is a program that is free, can handle everything I've mentioned, and is used by professional cartographers all over the world. It has great tutorials online, but people do not want to learn how to do it "right," they just want to slap together an image and get head pats. One fun post on ethics is Ethics in mapping which discusses three different attempts at ethical codes. Wikipedia maps violate some part of these as general practice, for example:
- GeogSage, I was expecting my first map (in Gironimo!) to be poohpoohed for illegibility and other crimes of "usability" failure, but not for violating ethics codes. So it's the gulag for me.... If I say that the Microsoft OS I changed from was Windows 2000, you'll understand that this happened a long time ago; MX Linux (which I'm using right now) works well for me. -- Hoary (talk)WWU 👍︎ 11:21, 1 October 2026 (UTC)
- Wikipedia templates are literally a violation of some cartographic ethics codes. They are bad practice. It's the digital equivalent of giving children a map and having them use crayons on it. Generally, the maps I've made were done with ArcGIS Pro, however any of them could have been made with QGIS. I have ArcGIS Pro, and have an obscene amount of training with it, so that is what I default to, I've only taken two or three classes that use QGIS, so I'm not as quick with it. It's like changing from a Microsoft OS to Linux, QGIS has much of the same functionality, but is perhaps a bit clunkier in ways. GeogSage (⚔Chat?⚔) 04:12, 1 October 2026 (UTC)
- Thanks for the info! Cheers, -- Infrogmation (talk) 00:15, 1 October 2026 (UTC)
- GeogSage, what information there is about GIS software in the article Comparison of geographic information systems software puts QGIS among half a dozen or so options that might appeal to me. But the article doesn't say much. (If it said more, then in my current state of complete GIS-ignorance I probably wouldn't understand it.) Commons has c:Category:Maps by file format but not "Category:Maps by software used". Could you perhaps point to just three or four maps, used within articles here, that were made or could have been made with QGIS and that would have been impossible (or prohibitively time-consuming) with Wikipedia templates? -- Hoary (talk)WWU 👍︎ 23:35, 30 September 2026 (UTC)
