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I have made some changes to the map data, but when I look at the map, it doesn't show my edits. Have I done something wrong?

asked 11 Jul '10, 23:35

apmon's gravatar image

apmon
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accept rate: 20%

edited 18 Oct '13, 03:18

aseerel4c26's gravatar image

aseerel4c26 ♦
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The OpenStreetMap-data is used to create many different maps, often by different people and available on different websites. There are maps you can view with your browser and maps for other programs or even mobile devices (like Garmin maps).

Every one of these maps can be very different:

  • Not everything that is in the data, is also shown on every map. Some features are only shown on specialized maps, some features aren't shown at all and are only used for other applications, e.g. routing.
  • Some maps are updated every minute, others much less often (e.g. once a week or month). Sometimes the tiles (map images) are cached and it will take longer for new or changed stuff to appear. Check if the map you are using shows the update interval or actual date and time.

When you talk about 'the map', you may mean the 'Mapnik'-layer on OpenStreetMap.org. That one should be updated every minute, but you still have to keep in mind that not everything is shown there.

If you checked the points above and you still think your changes should appear, you may indeed have done something wrong. Please consider doing the following:

  • Check if your changes were indeed added to the database. You can view a history of all your edits in your profile on OpenStreetMap.org under 'my edits'.
  • Check other examples of the features you have added or changed and see if they are mapped the same way. You may also want to check the map features or other wiki pages for the correct tags.
  • Ask someone else for help. Provide a link to the area you have edited or the changeset (that you can find in your edit history).
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answered 12 Jul '10, 00:41

driver2's gravatar image

driver2
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accept rate: 57%

edited 12 Jul '10, 01:45

2

Very nice explanation!

If you are interested in a more in depth explanation of the process of how the main map in the view tab on OpenStreetMap.org gets updated and why sometimes it is very up to date and sometimes not so much, see http://help.openstreetmap.org/questions/178/how-often-does-the-main-mapnik-map-get-updated

(19 Jun '11, 16:37) apmon
12

Assuming that you're worried about the Mapnik view on openstreetmap.org and you've verified that your data has made it into the database (tick the "data" box, for example), you may be suffering from a stale cache in your browser. You can solve this by following these steps:

Load up the map view you've edited, click permalink, then force a full refresh of your browser. In FireFox this is done with CTRL + F5. This action clears your cache and reloads any javascript, as such it will download the latest tiles.

If it still looks wrong, you might want to request that a tile is rerendered. To do so, right click on the tile in question and choose "view image" or equivalent. This will give you something like:

http://b.tile.openstreetmap.org/14/8138/5495.png

add /dirty to the end and it will be queued for rerendering:

http://b.tile.openstreetmap.org/14/8138/5495.png/dirty

Wait a few minutes and force reload your browser again, the newly rendered tile should appear.

Most importantly, however, I wouldn't worry too much about the rendering; the important thing is that your edits make it to the database, not the fact that you may have to wait a few minutes for them to display on openstreetmap.org.

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answered 12 Jul '10, 22:50

IknowJoseph's gravatar image

IknowJoseph
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accept rate: 0%

This does not appear to have any effect on the cyclemap layer which is what I'm primarily interested in. My changes are being updated on the standard map, but the cyclemap is not being updated.

(02 May '12, 11:25) paulcooke
1

The cycle map layer uses Andy Allen's opencyclemap tiles. He says that "The map is updated every week (on a Thursday or Friday, normally)".

(02 May '12, 12:26) SomeoneElse ♦
3

Updates to coastlines may be extremely long to be reported in OSM's Mapnik renderer (it takes weeks if not months), even if there were enormous errors corrected (like unconnected coastlines: one example, corrected since 2 weeks, is in Britanny, the most western peninsula in France, where the Atlantic Ocean does not fill an enormous block). Other renderers are not affected (MapQuest, OpenCycleMap, OpenSeaMap...).

All other updates are made visible on OSM's Mapnik maps in a few minutes (a bit more for low resolution zoom levels : it may take one day or two when viewing a continent).

(27 Nov '12, 11:00) Verdy_p

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question asked: 11 Jul '10, 23:35

question was seen: 51,698 times

last updated: 13 Jul '20, 01:14

NOTICE: help.openstreetmap.org is no longer in use from 1st March 2024. Please use the OpenStreetMap Community Forum