Category "Garmin maps" as a sub category of "OSM Specials"

I hereby request the addition of category “Garmin maps” as a sub category of “OSM Specials” (requested in Category "OSM Specials" ).

Category name

Garmin maps

Is this a top-level category or a subcategory?

sub of “OSM Specials”

Description of its purpose and which open mapping groups it will serve

“Garmin maps” offers discussion and help on converting OSM data to and for Garmin devices. Creating Garmin maps out of OSM data is a special process, it requires usage of specialized tools, among other things it involves filtering OSM data and translating OSM data into a format understood by Garmin devices.

Why is this new category needed instead of being hosted as part of the existing ones?

The existing categories here don’t cover these subjects.

Is this a new space or does it already exist on other platforms? Where?

The old forum exists on Garmin maps / OpenStreetMap Forum but it’s locked.

Current volume of messages on the former platforms, if any (per week/per month)

Unknown to me.

Is there a transition plan for the old platform to this new one? (please link or describe)

Unknown to me. I’m a user.

(Optional) A link or list of the category specific guidelines

Unknown to me.

List the usernames of the category moderators

Unknown to me. I’m a new user and looking for the “Garmin maps” category since it seems to be locked on the old forum and no equivalent seems to be available here (yet), also as of today I can’t see that the data has been migrated to here.

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Hi @AndeHTDH

Thanks for the request. For low volume topics, the general recommendation is to start using a tag for related topics, and place them under #general o #help-and-support depending on their purpose.

If the volume of topics under one tag grows a lot, then it’s recommended that a category is requested.

Would that work for this?

Thanks!

Ok, well, it’s tags then.

Seems I can’t tag my old posts and also can’t create a new tag.
I hereby request the addition of a tag “garmin”. Same reasons as above apply.

Which posts are you trying to tag? Any user should be able to tag topics in these forums.

Old forum topics will be migrated and categorized as part of the ongoing migration.

A post was merged into an existing topic: Tagging permissions

3 posts were split to a new topic: Tagging permissions

Couldn’t find the tag function. I was expecting tags to be attributes of the original/first post and, among other things, tried in vain to edit the OP for the purpose of tagging. I didn’t know tags are attributes of the title/topic separated from the original post. But finally found it and could tag the topic successfully.

Migration: Thx for the info.

User experience: Would it be possible to adjust/update the “NOTICE” header in the old forums, or, for example, to add a final sticky to the old “Garmin maps” category at Garmin maps / OpenStreetMap Forum with instructions something like "Go to the new place, post to category <whatever>, tag the post with ‘garmin’"? Yes, the old forums are locked, so this would require some admin support. But it would help people finding “their” people and simplify things here.

Redirects will be in place so people will end up in the correct place once the migration takes place.

So we’ll be able to browse to that category (within the URL) and people will be able to “find text” in the page for “Garmin”?

The #garmin tag already exists and it can be used to browse or subscribe to.

I know that the tag exists, but as I said above “nobody” (meaning here casual users chancing upon the site) won’t see a “Garmin” category. They will search for the word Garmin on the front page using their browser’s in-page search, not find it, and then go somewhere else.

To do the same thing here as on the old forum they’d need to know that important categories were only accessible as tags, and construct a URL somehow (it’s not obvious how to do that from the front page).

If they use Discourse’s own search function they’ll find some posts with the word Garmin in them, and with luck some of those will have the tag “Garmin” also. They may trying clicking on that, and that will “get them into the category”.

It is horribly convoluted though. We should be encouraging casual browsers to join rather tjan making it really, really hard for them to find stuff.

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I agree. The “onboarding” felt a bit difficult for me. Coming from the old forum, I initially felt a bit lost here, “lost” in the sense of “How can I find content that is relevant to me?” and “How can I create relevant content for others to find?” And @nukeador had to answer (read: work) a bit too. Actually all unnecessary.

This isn’t about functionality, it’s just about communication. I realize that using tags to categorize a forum makes life easier for admins. If you rely on tags as a substitute for category maintenance - that’s perfectly fine, but it would be good to communicate that clearly, especially for users coming from the old category-only forum. You could possibly set up (and communicate) instructions (or even rules) on how to use tags. Tags only make sense if they are used by the majority of users. They are only used when the majority of users are aware of the importance of tags.

Just my two cents…

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The garmin tag already exists and it can be used to browse or subscribe to.

Yes, I created it and tagged this topic. Now we need to advertise it. And put a sticky in the old Forum saying “Go to the new place, use tags, everything will be fine” :joy:

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Discoverability of tags is indeed quite poor at the moment. Linking the tag in some places such as a sticky on the old forum and relevant wiki pages will help a little – both due to users following the links and due to better visibility in search engine results. And the “all tags” link in the new sidebar helps as well. But ideally, I would also like them to be more prominent on the front page somehow.

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