Eye-catching emoji, links that actually link, gifts for working groups
Our core software projects managed to slip in a few more treats before the end of the year:
Slippy maps
- Icons in the map’s context menu more closely match the icons that appear elsewhere on the homepage. (@aNsHuL5217)
- Upgraded the map on the Dashboard to be powered by MapLibre GL JS. It should mostly work the same as Leaflet, but let us know if you run into any problems so we can address them by the time we upgrade the map on the homepage to better support the vector layers without a compatibility shim. (@CommanderStorm)
- Fixed an issue where the map would sometimes zoom out to the whole world when closing the History pane. (@daishu0000)
- An emojified “
” in the corner of the map calls more attention to opportunities for supporting OSM financially. (@TrickyFoxy)
Data browser
- References to elements and tags automatically turn into links in any text that we assume to be plain text, such as changeset comments. (@hlfan)
- Fixed the broken link when
wikipedia=*is set to a semicolon-delimited list of values. (@gergelypap) - Fixed broken links when a tag value is set to an incomplete URL or multiple values separated by semicolons. (@hlfan)
- Fixed broken links for some tagging schemes that expect a leading hash (
#) character, such ashashtags=*. (@hlfan) - On a changeset or element history page, some elements are crossed out to indicate that it has been deleted. This indication is now accessible to screen readers. (@TomH)
Directions
- On Windows, exporting directions as GeoJSON now saves the file with the correct .geojson extension. (@HolgerJeromin)
- Fixed the link crediting FOSSGIS for powering the Valhalla routing option. (@SimonPoole)
Moderation
- The interface for suspending and deleting users is clearer and less error-prone (and again further polished). If a DWG moderator confirms a user by accident, they can suspend the user. (@pablobm)
- Suspending a user hides any unresolved issues reported against them. (@TomH)
- Moved the rules for detecting SEO spam accounts out of the public repository to a database that the OWG can update more easily without making it too easy for the spammers to adapt. (@pablobm)
Internationalization
- Upgraded MapLibre so that the Shortbread and MapTiler OMT layers can render some rarer CJK text, newer writing systems like Osage, and some silly things like emoji and mathematical symbols. (@Minh_Nguyen)
- Added a localization in Central Bikol, a language spoken in the Philippines. (Kunokuno, ShiminUfesoj)
- When you search the Internet for pages on openstreetmap.org, various pages will have more descriptive snippets that potentially match your preferred language. (@Andy_Allan)
- A few miscellaneous messages around the website can be translated from English. (@Andy_Allan)
Other changes
- The About page mentions our licensing policy so that the LWG doesn’t have to field so many requests for permission from the media. (@pablobm)
- If your Preferred Website Color Scheme setting differs from your operating system settings, the correct colors appear in the third-party logos on the login page and the context menu for the map on the homepage. (@hlfan)
Behind the scenes
As always, we’re also carrying out many refactors and upgrades to modernize and streamline the codebase. We’re also improving the reliability of automated tests and other development tools. The results aren’t as obvious to all of you, but it makes everything else possible and paves the way for future improvements.
The team is growing! @hlfan is our newest maintainer, after contributing quite a bit over the past year. @HolgerJeromin and I will also be helping out with triaging.
Welcome to our first-time contributors: @CommanderStorm, @gergelypap, and @aNsHuL5217 (who chose our website to make their very first open source contributions)! If any of you have been waiting for the right moment to get off the sidelines and help out, maybe now’s the time. We’ve updated the guidelines for contributors to mention the new core software roadmap and expectations for organizing commits and branches, which will hopefully reduce some potential friction.
Welcome also to our new translators: Anon (German), Asteralee (French and Italian), ExoHyper2026 (Simplified Chinese), Kunokuno (Central Bikol), MeahNunh (Khmer), MonX94 (Ukrainian), Penyuwangi (Indonesian), ShiminUfesoj (Central Bikol), TheRabbit22 (German), Wawrzec (Polish), and Yeager (Swedish). If you 
, check out all the different projects that are waiting for your translation help, including our website.
And thanks to @awiseman, @CommanderStorm, @HolgerJeromin, @pablobm, and @pnorman for helping our maintainers review pull requests. You help us maintain quality in a growing project.