Shortbread style, JS cleanup, upcoming changes to anonymous notes
The June solstices are now behind us, and it’s time to recap what the OSM Website contributors have been up to!
User interface
- We fixed a bug in the way we create links from pieces of text in comments, such as “way 12345”. Some linking rules were too liberal and were causing issues in languages such as Polish. Hopefully no more, but please let us know if this is a problem in your language too. (@pablobm)
- Also on the topic of links, we simplified the code that generates links to Wikidata and Wikipedia from the data view. (@hlfan)
- We added an option that mobile apps (and others) can use to hide signup links during authorisation flows. This may sound a bit esoteric, but it’s important to make app stores happy. (@SimonPoole)
- If you ever had an error when creating a note, you probably didn’t get much in the way of an explanation
We have now added a facility to show error messages when creating notes, so that even if we can’t fix everything at least you should get an idea of what’s wrong. (@pablobm) - We updated iD to version 2.41 (patch versions v2.41.0, v2.41.1, v2.41.2), with new features such as offering to download more data automatically in situations when it doesn’t have enough detail to perform an operation, or new rendering for embankments and cuttings. See all in the release notes. (@tyr_asd)
- And also in iD we fixed an issue that caused glitchy jumps when zooming. (@tyr_asd)
Slippy map
- Big change in the Shortbread layer! We changed the style from Versatiles Colorful to SVWD03, which shows off more of what Shortbread has to offer. (@pnorman)
- And we changed the shadow under the marker icons, from an image to a vector graphic. (@hlfan)
Performance
- We re-enabled minimisation of JavaScript files, which had been disabled by accident in a recent Rails upgrade. (@TomHughes)
- We also reduced the amount of JavaScript we send to visitors, by serving some parts only when necessary. This was followed by three further commits of related cleanup (one, two, three). (@hlfan, @TomHughes)
- Plus there’s another JavaScript file that we removed altogether after iD implemented the functionality that made it necessary. (@hlfan)
- We fixed a piece of JavaScript that wasn’t cleaning after itself properly when deactivated. (@CommanderStorm)
- And on the backend, we introduced an optimisation for pages that perform any linkification of user comments. (@pablobm)
Behind the scenes
- We fixed a bug where Cloudflare Turnstile would fail on sign up if there had been another error previously. (@TomHughes)
- As part of the efforts to migrate to MapLibre, we refactored some related code (plus follow-ups: one, two). (@CommanderStorm, @hlfan)
- We refactored code handling distance units for directions… (@hlfan)
- …as well as styles to handle different screen sizes. (@Andy_Allan)
- And finally we fixed some code that splits long lists into separate pages of content. (@pablobm)
Coming up: selective blocks of anonymous notes
Apart from what’s new, here’s a feature currently in the works: moderators will soon be able to define “Moderation Zones”, where anonymous notes won’t be allowed. These will be in place for a finite period of time, similar to how User Blocks work.
This can be particularly important to application developers, who need to be aware of a new reason why creating a note might fail. Although again: this this will only apply to anonymous notes. Be sure to check the API documentation.
Depending what we learn with this feature, there might be a future where other moderation measures can be taken on these Moderation Zones. But for now, it’s limited to anonymous notes.