Community Wishlist Survey 2021/Miscellaneous/Kartographer icon improvements

Random proposal ►◄ Miscellaneous The survey has concluded. Here are the results!

Kartographer icon improvements

Icons urgently needed for Wikimedia maps

Some icons currently available, but of little use to Wikimedia maps

Problem: There is no one clear set of icons dedicated to Wikimedia maps. Three things need to happen – (1) an established set of icons particular to Wikimedia mapping needs, (2) the rewriting needed in order to add this set of icons, and (3) better support to more easily add and modify icons in the future.

Background: Kartographer-based Mapframe maps work wonders to easily show maps in Wikipedia infoboxes and beyond. However the mapping tool really suffers from a lack of identifying icons. Especially for maps that show numerous features, editors are having to be creative to come up with icons that just barely associate with their topics. This is because MediaWiki uses an obsolete version of Maki icons, but even that still wouldn't fix all the problems relevant to Wikimedia spaces. The Maki icon set was designed for maps, though not for Wikimedia. Therefore it has numerous icons useless to Wikimedia spaces, and lacks icons essential to mapping here. There are at least 11 unclear icons, and at least 47 missing icons key to mapping here.

Other problems include, for accessibility, making more options for legibility. Right now, icons only display white. Icons should be able to be at least colored black, if not more colors, for increased contrast when the marker color is set to a lighter color. Markers should also have options for shapes other than the default teardrop shape, to allow for differentiation when using grayscale maps and for people with low color recognition (see task T131618).

Who would benefit: Innumerous Wikimedia spaces, primarily Wikipedia and Wikivoyage, but including numerous unique projects like Wiki Loves Monuments and Wiki Loves Earth, which need good mapping.
Proposed solution: Developing an additional entirely new set of icons, including many of the below missing or unclear examples:

Part one: coding

Code to allow for easy icon additions and improvements. This needs to happen now, and likely as Kartographer becomes more widespread on WMF projects, future changes will be necessary.

Part two: icon/marker formatting

Icons, currently only available in white, should be available at least in black as well, for increased contrast when marker-color is set to a light color
Markers should have more shape options behind the tear-drop shape.

Part three: fixing unclear icons

bank – explore clearer icons - a money bag, a generic paper bill, or a bank building (fixed in Maki, not here)
beer – should resemble a beer mug more closely, see Commons:Category:Plain black SVG beer icons
building – should be renamed 'house', with a better symbol for building (fixed in Maki, not here)
church – should resemble common church icons
cinema – clapperboard icon evokes a film studio, could be clearer for movie theaters (fixed in Maki, not here)
fire station – currently resembles an active fire, not a station
library – would look better if it incorporated a building along with a book/books, see these
mosque – should resemble common mosque icons
prison – unclear, looks like a fence (fixed in Maki, not here)
school – should resemble common school icons
synagogue – should resemble common synagogue icons

Part four: adding missing icons

(tracking for infoboxes here)

amusement park (fixed in Maki, not here)
ancient site or ruin
apartment building (fixed in Maki, not here)
aquarium (fixed in Maki, not here)
aviary
beach (fixed in Maki, not here)
bell
botanical garden
bridge (fixed in Maki, not here)
casino (fixed in Maki, not here)
castle – perhaps European and Asian (fixed in Maki, not here)
cave or cavern
clock
courthouse
distillery
elevator
escalator (fixed in Maki, not here)
forest
fort
fountain
government building
habitat – significant or protected
hotel – more general 'lodging' exists, see clearer example
hut
indigenous settlement
jewelry store (fixed in Maki, not here)
lake
landmark (fixed in Maki, not here)
landfill
marketplace or food hall
military base
military conflict or battle – multi-pointed star
mountain (fixed in Maki, not here)
nature center or wildlife center
nuclear power plant – more general 'industrial' exists
observatory
power plant – more general 'industrial' exists
pyramid
religious-buddhist – together with Hinduism, represents a quarter of the world's population (fixed in Maki, not here)
religious-hindu – together with Buddhism, represents a quarter of the world's population
research station
ship or museum ship – 'ferry' exists
shopping mall
stadium/arena – limited individual sports are available, though those are not applicable for multipurpose arenas (fixed in Maki, not here)
tomb or mausoleum
tower icon(s) – bell, clock, guard, military, radio, water, etc.
train station – more general 'rail' exists, see clearer example
tunnel
skyscraper – more general 'commercial' exists, see clearer example (fixed in Maki, not here)
solar farm
stairs
state or national capitol
transit station, for multimodal stations or less-common transit modes
vineyard
volcano (fixed in Maki, not here)
waterfall (fixed in Maki, not here)
windmill (fixed in Maki, not here)
winery
1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc. – allows for clearer maps of relocations (see second map here)

More comments: The above set of icons proposed are only ones I have found immediately relevant; others in the current Maki set or elsewhere may prove to be as well. Careful care needs to be taken to ensure a non-Western view, as some instances of map icon bias have already been pointed out.

How this should best be solved needs investigation, whether it be adopting later Maki items, WMF or community creating new icons, utilizing existing free Commons files, or a combination of those options. Nevertheless, the technical function of adding and modifying icons needs to take place.

Phabricator tickets: task T145475, task T141304, task T131618, task T141715
Proposer: Ɱ (talk) 00:11, 19 November 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Discussion

I support this, because one of most painful limitation is task T141335 the impossibility to use 3 digits on markers. --Andyrom75 (talk) 21:41, 20 November 2020 (UTC)[reply]
I support this, since this issue already lead to quite a lot of discussions on Wikivoyage. --Nw520 (talk) 22:15, 22 November 2020 (UTC)[reply]
It would be useful to have access to the MIL-STD-2525D and APP-6D installation icons, at the very least. Other subsets like Activities would also be useful.

Voting

Support It seems to be a minor fix that can return a huge impact for all project. I'm all for it. Sannita - not just another it.wiki sysop 19:28, 8 December 2020 (UTC)[reply]
Support MarioSuperstar77 (talk) 19:42, 8 December 2020 (UTC)[reply]
Support Der Fussi 19:46, 8 December 2020 (UTC)[reply]
Support Braveheidi (talk) 21:26, 8 December 2020 (UTC)[reply]
Support Sabas88 (talk) 21:57, 8 December 2020 (UTC)[reply]
Support Huge improvement mainly for Wikivoyage but also for other wikis. Nw520 (talk) 22:34, 8 December 2020 (UTC)[reply]
Support Evad37 (talk) 23:26, 8 December 2020 (UTC)[reply]
Support Don-vip (talk) 23:40, 8 December 2020 (UTC)[reply]
Support -Another Believer (talk) 00:23, 9 December 2020 (UTC)[reply]
Support Alkari (talk) 01:23, 9 December 2020 (UTC)[reply]
Support Pharos (talk) 02:26, 9 December 2020 (UTC)[reply]
Support ··· 🌸 Rachmat04 · ☕ 04:42, 9 December 2020 (UTC)[reply]
Support Ottawajin (talk) 05:07, 9 December 2020 (UTC)[reply]
Support --Ita140188 (talk) 05:38, 9 December 2020 (UTC)[reply]
Support Maps are important and need to be improved! :) OrCer (talk) 10:44, 9 December 2020 (UTC)[reply]
Support Thomas Kinz (talk) 10:49, 9 December 2020 (UTC)[reply]
Support Clarinetjo (talk) 12:13, 9 December 2020 (UTC)[reply]
Support I don't see why not, it would only be a benefit to maps on Wikimedia websites. As a frequent mapframe user, I've often have to make do with the wrong icon. epicgenius (talk) 14:02, 9 December 2020 (UTC)[reply]
Support Jts1882 (talk) 14:14, 9 December 2020 (UTC)[reply]
Support Absolutely. Ján Kepler (talk) 14:34, 9 December 2020 (UTC)[reply]
Support Urhixidur (talk) 16:21, 9 December 2020 (UTC)[reply]
Support — putnik 18:43, 9 December 2020 (UTC)[reply]
Support Create or give the author the possibility to upload icons TheAmerikaner (talk) 20:51, 9 December 2020 (UTC)[reply]
Support NMaia (talk) 23:53, 9 December 2020 (UTC)[reply]
Support Y will improve every language Wikipedia, and Commons, and Wikidata in a visible way Y reduces the cultural bias of the limited icon set Y makes the Wikimedia platform more attractive to the off-wiki mapping community Y choosing icons is a fun beginner activity in outreach Y Wikipedia's maps are awesome and should look awesome. Blue Rasberry (talk) 01:35, 10 December 2020 (UTC)[reply]
Support - Darwin ^Ahoy! 02:11, 10 December 2020 (UTC)[reply]
Support This is something nice to see Em-mustapha ^{User | talk} 06:53, 10 December 2020 (UTC)[reply]
Support JAn Dudík (talk) 08:42, 10 December 2020 (UTC)[reply]
Support carlinmack (talk) 14:35, 10 December 2020 (UTC)[reply]
Support MichaelSchoenitzer (talk) 18:53, 10 December 2020 (UTC)[reply]
Support Libcub (talk) 19:49, 10 December 2020 (UTC)[reply]
Support OwenBlacker (Talk) 21:32, 10 December 2020 (UTC)[reply]
Support Srđan (talk) 22:18, 10 December 2020 (UTC)[reply]
Support Michaelelijahtanuwijaya (talk) 03:17, 11 December 2020 (UTC)[reply]
Support Strong support. BoldLuis (talk) 15:33, 11 December 2020 (UTC)[reply]
Support Husky (talk) 16:24, 11 December 2020 (UTC)[reply]
Support czar 18:30, 11 December 2020 (UTC)[reply]
Support JonathanLa (talk) 18:53, 11 December 2020 (UTC)[reply]
Support expecially for 3 digits --Andyrom75 (talk) 19:23, 11 December 2020 (UTC)[reply]
Support Xnet1234 (talk) 22:27, 11 December 2020 (UTC)[reply]
Support —Michael Z. 2020-12-11 23:59 z 23:59, 11 December 2020 (UTC)[reply]
Support Francois-Pier (talk) 12:32, 12 December 2020 (UTC)[reply]
Support Rdyornot (talk) 22:31, 12 December 2020 (UTC)[reply]
Support Nemo Le Poisson (talk) 10:34, 13 December 2020 (UTC)[reply]
Support -- the wub "?!" 18:32, 13 December 2020 (UTC)[reply]
Support ~ Amory (u • t • c) 13:22, 14 December 2020 (UTC)[reply]
Support Daniel Mietchen (talk) 21:35, 14 December 2020 (UTC)[reply]
Support The Grid (talk) 17:59, 15 December 2020 (UTC)[reply]
Support Jstalins (talk) 04:33, 16 December 2020 (UTC)[reply]
Support PinkPanda272 (talk) 08:55, 16 December 2020 (UTC)[reply]
Support Papuass (talk) 21:21, 16 December 2020 (UTC)[reply]
Support Épico (talk)/(contribs) 23:30, 16 December 2020 (UTC)[reply]
Support Mmitchell10 (talk) 21:09, 17 December 2020 (UTC)[reply]
Support Reh man 02:11, 20 December 2020 (UTC)[reply]
Support HLHJ (talk) 03:12, 20 December 2020 (UTC)[reply]
Support DutchTreat (talk) 13:20, 20 December 2020 (UTC)[reply]
Support Nachtbold (talk) 15:32, 21 December 2020 (UTC)[reply]
Support Charles Alexis Gérard (talk) 17:45, 21 December 2020 (UTC)[reply]