Making it easier to contribute marker data

[mathiasbynens]

Update: The spreadsheet is here!

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In tibiamaps/tibia-map#32, @LeeKunTibia brings up how much of a hassle it is to add markers by exploring in-game. There must be a better way!

I’ve just simplified the structure of the JSON data. For each floor, it’s now an array of objects, and each object represents a marker. See https://github.com/tibiamaps/tibia-map-data/blob/master/data/floor-07-markers.json for an example. Adding markers by editing the JSON is now easier than ever — however, submitting pull requests on GitHub for each change can still be painful.

Idea: set up a Google Docs spreadsheet where trusted contributors like @LeeKunTibia and @Hunter-of-Dragoes can enter the following:

1. a tibiamaps.io/map URL (the idea is that you could just find the right pixel on the map, and then copy-paste what’s in your address bar)

   example: https://tibiamaps.io/map#32359,32126,7:3

2. the icon type (see the “short name” column on https://tibiamaps.io/guides/map-file-format#map-marker-data)

   example: star

3. optionally, a description

   example: Levitate spot

I could then “sync” the spreadsheet every two weeks or so with this repository, adding the new markers.

This would make it significantly easier to suggest new markers, without having to necessarily open the game client and upload any files.

@LeeKunTibia, @Hunter-of-Dragoes, what do you think?

[mathiasbynens]

I’ve created an example spreadsheet here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1K6hEPmxUCFj293yCkMAphX2UvJRgTaLqt465J48hJO4/edit I wonder if this makes it easy enough for people to start contributing markers.

[mathiasbynens]

Pinged Reddit as well: https://www.reddit.com/r/TibiaMMO/comments/98twon/if_you_could_suggest_markers_to_tibiamapsio_by/

[Hunter-of-Dragoes]

That sounds a good idea!

However, I'm not sure if you understood correctly what Lee had in mind.

[mathiasbynens]

I know Lee was mainly talking about something else in the other issue, i.e. adding a separate set of markers that would only show up on https://tibiamaps.io/map. That’s why I created this issue to discuss this other idea :)

[LeeKunTibia]

Indeed, what I was referring to was markers that would only show up on the website. Nevertheless, this change seems very good. I have personally not used the TibiaMaps markers since there is no easy way to merge them with mines, but this will make things much easier.

I suppose the original idea could be implemented very similarly, with an extra set of markers exclusive of the website (i.e. Tanjis Boss Room). The most time consuming part is developing the website feature, I guess.

Edit: By the way, if you have any summary of what areas are completely unmarked, please let me know. You mentioned Feyrist, and I have already added some basic markers to the spreadsheet. I'm not sure however if I should also add all NPCs and Quest impotant points, as it can get too messy there:

I'm also adding markers for the new Asura area, the Secret Library and the Falcon Bastion.

[mathiasbynens]

Any new areas since the Feyrist update do not currently have markers. Suggestions for those are more than welcome!

I'm also adding markers for the new Asura area, the Secret Library and the Falcon Bastion.

Yay!

[mathiasbynens]

I'm not sure however if I should also add all NPCs and Quest impotant points, as it can get too messy there […]

It’s better to have too many markers than too few. People can easily delete individual markers, or download the maps without markers to keep their own markers (like you).