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This article has been tagged since February 2007.
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Contents
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1
Growth
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2
New features
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3
Licensing and business
model
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4
Interoperability
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5
See also
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6
External links
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WikiMapia is an online
map
resource that combines
Google Maps with a
wiki
system, allowing users to add information (in the form of a
note) to any location on the globe. Created by
Alexandre Koriakine and
Evgeniy Saveliev, the project was launched on
May
24,
2006 and is aiming towards "describing the whole
planet Earth".
Growth
By
August 16,
2006,
one million localities had been identified. By
2 October,
the number of localities had increased to more than 1.6
million. The counter passed two million on
November 22,
2006
and 3 million on March 8 2007[citation
needed].
In the initial implementation, WikiMapia had no registered
users and no administrative hierarchy. All users edited
anonymously and there was no mechanism for monitoring or
disciplining problematic users.
WikiMapia is unrelated to
Wikipedia and the
Wikimedia Foundation, but the website states that it was
"inspired by Wikipedia."
New features
A registration system was introduced during
8 October 2006
and
9 October 2006.
Users registered for three days or more are granted some
administrative powers, including the power to move, resize,
delete, or protect objects. "Points" are granted to active users
for adding, reviewing, and correcting places; as points
accumulate, a user is granted additional powers. Active users of
Wikipedia, and users in contact with Wikimapia before
October 5,
2006,
are exempt from the three-day waiting period.
WikiMapia allows contributors to add a "Hotspot" to any map
by marking out a rectangle (with the maximum length of any one
side being 20 kilometers) which is wiki-linked to a note
providing information about the locality. The note may be in any
of 35 languages currently supported, and may be modified by any
contributor, as in a wiki. The link is activated by clicking
within the rectangle.
One feature of WikiMapia is the sight "car" which zooms in
and out over smaller and larger areas. It is used for exploring
both maps and satellite photographs.
WikiMapia may be incorporated into any Internet website. One
opens WikiMapia, selects the desired option, and chooses "Map on
your PAGE" from the menu. The user then selects the map
coordinates and inserts the indicated HTML code into the desired
website.
Licensing and business model
As of early 2007, the site does not describe the licensing
terms of user-contributed information and does not provide a way
for third parties to download the contributed information. The
site generates some income with
Google ads.
Interoperability
A
GPS
receiver can be connected to WikiMapia using a plug-in
program (beta, download for Windows OS from WikiMapia site).
Limited WikiMapia functionality is available on:
-
Google Earth, using
Google Earth dynamic layer in KML file
- most Java-enabled cellphones using 3rd party software
such as
Mobile GMaps.
See also
-
Windows Live Local
-
Google Earth
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World Wind
External links
-
Wikimapia
-
Official Wikimapia Blog
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Matt's Wikimapia Blog
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Meta.Wikimedia/about the connection with Wikipedia
Categories:
Articles lacking sources from February 2007 |
All articles lacking sources |
Articles with unsourced statements since March 2007
|
All articles with unsourced statements |
Geographic Information Systems |
Cartography |
Collaborative mapping |
Web 2.0 |
Wiki |
2006 establishments
