Actual list of map features / How to find map feature

For example, I needed some tag to map spaceport. There is exists aeroway=spaceport tag, there is even a page on the wiki with beautiful descriptions and pictures: https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Tag:aeroway=spaceport, but it does not exist on https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Map_Features. Hence the questions:

1. How relevant is the link https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Map_Features? Could it be there that everything has been obsolete? If so, where actual list of all tags?

2. How often statistics on the used tags are updated?

3. How to properly search for tags that are not on https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Map_Features, but which are in wikis, proposals and other things?

2. Check https://taginfo.openstreetmap.org/

1. Map Features is only a list of most used and searched keys for fast access.
2. 3. Use wiki search to find widely used and accepted key/values. If you can’t find any, have a look at most used keys in database via Taginfo.

You’re also free to use any tag you like although it doesn’t make sense just to tag something for the purpose of mapping it. New keys should be proposed as described in wiki.

1. Most editors have a list of presets, e.g. select a node and press F3 in JOSM and search for a search
2. Wiki search
3. taginfo search
4. Map_Features

Thanks

Many thanks! While waiting, I created my own stat, but with older dump Planet.osm.pbf: https://a.safe.moe/PwHMp.txt (14mb)

Actually, I try to extract some “big features” like great waterfalls, notable mountains and… spaceports. I go to Map_Features, find many good tags, but missing spaceports. Since I skipped such object, I think what Map_Features is obsolete. Thanks.

Recently there was some discussion on the tagging mailing list regarding spaceports There are not a lot of those places in the world, which means that tagging was not yet established. There is currently a voting phase to establish this tag, see mail

Similar situation with sea docks / ferry terminals and other similar objects, all have nearest “landuse=port” or “waterway=dock”. It very hard to find appropriate tags for this. Only if you know what to find, you can find additional tags on wiki.

I typically use “osm tag …” in a web search engine, and most of the time I find the webpage I need. The wiki also has some pages that give an overview of all tags related to a subject, e.g. Harbour or Aviation or Riding

Good examples!

I believe that the categories of Riding are very large. The same conclusion is drawn by the volume of the page in the wiki: https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Riding

But at https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Map_Features is not even the slightest hint of the existence of such an extensive topic. The only mention is “horse_riding”. I think this is fundamentally wrong.

The documentation is a wiki, so anyone can edit it. But before making major changes, it would be nice to discuss them with other editors, e.g. on the discussion (sub)page of the topic

I have great respect for the work of others, so I will never interfere with anyone. But I do not have a personal interest in starting a battle, I just expressed my opinion.

I am writing these lines for those who are also looking for all useful tags.

In my opinion, the service https://taginfo.openstreetmap.org/ is completely unhealthy.

So I myself continued to create such an equivalent. The basis of the stat consists of elements that have 3+ different names (in different languages)

From the stats, the names and wikis were deleted:
^name|alt_name|int_name|old_name| wikipedia
Then tags were removed from the stat, the values of which are numerical, they are not interesting to me.

Removed tags with fewer than 3 occurrences, as well as keys, there are a lot of garbage or erroneous (from my point of view)
Here is a sample with 3+ languages on the label:

place (284617)
   = village (142810)
   = locality (59632)
   = hamlet (47668)
   = town (17516)
   = city (4175)
   = suburb (3796)
   = region (2138)
   = county (1911)
   = island (1214)
   = state (1060)
   = isolated_dwelling (1014)
   = neighbourhood (876)
   = country (224)
   = farm (172)
   = islet (114)
   = quarter (93)
   = sea (77)
   = yes (23)
   = province (14)
   = allotments (12)
   = municipality (9)
   = subdistrict (9)
   = peninsula (8)
   = continent (7)
   = archipelago (7)
   = district (6)
   = ocean (5)
   = islands (4)
   = bay (3)

Surprisingly, very normal statistics, which I believe. And this is exactly the tags that I was looking for and what I expected to see. More: https://a.safe.moe/VJzmf.txt

If I increase the number of languages, then the stat changes, the spaceports and volcanoes disappear already by 10 (the spaceport in general is one - the Baikonur, so it is removed from the sample), but on the other hand, such “top sampling” is also interesting

place (1880)
   = city (812)
   = town (335)
   = state (302)
   = country (223)
   = sea (59)
   = village (58)
   = locality (26)
   = suburb (19)
   = island (11)
   = region (10)
   = county (8)
   = continent (7)
   = ocean (5)
   = hamlet (3)
is_in:continent (911)
   = Europe (329)
   = Asia (269)
   = Africa (128)
   = South America (71)
   = North America (68)
   = Oceania (22)
   = Central America (14)
   = Australia (9)
is_in:country (829)
   = Japan (62)
   = China (50)
   = Germany (44)
   = Italy (37)
   = Spain (34)
   = France (28)
   = Russian Federation (26)
   = България (25)
   = USA (24)
   = Brazil (23)
   = Україна (22)
   = Republic of Korea (17)
   = Brasil (16)
   = Belgium (15)
   = Poland (11)
   = United Kingdom (11)
   = Lithuania (11)
   = Canada (11)
   = România (10)
   = Danmark (10)
   = Chile (9)
   = Czech Republic (9)
   = Россия (9)
   = Austria (9)
   = Switzerland (8)
   = Iran (8)
   = The Netherlands (8)
   = South Africa (7)
   = India (7)
   = Greece (7)
   = Australia (7)
   = Algeria (6)
   = United States (6)
   = Georgia (6)
   = Ukraine (5)
   = Egypt (5)
   = Bolivia (5)
   = Slovenia (4)
   = LV (4)
   = Saudi Arabia (4)
   = Cyprus (4)
   = Russia (4)
   = Colombia (4)
   = Argentina (3)
   = Mauritius (3)
   = Croatia (3)
   = Abkhazia (3)
   = Vietnam (3)
   = Uzbekistan (3)
   = North Korea (3)
   = Syria (3)
   = Hungary (3)
   = Pakistan (3)
   = Syria سوريا (3)
   = Norway (3)
   = Afghanistan (3)
   = Denmark (3)

If someone is interested, then you can see the sample https://a.safe.moe/nfC1s.txt - the features of mapping in different countries are clearly visible

If you are interested in a selection of different languages, I created different selections up to 30: https://a.safe.moe/YItYl.zip

Immediately I say that my data is old, I do not have a space for a new version of the planet. However, it looks like it’s not necessary for anyone. How to use Taginfo, I still do not understand, it totally not useful for me (and looks what data wrong).

Taginfo is useful in many ways, but it probably doesn’t help to find a tag name or value for a real world object.
It is useful for data consumers because it shows which tags are used frequently.
It also can help when you are in doubt about the usage of a tag key. If the list of frequent values doesn’t show the value you plan to use
you probably misunderstood the key.

AFAIK, taginfo is perfectly healthy, but it may not be showing the info you’re expecting. taginfo only reports what tags have been used and how many times they’ve been used, regardless of whether they’re “approved” or not, widely used or only used once, or whether the tag was misspelled. It likely isn’t the best place to look if you’re trying to find which tag is best suited for a particular purpose (although it may help you narrow down the options).

The Map Features page simply can’t show every tag in use. There are far too many for this to be viable, many have narrow uses that aren’t relevant to the majority of mappers, and the tag “ecosystem” changes from minute to minute as new tags are created by mappers, old tags are replaced, or one tag gains more widespread usage over another competing tag.

If you want to find the most suitable tag for an object, the best place to start is by searching in the wiki to see if there’s already a relevant article. If you don’t find anything there, taginfo would be a good next step to see what tags are actually in use that may fit your needs. If all of that fails, you can always just create your own tag.