Welcome to Wikipedia. I noticed that your username, "Vectormapper", may not comply with our
username policy. Please note that you may not use a username that represents the name of a company, group, organization, product, service, or website. Examples of usernames that are not allowed include "XYZ Company", "MyWidgetsUSA.com", and "Foobar Museum of Art". However, you are permitted to use a username that contains such a name if it identifies you individually (not your role), such as "Sara Smith at XYZ Company", "Mark at WidgetsUSA", or "FoobarFan87", but not "SEO Manager at XYZ Company".
However: My username VECTORMAPPER does not represent any brand, company or public organization. Also, this name does not represent any service, product, website, etc. This is my VERY old nickname, due to the fact that I have been working in the field of vector cartography for a very long time (more than 25 years). And of course, many people in many countries know me by this nickname - it simply reflects my profession.
I am providing the Wikipedia community with free access to some of my vector maps without any restrictions on use.
Hello all- While I don't see any policy-related issue with Kirill's username, I do agree with Bruce regarding the unexplained addition of maps across many city articles. To my eye, they don't improve those articles, most or all of which already have the standard "
Coordinates" link in the infobox that points to a variety of mapping systems that will likely be of more use to a user. One reason being that these systems tend to have dynamic, scale-dependent labeling of street names, for example. Here is the page linked in the Sacramento infobox: 38°34′54″N121°29′40″W / 38.58167°N 121.49444°W / 38.58167; -121.49444.
Erictalk12:38, 23 June 2024 (UTC)reply
I cannot agree with you for a very simple reason.
Not all users even understand what “coordinates” are, and most importantly, my vector files provide the ability to edit, embed in any designs of any scale, in any projects that involve subsequent printing, use in media, and others.
Maps, which are usually presented in info box on the Wiki Pages, may be visually informative at the “just look” level - but they are completely impossible to use in any way.
The city maps that I published provide users with the ability to easily edit maps in any vector editor and use maps in any media and printing projects, including cinema, television, interactive maps for Internet projects, and games. All maps I publish are fully CC-0 licensed and therefore can be used in any way.
Now that you bring up that point re "coordinates", I have never liked how that link is presented in infoboxes. I think the template should generate the word "Maps" instead of "Coordinates". I don't know if there is a way for you to offer your static vector basemaps on GeoHack, which appears to be part of WikiMedia; maybe you could bring it up somehow at
mw:Talk:GeoHack? In any case, I suspect most users will not see simply adding your map graphics to many city articles as an improvement.
Erictalk18:58, 23 June 2024 (UTC)reply
And I don’t agree with you on this - the coordinates really don’t mean anything to “most” users. But for me and many other users, this is valuable information. But for “many others” - no. The problem with the maps presented (usually on the Wiki) such as Google maps, OSM maps is that they are intended specifically for simple viewing, but they are extremely difficult to edit and cannot be used in media projects. My city maps are clear, transparent, informative, do not contain unnecessary elements, allow you to evaluate the road/street network at a glance, and allow you to freely edit them for further use. Obviously, you don’t need such city maps - but they are NEEDED by many people who work with media, study, prepare educational materials, presentations, etc. Just like other users (for example) provide vector OVERVIEW maps in SVG formats - but these are rather not maps, but approximate diagrams - for example, on the page
/info/en/?search=Sioux_Falls,_South_Dakota diagram presented
/info/en/?search=Sioux_Falls,_South_Dakota#/media/File:Minnehaha_County_South_Dakota_Incorporated_and_Unincorporated_areas_Sioux_Falls_Highlighted.svg It is useful, but you must admit, this is not a CITY MAP - which is, at the very least, ridiculous. That is, the article is ABOUT THE CITY, but there is no map of the city at all. And so I published a map of this city - and it was deleted under a far-fetched pretext. Why then weren’t all the other maps removed?
I think infoboxes can tend to get crowded up with maps and pictures, but is there another place that they could go, such as the in a relevant location in the body of the article? Nice work on the maps btw!
PersusjCP (
talk)
03:06, 24 June 2024 (UTC)reply
Let me explain. My logic is very simple. If the article is dedicated to a city, a map of this city in acceptable quality with the ability to use a file must be MANDATORY. A city is, first of all, roads and streets and water bodies (rivers). A city map is its MAIN portrait, to a much greater extent than a photo of a building, even a wonderful building. It is also obvious that, for example, an article about chipmunks should contain a photo of a chipmunk, and an article about George Washington should contain a portrait of George Washington. (not a tiny picture of Washington's crib). It is RIDICULOUS to publish an article about a city without a map of that city. I would understand the objections if some other (not my) city maps were published, but no. There are Google maps, OSM maps - which are suitable for viewing, but impossible to use. And so I add QUALITY vector maps of cities with full rights of use by all users - and someone comes
/info/en/?search=User:SounderBruce - and does not write me any intelligible comments or questions - he simply deletes my maps cities from articles. It is not right.
Vectormapper (
talk)
03:29, 24 June 2024 (UTC)reply
And one more thing about the username. "Vectormapper" is exactly the same legitimate username as, for example, "cook" or "fitter" or "doctor" or "archaeologist" - it accurately reflects the user's identification. The idea that the name "Hannibal_Lecter_666" is more acceptable than, for example, "Philatelist" seems ridiculous to me.
Vectormapper (
talk)
20:02, 23 June 2024 (UTC)reply
Kirill, the underlying premise of your above declarations seems to be that Wikipedia articles on cities should be the place where potential map-makers come looking for a basemap. I think you might find that not everyone here agrees with that premise.
Erictalk12:36, 24 June 2024 (UTC)reply
Of course no. Cartographers already know where to get the geodata they need and how to make a visual map of it. Try to answer the question “Should an article about a city have a map that is sufficiently informative and suitable for any use?” And in general, a city map is more important information regarding the city than any other information. The maps I provided for use on the Wiki are the so-called “overview” maps, easily scalable without loss of quality, in the SVG vector
Vectormapper (
talk)
17:19, 24 June 2024 (UTC)reply
I'm not sure we're getting anywhere here. You might want to seek more input by moving this discussion to one of the talkpages of the pages linked here:
Wikipedia:WikiProject_Maps#Scope. If you do want to move it, these templates can be useful: {{Moved discussion to}} and {{Moved discussion from}}.
Out of curiosity, could you briefly explain how
this map of Wintherthur, depicting a mostly unlabeled road network, provides someone with "more important information regarding the city than any other information"?
Erictalk18:25, 24 June 2024 (UTC)reply
Maps and promotion
Welcome to Wikipedia. There are a few things about the site's culture that should be explained, which are rather routine on-site but may appear strange to outsiders: the
BRD process, in which a revert is not an outright rejection but rather another part of a cycle that builds consensus (the next step being discussion); the
rules on watermarks, of which the maps do not meet; and the
guidelines for U.S. city articles, which specify that infoboxes should only have a limited number of maps so they are not bogged down.
The addition of watermarked maps that aren't clear in scope and have captions that seem to be straight from SEO spammers' playbooks ("Seattle and Bellevue Washington US street map vector SVG editable") would get any editor to perk up. It is not appropriate to do this en masse without discussing with the relevant projects, especially from a username that implies a level of self-promotion. While the images are licensed as CC-Zero and thus wouldn't lead to profit, it can create influence that unduly benefits the creator, whether intentional or not.
We are not here to be antagonistic; the message posted above is from a template that is standard for any username that appears to be from an organization rather than a person. There was no "fictitious pretext" as described in the DRN request, nor am I "out to get you". There just needs to be a discussion before major changes like this are made across many highly-watched and highly-read articles, the same for any user. SounderBruce00:10, 25 June 2024 (UTC)reply
So, as you can see, we have been drawing maps since the 17th century. In every generation in my family there was at least one person who designed maps.
Publishing on the Wiki does not bring me any direct or indirect benefit - I just found it possible to share my product with the Wiki community for free use.
I failed to convince you, and you remained with your opinion and your suspicions. I outlined all my thoughts above. Briefly:
1. I'm bad because I have a nickname that speaks about my profession.
2. I'm bad because my cards have a tiny signature of my logo.
3. I'm bad because on my user page it says what I do - cartography. And it’s not written that I love cats and scuba diving.
4. Free vector maps of cities are not needed in articles about cities, because (sorry, I can’t think of a reason for this), and also because “most users don’t need them.” The last statement is strange, because... You obviously didn't poll several thousand users to get a representative sample.
Try conducting a survey to see if articles about cities need a map of the streets and roads of the city. The answer is obvious.
Welcome to Wikipedia. Your account has been
blocked from editing because your username gives the impression that the account represents a group, club, organization, company, or website. Your username is the principal reason for the block. You are welcome to continue editing after you have chosen a new username that complies with Wikipedia's
username policy.
You should also read our
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To create a new account with a different username, simply log out of this account and then
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Please also note that you are permitted to use a username that contains the name of a company or organization if it also identifies you individually, such as "Sara Smith at XYZ Company", "Mark at WidgetsUSA", or "FoobarFan87", but not "SEO Manager at XYZ Company".
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I am aware of the discussion above, but it does not address or remedy the issue as per en Wiki policies. The broader discussion about your maps can continue since you have another account at your disposal. However I do recommend sticking to only one account.
StarMississippi16:57, 7 July 2024 (UTC)reply
I am a completely conscientious user, but I am accused of all sorts of bad things. I would like to change the username to Kirill_Shrayber
Vectormapper (
talk)
18:35, 7 July 2024 (UTC)reply
I don't have any other accounts. There is an account for my son (Ilya Shrayber), same last name, naturally. But he doesn't work with Wikipedia now.
Vectormapper (
talk)
08:47, 8 July 2024 (UTC)reply
Thinking of maps
Hi Kirill Shrayber, hope things are not too rough. If you are still interested in uploading maps,
Bremerhaven is an interesting place that could use a nice map, especially if it was able to show the administrative bounds of the city (cities?). A better version of
File:Map of Seoul 8 gates and 2 palaces.png also seems like it would be of great help. Best,
CMD (
talk)
15:46, 12 July 2024 (UTC)reply
Ok, thanks for your interest. The map of Bremerhaven will be ready within 2-3 days, I will send you a link. Perhaps Seoul will also be ready.
Kirill Shrayber (
talk)
21:10, 12 July 2024 (UTC)reply
Hello. Bremerhaven street map SVG + urban area polygon
Thanks. I see you have the Bremen state borders, would you be able to include the city borders too? There is a bit of the city (not state) of Bremen at the docks. As an aside, you may want to link maps using the Wikicommons link rather than a bare url, eg:
File:Bremerhaven Germany street map SVG.svg ([[:File:Bremerhaven Germany street map SVG.svg]]), easier for others to interact with. Best,
CMD (
talk)
09:44, 14 July 2024 (UTC)reply
I don’t have a ready-made map of Bremen in SVG. I think I can publish a map of Bremen (with city boundaries) within 1-2 days. Clarification: I have a complete map of Bremen, here it is: