Proposal:Description

The Feature Page for the approved proposal Description is located at Key:description

Description
Proposal status:	Approved (active)
Proposed by:	Ewmjc
Tagging:	description=* Data item
Statistics:
Draft started:	2006-09-19
Vote start:	2007-02-18
Vote end:	2009-04-07

Key Name: description

A "description=" tag is proposed for putting information meant for the general public. On interactive maps, this can appear as a rollover pop-up.

The existing "note=" tag would then be reserved for notes to self and fellow mappers that you don't really want to see on a final map.

The value would be short human-readable descripion of the parent node/segment/way/area. For example: "This park includes childrens' play area and boat-hire", "This path is flat and well graded, suitable for push chairs and young children". Multiple language versions can be supported using a language namespace prefix.

Notes:

Primary purpose:

1. to save surveyed information and observation in a directly readable form in a uniform across-the-board tag that can be used directly in a secondary map mouse-over pop-up, in a text listings and for text search-engines;
2. sometimes it unnecessarily clutters a general map to use the name tag, for example every footway that crosses a road could be marked description=footbridge in preference to name=footbridge.

Secondary purpose:

1. would also save a rapid increase in the tag namespace;
2. a place to put unstructured information until there is an appropriate custom tag (but see also 'note' annotation tag).

May also be used with a language namespace prefix. For example, description:en=Here be Dragons or description:es=Aquí, hay dragones

description is part of the Dublin Core Metadata Element Set for describing resources in XML data (ISO Standard 15836): http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/

Examples:

XML	Examples	Comments
<tag k="description" v="Includes childrens' play area and boat-hire"/>	<node> <tag k="leisure" v="park"/> <tag k="name" v="Marrickville Park"/> <tag k="description" v="Includes childrens' play area and boat-hire"/> </node>	Useful information for visitors.
<tag k="description" v="Main station for Inter-city, country and surburban interchange services"/>	<way> <tag k="railway" v="station"/> <tag k="name" v="Central"/> <tag k="description" v="Main station for Inter-city, country and surburban interchange services"/> </way>	It is not obvious from the other tagging information that this is a very important station.
<tag k="description" v="Newspaper, Cardboard, Glass, Shoes, Clothes. Open 24 hours"/>	<node> <tag k="amenity" v="recycling"/> <tag k="newspaper" v="recycling"/> <tag k="cardboard" v="recycling"/> <tag k="glass" v="recycling"/> <tag k="description" v="Newspaper, Cardboard, Glass. Open 24 hours"/> </node>	This example complements very specific tags that may be non-standard and/or not understood by the software reading the data. Software creating a detailed Recycling Location Map would use the specific tags, a general purpose map or general list of amenities in an area would use the description tag.
<tag k="description" v="This momument was erected on the spot where Captain Cook puportedly landed in Australia"/>	<node> <tag k="historic" v="monument"/> <tag k="name" v="First Fleet Monument"/> <tag k="description" v="This momument was erected in 1989 on the spot where the First Fleet first landed in Australia in 1788"/> </node>	This would be useful for someone using a geo-referenced search engine to find where this historic event occurred.

May apply to:

• <node>s: Yes
• Lines <Segment>s: Yes
• <way>s: Yes
• <area>s: Yes

Proposed by

Ewmjc 02:23, 19 September 2006 (BST)

Opinion

This has been here for ages, and no interest. All I can say is, is "notes=" not enough? If there is additional advantages with your proposal that I have missed then I have nothing against it. Ben. 03:06 3rd February 2007 (UTC)

Really the key advantage is that is indeed NOT the "note=" [sic] tag. "description=" is for the general public and "note=" for oneself and fellow mappers. MikeCollinson 01:28, 15 February 2007 (UTC)

Ok, I see. if its just for information that isn't for mapping can't it be "info=___"? It might not be a description just becasue its not notes for mappers. It could be anything. Ben. 03:01 15th February 2007 (UTC)

Indeed it could be "info=". I slightly prefer "description=" because of the Dublin core tie-up (and, to be honest, because I have many such tags already entered informally). MikeCollinson 02:19, 18 February 2007 (UTC)

Ok, doesn't matter too much, and If people have already been using "description" then thats a ok reason just to use "description" Ben. 00:42 20th February 2007 (UTC)

Language should be a suffix, as with other tags, so description:en, but I'm sure that's just a typo above. Other than that, seems like a good idea. Rjmunro 10:34, 8 May 2007 (BST)

Corrected, thanks MikeCollinson 23:16, 9 May 2007 (BST)

Tagwatch

Obviously this tag is in use:

• Germany

Votes

• I approve this proposal MikeCollinson 02:19, 18 February 2007 (UTC)
• I approve this proposal Ben. 00:41 20th February 2007 (UTC)
• I approve this proposal Rjmunro 10:35, 8 May 2007 (BST)
• I approve this proposal Rammer 12:05, 6 November 2008 (UTC)
• I approve this proposal MapFlea 12:31, 10 November 2008 (UTC)
• I approve this proposal --Wanderer 19:28, 23 November 2008 (UTC)
• I approve this proposal. --Meme 05:28, 18 December 2008 (UTC)
• I approve this proposal. --Daniel27 20:02, 17 January 2009 (UTC)
• I approve this proposal. --Lulu-Ann 13:28, 19 January 2009 (UTC)
• I approve this proposal. --Andre68 12:37, 20 January 2009 (UTC)
• I approve this proposal.--Liber 18:07, 20 January 2009 (UTC)
• I approve this proposal. --Riechfield 14:43, 22 January 2009 (UTC)
• I approve this proposal. --@themis 00:40, 1 February 2009 (UTC)
• I approve this proposal. --go2sh 12:56, 12 February 2009 (UTC)
• I approve this proposal, would like to see this tag in other languages as well, but what language is default, English or local?. --Skippern 20:22, 17 February 2009 (UTC)
• I approve this proposal. --Willem1 19:31, 1 March 2009 (UTC)
• I approve this proposal. -- fatbozz 09:26, 07 April 2009 (UTC)