Talk:Key:guidepost shape
Combination with direction=*
Currently, direction=* can be used together with guidepost_shape=board to indicate which direction the written side of the guidepost is facing. This means that the direction in direction=* and the directions used by direction_north=*, direction_northeast=*, and so on together (should) describe all the ways coming from the signposted junction with bicycle signage. For a guidepost_shape=fingers however, the directions used by direction_north=*, direction_northeast=*, and so on already contain all those outgoing ways.
Is there still a meaningful way to tag direction=* on a guidepost with guidepost_shape=fingers? --Henry572 (talk) 12:24, 17 October 2023 (UTC)
Thanks for taking the lead on this! I've been finding guidepost_shape=* really useful for specifying bicycle wayfinding signage in Sydney, Australia.
- Is there still a meaningful way to tag direction=* on a guidepost with guidepost_shape=fingers?
I think direction=* on a guidepost_shape=fingers guidepost should specify the direction the finger is pointing (ie. 90 degrees to where the text is facing, away from the supporting pole). I think this makes sense because:
- Many guideposts have an arrow in that direction
- Tagging direction as perpendicular to the text (as for guidepost_shape=board, which makes sense in that case) doesn't make sense when there is text on both signs of the finger. In that case it would have two correct directions 180 degrees from each other.
I hadn't looked at destination_sign relations previously, but I'm starting to think I should make use of them in more situations rather than information=guidepost. Do you see any reason that guidepost_shape=* would be unsuitable for use on a relation as well as the information=guidepost point? It seems to only be specified to be used for information=guidepost so far.
(meta: This is my first edit on the OSM wiki so I'm not very familiar with talk pages, feel free to correct my syntax or formatting if it's incorrect) --Jakecopp (talk) 06:34, 24 October 2023 (UTC)
- I think direction=* on a guidepost_shape=fingers guidepost should specify the direction the finger is pointing (ie. 90 degrees to where the text is facing, away from the supporting pole).
I agree that this is the most meaningful interpretation. I guess we could use semicolon-separated values for a guidepost with multiple fingers pointing in different directions. What still bugs me about this is that for a board guidepost, direction=* should have a single value, while a fingerpost will have multiple values of direction.
- Do you see any reason that guidepost_shape=* would be unsuitable for use on a relation as well as the information=guidepost point?
direction=* can still be used on the guidepost(s) that is/are part of the relation with 
sign. On the relation itself, no direction is necessary as the members with roles from, intersection and to already describe the ways that the guidepost is visible from and referring to. --Henry572 (talk) 14:23, 25 October 2023 (UTC)