Discussion of creation of version 1 of the forum map of The Great Wall of China

[chinoook]

Dear all,

I would like to start an open project here: WMOOFMOTGW. We Make Our Own ForumMap Of The Great Wall.

The idea is to get reliable data about where there is the Great Wall and to share it as a Google Earth .kmz file.

I just started with a sample map east of Yinchuan, Ningxia wich I would like to share with you. Adminsitrator: Is there a way to share files on this forum plattform? I woul like to post it here.

A shared workflow could be the following:

- There is always a single "master file". This one is shared here --> Here! <--
- everyone can download and create a new folder containing his own additional points, lines etc.
- this is sent back to the maintainer(s) of the master file
- the new folder contents will be discussed and modified here
- the maintainer(s) add the consensual data to the master file, wich will be updated and replaces the old one.

What is your opinion?
Regards

-chinoook

[Kim]

Great idea

I think many of us already have our own GE files, and I would be happy to share mine.

I don't know how Greatwallforum is hosted but maybe it would be possible to make a Greatwallforum/GE-files/ directory to uploade the file, but then Bryan would probably have to be the maintainer.

[Bryan]

This is an excellent idea!

Yes, some of us already have kmz files. It would be great for everyone to share them. I think the best plan would be to email them to me at the address below and I can attach them. Along with the file you can indicate any information that you do or do not want included in the post for that file. Or you can post the information yourself and I can attach the files.

Combining them into a master file is also a good idea. It would take some organization, however. For example, some of us name paths by latitude/longitude, some by area names, and so forth. I have a couple of kml/kmz files that are in Chinese language only. If they were all just dumped into one file, it would not be very friendly. Some discussion on how to best organize all the data would be helpful, but the optimization could be done over time.

In the future, the combined file will be attached to this post, and separate files will be attached to following posts. Note that only forum members can download attachments. Guests will need to join in order to be able to access attachments.

[chinoook]

Originally Posted by greatwallforum

Yes, some of us already have kmz files. It would be great for everyone to share them. I think the best plan would be to email them to me and I can attach them. Along with the file you can indicate any information that you do or do not want included in the post for that file. Or you can post the information yourself and I can attach the files.

Combining them into a master file is also a good idea. It would take some organization, however. For example, some of us name paths by latitude/longitude, some by area names, and so forth. I have a couple of kml/kmz files that are in Chinese language only. If they were all just dumped into one file, it would not be very friendly. Some discussion on how to best organize all the data would be helpful, but the optimization could be done over time.

In the future, the combined file will be attached to this post, and separate files will be attached to following posts.

Anyone needing my personal email addess can send me a private message and I will gladly share it.

I think, we should take maximum care that our own map will consist only of reliable information. I recommend the following:
- we try to point any known or identifieable (on GE or other) beacon tower
- we try to point any known wall, both existing or known to have been there
- we shoult try to avoid any "trash data" in our map
- a more scientific approach is what I would prefer over a touristic map

I also recomend the workflow described above.

Greatwallforum has attached the current master.kmz to this post.

We should try to have anything like a name convention. I prefer (correct) Chinese names over english, the chinese names given in Chinese as well as in pinyin.


-chinoook

[Kim]

We should try to have anything like a name convention. I prefer (correct) Chinese names over english, the chinese names given in Chinese as well as in pinyin.

I guess most of us are not fluent in Chinese, so I think it would complicate things unnecessarily if we use Chinese names.
The Chinese character and pinyin could be added in the description of the waypoint/placemark and "English" used as the name of the placemark.

I suggest to use different colours for different Dynasties where possible. Also we could use different colours for the place marks, i.e.:

Green: certain
Yellow: precise location unknown
Red: needs verification

That way it will be easy to identify in which area we need more research.

[chinoook]

Originally Posted by Kim

I guess most of us are not fluent in Chinese, so I think it would complicate things unnecessarily if we use Chinese names.
The Chinese character and pinyin could be added in the description of the waypoint/placemark and "English" used as the name of the placemark.

I suggest to use different colours for different Dynasties where possible. Also we could use different colours for the place marks, i.e.:

Green: certain
Yellow: precise location unknown
Red: needs verification

That way it will be easy to identify in which area we need more research.

Those are good proposals. Only I think we should stick to Chinese names (characters as well as pinyin) where possible. Don't underestimate the efford you need once in China to communicate with locals without exact Chinese names ...


-chinoook

[Kim]

Those are good proposals. Only I think we should stick to Chinese names (characters as well as pinyin) where possible. Don't underestimate the efford you need once in China to communicate with locals without exact Chinese names ...

I live in China, so I'm well aware of the usefulness of the exact Chinese names, that's why I suggest to put the Chinese names (including pinyin version) in the description area of the placemark. The Chinese characters can then easily be copied to documents used to prepare a trip to the Great Wall.
Here links to photos can also be places to make it easy to see photos of the place wherever available.

[Bryan]

I attached Chinoook's latest file above and I attached my latest file to this post. My data has not been collected and entered with the intent of sharing. It was just for my personal use. Therefore, it may not be in a presentable form and it certainly doesn't follow all of the suggested conventions above, such as color coding and Chinese/Pinyin support.

[chinoook]

Great work!
Some questions:
- do you have own GPS data meged into this .kmz-file?
- do you know anything about the reliability of the data?

Tomorrow I will think about how we can merge our data. With the help of all the other members of this forum we will probably get the best Great Wall map ever.

Nomenclature, how to present the data, all will be discussed by us later.


-chinoook

[Bryan]

Originally Posted by chinoook

Great work!
Some questions:
- do you have own GPS data meged into this .kmz-file?
- do you know anything about the reliability of the data?

Tomorrow I will think about how we can merge our data. With the help of all the other members of this forum we will probably get the best Great Wall map ever.

Nomenclature, how to present the data, all will be discussed by us later.


-chinoook

My information comes from GPS measurements, latitude/longitude coordinates found on the Internet (at this forum and at other sites), and visual observation of high-res imagery from Google Earth. None of my data are annotated as far as source, source type, reliability, etc.

I also have quite a few kml and kmz files that I have collected from others. These are not combined with my file. Anyone else wishing to share their files should let me know; I wouldn't post anyone else's work here without their permission.