Every day at around 4 pm (unless there’s IRL business that I have to attend to), I log in to https://osmbc.openstreetmap.de/ to edit this week’s edition of WeeklyOSM.

My task is to review all the links submitted by both WeeklyOSM editors and guest users. I study each link, then write a short sentence describing it.

Some link submitters already accompany their links with proper sentences when submitting, so I mostly skip those. I only focus on links that don’t have English text yet.

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This afternoon, while doing my daily WeeklyOSM editing, I stumbled upon this MapComplete post announcing that it is now possible to add pictures to reviews on MapComplete. This feature is powered by Mangrove Reviews.

Then, I suddenly remembered a certain discussion thread on c.osm.org regarding the possibility of building “a crowd-sourced review service for OpenStreetMap.”

Back then, I informed people that yet-another-crowdsourcing-mapping-platform had already built this kind of feature by simply allowing “comments” on each map object over there. My intention was to give a “clue” on how to make this wish a reality.

OSM objects (nodes/ways/relations) already have IDs. If we could simply add reviews to those OSM IDs as database keys, that would be simple and great.

Also, to gauge how well this idea is actually executed in the wild, you can see how that-yet-another-crowdsourcing-mapping-platform’s community reacted to the introduction of such a feature. Did it work? Did they actually add useful reviews there? How about moderation? What about the spam situation? How can we distinguish between good-faith posts and literal libel aimed at destroying someone’s business?

But apparently, a lot of people didn’t like my post. I got downvoted heavily. They accused me of “promoting” an OpenStreetMap “competitor” right behind “enemy lines.” Welp.

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Alright, let’s get back to the MapComplete situation.

I’ve heard of Mangrove Reviews for a long time. The first time I used that platform was also while I was editing WeeklyOSM.

One day, there was this OSM-based web app launching, something about leaving a review of a camping ground. I used that app to review a camping ground near my area. It turns out the reviewing feature is powered by Mangrove Reviews. Cool.

Back then I thought, “If I could review other things than camping grounds, that would be cool. Also, it would be even cooler if I were able to post images.”

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Now, fast forward to today.

Adding pictures to reviews? Is that our collective dream from long ago, just realized now?

Now I’m interested in pursuing this idea further.

First, I studied the Mangrove Reviews.

Then I found a problem.

I couldn’t find an interactive web map that shows all the submitted reviews.

So I built one.

Alright, done. It’s working.

Now we can see the reviews.

But how can we add reviews?

But I’m too lazy to implement it myself.

So I simply gave up.

Then I realized that MapComplete already implemented this feature, complete with an “add picture review” feature.

Nice.

Let’s try it.

Alright, done.

A new review of a certain cafeteria that I used to frequent during my college days, complete with a picture.

Good, it’s working.

Then I realized you can only add reviews to certain specific themes on MapComplete.

In the food theme, it turns out we can add reviews with pictures. But what if we want to review things other than food-related places?

So I studied MapComplete and learned how to make my own theme, so I can add more reviews to a wider variety of places.

And it’s done.

Great.

Now I can add reviews and browse reviews, even with images.

Dream come true.