This is the first post on how to use Wikimapia. In this first edition, I will go over the basics of adding a new place. My original blog post (which has been reposted here: Wikimapia) has received a number of search engine referrals that indicate some people do not know how to add a place. This post is for you! It is really quite simple. The following images are clickable for larger versions.

Wikimapia's Start Page

This is the home page you will see when you head over to Wikimapia. Since I dig Seattle, I will choose to take a look at that lovely city (you can see it is highlighted). You can navigate there by clicking and holding to scroll the screen (like is done in Google Maps) and using the zoom panel to choose different levels of closeness. OR if you are trying to get a location (or near to one) that already has a box around it (like Seattle), simply click the box and it will take you there.

Wikimapia: Seattle

This is what Seattle looks like after clicking its box. I think I will check out the University of Washington and see if there are any places I can add. Before that, I will zoom in a bit to help find UW.

Wikimapia: Seattle

There it is. At this zoom level, clicking on the box will not zoom me in (like it did when I was zoomed way out), it will just pull up the information on that box. I will zoom in a bit more to see the UW.

Wikimapia: The University of Washington

As a side here, when I get close to some places, like UW, it can be overwhelming with so many boxes. If I would like it to be more serene, I can go to the “view” menu and select “no places”. The result is the above image with just the peaceful UW. I will zoom in a bit more (and turn places back on) to check out the Physics and Astronomy building.

Wikimapia: The University of Washington, Physics Astronomy Building

And there it is. Now I want to add a new place because it looks like the Foucault Pendulum is not marked yet.

Wikimapia: The University of Washington, Physics Astronomy Building

To add a new place, go to the “Wikimapia” menu and select “Add New Place”.

Wikimapia: The University of Washington, Physics Astronomy Building

A new box will come up that you can move to the location of your place and resize it to fit (which I haven’t done yet in this image). Once the place and size is correct, click “save”.

Wikimapia: The University of Washington, Physics Astronomy Building

Up comes the information box. This is where you help “describe the whole Earth”. Choose the language you are writing in and whether the place is private (like a home or personal spot) or public. Give it an apropriate title and provide as many details as possible. In this case, I simply put that the place is the Foucault Pendulum in UW Physics Astronomy building and provided a link to information on the building and on focault pendulums. Then provide keyword tags to help people find the location by searching. When you have provided all the information, click “save”.

Wikimapia: The University of Washington, Physics Astronomy Building

After the information is saved, your place will be on the “Upcoming Places” list. People will now have to approve the location you just marked. It is all peer reviewed so there is no guarantee how long it will take to be approved (if approved at all). Now, you sit back and wait!

Wikimapia: The University of Washington, Physics Astronomy Building

WikimapiaIn order to see your place, you need to turn on “Upcoming Places” by going to the “view” menu and selecting “Upcoming Places”. This will allow you to see all the new place markers that are up for review (more up upcoming places at a later date). Upcoming places will be outlined in yellow instead of white. Compared to earlier, the new Foucault Pendulum location is listed as well as Kincaid Hall (lower right).

That is it! Prettly simple, eh? You are now on your way to describing the whole Earth! The demo location at Wikimapia: The Physics Astronomy building at the University of Washington.

The Matt’s Wikimapia Blog “How To” Series:
How To #1: Adding a New Place
How To #2: Upcoming Places
How To #3: Pictures and Comments
How To #4: Adding Wikimapia and Google Maps to your Website
How To #5: YouTube in Wikimapia!
How To #6: Adding Polygons