After few weeks of rewriting large parts of the code and reimporting the database, OWL API and History Tab Beta are back on-line.

Currently the replication is running smoothly so new changes should be appearing within few minutes of uploading them to the main database.

History is constantly being processed but there is a lot of data to go through and it will take a long time (a month?) before you can check your edit from 2011 in the new history tab.

So what’s new? On the frontend side - not much. However, backend side should be much more future- and feature-proof, e.g. my personal goal is to make OWL a source of up-to-date worldwide vector tiles so that the OWL API can be used with Kothic JS to render OSM data in the browser - this will create great opportunities for new visualizations as there will no longer be the need for heavy server-side stuff to create new styles.

However, for now (and probably weeks/months to come) I will be focusing on finishing what I started - the new history tab. There is still a lot of work to do, especially on the frontend side (the UI I came up with so far is not very usable so any advice/mockups/tweaks are very welcome). On the backend side there are things like support for relations and better RSS feeds that are still in the TODO list.

In any case, enjoy the beta and as always, report any issues/ideas on Github.

May the owl be with you!

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I’ve just found a great edit by user Math1985 near my home location. This user added a lot of details based on a local survey - the best way to map!

Hopefully looking at such edits in the new History tab will be a small additional reward for your survey efforts. Check this out:

Now compare this with the current view which is filled with world wide edits like massive Wikipedia link fixes, tag spelling fixes etc.

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How do you know if someone’s been mapping street lamps in your neighborhood?

With the new History tab it’s easy!

Try it yourself!

Report suggestions or bugs here.

That’s right - if you use the popular Gravatar service you can go to your account settings and you will see a new option:

Simply select “Use Gravatar” and your Gravatar image will be used throughout the site.