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new subpage for asteroid 4 Vesta

Because of the ongoing Dawn (spacecraft) mission, I expect to start seeing coordinates on 4 Vesta in Wikipedia articles. I've taken the liberty of creating a subpage for globe:vesta. —Stepheng3 (talk) 22:06, 22 December 2011 (UTC)

Yahoo maps / broadband

On the Dutch wikipedia we found that the url for Yahoo maps was no longer working . We changed maps.yahoo.com/broadband/ to maps.yahoo.com/ Now it works again. I think this needs to be done on all languages of this template, as all use /broadband/. HenkvD (talk) 09:49, 29 December 2011 (UTC)

I updated the templates in all languages, except for es: it: nv: pl: ru: and zh: as these were protected. I left a message on the discussion page of those templates. HenkvD (talk) 19:05, 31 December 2011 (UTC)
nv  Done. thanks. Choyoołʼįįhí:Seb az86556 > haneʼ 20:50, 31 December 2011 (UTC)
it  Done by user Bultro, pl  Done by user Yarl. HenkvD (talk) 18:00, 1 January 2012 (UTC)
ru  Done by user TarzanASG. Still do be done: es and zh. HenkvD (talk) 18:43, 6 January 2012 (UTC)

A bit of culling...

The main table has quite a number of services, maybe it's time for some review:

  • MSN maps: simply redirects to Bing, should be removed
  • GeoNames: doesn't seem much more than an embellished version of Google
  • GPS Visualizer: same as GeoNames

Should we remove them from the main table? Maybe move them to another section? Voomie (talk) 13:58, 4 January 2012 (UTC)

I agree with the implied argument: there are excess, redundant services cluttering the display. However, it would take a moderately map savvy user to recognize that their decades old friend, say MSN maps, is redundant to Bing. Dropping them without any way of making the replacement apparent would be even more confusing than the clutter. Instead, perhaps new annotations to that effect could be added for a transition period of, say, six months?:
Service Map Satellite Topo Other
Bing MapsPopular (replaces MSN maps) Map Aerial Bird's Eye
Blue Marble Navigator Satellite
etc.... ... ... ... ...
—EncMstr (talk) 16:43, 4 January 2012 (UTC)
I removed MSN in the Global and UK versions. Now what about the rest? A "main" and a "minor" division? Voomie (talk) 12:53, 5 January 2012 (UTC)
I advocate removing anything wholly redundant (e.g. MSN) but retaining, as is, embellished services such as GeoNames. I see no need to tread the major & minor path in a relatively short alpha-ordered list. --Tagishsimon (talk) 17:52, 5 January 2012 (UTC)
Yeah, I guess that with the Google/OSM link at the top and the preferential shading, we already give enough preference to the main sites. Voomie (talk) 12:20, 6 January 2012 (UTC)

Third Request to add United States Mapping Service: TerraFly

URL: http://vn4.cs.fiu.edu/cgi-bin/gnis.cgi?Lat={latdegdec}&Long={londegdec}&vid=&tfaction=&referer=tfhome

We would like to know if TerraFly can be added to the list of mapping services. TerraFly is part of the Florida International University HPDRC and CREST projects. The service has been running for more than 10 years and we would like to see it added to the Wikipedia United States Mapping Service listings. TerraFly.com homepage: http://www.terrafly.com

The original request was submitted on May 6, 2011 and last follow-up on July 12, 2011. Please see the last request for all the details: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template_talk:GeoTemplate#Request_to_add_United_States_Mapping_Service:_TerraFly

We have been waiting for a response. Do you have any other questions? Is there a reason that TerraFly can not be added? Please let us know. Thank you. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Ajeff003 (talk • contribs) 17:01, 4 January 2012 (UTC)

 Done - I've added the service (it could take a day to become live though). It was probably just forgotten last time, however on the zoom issue that was listed in previous discussions, would any of the zoom variables that are supported (see here) fit TerraFly? Zoom is not mandatory, but it is nice to have. Voomie (talk) 11:30, 5 January 2012 (UTC)
Thank you.
Metric Resolution for PointData pages and maps therein is supplied as Res=
http://vn4.cs.fiu.edu/cgi-bin/gnis.cgi?Res=2.4&Lat=25.814980883446694&Long=-80.1308274245971&Res=0.075
Likewise for GeoQuery pages:
http://vn4.cs.fiu.edu/cgi-bin/arquery.cgi?lat=25.814981&long=-80.130827&vid=&category=osm_points&Res=1.2
For the map without the encompassing data page the parameter is also res=
http://tfcore.cs.fiu.edu/map/#Lat=25.814981&Lon=-80.130827&res=1.2&Legend=$$http://vn4.cs.fiu.edu//wm$${Environment:Hydrology@rtgauges-0-8-%2Bptrim-8-100-%2Bprism-1-100-.t5v};Real_estate:MLS_listings_for_sale_and_rent_in_Miami_area@re1n-0-2-%2Bre2n-0-2-%2Brntn-0-2-%2Brinn-0-4-%2Brldn-0-4-;{Parcels::address:Addresses_from_First_American_Parcel_Data:@FA_Point-0-1-.a;~owner:Property_owner@flpropertiesowner-0-0.5-;owner:Property_owner@flpropertiesowner-0.5-8-;year_built:Year_property_built_or_renovated@flpropertiesyear-0-2-;size:Sizes_of_property_interior_and_lot@flpropertiessize-0-2-;appraisal:Property_value@flpropertiesvalue-0-2-;~lines:Property_lines,_from_First_American,_zoomin:@FA_Parcel-0-0.8-.t00;lines:Property_lines,_from_First_American,_zoomout:@FA_Parcel-0.8-2-.t00};{People::income:Aggregate_Neighborhood_Income_and_number_of_homes,_per_Census-2000@blkgrpy-0.6-8-.d0v%2Bbg_mhinc-0.6-8-;population:People_per_block_per_Census_2000@blk_pop-0-4-};{Services::doctors:Physicians_specialties@physicianspecialty-0-4-;food:Restaurants_from_NavTeq@nv_restrnts-0-8-;~business:Yellow_Pages@nypages-0-1-;business:Yellow_Pages@nypages-1-4-};~Places@annomreal-0-5-+annodhs-0-5-+gnis2-0-5-+hotels-0-5-;Places@annomreal-5-20-+annodhs-5-20-+gnis2-5-20-+hotels-5-20-;{Roads::lines@street-0-30-.l_;~lines@street-30-100-.l_;~names:Roads,_and_streets@street-0-100-._n;OSM-names:Open_Street_Maps@osm-0-100-._n;OSM-lines:Open_Street_Maps@osm-0-100-.l_};{Towns::~towns:Cities,_towns@wtown-0-100-%2Bincorp-0-100-.00v;borders@incorp-0-100-.v00};plugin_photo&dlayerfield=L&DLayerLegend=QUERY&DLayerData=http%3A//vn4.cs.fiu.edu/cgi-bin/arquery.cgi%3F%26vid%3D%26category%3Dosm_points%26Res%3D1.2%26tfaction=shortdisplay%26filetype=.xml&DLayerSelect1=false&dlayerfield1=L&DLayerColor1=0x7fe5ff&DLayerLegend1=Wikipedia&DLayerData1=http%3A//vn4.cs.fiu.edu/cgi-bin/arquery.cgi%3Fcategory%3Dwikix2011%26tfaction=shortdisplay%26filetype=.xml&Panels=zoom+nav+overview+measure+download+legend&address=711+41+ST,++MIAMI,+FLORIDA+33140&vid=&tf_passtrough=%26tfaction%3Darqueryosm_points

Ajeff003 (talk) 13:48, 11 January 2012 (UTC)

Could you give a list of all the levels of scaling? That is, all the different values that "?res=" can take. Thanks, Voomie (talk) 13:25, 15 January 2012 (UTC)

Longitude error with MapQuest

GeoHack appears to be passing on +ve longitudes to MapQuest for (so far as I can tell) all longitude values between -1 and 0, so locations which should be in the English Midlands appear in East Anglia, for example. This seems to occur regardless of the coord format used - all are shown as decimal entries on the MapQuest page. The following examples should all end up close to Thame, Oxfordshire, but the first and second end up somewhere in Essex. I haven't got round to checking values beyond UK. (While we are about it - the scale with MapQuest is also not very helpful).

It's not just a problem between 0° and 0°59'59" W, but also between 0° and 0°59'59" S. Consider Mount Kenya, which is at 0°9′00″S 37°18′00″E / 0.15000°S 37.30000°E / -0.15000; 37.30000 - MapQuest puts it too far north, by, as it happens, 2x9=18 minutes - at 0°9′00″N 37°18′00″E / 0.15000°N 37.30000°E / 0.15000; 37.30000.
I think the problem is that regardless of the supplied format, the coordinates are passed to MapQuest as separate d/m/s integer values, with the hemisphere being indicated by a sign on the degree value. Here is the actual link from the second "close to Thame" example: 51°45'0" -0°58'48", note that it contains &latdeg=51&latmin=45&latsec=0&longdeg=-0&longmin=58&longsec=48. Unfortunately for a longitude between 0°0'0" and 0°59'59" W this has given a value for the degrees of -0, which is not permissible mathematically, so MapQuest is ignoring the sign, even though there are non-zero minutes.
It occurred to me that for such values, the sign could be applied to the minutes instead, but that is worse: 51°45'0" 0°-58'48" - I don't think this is a mathematical error. I think that the default setting for MapQuest, when any invalid coordinates are passed (such as negative minutes), is to go to the centre of Amsterdam.
If I pass the decimal degrees without converting to d/m/s (i.e. &latdeg=51.75&longdeg=-0.98), it seems to work: 51.75 -0.98. --Redrose64 (talk) 11:18, 17 January 2012 (UTC)
I think that passing &latdeg={latdegdec}&longdeg={londegdec} as the general case should work. --Redrose64 (talk) 12:00, 17 January 2012 (UTC)

Estonian Land Board

It seems they have changed things and the xgis-latlon.php script no longer exists. The new method of accessing X-Gis is http://xgis.maaamet.ee/xGIS/XGis?app_id=UU82&user_id=at&punkt=Y,X&lang=2 The Y and X coordinates are in the L-EST system. More information in Estonian: http://geoportaal.maaamet.ee/est/Teenused/Poordumine-kaardirakendusse-labi-URLi-p9.html 82.131.30.48 (talk) 17:04, 1 February 2012 (UTC)

area data

Hello, perhaps this is covered elsewhere. Is there a) a way to specify an area instead of a point in a wikipedia article? That is, could a bounding rectangle be specified instead of a single point? b) a way to display such a bounding rectangle in the geohack page? Thank you. Fotoguzzi (talk) 20:04, 2 February 2012 (UTC)

Currently, the closest mechanism is to specify a dim:X parameter (see this). On many—if not most—mapping services the map will be scaled so that an object of that dimension roughly fills the map view. There is no provision for displaying any shape though, just a point. —EncMstr (talk) 20:40, 2 February 2012 (UTC)
There's discussion elsewhere - Wikipedia_talk:WikiProject_Highways#Discussion_of_Proposal_9 - about the possible use of shapefiles within Wikipedia and integrated with GeoHack. Too soon to say whether it will come to anything. --Tagishsimon (talk) 21:54, 2 February 2012 (UTC)
Thanks. I see that it is a much more complex problem than I was imagining. I guess someone has to do something and see if anybody follows along. Fotoguzzi (talk) 00:45, 3 February 2012 (UTC)
You might now want to check out Wikipedia_talk:WikiProject_Geographical_coordinates#Highway_401 --Tagishsimon (talk) 23:07, 9 February 2012 (UTC)

Paris meridian

Could someone add, for French regional data, coordinates with the Paris Meridian? It simply consists in adding E 2°20′14.025″ to all coordinates. Thanks, Voomie (talk) 22:54, 9 February 2012 (UTC)

Why? It doesn't seem useful to use two different coordinate systems. Neither does the Paris Meridian article suggest to me that anyone much uses a coord system with a Parisian meridian. --Tagishsimon (talk) 23:06, 9 February 2012 (UTC)
We have similar for OSGB, it seems reasonable to add the necessary conversion code here. Andy Mabbett (Pigsonthewing); Talk to Andy; Andy's edits 23:53, 9 February 2012 (UTC)
Yes, we also give OS coordinates when dealing with UK locations - so the same should be done for France. Concerning the claim they are no longer used, having in my possession several French topo maps, I can tell you that they all give longitudes with both the French and Greenwich meridians. Voomie (talk) 16:09, 26 February 2012 (UTC)
We should also add the Irish grid reference system. Voomie (talk) 19:57, 7 March 2012 (UTC)

Sary Shagan isn't in Liechtenstein!

Something has gone wrong somewhere! I click on 46°0′11″N 73°38′58″E / 46.00306°N 73.64944°E / 46.00306; 73.64944 which is part of the Sary Shagan test site in Kazakhstan. Geohack gives me regional services for.. Liechtenstein! Secretlondon (talk) 06:28, 19 February 2012 (UTC)

I thought maybe there was a glitch in the coordinate region approximation, but an explicit region code with KZ, 46°00′11″N 73°38′58″E / 46.003056°N 73.649444°E / 46.003056; 73.649444, produces the same results. Apparently KZ is somehow mixed up with LI. —EncMstr (talk) 08:05, 19 February 2012 (UTC)
Yes, three country codes were somehow interchanged. Have fixed them. --Redrose64 (talk) 13:25, 19 February 2012 (UTC)
This is the edit that broke them. That person apparently didn't realise that the <div id="GEOTEMPLATE-KZ"> (and similar) belongs with the section following, and is not part of the preceding section. They made a similar error with Israel, Jordan and Taiwan, when attempting to add Palestine, which appears to have already been fixed (see here and here). --Redrose64 (talk) 13:52, 19 February 2012 (UTC)
Thanks for fixing this! Secretlondon (talk) 22:50, 19 February 2012 (UTC)

Topomapper dual view

Someone just added the dual view topomapper, so naturally I clicked on it to see what it does. I tried several articles, but the best I got was this. Is it set up correctly? Maybe I am expected to interact with the map before it becomes useful? —EncMstr (talk) 19:11, 26 February 2012 (UTC)

Yeah, it seems to bug at very low altitudes — but otherwise it's fine. I added a note to explain this. Voomie (talk) 01:51, 28 February 2012 (UTC)

HTML that can't even stand a different font size

https://jira.toolserver.org/browse/GEOHACK-18 Jidanni (talk) 12:42, 28 February 2012 (UTC)

What's you point? Please make it here. Andy Mabbett (Pigsonthewing); Talk to Andy; Andy's edits 13:21, 28 February 2012 (UTC)

Wikimapia broken?

I don't know whether this is us or them but if you click on a link to wikimapia you don't get anything. However wikimapia itself seems to load okay. They seem to have updated their code a couple of days ago - could this have broken our links? Secretlondon (talk) 21:08, 16 March 2012 (UTC)

Our links are to URLs like:
and according to User Guide: Wikimapia's URL, most of these are valid - it doesn't mention &spnx or &spny though, nor a meaning for &v=8. --Redrose64 (talk) 21:43, 16 March 2012 (UTC)
They have a forum thread blaming geohack: http://wikimapia.org/forum/viewtopic.php?p=188950#p188950 and the &spnx=0.1&spny=0.1 Secretlondon (talk) 23:07, 16 March 2012 (UTC)
And taking those out seems to give working links. Secretlondon (talk) 23:10, 16 March 2012 (UTC)
Yup. That was my forum thread, and I was working towards proposing taking the &spnx={span}&spny={span} params out of the template, but I've not yet been able to figure out what the {span} tag does. I think it determines, in effect, the zoom level, but I've not yet been able to figure it out for sure. Best regards, TransporterMan (TALK) | DR goes to Wikimania! 01:42, 17 March 2012 (UTC)
The google maps links mostly (all?) use the {span} where it definitely does affect the zoom level: the higher the value, the greater the area shown. I propose to remove it solely from the wikimapia links (i.e. remove the &spnx={span}&spny={span} fields to give http://www.wikimapia.org/#lat={latdegdec}&lon={londegdec}&m=w etc.) which should at least get those working to some degree; when somebody has worked out the best way of setting a value for the &z= field, we can restore a zoom level to the wikimapia links. --Redrose64 (talk) 12:03, 17 March 2012 (UTC)
I concur and have changed the template, but it's still including the params. I think I read something somewhere about changes not taking effect immediately, or maybe something else has to do be done...? Regards, TransporterMan (TALK) | DR goes to Wikimania! 18:46, 18 March 2012 (UTC) Updated — TransporterMan (TALK) | DR goes to Wikimania! 19:19, 18 March 2012 (UTC)
The issue is fixed on our side. W8r 19 March 2012 —Preceding undated comment added 13:34, 19 March 2012 (UTC).
We do still need to get the zoom function working, however. There is a {osmzoom} parameter already generated by {{coord}} and used in the template for Open Street Maps which at least approximates the Wikimapia zoom levels (which according to this post at the Wikimapia forum can be fairly flexible). The {zoom} parameter used by several other services apparently has a maximum value of 9, whereas {osmzoom} can do 2-18. Wikimapia has a more or less standard maximum value of 19 and can go higher, per that forum post. Does anyone have an objection to setting the Wikimapia &z= field to {osmzoom} for the time being, at least? Best regards, TransporterMan (TALK) | DR goes to Wikimania! 14:05, 19 March 2012 (UTC)
Done, having heard no objection. Regards, TransporterMan (TALK) | DR goes to Wikimania! 13:37, 20 March 2012 (UTC)

old-maps.co.uk

Could this be added to the template for locations in the Great Britain? URL format http://www.old-maps.co.uk/maps.html?coords={osgb36easting},{osgb36northing} should work. Sdoerr (talk) 21:27, 28 March 2012 (UTC)

I don't know how to do it, but I second the request. Regards, TransporterMan (TALK) | DR goes to Wikimania! 21:41, 28 March 2012 (UTC)
Hmm. I have http://www.old-maps.co.uk/indexmappage2.aspx?action=forcexy&easting={osgb36easting}&northing={osgb36northing} Two examples to test with:
--Redrose64 (talk) 23:52, 28 March 2012 (UTC)
Ah, have found that my second one redirects to http://www.old-maps.co.uk/maps.html?txtXCoord=452373&txtYCoord=202779 so that would be http://www.old-maps.co.uk/maps.html?txtXCoord={osgb36easting}&txtYCoord={osgb36northing} --Redrose64 (talk) 23:55, 28 March 2012 (UTC)
I was able to implement http://www.old-maps.co.uk/maps.html?txtXCoord={osgb36easting}&txtYCoord={osgb36northing} and then tried http://www.old-maps.co.uk/indexmappage2.aspx?action=forcexy&easting={osgb36easting}&northing={osgb36northing} only to discover that both of them took you to the wrong place because {osgb36easting} and {osgb36northing} generate the wrong values. As I'm sure you know, you can get to old-maps.co.uk indirectly through the "Old OS maps" link. If you do, then old-maps.co.uk takes you to the correct place, but using the values provided by either of those urls will not. For example: Using the coords in the White_Tower_(Tower_of_London) article, via the "Old OS maps" route will take you to the correct place whether you use Wikimapia or go there via the "Old OS maps" route to old-maps.co.uk, but the urls using {osgb36easting} and {osgb36northing} will take you to a place in the moat of the Tower of London about 400 feet away from the correct place. That's because going via the "Old OS maps" route generates a easting and northing of <533621,180550> whereas {osgb36easting} and {osgb36northing} generates <533510,180605>. I've removed the changes I made to the template (though the removal has not yet percolated through the toolserver at this writing) and perhaps someone can figure out why {osgb36easting} and {osgb36northing} do not work like "Old OS maps" does. Regards, TransporterMan (TALK) | DR goes to Wikimania! 16:59, 4 April 2012 (UTC) Supplement: FWIW, I've just discovered and confirmed that the "Old OS maps" page uses the GNU GPU Jcoord library from jstott.me.uk to do its conversions. I've also made this inquiry to one of the GeoHack coders about it. — TransporterMan (TALK) | DR goes to Wikimania! 18:05, 4 April 2012 (UTC)
Yes, the GPL Jcoord library is exactly the kind of thing GeoHack should be using. The problem is that GeoHack doesn't, GeoHack misses out a crucial stage in the conversion, and as a result all of GeoHack's OSGB-36 output is wrong. This also affects eg all the links to eg Streetmap.co.uk
Unfortunately I'm not a GeoHack coder (despite what TransporterMan wrote above). It should be very easy to patch in the missing code needed from something like Jcoord (or, rather, its PHP variant PHPcoord), but I've never got a UserID to hack it myself -- nor for that matter downloaded a test system to get some experience playing with PHP first, before going in to tweak such a mission-critical system. But it absolutely should be a very easy fix to make, for any GeoHack person that would take it on. Jheald (talk) 14:37, 5 April 2012 (UTC)
Thanks for the clarification (and sorry that I misidentified you as a coder). Let me see what I can scare up on this. Regards, TransporterMan (TALK) | DR goes to Wikimania! 16:27, 5 April 2012 (UTC)

deprecated PlanetEye maps (in Photos)

The PlanetEye photo maps have been shutdown for over a year but now their URLs are no longer working. They should be removed from the list of "photo" services. Here is an example of a URL that is broken, as taken from the Eiffel Tower page.

 Done Yes, it throws a 404 error, so I've hidden the row. That way, should it be fixed at their end, we can reinstate it. --Redrose64 (talk) 17:07, 4 April 2012 (UTC)

Ayna maps

The Ayna link http://maps.ayna.com/ just brings up 'cannot find the server'. It's still linked to from http://www.ayna.com/ so it could be a technical problem. Secretlondon (talk) 09:46, 13 April 2012 (UTC)

maps.mail.ru

Whatever page I try the maps.mail.ru regional service just gives me a map centred on central Moscow. eg from Lekhtusi_Radar_Station http://toolserver.org/~geohack/geohack.php?pagename=Lekhtusi_Radar_Station&params=60.275458_N_30.546017_E_type:landmark. The link http://maps.mail.ru/#x=30.546017&y=60.275458&z=8&mode=satellite redirects to http://maps.mail.ru/?z=10&ll=37.62,55.75.

I presume it doesn't like the way we formatting the URLs. Secretlondon (talk) 10:32, 13 April 2012 (UTC)

Edit request on 8 May 2012

Hello. I would like to correct the URL format of Nokia maps. Currently it points to non existing map24 service with : ! scope="row" style="font-weight:normal; text-align:left;" | Nokia Maps | Map | | |

I would like to replace it with the following correct URL implementation : |- style="background:#f5f5f5" ! scope="row" style="font-weight:normal; text-align:left;" | Nokia Maps | Map | Satellite | Terrain |

Source for this is the maps.nokia.com development team in Berlin Germany.

Jsilfver (talk) 14:15, 8 May 2012 (UTC)

Partly done: removed the title parameter, added osmzoom Diskurs (talk) 17:36, 8 May 2012 (UTC)

Polygons

I'm sure someone once wanted to do polygons here. By changing the Google links from q={latdegdec},{londegdec} to q={title}%20({latdegdec},{londegdec}) Google will now automatically show the boundaries of political divisions. For others it will show the article title in the search bar, making for a more informative page.
I also removed the (prev. MSN Maps); it's been long enough for people to learn.
Voomie (talk) 12:55, 26 May 2012 (UTC)

Change in behavior of Google Maps

See Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Geographical coordinates#Change in behavior of Google Maps for a problem with the lack of the green arrow after the changes made by User:Voomie yesterday. — Richardguk (talk) 14:59, 27 May 2012 (UTC)

I've reverted, for now. Andy Mabbett (Pigsonthewing); Talk to Andy; Andy's edits 20:13, 27 May 2012 (UTC)
Thanks. Another problem had been reported at VPT prior to your revert, so it seems that Google had been relying on the title instead of making any use of the parenthetical coordinates. — Richardguk (talk) 01:46, 28 May 2012 (UTC)

Local Lithuanian service

I want to suggest a local Lithuanian map service maps.lt. Direct links would be:

Iksius (talk) 10:03, 27 May 2012 (UTC)

Not done: there already appears to be a link Mdann52 (talk) 15:45, 27 May 2012 (UTC)

Old Maps Online

Hi all,

I went to a remarkably interesting presentation yesterday about the recently launched Old Maps Online, and it seemed worth suggesting here.

It's quite an elegant service - it continually generates a set of maps matching your selected position and scale, optionally allowing filtering by period (so you can, eg, look for "maps of London between 1780 and 1850"). These aren't displayed on the map itself, but the service links directly out to the institution holding them - so you're directed straight to the map viewer service at the NYPL, Vision of Britain, etc. The partner institutions all have minimum data standards for quality and usability - so the images are all high-resolution and zoomable - and they can't be paywalled or restricted-login.

I'm not immediately sure how to construct a deeplink using a single pair of coordinates - the system they use expects a bounding box rather than a point - but if I can figure out how to surmount this, does it look like a useful service to include in the template? (disclaimer: I'm working with the BL, who are a contributor of images to the project) Andrew Gray (talk) 14:54, 1 June 2012 (UTC)

Sounds very promising, and very useful. Presumably we could calculate a bounding box centred on the coord and sized according to the scale or dim parameter? I'd really like to see this in the template as I have often reached for old maps to support article writing or coording. The BL rocks, btw --Tagishsimon (talk) 16:38, 1 June 2012 (UTC)
I've filed an entry in their feature-request system to support single-point linking - at the moment, we can do this by making X1 and X2 the same X, as so, producing a zero-sized area, but this also zooms in to the closest zoom level. There's no support in the URL to force zooming, so I think we'd have to calculate an arbitrary box around the point ourselves, which might be difficult.
Yes, it does ;-) You should come to one of the events! Details when they're in the calendar... Andrew Gray (talk) 16:50, 1 June 2012 (UTC)
A quick update - I ran in to one of their team today, and this is "being worked on". Hopefully it'll be able to work soon! They also mentioned some problems with the Vision of Britain links, which I'm looking into. Andrew Gray (talk) 11:19, 6 September 2012 (UTC)

Edit request

Please revert the edits made today. I can't even find the links I want because the format is so thoroughly changed and made complicated. 129.79.34.222 (talk) 13:45, 11 July 2012 (UTC)

It still alphabetized as before. Although, I've put 85% of most clicked links at the top (dewiki sort order). Our own WikiMiniAtlas is now always visible, the new layout is more useable on netbook screens (1024x600), and reduced amount text will make it easier for more people to find what they're looking for. — Dispenser 15:17, 11 July 2012 (UTC)
The new format makes inefficient use of screen area for those of us with wide (as in 1280px) monitors. It requires me to scroll down to see region-specific resources. Isn't there some way to make it better for everybody, not just Netbook users? —Stepheng3 (talk) 21:20, 11 July 2012 (UTC)
You now have to scroll down to find the relevant section which used to appear where the map now appears and makes things less efficient. Keith D (talk) 22:07, 11 July 2012 (UTC)
95%+ of clicks are in the "Global services" section. Aside from the general unkempt (how long has MSN been dead?) it looks like only ACME and Ordnance Survey got more than a dozen clicks out of the tens of thousands a day. The German Wikipedia had layout for 2 years out problem. Nearly every website fixes its layout into 1000px column. So, should I shift the white-space from center to right? In other news, I've looked at the clicking heatmaps and there a hotspot where the plain-text coordinates (copy/paste?). — Dispenser 00:21, 12 July 2012 (UTC)
The request was to put it back to the old layout. I support that request. —Stepheng3 (talk) 15:32, 12 July 2012 (UTC)
Here's what I want: since User:Dschwen is doing a presentation on WikiMiniAtlas at Wikimania I want it visible "above the fold" on my 1600x1200 monitor for the duration. If I come back on Monday and find out this wasn't the case, I'll hard-code a "Google only" version for a week. (Hint: There can be multiple WMAs and it removes everything inside the container so you place the minimap instead.) — Dispenser 23:26, 12 July 2012 (UTC)
Not done: I can't see any major change between the current and previous versions. Mdann52 (talk) 10:31, 13 July 2012 (UTC)

France Géoportail

Hello. Since a few days, the French IGN maps cannot be displayed with the same URL syntax : http://www.geoportail.gouv.fr has changed : &c= are still the coordinates, but &l= has evolved. &z= accepts a scale factor whose formula is 3.16906E-9 * {scale} (where {scale} is 25000, 50000, etc.). Can anybody modify geohack.php in order that it sends back a new variable {gpscale} so we can use it in all GeoTemplate's (France, Géoportail line): &z={gpscale}. (Like {mmscale} for MultiMap). Thanking you by advance, Jack ma (talk) 09:14, 12 July 2012 (UTC)

It seems to be in mapsources.php (seen in https://wiki.toolserver.org/view/GeoHack). I'll try to update it by adding $gpscale, but I'm not sure I have the rights, even if I have svn. I've just sent an email to Egil (programmer of mapsources.php) to ask him to do it. Jack ma (talk) 08:23, 12 October 2012 (UTC)

Wikimapia

Courtesy notification of a discussion elsewhere :-

In addition please read - [1]

Google's terms would appear to state that you can't capture geo-codes or 'derive' from their imaging. What is WikiMapia doing if it isn't geo-coding or 'deriving' based on Google's imaging?

Sfan00 IMG (talk) 12:56, 12 July 2012 (UTC)

I note Dispenser's note that there are more changes to come next week, but thought I'd put in a word for the return of a direct link to a Bing OS map, which IIRC was available in the old format. I can't see it in the current format. thanks --Tagishsimon (talk) 18:31, 12 July 2012 (UTC)

In the 'old' style, there's a row marked "Bing Maps UK (prev. MSN Maps)", the second link for which is a Bing OS link. I couldn't find its counterpart in the dewiki version. The compatible table in that seems to start with what is the second row of the 'old' table, iirc. --Tagishsimon (talk) 22:34, 12 July 2012 (UTC)
At Template:GeoTemplate#Great Britain it's the second of the four www.bing.com links: [http://www.bing.com/maps/?mkt=en-gb&v=2&cp={latdegdec}~{londegdec}&lvl=14&sp=Point.{latdegdec}_{londegdec}_{title}&sty=s OS maps] --Redrose64 (talk) 22:36, 12 July 2012 (UTC)
Sorry I missed that. I deleted it because "Map", "Ariel", and "Bird's Eye" were were duplicates of what was the global section. — Dispenser 23:08, 12 July 2012 (UTC)

2 Suggestions

I'm not sure about the URL structure, but http://www.itoworld.com/map/main has a HUGE amount of dataset analysis maps based on OSM. Sfan00 IMG (talk) 00:01, 13 July 2012 (UTC)

I've added the OpenStreetData version. We already link to the latter, ooc. version. Andy Mabbett (Pigsonthewing); Talk to Andy; Andy's edits 12:51, 6 September 2012 (UTC)

Would it be possible for you to add to each GeoHack page a link to the MapIt Global results for that point? This is a service that (among other things) can map latitude/longitude to the administrative boundaries in OpenStreetMap that cover that point. The link would be of the form: http://global.mapit.mysociety.org/point/4326/<longitude>,<latitude>.html. For example, here are the results for a point in Zürich. Mhl20 (talk) 13:11, 16 July 2012 (UTC)

It was already there, but in the UK section; I've moved it. Andy Mabbett (Pigsonthewing); Talk to Andy; Andy's edits 12:58, 6 September 2012 (UTC)

Google Earth Satellite option opens Google maps

The Google Earth Satellite option opens Google maps. Seems to be like this on all pages. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 62.101.49.169 (talk) 10:30, 29 July 2012 (UTC)

It appears Google's killed their KML service. I've replaced with a link from the German Wikipedia. — Dispenser 00:41, 30 July 2012 (UTC)

4 Vesta

Need to clarify whether we're using the NASA or IAU coordinate system. All NASA and Dawn publications use the NASA system, which is more precisely defined, but this is unacceptable to the IAU. The IAU system is based on a miscalculated rotational pole, so a third system has been proposed as a compromise. It appears that we're based on the USGS, which uses the NASA system. — kwami (talk) 21:39, 15 September 2012 (UTC)

USGS National Map Viewer not working

The link in GeoHack for the National Map Viewer does not work. "Server not found" error is received.•••Life of Riley (T–C) 01:22, 1 October 2012 (UTC)

Hi, the link to report inaccuracies is wrong. It is built using …/index.php?title=Talk:{pagename}&…, where {pagename} is the name of the file (category?) with namespace. So reporting an inaccuracies that way will give a link like Talk:File:anImage.jpg, which of course does not work. The link must be File talk:anImage.jpg. This is not possible using the {pagename} variable, as it already contains the namespace. Is there a variable egal to {{PAGENAME}} to be used here? cheers --Herzi Pinki (talk) 08:55, 8 October 2012 (UTC)

Poland -direct link to Geoportal Maps?

Is it possible to get direct links to objects in Poland with Geoportal. I believe, it works, so http://maps.geoportal.gov.pl/webclient/default.aspx?crs=EPSG%3A2180&bbox=553252,500995,556017,500048&variant=RASTER links directly to the site of former Konstantynow Radio Mast. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 91.46.174.135 (talk) 22:17, 17 October 2012 (UTC)

Yandex Maps

.com version now have North America and Europe, but without satellite at the moment 

|- style="background:#f5f5f5"
! scope="row" style="font-weight:normal; text-align:left;" | Yandex Maps
| [http://maps.yandex.com/?ll={londegdec},{latdegdec}&spn={span},{span}&l=map Map]
| 
|
|

Elk Salmon (talk) 02:36, 9 November 2012 (UTC)

Sunken warships, and not interactive

I am being served with the correct map, and the scale I want. This is of the sea around Cebu in the Philippines. But the map has overlaid on it details of a number of sunken US and Japanese warships (which I don't want shown). Additionally it purports to be interactive, but nothing actually works - status bar shows the link is there, but click does nothing.
Look at http://toolserver.org/~geohack/geohack.php?pagename=Bantayan_Island&params=11_12_N_123_45_E_dim:15000_format:dms_region:PH-07

In addition, on the wikipage, clicking on the actual coordinates brings up the correct map and dimensions[*], but if I click on the blue globe it serves the same map but zoomed in about six steps - check out Bantayan Island

[*] in fact the dim parameter seems to be out by a factor of 10 - to get 150 km I entered 15000 which is not 150km in metres.

Johnmperry (talk) 13:59, 11 November 2012 (UTC)

There is an additional error with the same map - if I expand the dropdown in the top rh corner, I can select wikimedia commons and a few photos appear. However it is not possible to unselect. Johnmperry (talk) 10:28, 12 November 2012 (UTC)

Night lights

I would like to add the following in the "Other" column of "Blue Marble Navigator":

[http://www.blue-marble.de/nightlights?ll={latdegdec},{londegdec} Night Lights]

It leads to maps like this and should thus not be controversial. But as my account was freshly migrated from the DE Wikipedia, I apparently don't count as sufficently "established" to apply this change. Could somebody do this, please? :) Thanks in advance! — Urs Enke (talk) 21:01, 7 December 2012 (UTC)

Bing Maps not linking to actual maps

Not sure why Wikipedia is not fixing this (rather months-long) problem but Wikipedia's geo template is not all OK. One of the map links on the list, namely the link to Bing maps ("Maps" "Areal" and "Bird's eye") are not linking to the actual maps but to bing dot com page. Why is this not fixed yet? Loginnigol (talk) 17:50, 21 January 2013 (UTC)

Are these the Bing links in the left-hand box (under "Global services"), or in the right-hand box (under a country name)? If the right, which country? --Redrose64 (talk) 18:38, 21 January 2013 (UTC)

Wanted to look something up for a page research today, couldn't do it because of this "not found" message. Whatever the code is it needs revamping.Skookum1 (talk) 08:47, 30 January 2013 (UTC)

It's not a "not found" message; the actual message is "msWMSLoadGetMapParams(): WMS server error. Invalid layer(s) given in the LAYERS parameter." This suggests a problem with Javascript at their end. --Redrose64 (talk) 09:49, 30 January 2013 (UTC)

360cities.net has been blacklisted

rationale

Keeping it in this template seems inconsistent. —rybec 06:28, 26 February 2013 (UTC)

I edited the template, commenting it out. —rybec 22:23, 1 March 2013 (UTC)

Here maps

A link to here.com was added to the top of this page, on 18 March, alongside Google and OSM. We had research done before we added the latter; do we have evidence that Here is a link wanted by our readers? Andy Mabbett (Pigsonthewing); Talk to Andy; Andy's edits 20:30, 2 April 2013 (UTC)

I've not seen evidence. Having four links up top seems to me to be a distraction — the whole reason for having something up top is to highlight an exceptionally popular service, and with four (or even three) you have to spend a moment searching for what you want. It's not a ton of time, but the whole point is that it saves you a few seconds over the chart; get rid of that advantage, and there's no point in having the links up top. Nyttend (talk) 01:42, 6 April 2013 (UTC)
OK, I've removed it. Andy Mabbett (Pigsonthewing); Talk to Andy; Andy's edits 19:49, 10 April 2013 (UTC)

According to current codes ({{server}}), the link to wikipedia can keep the pervious condition of http or https. However, when this template works under the toolserver, it's always http and for users who have logged in under https, they will become "log out" and lose the encryption after clicking these links. It will be a great inconvenience for those users. So I think "https" should be added to the code in this template.--Someone's Moving Castle 01:26, 10 April 2013 (UTC)

If I log on to the secure server, and then visit a page with coordinates, and then click those coords, I'm forced onto http: instead of https: at that instant. If, instead of clicking it I right-click it and copy it to the cut/paste buffer, then paste it into a plain text editor, I find that it begins http://. Therefore, the problem is not in Template:GeoTemplate, but in the page before that. I have found that by expanding {{coord}} that it always yields links beginning http://toolserver.org/~geohack/geohack.php --Redrose64 (talk) 17:08, 10 April 2013 (UTC)
Raised a thread at Module talk:Coordinates#Not protocol-neutral which is where I suspect the trouble lies. --Redrose64 (talk) 17:13, 10 April 2013 (UTC)
This problem has been solved and now toolserver can be used under https as well. :-) But what's Module:Coordinates used for?--Someone's Moving Castle 21:36, 10 April 2013 (UTC)
If you look inside Template:Coord, you'll see that the first line contains {{#invoke:Coordinates|coord}} - here, {{#invoke}} is a parser function that sends data to a Lua module. The module name is the first parameter; hence Module:Coordinates. That takes some data (latitude, longitude etc.) from Template:Coord, manipulates it, and then yields the clickable link that is visible on a page. Since that is the origin of the link in question, this edit was necessary to make the links protocol-relative. --Redrose64 (talk) 22:33, 10 April 2013 (UTC)

Centuries format

Since this is such a heavily used template, I wanted to check before I make the change below. The following link in the template does not match the style of WP:CENTURY in the Manual of Style, Cassini (18th C.). Would there be any problem if I change it to, Cassini (18th century) ? If there's a consensus or no response after a couple of days, I'll go ahead and make the change. Thank you, SchreiberBike (talk) 19:14, 12 April 2013 (UTC)

I'd never noticed that. I now see that it only appears where the coords have region:FR. If anybody else is interested in seeing a real example, click the the coords at top right of Paris... when Toolserver's not acting up, that is. --Redrose64 (talk) 19:32, 12 April 2013 (UTC)
Change made. Thank you, SchreiberBike (talk) 05:40, 15 April 2013 (UTC)

Yes you needn't produce misleading two point Google results anymore

Look Mom, no green arrow! 

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=loc:24.18169,120.86620

That's right. If you would use the above format you would get only one point! Is it documented by Google? Of course not. Jidanni (talk) 19:27, 14 April 2013 (UTC)

Compare 

https://maps.google.com/maps?ll=69.396219,30.608667&spn=0.05,0.05&t=h&q=69.396219,30.608667
https://maps.google.com/maps?ll=69.396219,30.608667&spn=0.05,0.05&t=h&q=loc:69.396219,30.608667

(link) Jidanni (talk) 19:39, 14 April 2013 (UTC)

Israeli govmaps

The website govmap.gov.il allows direct linking, but I can't work out the formula. Could someone else try check it out? Mapeh (talk) 00:43, 29 April 2013 (UTC)

National Atlas of Canada

The link to the National Atlas of Canada no longer works, please replace it with http://atlas.nrcan.gc.ca/site/english/toporama/index.html. We may no longer be able to provide a link to the map centred on the coordinates, but replacing this link will remove one click in the user's trip to the atlas. Thanks, 117Avenue (talk) 04:17, 5 May 2013 (UTC)

That overlay map iframe thingie

It sits on top of some of the map links, and it can't be turned away or destroyed. I have an 800*600 resolution. Could it be moved, or at least given an 'X' button to turn it off? Thanks...Smarkflea (talk) 03:08, 15 April 2011‎ (UTC)

People here want perfect symmetry, but 800x600 doesn't split well into thirds well so the left column is cut off :-(. Advanced CSS could fix it, but most don't understand it well. I wanted to use the German wiki design, but the community rejected it. Regardless, I've slimmed down some text to show more links on small screens. — Dispenser 07:41, 11 May 2013 (UTC)

Protection

This template has just been protected as a "highly visible template". This is unnecessary. There is a lag between changes being made and implemented; and there are sufficient eyes on the template that any inappropriate changes can be reverted in a timely manner. The template should be unprotected. Andy Mabbett (Pigsonthewing); Talk to Andy; Andy's edits 08:49, 1 May 2013 (UTC)

It is transcluded in thousands of pages, so I will not be unprotecting it. You are welcome to request unprotection at WP:RPP if you disagree. --Rschen7754 08:51, 1 May 2013 (UTC)
Looked a bit closer, and noticed the lag. I'm concerned about the reverting though, so I will set an expiry. --Rschen7754 08:55, 1 May 2013 (UTC)
Unhappy with the protection. It raises the barrier to adding/maintaining useful maps. I maintain aerial.openstreetmap.org.za (full coverage of South Africa), agri.openstreetmap.org (full coverage of Australia), os.openstreetmap.org (UK Ordnance Survey Streetview) and ooc.openstreetmap.org (UK Ordnance Survey out-of-copyright) . Where was the protection discussed? -- Firefishy (talk) 09:09, 1 May 2013 (UTC)
The problem is that an autoconfirmed user was edit warring on this template. Admins can protect pages at their own discretion. --Rschen7754 09:15, 1 May 2013 (UTC)
But should not do so, or should self-revert, where it is clear that there is no supporting consensus. Andy Mabbett (Pigsonthewing); Talk to Andy; Andy's edits 09:32, 1 May 2013 (UTC)
Please see these edits and #Https for Wikipedia link in this template above. --Redrose64 (talk) 16:47, 1 May 2013 (UTC)
I've just come here to add a link, fully expecting to have to put in an edit request (since I'm editing from my alternative account). Due to the potential this has to be abused (BEANS prevents me from explaining how), I'm surprised this isn't fully protected. The change I added seemed to go through to the tool server almost immediately. I think full protection should be considered. — An optimist on the run! (logged on as Pek the Penguin) 13:57, 22 May 2013 (UTC)
Per the protection policy, we try to leave as many pages open for editing as possible. Unlike a true template, changes to this template do not cause millions of pages to be entered into the job queue. This template is rendered by the toolserver on demand:
1) so any change affects only the users clicking on a map resources link
2) the toolserver seems to cache this template for something like 1 to 12 hours
3) lots of editors have this template watchlisted so anything wayward is reverted quickly—usually much sooner than the toolserver's cache update interval.
Anyway, there have been very few problem edits here while there have been many, many useful contributions, even from non-autoconfirmed editors. Probably it is challenging to identify which page to vandalize, and most vandals don't have the patience or technical prowess needed. In any case, protecting it would be counter to the wiki way. —EncMstr (talk) 20:03, 22 May 2013 (UTC)
I was expecting full protection as well when I came here, or semi at least. 117Avenue (talk) 02:39, 23 May 2013 (UTC)

shaded-relief.com is blacklisted

http://sitecheck.sucuri.net/results/www.shaded-relief.com

Should remove that link. --MarsRover (talk) 21:42, 29 May 2013 (UTC)

Google Earth

There is a "Note" link against Google Earth which links to a FAQ, but the FAQ does not mention G. Earth at all. Perhaps someone removed material from the FAQ but omitted to remove the link? -- Sussexonian (talk) 14:58, 20 October 2013 (UTC)

It was added with this edit by Dispenser (talk · contribs); it replaced an amended version of an earlier note that was first added with this edit also by Dispenser. --Redrose64 (talk) 16:46, 20 October 2013 (UTC)

Mobile/Future Standard for Location

Tracked in Phabricator
Task T50688

Google and others, including OsmAnd, use a format that you can share a link with from a draft RFC "A Uniform Resource Identifier for Geographic Locations ('geo' URI)". This format is supported on Android with this intent:

Google's docs on Location Intents [1]
Target Application Intent URI Intent Action Result
Google Maps geo:latitude,longitude

geo:latitude,longitude?z=zoom

geo:0,0?q=my+street+address

geo:0,0?q=business+near+city

VIEW Opens the Maps application to the given location or query. The Geo URI scheme (not fully supported) is currently under development.

The z field specifies the zoom level. A zoom level of 1 shows the whole Earth, centered at the given lat,lng. A zoom level of 2 shows a quarter of the Earth, and so on. The highest zoom level is 23. A larger zoom level will be clamped to 23.

These are just normally linked to like a mailto: 

<a href='geo:48.19858,16.37164'>Karlskirche</a>

OsmAnd also has a specific intent that will help uses install and use the OsmAnd program[2]:

http://download.osmand.net/go?lat=&lon=&z=

I would appreciate both of these being implemented in the GeoTemplate, since it should be easy and quick to click a link in Wikipedia and get to OsmAnd and other geographically tooled apps. It may even be best to include these at the top of the list when using a mobile device, if mobile devices are detectable by the tool server.

  1. ^ http://developer.android.com/guide/appendix/g-app-intents.html
  2. ^ http://code.google.com/p/osmand/wiki/FAQ#What_intents_does_OsmAnd_listen_to?

Thanks! ClashTheBunny (talk) 12:05, 21 May 2013 (UTC)

Since we don't permit the A element to be used in Wikicode, the single square bracket technique would need to be used; unfortunately this does not work: [geo:48.19858,16.37164 Karlskirche] renders as Karlskirche which is plain text. The single square bracket technique is not restricted to the http: and https: URI schemes, since certain other schemes are supported: [mailto:webmaster@example.com Send Mail] yields Send Mail. Therefore, to recognise the geo: scheme, a change to the MediaWiki software is required. --Redrose64 (talk) 16:22, 21 May 2013 (UTC)
I've raised a Bugzilla ticket, 48688. Andy Mabbett (Pigsonthewing); Talk to Andy; Andy's edits 18:06, 21 May 2013 (UTC)
Apparently, it's already resolved in MediaWiki by this change. How and when that gets applied to en.Wikipedia I couldn't say. Andy Mabbett (Pigsonthewing); Talk to Andy; Andy's edits 20:27, 22 May 2013 (UTC)

Redux

I note that [geo:48.19858,16.37164 Karlskirche] renders as Karlskirche; it appears that the above fix has been applied to this wiki. Furthermore, geo:48.19858,16.37164 renders as geo:48.19858,16.37164

I've added the latter format to the head of this template. How else should we now resolve the above request? Andy Mabbett (Pigsonthewing); Talk to Andy; Andy's edits 19:53, 20 October 2013 (UTC)

The link to the magic map goes to something that may or may not be a 404 page - it is fairly scruffy --Robert EA Harvey (talk) 17:39, 23 October 2013 (UTC)

Some of the links from that page are dead too, but the FAQ one works; from that I've ised the support email link to send them a message. --Redrose64 (talk) 18:50, 23 October 2013 (UTC)
Here's the reply:
Thank you for your email. From 12th September 2013 the way that bookmarks are created within the MAGIC interactive map have changed due to an issue we have become aware of.

The way that the bookmark has worked in the MAGIC interactive map since the re-launch in May is that in the bookmark each layer is identified by a number rather than a unique layer name. If new datasets are added to the application or others deleted this will impact on the indexing of the individual layer numbers and could mean that incorrect layers are subsequently loaded if the bookmark is used after any such occurrences.

To overcome this each dataset will be now be given a unique layer name in the bookmark rather than a number.

If you have created some bookmarks, you will therefore need to take the following action after 12th September:

Apologies for any inconvenience caused but when you have done this once you will have no further problems.

I hope this help, if not please get back to me and we will take it from there.

Kind regards

Harjit Panesar

MAGIC Support
--Redrose64 (talk) 10:33, 24 October 2013 (UTC)

Hi, the MapQuest link under Global Services doesn't work. If I click on the link on this GeoHack page, and go to MapQuest, left column, half-way down, I get this blank page on MapQuest. Could someone fix this? Thanks, Funandtrvl (talk) 01:26, 25 October 2013 (UTC)

I tried fixing it, but the link keeps going to the https site instead of the http site. Funandtrvl (talk) 03:59, 25 October 2013 (UTC)
Now that we all login through the secure server, all Wikipedia links are https: by default unless you explicitly begin an external link with http:. Not all websites recognise https: so this change will fix it. Regarding your attempts to fix it: this one included the correct fix (adding an explicit http:), but there were too many other changes going on at once, so that the effect of an individual change could not be judged. One thing that I have spotted is that your link as first amended begins http://mapq.st//?q= which has a second double slash, immediately before the question mark. In a URL, the hierarchical part (the part between the colon and the question mark, in this case //mapq.st//) may contain no more than one double slash (which must be at the start), so http://mapq.st/?q= would probably have worked - http://mapq.st?q= might have done as well.
Your subsequent edits 2 (still has second double slash, but now lacks www.); 3 (lacks www.); 4 (lacks www. and also http:); 5 (lacks http:) circled around the problem without actually nailing it.
Remember that a change to Template:GeoTemplate can take several hours to work through the system for a page that's been visited before, so that when testing changes that are not dependent on specific coordinates, it's best to vary the coordinates so that the chances are reduced of getting a cached page back which does not incorporate your last change(s). So, having already used Chicago, you could then work through other pages in Category:Cities in Illinois using a different page for each test, to make it more likely that the GeoTemplate is fresh. --Redrose64 (talk) 09:15, 25 October 2013 (UTC)
Thanks for fixing it, I realized later that I had made a typo with the double slashes. I wanted to use the /sandbox page to test the edits, but it looks like there is a lot of stuff on there that I didn't want to alter. Funandtrvl (talk) 18:44, 25 October 2013 (UTC)

Title shown in Google Earth

Is there any reason that the Google Earth link is showing the source page name rather than the passed name/title? This would stop the coord links from HVDC Moyle all showing up as "HVDC Moyle" rather than their respective titles. --Dee Earley (talk) 12:41, 29 October 2013 (UTC)

It's not the only one. By my reckoning, when region:GB is set, there are six links which use the page name, which is passed through {pagename} or {pagenamee}; 21 which use the passed |name=, which is passed through {title} or {titlee}; and two ("more maps" and "Antipodes") which use both. --Redrose64 (talk) 16:53, 29 October 2013 (UTC)

Add words "show map" to Geohack (?) globe icon

Please see discussion at Wikipedia:Village_pump_(proposals)/Archive 107#Add_words_.22show_map.22_to_Geohack_.28.3F.29_globe_icon. --Piotr Konieczny aka Prokonsul Piotrus| reply here 05:58, 27 November 2013 (UTC)

Conversion error for UK OS grid refs

Conversion from coords into OS grid refs on region:GB geohack seems to be quite a distance out. To pick a random point, Grid ref SS760960 should point to an exact grid intersection (XY 276000 196000), which on streetmap.co.uk would look like this. www.gridreferencefinder.com converts that as 51.649079,-3.7936810 which via coord (51°38′57″N 3°47′37″W / 51.649079°N 3.7936810°W / 51.649079; -3.7936810) will correctly find the spot on all the co-ordinate based sites, but geohack converts it as 'OS Grid Reference: SS7591896051 (all-numeric format: 275919 196051)' - a disconcerting distance north and west. Linking through to the 1:25000 OS map via streetmap, to see a specific place, the arrow clearly points to somewhere else. The error increases with points further south and further east (Somewhere on the west coast of Scotland will have a zero point, whereas Kent results are 120m west and 58m north). I gather the conversion calculations are not trivial, but is there any chance they can be improved? Thanks, RobinLeicester (talk) 01:57, 31 January 2014 (UTC)

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