How to draw a new Place in Google MyMaps for uploading to iNaturalist

Tutorials
1

Note: place creation is a large burden on iNaturalist, please see the warnings at https://www.inaturalist.org/places/new

Since iNaturalist removed the ability to draw a new place (see details in this post), here is a tutorial for drawing a shape in Google MyMaps, which can be imported into iNaturalist.

11 Likes
2

How do I create a polygon, e.g. make first point of the second line be the second point of the first line? I use a mac at this moment and think it does not support the mouse…

One solution for macbook is to change the fysical mouse with a mouse that supports creating polygons in MyMaps. :-)

3

Just wanted to thank Jane for making this, I’ve been linking to it when people ask questions via email. Thanks!

2 Likes
4

A post was split to a new topic: Can I post existing Seek observations to iNaturalist?

5

If you don’t have/want a Google account, you can use this free tool

https://www.doogal.co.uk/polylines

  1. for the shape select “polygon” in the drop down menu
  2. give it a name next to shape name
  3. click on the map to define your place
  4. select the “kml” tab and click “download”
1 Like
6

I wonder if maybe in the future some type of Open Street Map integration could happen. Not only is it closer in ethos to this project than Google, but also I think the OSM folks are pretty good about drawing areas and naming things based on local knowledge on their map (assuming the region is lucky enough to have local mappers).

7

write up a feature request, or do some coding and make a pull request in the iNat Github repo. in the meantime, there ard ways to get data from OSM into KML format:

8

There is an open feature request to integrate OSM, so you can check that out and add a vote or comments there:
https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/use-openstreetmap-maps/2588

9

just to clarify a bit, that feature request is about which basemaps are displayed in the maps on the webstie interface.

it’s not clear, i suppose, but if the proposal is to add places to iNat based on ways and relations in OSM, then i think that would be a separate thing, necessitating a separate feature request.

10

For using OSM as the baselayer instead of Google. I presume that this would mean that the default place search (ie, not of iNat user-created places) would be based on OSM’s places (not Google’s). This would return OSM’s places in search results presumably. The previous comment just seemed to address use of OSM’s places generally, not specifically trying to import existing OSM places into iNat, though perhaps that was the focus, not sure. But if OSM’s places can be searched as Google’s can, then this may address what the user was referring to.

11

currently, iNat uses Google for the mapping platform, the basemaps, the delivery of the basemaps, and for services like reverse geocoding. that other thread is primarily talking about the basemaps and delivery of the basemaps.

if you want to talk about either using OSM as the source for places or for potential reverse geocoding, each one of those is a separate thing and should probably be discussed separately. for what it’s worth, i don’t think OSM provides reverse geocoding services themselves, but Nominatim has a (limited) API and has a platform that allows for reverse geocoding using OSM data.

12

To clarify, I meant using OSM for the basemaps AND using Nominatim for place names. I was not clear and conflated the two concepts. But yes, I am in strong support of BOTH of those things.

Less Google is More Better. Not only can OSM be more easily tailored to our needs (theyd likely welcome additional data if we had useful information that benefits us both!), but as a free knowledge project ourselves we should be encouraging the use of other free knowledge projects (such as the various Wikimedia properties and Open Street Maps).

13

if that’s the case, this part of the conversation should be moved over to the other thread, since this thread is about creating places in iNat.

14

Nothing to move. All I did was express support for both measures. :)

15

reverse geocoding is the not the same thing as creating places in iNat.

1 Like
16

Is there any way to troubleshoot if I’ve followed these instructions and gotten an error message anyway?
There were problems importing that place: Latitude can’t be blank, Longitude can’t be blank, File was invalid or did not contain any polygons, Place geometry can’t be blank

17

If you open the kml in a text editor and paste the text here, we can look at it.

1 Like
18

Thank you SO MUCH

World Fellowship Center and Whitton Pond
A map created for iNaturalist use, to encompass the World Fellowship Center properties, the hiking trails associated with it, as well as Whitton Pond and its shores.

ff000000
1.2

$[name]

ff000000
1.8

$[name]

normal
#line-000000-1200-nodesc-normal

highlight
#line-000000-1200-nodesc-highlight

Untitled layer

Line 2
#line-000000-1200-nodesc

1
-71.2232468,43.9273117,0 -71.198549,43.9274044,0 -71.1786363,43.9428566,0 -71.1877558,43.9593861,0

Line 3
#line-000000-1200-nodesc

1
-71.1916287,43.9595893,0 -71.1877558,43.9593861,0

Line 4
#line-000000-1200-nodesc

1
-71.1916287,43.9595893,0 -71.1948688,43.9601608,0 -71.196843,43.9598982,0 -71.2003191,43.9582609,0 -71.2011774,43.9580447,0 -71.2031086,43.9580138,0 -71.2078722,43.9571642,0 -71.2088163,43.9568244,0 -71.210018,43.9557586,0 -71.2111552,43.9545537,0 -71.2137945,43.953148,0 -71.2150176,43.9524374,0 -71.215597,43.9518504,0 -71.2165196,43.9500121,0 -71.2180002,43.9477411,0 -71.2190087,43.9464434,0 -71.2199529,43.9454546,0

Line 5
#line-000000-1200-nodesc

1
-71.2201674,43.9452692,0 -71.2207605,43.9447815,0 -71.2203186,43.9426484,0 -71.2229605,43.9430424,0 -71.2243359,43.9432361,0 -71.226074,43.9425486,0

Line 6
#line-000000-1200-nodesc

1
-71.226074,43.9425486,0 -71.2262195,43.9421482,0 -71.2263107,43.9416152,0 -71.226021,43.9406456,0 -71.2258969,43.9397361,0 -71.2255857,43.9389636,0 -71.2254462,43.9386082,0 -71.2250922,43.9386777,0 -71.2234614,43.933285,0 -71.2232683,43.9321724,0 -71.2232468,43.9273117,0

Untitled layer

1 Like
19

Hm, that’s not formatted correctly. Can you confirm you selected “Add line or shape” and then drew one continuous line, clicking the first point again to complete the polygon?

1 Like
20

I believe that is what I did, but I drew it 3 weeks ago. Maybe I’ll draw it again and pay close attention. Thanks!

2 Likes