map updates not updating

[+the Seagnoid]

There is a bug somewhere, although I am not sure that it lies with Groundspeak's ability to fix - updates within OpenStreetMap used to replicate into Geocaching's Leaflet maps within a few days, but some changes made over two weeks ago still have not appeared. The maps are still there, so it is obviously working off cached data, but not being refreshed.

For a test example, look at GC60KKZ - it lies on a track, this information is in OpenStreetMap and shows on my cellphone in the geocaching app in my phone, but is not showing on the website.

Some of the tracks in the test area do show - they were added into OpenStreetMap two weeks earlier, and came into Geocaching's map two days after that.

 

Geocaching bug? Leaflet bug?

 

Thanks,

Tom

[+The A-Team]

Which specific layer are you looking at? The Leaflet library is a collection of maps from various sources, with some of them based on OpenStreetMap data. The OSM-based ones are updated with varying frequency depending on the requirements of each provider, with the "OpenStreetMap Default" one being the one that updates the most frequently (about every minute under normal conditions). I've seen the default "MapQuest OSM" layer (which is also the one used in the mini-maps on cache listings) take as much as a week or more to update.

[+the Seagnoid]

Yup, I was looking at the default layer, "MapQuest OSM" which still has some of the tracks missing. "OpenStreetMap Default" has the missing tracks included so I guess you are right, A-Team, it is just slow to update. Thanks for the help.

 

Tom

[+Viajero Perdido]

MapQuest OSM is now taking forever to update. Literally.

https://developer.ma...s-openstreetmap

 

And it doesn't look hopeful.

https://www.reddit.c..._updated_for_a/

 

Hey Groundspeak, do you have a backup plan to replace MapQuest OSM if the tiles become desperately out-of-date, or even unavailable? Please don't go back to Google. All the trails are on OSM, and Thunderforest renders OSM really well.

[+the Seagnoid]

MapQuest OSM is now taking forever to update. Literally.

https://developer.ma...s-openstreetmap

 

And it doesn't look hopeful.

https://www.reddit.c..._updated_for_a/

 

Hey Groundspeak, do you have a backup plan to replace MapQuest OSM if the tiles become desperately out-of-date, or even unavailable? Please don't go back to Google. All the trails are on OSM, and Thunderforest renders OSM really well.

 

The OSM maps used by GC are being updated, but it seems to be a very long time between updates, perhaps six months. To get an up-to-date version (updated within 1/2 hour to a day), click the layers icon in the top right corner of the map, then select OpenStreetMap default. Much better!

[+Viajero Perdido]

Yes, the "good" maps like OSM Default are well hidden there. I use them all the time.

 

Unfortunately,

1. The Leaflet-side maps always default to MapQuest OSM (annoying!), and worse,
2. Both maps on the cache page are MapQuest OSM as well.

Probably it was cheap, or maybe free, and that's why Groundspeak pushes MQ OSM. (Sounds like pricing for that may change too...)

 

I wonder if Groundspeak realizes how fast OSM is being updated nowadays. Trails galore, thanks to cachers and others, roughly two million registered editors and we're mapping up a storm. Meanwhile, MQ OSM has ground to a halt and nobody knows if it'll ever start again.

Edited May 11, 2016 by Viajero Perdido

[+Pontiac_CZ]

I am one of the OSM contributors and when out caching, I usually collect data for OSM (tracks, paths, other objects). Later I put them into the Openstretmap and they're nearly immediately rendered in OSM Mapnik. But even months after that I don't see any changes in the MapQuest maps.

 

They must have been really cheap...

[+the Seagnoid]

I am one of the OSM contributors and when out caching, I usually collect data for OSM (tracks, paths, other objects). Later I put them into the Openstretmap and they're nearly immediately rendered in OSM Mapnik. But even months after that I don't see any changes in the MapQuest maps.

 

They must have been really cheap...

 

I too update OSM. That's how I know that OSM will update their maps in under a day.

However I notice that the layer that GC use misses a number of features (like vegetation). They probably chose this layer intentionally for that reason. Makes the maps render faster. I suspect they get their maps from a third party who now only update 6-monthly or so.

[+Viajero Perdido]

In that first link I posted, someone - apparently a MapQuest lackey - admitted the update process is broken.

 

Back when it was working, I'd noticed a delay that seemed to keep getting longer over time (they couldn't keep up!), but also an extra delay for the changes to reach the cache page maps. I think I'd heard that Groundspeak was maintaining their own cache of MapQuest OSM tiles for the cache pages, perhaps as a way of keeping down the load ($) on the MQ servers.

 

Thunderforest Outdoors would make a very nice alternative, considering this is an outdoor game.