Geograph - photograph every grid square

It's a geography project for the people
It's a national photography project
It's a good excuse to get out more!
It's a game - how many grid squares will you contribute?
It's a free and open online community project for all.

Here's a quick link to the Ordnance Survey's beginner's guide to grid references: https://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/getoutside/guides/beginners-guide-to-grid-references/

Grid references locate places on the map. They consist of one (Ireland) or two (Great Britain) letters followed by an even number of digits. The letters define a (100x100)km^2 square (a 'myriad' in Geograph-speak) and are best looked up on an overview map. The numbers locate the position within that square. To find a location, split the block of numbers in two. The first block is the easting, i.e. the distance from the western edge of the myriad. The second is the northing - the distance from its southern edge.

Grid references always specify square areas, not points. The more digits there are, the smaller is the square referred to, and the higher is the precision of the grid reference. For each pair of digits, the precision increases by a factor of ten: SN58 defines a square of (10x10)km^2, 50km to the east and 80km to the north of the origin of myriad SN. SN5881 is a (1x1)km^2 square 58km east and 81km north of that origin. SN 58272 81324 is a (1x1)m^2 area. When stating a grid reference, the precision given should be in line with the accuracy of the position (how well do we actually know where we are?) and with the size of the object (a building doesn't fit on a 1m^2 footprint).

The system Geograph still uses in Ireland works in exactly the same way, although the Ordnance Surveys of Ireland and of Northern Ireland have recently introduced a different system for their maps. This article http://www.geograph.org.uk/article/Locating-photos---Republic-of-Ireland explains the differences.

The most thoroughly photographed grid squares are listed and linked on http://www.geograph.org.uk/statistics/most_geographed_gridsquare.php .

(This question was asked on the forum http://www.geograph.org.uk/discuss/index.php?&action=vthread&forum=2&topic=15697 by Hugh Chevalier and answered by Oast House Archive.)

Every submitted image has an Ordnance Survey grid reference, which pins it down to a single 1km square in Britain (two letters) or Ireland (one letter). That generates a local map above the photo with a blue ring where the main feature is.

The viewer location can be any distance away but if not a cross grid will always be within the same square. Cross grids include views, longer telephoto shots and normal photos taken near a square border.

When adding your own decide where the primary location is in the view and then use the second black circle to show where you were when you took it.

The link for the centisquare map for the square is labelled "See geographical distribution of pictures". There is also a link to a centisquare coverage map (with other options) for a wider area (10x10km) labelled "Open Interactive OS Map Overlay" below the map extract.

When you are at the main page for a square, you can click on the link named "See geographical distribution of pictures". This will enable you to see how many pictures are in each "Centisquare".

Each grid square has a hundred Centisquares which have an area of 100m X 100m.

[PERSONAL OPINION OF THE AUTHOR] Geograph takes pride in taking care about accuracy of location and information content. We like to think that this sets us apart from many other picture sites on the internet.

Whether it is one of your own pictures or someone else's, if you think something's wrong, please use the 'change image details' or 'suggest update' link under the main picture. This gives you access to a form where you can amend any of the details (subject and camera position, view direction, title, description etc). After making your changes, leave a short explanation in the box at the end of the form.

Changes to your own images will update immediately. The only exception are changes to the subject grid square, which are moderated; this will typically take a day or so.

If you suggest changes to someone else's pictures, they will be alerted and have an opportunity to reply. Ideally, you should work with the original contributor to come to a consensus. Moderators will try to assist with that. Generally, accuracy is taken very seriously, but if additional information is presented, it is the photo contributor's prerogative to decide whether to accept it.

When making a suggestion, please bear in mind that you are communicating with the original author, not primarily with Geograph. Explain your changes in a friendly and civil manner, and supply sources to verify your point. Avoid making many suggestions to the same contributor at the same time.

Suggestions which are mainly concerned with geograph/supplemental* classification or seek to move positions by small amounts within the stated precision (often 100m) are regarded as a waste of time by many and can cause aggravation out of proportion with their usefulness.

* (From 11 May 2016 the Supplemental Classification is replaced by Image Type Tags:
see http://www.geograph.org.uk/article/Image-Type-Tags ).

Create a search that only find images in the given square, in reverse date submitted order using the search form http://www.geograph.org.uk/search.php?form=advanced . This one is an example for SN5881: http://www.geograph.org.uk/search.php?i=23416804 . Copy the GeoRSS link at the bottom of the search results page. You can either read the feed in an RSS reader such as Google Reader http://www.google.co.uk/reader by adding the link as a new subscription, or you can use an RSS2email service such as Feedmyinbox http://www.feedmyinbox.com/ to receive updates via email.

There is also a link at the bottom of your profile page giving access to a special search showing images uploaded in the last 30 days in any square that you've submitted to.

Finally, you can subscribe to the grid square discussion of a square you're interested in by going to the grid square discussion page and ticking 'notify me of new posts'.

(Inspired by a question asked on the forum by tuppence and answered by barryhunter http://www.geograph.org.uk/discuss/index.php?&action=vthread&forum=18&topic=13038 .)

(this is referring the 'at most one image from each [...]' option in the 'Advanced Search' function)

The software that drives our search can only at this time return one image from a particular 'group', such as grid square or month. So at this time, can't select multiple images per group.

Also note there is no control over which image is selected, at the moment it's pretty much chosen at random.


Can use the 'Image Browser' (just called 'Browser' in the links on the side) - in the 'Grouped' Mode, can now select multiple images per group. E.g. can get it to show say 4 images per square.
That has much more controls for configuring the sampling.

RSS, or Really Simple Syndication, allows you to obtain an up-to-date listing of the latest Geograph submissions for integration into another website or RSS reader. For more information, try this Wikipedia article on RSS.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RSS_(protocol)

We provide an GeoRSS (RSS1.0) feed at http://www.geograph.org.uk/feed/recent.rss which contains links to the latest 20 moderated images.

We have recently added RSS feeds to other parts of the site:
* You will find an RSS button at the bottom of search results, useful to keep updated on local images.
* Registered users can access an RSS feed of the latest topics in the Discussion Forum, and even subscribe to an individual topic, just look for the RSS button!
* the Grid Square Discussions even supports GeoRSS.
* Get an RSS feed of recently updated Articles.
* The newer Content section has an RSS feed.
* Find out about organized meets by following the RSS feed.

(They also accept the format parameter like the main feed.)

If you use the Firefox web browser, you should be able use our feeds as "live bookmarks" - simply click the orange button in the address bar (or in the status bar on older versions).

For more technical information, see
http://www.geograph.org.uk/help/api

If you are looking for squares to obtain a point, try the coverage maps, and look for green squares; also accessible from that page are various printable checksheets for easy reference in print form. More technical users might enjoy GPX, or Memory Map downloads.

Many of the squares have been captured but only have a few photos; check out the depth map, from which you can find under-represented squares. In the same vein we have a number of maps to show the distribution of photos within a square, usually on a centisquare grid, which divides a grid square into 100 squares, each 100m by 100m.

We have also recently introduced a new map, "Recent Only" this shows recent photos. Help us keep the coverage current by photographing squares without any recent photos (orange or green).

Also look out for Red pin icons around the site, click them to take you to the links page for the location. From that page you can access textual lists of squares in need of photos (as well as direct links to many of the maps on the site).)

The depth map
http://www.geograph.org.uk/map/?depth=1
displays this graphically. You can zoom in on your area of interest by clicking on the map and the colours show the number of images in each square.

There are three simple ways to link two (or more) photos.
To produce a link which simply shows as Link, add the full URL of the photo to be linked to in the description eg
"See http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/5966333 for a wider view."
To produce a link which shows the grid square and title, enclose the photo ID number (found at the end of the photo page URL) in double square brackets [[5966333]] so the link (in this example) will show as "See SO1189 : The Berwyns under snow for a wider view."
Either way it is a good idea to describe the other photo a bit, rather than just give the link.
For linking several photos a shared description - which may only be a title - can work well. Create your shared description in the Shared Description tab and then add it to each of the relevant images. This will produce an automatic link "see other photos of [title of shared description]"
For recent uploads such linkings are most easily done using the Recent Uploads page https://www.geograph.org.uk/submissions.php where the ID numbers are provided below the thumbnails and you won't need to visit individual edit pages to add the links.

(From 11 May 2016 the Supplemental Classification is replaced by Image Type Tags:
see http://www.geograph.org.uk/article/Image-Type-Tags-update ).

If an image doesn't quite fulfill the Geograph criteria above, but is still a good image, we'll accept it as "Supplemental image" - no Geograph points are awarded, but the image will still appear on the selected grid square. A square that just contains Supplemental images is still open to be claimed as a Geograph though!

Supplemental images are not inferior to Geographs, just different. For the interpretation of a square they are just as valuable as they add extra information (in the case of close-ups) or wider views (in the case of aerial shots or images taken from another square).

If you're the first to submit a "Geograph" for the grid square you'll get a "First Geograph" point added to your profile and the warm glow that comes with it.

We welcome many Geograph images per square, so even if you don't get the point, you are still making a valuable contribution to the project.

In addition we now award "Second Visitor" points (and Third and Fourth!) - which are given to the first Geograph the second contributor adds to a square. The third contributor similarly gets a "Third" point for their first Geograph to the square.

So a single square can have a First, Second, Third and Fourth Visitor point, but a contributor can only get one of those per square.

You can earn yourself a "Personal" point by submitting a "Geograph" for a square that is new to you, regardless of how many contributors have been there before.

The image type tags were introduced in May 2016, previously it would have been classified as Supplemental. Perhaps you have not previously submitted an image where the subject is not in the same grid square as the camera position, or maybe you just have not noticed the tag.

In general you will only get a point the first time you visit a grid square, and your photo is moderated as a "geograph". You may also get extra points if you are one of the first 4 people to visit the square. Subsequent photos in the same square will not get you any points, photos classified as "supplemental" will not get you any points.

(From 11 May 2016 the Supplemental Classification is replaced by Image Type Tags:
see http://www.geograph.org.uk/article/Image-Type-Tags ).

Tpoints work slightly differently to the above: you get a Tpoint if you submit a geograph which has a time difference of 5 years (before or after) compared to other geographs in the grid square: So with Tpoints it may be possible to get subsequent points for the same grid square.

(From 11 May 2016 the Supplemental Classification is replaced by Image Type Tags:
see http://www.geograph.org.uk/article/Image-Type-Tags-update ).

The short answer is "Yes": Whilst in the past there was some degree of discretion if the camera position was close to a grid-line, current guidance (2016) is quite strict.

One of the aims of Geograph is to encourage people to visit all possible land squares. If there was not a general rule requiring the camera to be in the same grid square as the subject a photographer could go to the top of a mountain or tall building and use a telephoto lens to "bag" a number of grid-squares without having to visit them.

(From 11 May 2016 the Supplemental Classification is replaced by Image Type Tags:
see http://www.geograph.org.uk/article/Image-Type-Tags-update ).

see also http://www.nearby.org.uk/geograph/answers/view.php?id=16

Supplementals are all photos that are not Geographs.

Any photographs that show close up details without sufficient surrounding context to be deemed geographs are classed as supplemental as are photographs of the insides of buildings. Also photographs taken from outside the grid square are commonly referred to as cross-grid supplemantals.

Aerial and underground shots are always classed as supplementals as are "all-at-sea" photographs with no land or permanent structure (such as a fixed navigational aid) in the square.

The distinction may be "borderline" in some instances and different moderaters' decisions might fall another side of the border but such decisions are initially based on their interpretation of the guidelines and generally without reference to other similar images.

The "aesthetic quality" of the image is irrelevant.

Sometimes pictures get relocated if they have been uploaded to the wrong grid square by mistake. This is often the case with images from the very early days of Geograph, when there was no or only scanned out-of-copyright mapping available.

Very occasionally, a (first) Geograph gets reclassified as a supplemental image* if there had been a clear error in the original classification.

Also rarely, images are withdrawn or vaulted for a long period because they weren't taken from a place with public access and the land owner has complained.

In all these cases, the next uploaded geograph (if any) will take the point, and if that was yours, then you'll find a miraculous extra point on your profile.

*From 11 May 2016 the Supplemental Classification is replaced by Image Type Tags:
see http://www.geograph.org.uk/article/Image-Type-Tags

Go to the Advanced Search page http://www.geograph.org.uk/search.php?form=text . In the limits section, click the 'you!' button and tick 'geograph only'. In the 'finally' section, select 'at most one image from each grid square' and hit Search. This will show all your images holding persoanl points.

As a by-product, you can see in the search results how many geographs you have in each square ('')n images in group').

Asked on the forum by Adrian Cable and answered by Barry Hunter.