View source for Data items

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'''Data items''' are a way to document all OSM metadata like keys and tags in every language on this wiki in a structured way, useful to both humans and tools.

* Tools, such as [[iD]] editor and [[Taginfo]] are now able to get tag information by parsing data items instead of parsing the wiki markup. Eventually the data may include translations, tag suggestions, validation rules, common pitfalls, presets, and more.
* This wiki can now show data as info cards and tables, without information duplication and complicated template hackery.
** At cost of introducing new interface with own complexity and pitfalls
* Data items provide basic information to users of this wiki:
** When you use the search bar in the Vector 2022 or mobile skin, autocomplete suggestions come with descriptions from data items.
** When you visit a key or value description page that does not exist, the wiki automatically generates an infobox based on an existing data item.
* All metadata can be in analyzed using [[Sophox]] queries (see [[SPARQL examples#Data items|query examples]]).
** Note that [[Sophox]] is not containing full data as of 2024-01-15 – see https://github.com/Sophox/sophox/issues/31

This page documents how to store structured tag metadata on this wiki using data items provided by the [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Wikibase Wikibase extension] – the same software that runs Wikidata (''[[Talk:Wiki/Archive 4#Wikibase|initial discussion]]''). [[d:Special:MyLanguage/Wikidata:Glossary|Wikidata's glossary]] is helpful for understanding the structure and terminology of data items. However, this project's goal is NOT to replace the OSM Wiki pages (including infoboxes), nor to use opaque IDs instead of the human readable key=value strings to tag features. We are only trying to improve metadata documentation, making it more useful to various tools.

== Where to find them ==
Data items are located in the [[Special:PrefixIndex/Item:|Item: namespace]]. Each data item has a page title consisting of a "Q" followed by a numeric ID.

Every Key: and Tag: page has a corresponding data item. Follow the {{kbd|{{int:wikibase-dataitem}}}} link in the {{kbd|{{int:toolbox}}}} section of the page's sidebar, or enter the page's title into [[Special:ItemByTitle/wiki/]].

== How to help ==
* Add tag descriptions and translations. See the following 3 minute video.
[[File:Documenting tags for OpenStreetMap.webm|thumb|300px|center|alt=See short tutorial video|How to add tag descriptions]]

{{Hidden
|''Looking for volunteers...''&nbsp;&nbsp;<small>(click on the right to expand)</small>
|2=
; Add descriptions and translations
* {{SPARQL link
  |caption=Most used keys without description in any language
  |query=SELECT ?osmd ?osmdLabel ?key_usage WHERE {

  # Instanceof = key, with a count, and without any descriptions
  ?osmd osmdt:P2 osmd:Q7;
        osmm:count_all ?key_usage.
  FILTER NOT EXISTS { ?osmd schema:description ?description. }

  # Get English label
  SERVICE wikibase:label { bd:serviceParam wikibase:language "en". }
}
ORDER BY DESC(?key_usage)
LIMIT 100
}}
* {{SPARQL link
  |caption=Show the most used keys that have not been translated to a given language (edit query and change the language code to run for your language)
  |query=SELECT ?osmd ?osmdLabel ?osmdDescription ?key_usage ?tag_key_usage WHERE {
  
  # Which language to search
  VALUES ?lang { 'ru' }
  
  # We are only interested in Tag:* and Key:* data items
  VALUES ?tag_or_key { osmd:Q2 osmd:Q7 }
  
  # Instanceof = tag or key; and must have __a__ description
  ?osmd osmdt:P2 ?tag_or_key;
        schema:description ?description_en.

  # Limit the result to just english descriptions
  FILTER EXISTS {
    FILTER (lang(?description_en) = 'en')
  }

  # Remove deprecated items from the list
  MINUS { ?osmd osmdt:P6 osmd:Q5061 }

  # If the data item contains a description in the local language, skip it
  FILTER NOT EXISTS {
    ?osmd schema:description ?description_local.
    FILTER (lang(?description_local) = ?lang)
  }

  # Counts are only available for keys, so if this is a tag, get corresponding key usage
  OPTIONAL { ?osmd osmm:count_all ?key_usage. }
  OPTIONAL { ?osmd osmdt:P10/osmm:count_all ?tag_key_usage. }
  
  # Get English label and description (generates *Label and *Description vars)
  SERVICE wikibase:label { bd:serviceParam wikibase:language "en". }

} ORDER BY DESC(?key_usage) DESC(?tag_key_usage)
}}
* {{SPARQL link
  |caption=Documented items without sitelinks
  |query=SELECT * WHERE {
  ?item osmdt:P31 ?wikiPage;
        osmdt:P2 ?linkableClass;
        wikibase:sitelinks ?sitelinks.
  VALUES ?linkableClass { osmd:Q2 osmd:Q7 osmd:Q6 osmd:Q4667 }
  FILTER(LANG(?wikiPage) = "en")
  FILTER(?sitelinks = 0)
}
}}
; Community and content
* Set up a wiki portal, possibly similar to [https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Wikidata:Community_portal Wikidata's community portal] (but simpler), where community can:
** propose new properties
** write guidelines/docs
** discuss Wikibase data structures
* Create Lua modules to generate tag tables, such as {{t|Template:Bridge:movable}}, {{t|Map Features:highway}}, or {{t|Template:Religions}}.
** '''Implementation note:''' ''Wikibase only links Tags to the corresponding Key, but Keys do not list all possible Tags. To generate a table, we must have a list of items somewhere. We could create a new WB key property that lists all tags, and use a bot to maintain it, or we could list all needed tags as a template parameter, e.g. for highway, <code><nowiki>{{...|motorway|trunk|primary|secondary|...}}</nowiki></code>. List as a template parameter does not need to be localized, and it could specify proper ordering of items (not available in WB). Lua code would use <code>mw.wikibase.getEntityIdForTitle("Key:highway=motorway")</code> to find the right data.''

; Technical
* Add Wikibase support to external tools. Simple usage: get key/tag localized description. Complex usage: allow user to add missing or even edit description, especially when user is creating a new key.
** JOSM
** iD ([https://github.com/openstreetmap/iD/issues/5321 issue])
** OSM main site
** [[Taginfo]] ([https://github.com/taginfo/taginfo/issues/248 issue])
* Port simple validation rules, e.g. regex-based, to use Wikibase data.
* Help parse various tables of tag data. Even if you can only generate plain files with data, [[user:Yurik]] can quickly import them.
}}

== Item types ==
Every item should have statements describing the item, but the properties you use depend on the subject matter. More properties can be added over time; to propose a property, start a discussion [[Talk:Data items|on the talk page]] and notify a [[Wiki:Data administrators|data administrator]] once there is consensus.

=== Keys ===
Each OSM '''Key''' is stored as a separate page in the Item namespace. For example, see {{O|Q104}} that describes {{key|bridge:movable}}:
{| class=wikitable
! property || type || value example || description
|-
| description || string || '''en''' – ''{{desc|Q104|en}}''<br>'''es''' – ''{{desc|Q104|es}}'' || This is the primary way to describe the key or tag, using proper sentences that end with a period and whose first word is capitalised. Must not contain any wiki markup or HTML. Must be less than 250 symbols.

You can link to other keys and tags with <code>key:…</code> and <code>tag:…=…</code>. These links will work in the infobox on the ''Key:'' or ''Tag:'' wiki page (make sure the text in the infobox template is the same as the description on the ''Item:'' page) as well as in [[iD]],<ref name="id-pr-documentation-links-to-other-tags">https://github.com/openstreetmap/iD/pull/10763</ref> but not on the ''Item:'' wiki pages themselves.

If you want to change the description, do it in the article. Optionally, you can also change this description in the data item. However, don't change the description only in the data item, because both descriptions must be the same.
|-
| label || string || '''en''' – <code>bridge:movable</code> || Key/tag data items: Translate labels or add the English labels in other languages.<ref>[[Item:Q5452]]</ref><ref>[[Item:Q19823]]</ref>{{dubious|Translation of labels (follow-up)|date=May 2025}}

Labels can and should be added in all languages to items which are not key or tag pages (for example [[Special:WhatLinksHere/Item:Q12|group]] names).

[[Special:Contributions/Yurikbot|No longer active bot]] was setting the English label to the key's value, exactly the same as '''P16''' below. Some languages have '''nativekey''' (localized key) that was added to the labels as well. Do not add a copy of the English label to any other languages. ''Note that same as "en", the localized label must be unique in that language.''
|-
| sitelink || string || [[Key:bridge:movable]] || Links to the '''Key:...''' pages, even if the page does not exist. The sitelink is shown on top of the page on the other side as the page title. <!-- I intentionally removed references to "left" and "right" as they are inverted in RTL lanugages. -->
|-
| {{O|P2}}
:''{{desc|P2}}''
| Item || {{O|Q7}} || Indicates that the item represents a key.
|-
| {{O|P16}}
:''{{desc|P16}}''
| string || <code>bridge:movable</code> || Shows the exact form of the key as used in OSM. Must never be changed once the item is created. Due to technical limitations, keys "Key:water tap", "Key:water_tap", and "Key:water_tap_" have identical wiki pages/sitelinks – "Key:water tap". In this case, set this property to multiple strings, but mark one as {{PreferredRank}} "{{Int:Wikibase-statementview-rank-preferred}}".
|-
| {{O|P33}}
:''{{desc|P33}}''
{{O|P34}}
:''{{desc|P34}}''
{{O|P35}}
:''{{desc|P35}}''
{{O|P36}}
:''{{desc|P36}}''
{{O|P37}}
:''{{desc|P37}}''
| Item
| {{O|Q8000}}
:''or''
{{O|Q8001}}
| Sets if this key is allowed on nodes/ways/areas/relations. In the future we may want to use other statuses like {{O|Q15}}, but this is not yet supported. See also [[#Storing locale differences|limiting per locale below]].
|-
| {{O|P28}}&nbsp;&nbsp;[&nbsp;{{O|P47}}&nbsp;]
:''{{desc|P28}}''
:[''{{Desc|P47}}'']
| string || <code>Noexit.jpg</code> || An image stored either on [[Wikimedia Commons]] or on the OSM wiki, without the ''File:'' prefix. If people in different regions would only recognize the key when illustrated using different images, add multiple images and qualify each image with {{O|P48}}. If the key's image contains anything language-specific, add another value and set {{O|P26}}. Make sure to set {{PreferredRank}} ''{{Int:Wikibase-statementview-rank-preferred}}'' status for the default image. Use {{O|P47}} qualifier to indicate image caption for any language (will show English if not found, or any other if EN does not exist).
|-
| {{O|P25}}
:''{{desc|P25}}''
| Item || {{O|Q4712}} || The group this item belongs to. In the current model, each key belongs to just one group. In theory we could use it to attach multiple groups, changing the meaning of the "group" to something like a "label"/"meta-tag".
|-
| {{O|P6}}&nbsp;&nbsp;[&nbsp;{{O|P11}}&nbsp;]
:''{{desc|P6}}''
:[''{{Desc|P11}}'']
| Item
| {{O|Q15}}<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;[https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Proposed_features/Bridge_types reference link]
| community's approval status, together with a reference link to the discussion page (optional)
|-
| {{O|P9}}
:''{{desc|P9}}''
| Item || {{O|Q8}} || Describes the type of values this key is expected to have. If there is a well known list of values, use '''Q8'''. Other types are TBD.
|-
| {{O|P12}}
:''{{desc|P12}}''
| Item || {{wikidata|Q787417}} || A link to the Wikidata item, stored as an external ID (string). Must be a Q-number.
|-
| {{O|P13}}
:''{{desc|P13}}''
| string || <code>[0-9]+</code> || A regular expression that can be used to validate the value of this key. In this case the value must be one or more digits. Validators will require the entire expression to match the string, i.e. they will add <code>^(</code> in front and <code>)$</code> at the end. <br>See {{O|Q574}} example.
|-
| {{O|P31}}
:''{{desc|P31}}''
| multilingual string
| Key:bridge:movable ''(English)''<br>
Cs:Key:bridge:movable ''(Czech)''<br>...
| Each value is the name of the wiki page in a specific language.

'''Note:''' After setting this property, use [[Special:SetSiteLink//wiki]] to set a sitelink to the English page name on the site <code>wiki</code>.
|-
|{{O|P22}}
:''{{desc|P22}}''
|Item
|
|
|-
|{{O|P45}}
:''{{desc|P45}}''
|Item
|{{O|Q4822}}
|
|-
|{{O|P46}}
:''{{desc|P46}}''
|Item
|{{O|Q6694}}<br>{{O|Q5711}}
|
|-
|{{O|P18}}
:''{{desc|P18}}''
|Item
|
|
|-
|{{O|P17}}
:''{{desc|P17}}''
|Item
|On {{O|Q400}}: {{O|Q3655}}
|One or multiple keys that replace this one. The corresponding proposal (if existent) should already be linked as a reference for {{O|P6}} with {{O|P11}}.
|}

=== Key prefixes and suffixes ===
Each [[Namespace|key prefix]] (namespace) or [[Subkey|key suffix]] (subkey) is stored much like a [[#Keys|key]], except that you specify {{O|P52}} or {{O|P53}} instead of <del>{{O|P16}}</del>. For example, {{O|Q19669}} describes {{prefix|not}} and {{O|Q22164}} describes {{suffix|conditional}}:

{| class=wikitable
! property || type || value example || description
|-
| {{O|P2}}
:''{{desc|P2}}''
| Item || {{O|Q22020}} or {{O|Q22021}} || Indicates that the item represents a key prefix or key suffix, respectively.
|-
| {{O|P52}}
:''{{desc|P52}}''
| string || <code>not</code> || Shows the exact form of the key prefix as used in OSM, not including any wildcard characters or delimiters. Must never be changed once the item is created.
|-
| {{O|P53}}
:''{{desc|P53}}''
| string || <code>conditional</code> || Shows the exact form of the key suffix as used in OSM, not including any wildcard characters or delimiters. Must never be changed once the item is created.
|}

=== Tag values ===
For keys like [[Key:highway]], there is a list of the well-known values such as {{tag|highway|residential}}, {{tag|highway|service}}, {{tag|highway|footway}}. These values are stored similarly to keys. See '''{{O|Q888}}''' that describes a {{tag|bridge:movable|bascule}}. See all items that [https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/w/index.php?title=Special%3AWhatLinksHere&target=Item%3AQ104&namespace=120 link to bridge:movable].

{| class=wikitable
! property || type || value example || description
|-
| description || string || '''en''' – ''A type of movable bridge, a bascule bridge contains one or two spans, one end of which is free and swings upwards. A counterweight at the pivoting end of the span or spans balances the weight as the free end rises.''<br>'''pl''' – ''Most zwodzony jest to rodzaj mostu w którym co najmniej jedno przęsło jest podnoszone. Mosty zwodzone mogą być jedno- lub dwuskrzydłowe.'' || This is the primary way to describe a tag using proper sentences (first word capitalized, ending with a period). Must not contain any wiki markup or HTML. Must be less than 250 symbols.

You can link to other keys and tags with <code>key:…</code> and <code>tag:…=…</code>. These links will work in the infobox on the ''Key:'' or ''Tag:'' wiki page (make sure the text in the infobox template is the same as the description on the ''Item:'' page) as well as in [[iD]],<ref name="id-pr-documentation-links-to-other-tags"/> but not on the ''Item:'' wiki pages themselves.
|-
| label || string || '''en''' – <code>bridge:movable=bascule</code> || Label usage is still a bit undecided for the key/tag data items, so it is best not to use it for anything. No longer active bot was setting the English label to the tag's value, exactly the same as '''P19''' below. Some languages have '''nativekey=nativevalue''' (localized key/value) that was added to the labels as well. Do not add a copy of the English label to any other languages. ''Note that same as "en", the localized label must be unique in that language.''
|-
| sitelink || string || [[Tag:bridge:movable=bascule]] || Links to the ''Tag:'' pages, even if the page does not exist. The sitelink is shown on top of the page on the other side as the page title.
|-
| {{O|P2}} || Item || {{O|Q2}} || Indicate the type of the item. Set to Q2 for tags.
|-
| {{O|P19}} || string || <code>bridge:movable=bascule</code> || Shows the exact form of the tag as used in OSM. Must never be changed once the item is created. Due to technical limitations, tags "Tag:water tap=yes", "Tag:water_tap=yes", and "Tag:water_tap=yes_" have identical wiki pages/sitelinks – "Tag:water tap=yes". In this case, set this property to multiple strings, but mark one as {{PreferredRank}} "{{Int:Wikibase-statementview-rank-preferred}}" (small up arrow left of value).
|-
| {{O|P10}} || Item || {{O|Q104}} || Every tag item links to the corresponding key item, making it easier to query and validate.
|}

Tags may also use {{O|P33}}, {{O|P34}}, {{O|P35}}, {{O|P36}}, {{O|P28}}, {{O|P25}}, {{O|P6}}, {{O|P31}}, {{O|P45}}. See their description in [[#Keys|Key section]] above.

=== Relations ===
Similar to keys and tags, here is an example {{O|Q16054}} copied from [[Relation:restriction]].

{| class=wikitable
! property || type || value example || description
|-
| description || string || ... || This is the primary description of the relation, using full sentences that end with a period and with the first word capitalised. Must not contain any wiki markup or HTML. Must be less than 250 symbols.

You can link to other keys and tags with <code>key:…</code> and <code>tag:…=…</code>. These links will work in the infobox on the ''Key:'' or ''Tag:'' wiki page (make sure the text in the infobox template is the same as the description on the ''Item:'' page) as well as in [[iD]],<ref name="id-pr-documentation-links-to-other-tags">https://github.com/openstreetmap/iD/pull/10763</ref> but not on the ''Item:'' wiki pages themselves.
|-
| label || string || '''en''' – <code>restriction relation</code> || Short relation description. Do not add a copy of the English label to any other languages.
|-
| sitelink || string || [[Relation:restriction]] || Links to the corresponding '''Relation:...''' wiki page, even if the page does not exist. The sitelink is shown on top of the page on the other side as the page title.
|-
| {{O|P2}} || Item || {{O|Q6}} || Indicate the type of the item. Must be set to '''Q6''' for relations.
|-
| {{O|P41}}
: {{desc|P41}}
| string || <code>restriction</code> || Shows the exact form of the relation type as used in OSM. Must never be changed once the item is created. Due to technical limitations, sitelinks "Relation:destination sign", "Relation:destination_sign", and "Relation:destination_sign_" have identical wiki sitelink – "Relation:destination sign". In this case, set this property to multiple strings, but mark one with a {{PreferredRank}} '''{{Int:Wikibase-statementview-rank-preferred}}'''.
|-
| {{O|P40}}
: {{desc|P40}}
| Item || {{O|Q16013}} || Every relation item links to the corresponding {{Tag|type}} tag item, making it easier to query and validate.
|-
| {{O|P54}}
: {{desc|P54}}
| Item || {{O|Q16075}} || This inverse property links to every known role associated with the relation type. Each value item should have a {{O|P43}} statement linking back to the relation type.
|}

Relations may also use {{O|P28}}, {{O|P25}}, {{O|P6}}, {{O|P31}}. See their description in [[#Tag keys|the Tag Key section]] above.

=== Relation roles ===
Members of the relation could be labeled with "roles", e.g. "inner" and "outer" ways in the [[Relation:multipolygon|multipolygon relation]]. Each role for each relation type has its own data item. Example for {{O|Q16060}}.

{| class=wikitable
! property || type || value example || description
|-
| description || string || ... || This is the primary description of the relation role, using full sentences that end with a period and with the first word capitalised. Must not contain any wiki markup or HTML. Must be less than 250 symbols.

You can link to other keys and tags with <code>key:…</code> and <code>tag:…=…</code>. These links will work in the infobox on the ''Key:'' or ''Tag:'' wiki page (make sure the text in the infobox template is the same as the description on the ''Item:'' page) as well as in [[iD]],<ref name="id-pr-documentation-links-to-other-tags">https://github.com/openstreetmap/iD/pull/10763</ref> but not on the ''Item:'' wiki pages themselves.
|-
| label || string || '''en''' – <code>boundary admin center role</code> || Short relation role description. Do not add a copy of the English label to any other languages.
|-
| sitelink || string || [[Relation:boundary=admin centre|Relation:boundary=admin&nbsp;centre]] || Links to the '''Relation:<relation>=<role>''' wiki page, even if the page does not exist. If the role is empty, use '''Relation:relation=&nbsp;''' form. If the role has a variable portion, e.g. '''route=platform:<number>''', set sitelink to the fixed part -- '''Relation:route=platform:''', and use {{O|P13}} to validate the variable part. The sitelink is shown on top of the page on the other side as the page title.
|-
| {{O|P2}} || Item || {{O|Q4667}} || Indicate the type of the item. Must be set to '''Q4667''' for the relation member roles.
|-
| {{O|P21}}
: {{desc|P21}}
| string || <code>boundary=admin_centre</code> || Shows the exact form of the relation role as used in OSM but preceded by "<relationtype>=". Must never be changed once the item is created. Due to technical limitations, sitelinks "Relation:boundary=admin_centre", "Relation:boundary=admin centre", and "boundary=admin_centre_" have identical wiki sitelink – "Relation:boundary=admin centre". In this case, set this property to multiple strings, but mark one with a {{PreferredRank}} '''{{Int:Wikibase-statementview-rank-preferred}}'''.
|-
| {{O|P43}}
: {{desc|P43}}
| Item || {{O|Q16019}} || Every relation member role links to the corresponding relation type item, making it easier to query and validate. The relation type item should have an inverse {{O|P54}} statement linking back to this role item.
|-
| {{O|P13}}
:''{{desc|P13}}''
| string || <code>platform:[0-9]+</code> || A regular expression that can be used to validate the variable part of the role. In this case the value must be one or more digits, e.g. for the '''route=platform:<number>''' role. Validators will convert regex expression into the <code>^(platform:[0-9]+)$</code> form (for the given example).
|}

Relation member roles may also use {{O|P33}}, {{O|P34}}, {{O|P35}}, {{O|P36}}, {{O|P28}}, {{O|P25}}, {{O|P6}}, {{O|P31}}. See their description in [[#Tag keys|the Tag Key section]] above.

== Storing geographical differences ==
A phone booth looks very different depending on the geographical region, e.g. a country. To indicate that an image, or any other value of the data item is specific to a location, use {{O|P48}} qualifier with a geographical region item.

A geographical region item is a data item with the {{O|P2}} = {{O|Q19531}}, and it contains a {{O|P49}} property set to one or more country codes.

The {{O|P48}} qualifier should eventually replace the {{O|P26}}.

== Storing locale differences ==
Most translated ''Key:'' and ''Tag:'' pages tend to have mismatching parameters like status, group, or the types of elements it should be used on. While some were deliberate results after a careful local community evaluation (see {{O|Q501|P34}}), many other cases are simply stale and need to be fixed, or possibly removed from the template's parameters to let it use the underlying data item.

All locale differences are stored using {{O|P26}}. The value with no qualifiers is the default. It should have the {{PreferredRank}} ''{{Int:Wikibase-statementview-rank-preferred}}'', but it is OK to keep {{NormalRank}} ''{{Int:Wikibase-statementview-rank-normal}}'' when there are no other values for the property. All language-specific values must use {{O|P26}} and have {{NormalRank}} ''{{Int:Wikibase-statementview-rank-normal}}''. Each value must be used only once, possibly with multiple qualifier values (e.g. a property "{{O|P33}}" can have only one "{{O|Q8000}}" and one "{{O|Q8001}}"). Each language qualifier can only be used once for the whole property. Language must not be listed if it is the same as the default. If there is no value without qualifiers, it means that the default is not set (e.g. English page has no '''onRelation=''' parameter).

{| class=wikitable
! Property !! Rank !! Value !! Qualifier !! Meaning
|-
| rowspan="3" | {{O|P25}}
| style="text-align:center" | {{PreferredRank}} || {{O|Q4712}} || ''no qualifiers'' || This value is used for English page and all other language pages except those explicitly listed below.
|-
| style="text-align:center" | {{NormalRank}} || {{O|Q4671}}
| {{O|P26}}
: {{O|Q7798}}
: {{O|Q7791}}
| This value is only used for the Italian and Finnish pages.
|-
| style="text-align:center" | {{NormalRank}} || {{O|Q4707}}
| {{O|P26}}
: {{O|Q7785}}
| This value is only used for the Czech pages.
|}

== Meta item ==
There are many data items which are neither a Key nor a Tag:
; OSM Concepts
: {{O|Q9}}, {{O|Q7}}, {{O|Q2}}, {{O|Q11}}, {{O|Q12}}
; Statuses of type {{O|Q11}}
: {{O|Q13}}, {{O|Q14}}, {{O|Q15}}, {{O|Q17}}, {{O|Q20}}, {{O|Q5060}}, {{O|Q5061}}, {{O|Q7550}}, {{O|Q21146}}
; Statuses of type {{O|Q8010}}
: {{O|Q8000}}, {{O|Q8001}}
; Special
: {{O|Q10}}, {{O|Q2761}}

== Item creation process ==
=== Current methods for creating new items ===

* [[Special:NewItem]] -- please use [https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/w/index.php?search=&title=Special%3ASearch&profile=advanced&fulltext=1&ns120=1 '''Wiki search in namespace "Item" only'''] (do not prefix with `Key:` or `Tag:) and [[Special:ItemByTitle/wiki/]] (use the `Key:` or `Tag:` prefix, e.g. `Key:highway` or `Tag:highway=residential`) to do a search so that duplicate items are not added.
* Enable the "moveClaim" gadget in [[Special:Preferences#mw-prefsection-gadgets|your Gadget preferences]] and copy a claim from an existing item to a "NEW" item using the green plus button.
* The JOSM `[https://gitlab.com/gokaart/josm_wikidata osmwiki-dataitem]` plugin -- right click on the tag entry, `Create new WikiData item for <key or tag>`, and follow the prompts. If only `Open WikiData for <key or tag>` is visible, then the item already exists in wiki data ''or'' the key is not marked as a well-defined key (for example, `note` or `name` will not be marked as `P9=Q8` (key type=well defined)). The wikidata plugin currently only supports `Tag` and `Key` types.

While the JOSM wikidata plugin is currently in alpha, it does add more information than the [[Special:ItemByTitle/wiki/|Special:ItemByTitle/wiki]] page, so it may be easier and better to use the plugin over the special page at this time.

In the event that [[Special:ItemByTitle/wiki/|Special:ItemByTitle/wiki]] is used, please add the following information:

* [[Property:P2|instance of]] ([[Item:Q2|tag]], [[Item:Q7|key]], [[Item:Q6|relation]], [[Item:Q4667|relation role]])
* permanent id ([[Property:P16|key]], [[Property:P19|tag]], [[Property:P41|relation]], [[Property:P21|relation role]])
* [[Property:P31|documentation wiki pages]]

In the event that [[Special:NewItem]] is used, please set the "sitelink" in addition:

* Set the sitelink at [[Special:SetSiteLink//wiki]] for the newly created item (`Site ID` should most likely be `wiki`, the `ID` should be the `Q` identifier, for example `Q335`, and the sitelink should be the identifier, e.g. `Key:highway).<br/>You can also use the link "Set item sitelink" from the "Tools" menu on the item page to set the sitelink.
** This is needed so that [[Special:ItemByTitle/wiki]] works properly.

=== Defunct bot ===

A [[Special:Contributions/Yurikbot|bot]] has created all significantly used keys and tags, and continued creating these items when they were detected in the OSM database (taginfo API) or on the wiki. The bot used to:
* create an item for any key with 10+ usages if it matches <code>^[a-z0-9]+([-:_\.][a-z0-9]+)*$</code> (i.e. sequence of one or more words separated by single dashes, colons, underscores or periods, where words contain only lower case English letters and numbers), or for any 1000+ usages regardless of the key syntax (see [[Talk:Data items|talk page]])
* set item's label to be the same as the key
* set item's description from the corresponding wiki page's info card (if available, from all languages)
* set used-on, recommended tags, implies, and any other easy-to-figure-out data from the info cards.
* will NOT update any fields modified by a user, e.g. if description in FR has been changed by a user, it should not be changed by the bot.

Eventually, it would be better for OSM tools (iD, JOSM, ...) to ask the user for the metadata, and use MW API to create new items.

== Item deletion process ==
{{anchor|deletion}}<!-- used at "Deleting wiki pages, files and templates" -->
Data items can be deleted manually by [[Wiki:Administrators|administrators]]. They might delete a Data Item if
* there is no regular wiki page here (aside from discussions or user pages) that describe a key/tag/rel/... and
* there is no proposal associated with the Data Item and
* the Data Item does not qualify for creation according to the [[#Item creation process|Item Creation Process]].
{{see also|Item talk:Q16211}}

If you accidentally create a duplicate item, ask a [[Wiki:Data administrators|data administrator]] to merge it with the preexisting one. The duplicate item will become a redirect to minimize impact on data consumers.

== API access and querying ==
An external tool can get all the data about a given key or tag in several ways:

* Use [[Special:ItemByTitle/wiki]] to determine the key or tag's QID, then use [[Special:EntityData]] to get a dump of the item in a supported format. For example, {{O|Q4918}}: [[Special:ItemByTitle/wiki/Tag:barrier=hedge]], then [[Special:EntityData/Q4918.json]].
* The same process can be streamlined in [[Special:ApiSandbox#{{anchorencode:action=wbgetentities&format=json&formatversion=2&sites=wiki&titles=Key:bridge:movable&languages=en|fr}}|a <code>wbgetentities</code> API call]].
** Use <code>languages</code> to filter labels and descriptions to the needed languages.
** There are more existing actions you can use when working with Data Items. These API actions can be found in the [https://www.wikidata.org/w/api.php#:~:text=wb MediaWiki (Data Items) API help] (search there for a string starting with <code>wb</code> which is the abbreviation for wikibase.
* Use [[Sophox]] to query metadata. There are some [[SPARQL examples#Data items|metadata-specific examples]].
* Download a full [[Wiki#Wiki Dumps / Export|dump of OSM Wikibase]] [https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/dump/ in gzipped Turtle format] (wikibase-rdf.ttl.gz).

== Tracking changes to data items ==
To track changes to data items, you can add a data item to [[Special:Watchlist|your {{Int:Prefs-watchlist}}]] like any other page on the wiki. You can also configure your {{Int:Prefs-watchlist}} to automatically include changes to the data item associated with any wiki page you are watching, by opening the "{{int:rcfilters-search-placeholder}}" dropdown and checking the "{{int:wikibase-rcfilters-hide-wikibase-label}}" checkbox. To make these changes permanent, click the [[File:OOjs UI icon bookmark.svg|24x24px|alt=bookmark|link=]]&nbsp;button or checking the "{{int:wikibase-watchlist-show-changes-pref}}" checkbox in your [[Special:Preferences#mw-prefsection-watchlist|watchlist preferences]].

Changes to data items are included in [[Special:RecentChanges]], [[Special:RecentChangesLinked]], and [[Special:Watchlist]] by default. To filter out all edits to data items, click the [[File:OOjs UI icon article-ltr.svg|24x24px|alt=|link=]]&nbsp;{{int:Prefs-namespaces}} button in the filter panel, check "Item", and click "{{int:Rcfilters-exclude-button-off}}". To filter out changes to labels, descriptions, or aliases but include changes to statements, click the [[File:OOjs UI icon tag.svg|24x24px|alt=|link=]]&nbsp;{{int:tags-title}} button in the filter panel, check "Data item terms", and click "{{int:Rcfilters-exclude-button-off}}". (This latter filter is useful for ignoring translations and is implemented via an "[[Special:AbuseFilter/10|abuse filter]]" and corresponding tag.)

To make any of these changes permanent, click the [[File:OOjs UI icon bookmark.svg|24x24px|alt=bookmark|link=]]&nbsp;button.

== Quality control ==
There are several [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Wikibase_Quality_Extensions additional extensions] designed to validate Wikibase data, and find items that do not pass validation. Installing such capabilities may not be done in the first deployment stage.

Note that due to limitations listed in section below watchlisting data items is dysfunctional. As result, lower number of editors monitors data items. In case of conflict between data item data and data on OSM Wiki page in the infobox, it is very likely that data item is incorrect.

== Limitations and known issues ==
* Wikibase's "Commons File" properties do not yet support files stored on this wiki. Instead, we use a regular string property to store the image name, and use a gadget (see your preferences) to show strings as images.
* The sitelink in the upper right corner does not show whether the Tag:* or a Key:* page exists or not.
* All sitelinks must use spaces instead of underscores. API sitelink search does not work otherwise. See {{O|P16}} and {{O|P19}} for the correct value. Note that regular Mediawiki Key:* and Tag:* pages have the same issue, and use a special hack to change the title.
* MediaWiki removes spaces/underscores from the key, so '''Key:_abc_''' would become '''Key: abc'''. There are no way to have two items with sitelinks '''Key:_abc''' and '''Key:_abc_''' -- they are treated as the same, and fail.
* Date item titles and talk page titles are not human readable, e.g. [[Item:Q5007]] vs [[Tag:amenity=shelter]]
* Item "Q" numbers collide with those used in the main Wikidata site, e.g. [[wikidata:Q5007|wikidata Q5007]] vs [[Item:Q5007|dataitem Q5007]]). Despite numerous attempts by OSM community, and a working implementation by [[User:Yurik|Yurik]], [https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T202676 the fix for this issue was declined] by the maintainers of the Wikibase software. They suggest that the [https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T202676#5765318 distinction should be done via a prefix].
* The Wikibase software and the Wikidata project are sometimes confused with these data items, which in the past have been called "the wikibase" or "wiki data items" by some users.

=== Watchlist ===
Adding a data item to the [[Special:Watchlist]] will generate more watchlist notification, including all language translations.

Because of this, many experienced wiki users and mappers are not following the data item pages, so any mistakes are less likely to be fixed as quickly as mistakes on Tag and Key wiki pages.

This is tracked as [https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T43686 T43686] on Wikidata issue tracker.

=== Editing ===
The current data item editing experience should be improved, especially in these areas:
* Most data items were created by [[Special:Contributions/Yurikbot|bot]], and used to be updated by bot, unless a human user has edited the item. The bot source code is available, but undocumented.
* Editing data item should be made simpler by a direct edit button from the key/tag/relation page, without navigating to the data item page itself. An experimental '''data item editor''' can already be enabled in [[Special:Preferences#mw-prefsection-gadgets|user preferences]], but there is more work to be done in polishing this feature. ([https://github.com/nyurik/WE-Framework/tree/osm/ Source code])
* Currently there is no bulk-editing interface available, other than to write a bot. We should enable [https://tools.wmflabs.org/quickstatements/#/ Quick Statements] tool to simplify such operations.
* The current system of having the tag description in two places (wiki page and data items) has been creating some problems. The difference is shown by a small icon, and can also be queried in Sophox (TODO: add query link here).
* The data item user interface still has some [[w:Flash of unstyled content|bugs]], and the javascript may load slowly on some systems, resulting in a less than ideal experience. Hopefully this issue will be fixed upstream (TODO: link to [http://phabricator.wikimedia.org/ Phabricator] issue)
* It is not currently possible to copy the data item content, edit it outside browser as text, and copy it back, or to make multiple changes to a data item at one time.
* In some cases editing an article page (for example to delete a wrong field from the Infobox) will result in the data item taking over. As result, after a user removed the parameter the same wrong data is still displayed. As result people editing infobox parameters now need to also edit data items.<ref>[https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/w/index.php?title=User_talk%3AJeisenbe&type=revision&diff=1986722&oldid=1982330 This affects both experienced users] and [https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/w/index.php?title=User_talk:DaveF63&oldid=1954537 and those less experienced with Wiki editing] See also [https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/w/index.php?title=User_talk:Tyr&curid=114662&diff=2103866&oldid=2103860] and [https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/w/index.php?title=User_talk:Mateusz_Konieczny&diff=2155392&oldid=2144454]</ref>
* Editing data item is not resulting in immediate update of wiki page, [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Manual:Purge ?action=purge] is needed what is confusing for a typical user (especially in cases mentioned above where wiki page was polluted by invalid data from data item)

=== History ===
* Use of data items to generate infoboxes results in confusing view of old page state, as they will reflect not state of data item at time of edit but current data item state

== Blanking infoboxes ==
It is technically feasible to delete parameters from infoboxes on OSM Wiki pages and display infobox using just data item. But there is no support for doing this kind of edits. There may be support for such action among people translating a given language.

== Alternatives ==
You may want to use info from OSM Wiki pages, from infoboxes – rather than data items. You can parse infoboxes yourself, or use [https://taginfo.openstreetmap.org/taginfo/apidoc#api_4_tag_wiki_pages API provided by taginfo for key-value pairs] and for [https://taginfo.openstreetmap.org/taginfo/apidoc#api_4_key_wiki_pages keys].

== See also ==
* {{O|Q2761}} is a sandbox item – feel free to make any changes to it.
* [https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Special:ListProperties All available properties]
* [[/Technical Site Configuration|technical site configuration details]]
* [https://wikibase-registry.wmflabs.org/ Wikibase Registry] has an entry for OSM Wiki as [https://wikibase-registry.wmflabs.org/wiki/Item:Q26 Item Q26].
* [[OSM Semantic Network]]

== References ==
<references/>

[[Category:MediaWiki extensions|Wikibase]]