User:Tradedia

This user is a member of the Counter-Vandalism Unit.

This user repairs links to disambiguation pages

This user has been editing Wikipedia for at least ten years.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Userboxes

This user has been editing Wikipedia for more thanten years.

This user is interested inmaps.

This user is amember of the
Counter-Vandalism Unit.

This user strives to maintain a policy ofneutrality on controversial issues.

<ref>

This user recognizes the importance ofciting sources.

This user can bereached by email.

PhD

This user has aDoctor of Philosophy degree.

This user has publishedpeer-reviewed articles inacademic journals.

This usercontributes media toWikimedia Commons.

This userrepairs links todisambiguation pages.

This user contributes usingMicrosoft Windows.

This user contributes usingGoogle Chrome.

This user contributes usingMicrosoft Word.

Welcome! I am the developer ofWar Map Templates/Modules. This started when I created theSyria war map (first version). The map is drawn by a computer code (Lua), and allows viewers to read the history of events (withreferences & sources) byclicking on the town dots. The map editing hasstrict rules which are imposed by Wikipedia administration. I am also in charge of enforcing Wikipedia rules on the map. The templates are also used to create picture files that are inserted in articles. To learn more about the map, you might take a look atWikipedia:Top 10 myths about the Wikipedia Syria war map.

Later, War Map Templates/Modules for other countries were created. However, War Maps should only be created for countries in a state of war. Below is a list of good war maps in alphabetical order:

Conflict	War map (template)	Code & documentation (module)
Central African Republic	Template	Module
DR Congo	Template	Code directly in template
Ethiopia	Template	Module
Iraq	Template	Module
Israel/Palestine	Template	Module
Libya	Template	Module
Mali	Template	Module
Mozambique	Template	Module
Myanmar	Template	Module
Nagorno-Karabakh	Template	Module
Somalia	Template	Module
Sudan	Template	Module
Syria	Template	Module
Ukraine	Template	Module
Yemen	Template	Module

The creation of these Wikipedia maps was in reaction to the unreliability of existing online war maps. See the section below for an illustration of this unreliability. Our war maps have gained a worldwide reputation for reliability and quality. They have been used by many media organizations. For example, ourTemplate:Russo-Ukrainian War detailed map isbeing used in March and April 2022 by a leading French newspaper,Le Parisien. Also, the same map wasused on the state-owned news TV network,France 24 in March 2022.

Timeline of online Syria war map makers’ fails

[edit]

This does not include the bias of the map maker (which is the attempt to overstate the gains of the side it prefers or understate the gains of the side it opposes). These cases are considered routine and everyone is aware of them. A “fail” is defined by a map maker overstating the gains of the side itopposes or understating the gains of the side itprefers. These instances show that the map maker is simply incompetent (as opposed to biased). We also define as a “fail”, instances where a map maker copies from another map. I only include well known map makers.

12 September 2014 – Pro-gov Peto Lucem had the area around Al-Tulaysiyah marked as rebel held (you can read all about it in the archives of a talk page). However, I was able to find a source that showed that in reality it was gov held. We informed Peto Lucem of his mistake and he corrected it.
8 December 2014 – Pro-oppDeSyracuse map had many towns around the strategic Abu al-Duhur airbase marked wrong for a while. He marked them under gov control when they were attacked by the gov but then did not take into account the fact that it was a hit and run attack and that gov troops left them a day later. Seehere for details.
8 December 2014 – Pro-oppDeSyracuse’smap dated 8 December 2014 uses a pro-gov source (al-Baath brigades) for a pro-gov update in the al-Safira area. (seehere for where this was pointed out to the Wikipedia community).
8 January 2015 – Pro-oppDeSyracuse’smap dated 8-january-2015 shows Kafr Shams gov-held. This was before the large gov offensive (beginning February). So we know it was wrong since one of the gov offensive’s objectives was to capture Kafr Shams. (seehere for where this was pointed out to the Wikipedia community).
13 March 2015 –DeSyracuse admits that his main source… is the Wikipedia map!
April 2015 – Pro- oppositionInstitute for the Study of War map (page 24 of report)botches badly the size of the rebel held pocket of Khan al-Shih. They show it asfifty times smaller than in reality! In theirfollowing map, they even forget the whole pocket! See detailshere,here andhere.
20 June 2015 – Al Masdar started a newmap obviously based on copying the Wikipedia map without even giving us credit! When looking at the map, we can clearly recognize that they are using our template map:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Syria_location_map3.svg. They are also using the same kind of dots for towns and the same exact colors. They also have the same border posts with similar icon shape (not a standard shape, so they clearly copied it from us). So they obviously started by copying (literally print screen) our map then made modifications to it. (seehere for where this was pointed out to the Wikipedia community).
30 August 2015 – Pro-oppDeSyracuse had the town of Mahajjahgov-held for many months. However, the town was rebel-held as indicated by all news sources, such as SOHR, Iran Press TV, Bosnjo, FSA website… For more details, seehere.
8 September 2015 – Pro-govIslamic World News had the town ofSabsaba rebel-held. However, a commenter to the map noted that the two major media reporting on the war had indicated it was gov held. (seehere for where this was pointed out to the Wikipedia community).
4 October 2015 – Pro-govIslamic World News had aland connection between Beit Jin area and Quneitra. However, a commenter to the map noted that: “According to maps from rebels themselves (that SF, Jaish Islam put out) there is no land connection between Beit Jin area and Quneitra.” The next day, Islamic World Newscorrects his map.
15 December 2016 –IHS map inBBC (considered reliable) has itslayover displaced relative to the background in the north-east direction by a significant margin (about 1.5 km). Therefore, none of what the map shows is accurate. For more details, seehere.