Potlatch (software)
OpenStreetMap editor
title: "Potlatch (software)" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["free-gis-software", "openstreetmap", "software-using-the-wtfpl-license"] description: "OpenStreetMap editor" topic_path: "general/free-gis-software" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potlatch_(software)" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary OpenStreetMap editor ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox software"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Potlatch |
| logo | Potlatch 2 Logo.png |
| logo size | 250px |
| screenshot | potlatch2.png |
| screenshot size | 250px |
| caption | Potlatch 2 with OpenStreetMap data |
| developer | Richard Fairhurst |
| latest release version | 3.0 |
| latest release date | |
| programming language | ActionScript |
| platform | Adobe AIR |
| language count | 94 |
| genre | GIS software |
| license | WTFPL |
| website | |
| :: |
| name = Potlatch | logo = Potlatch 2 Logo.png | logo size = 250px | screenshot = potlatch2.png | screenshot size = 250px | caption = Potlatch 2 with OpenStreetMap data | developer = Richard Fairhurst | released = | latest release version = 3.0 | latest release date = | programming language = ActionScript | platform = Adobe AIR | language count = 94 | genre = GIS software | license = WTFPL | website = Potlatch is an editing tool for OpenStreetMap using Adobe AIR. For many years embedded directly within the OpenStreetMap website using Adobe Flash, it was rebuilt as a desktop application following the end-of-lifing of Flash.
History
Potlatch 1 was released mid 2006 and was the default editor on the main OpenStreetMap site until it was replaced by Potlatch 2 in April 2011. The name Potlatch came from the name of newsletter of the Lettrist International art collective.
Tim Berners-Lee demonstrated editing OpenStreetMap using Potlatch during his TED The next web talk in 2009.
An alpha version of Potlatch 2, a complete reimplementation of the software, was published in summer 2010. In April 2011, Potlatch 2 was released for general use. After Microsoft had granted OpenStreetMap permission to use aerial imagery from their Bing Maps service for tracing, Potlatch 2 was extended to display these images in the background.
iD began as a reimplementation of Potlatch 2 architecture in JavaScript. It replaced Potlatch 2 as the default editor on the OpenStreetMap-Website in 2013.
In 2020, the OpenStreetMap Foundation provided €2,500 funding for Potlatch to be ported to Adobe AIR, so that it could continue to run as a desktop application for Microsoft Windows and Apple Macintosh after Flash was disabled in web browsers. The desktop version was subsequently released as Potlatch 3.
References
References
- Günther, Karsten. "Potlatch 2: OpenStreetMap Editor » Linux Magazine".
- (2016-02-22). "Amateur or Professional: Assessing the Expertise of Major Contributors in OpenStreetMap Based on Contributing Behaviors". ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information.
- Berners-Lee, Tim. (13 March 2009). "The next web".
- (2010-11-29). "OpenStreetMap editor Potlatch 2 launched {{!}} OpenStreetMap Blog".
- "Golem.de: IT-News für Profis".
- HarryWood. (2011-04-05). "Potlatch 2 is here {{!}} OpenStreetMap Blog".
- Fairhurst, Richard. (14 October 2012). "It all starts with an editor".
- MacWright, Tom. "iD Updates". MapBox.
- Dubowy, Liane M.. (6 February 2013). "Neuer Editor für OpenStreetMap". [[Heise (company).
- (2013-08-23). "iD In-Browser Editor Now Default on OpenStreetMap".
- "Potlatch - the OpenStreetMap editor".
::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::