Meet our new community map

Hey there, friends of wikiloops!

In this first entry to the wikiloops blog in 2025, let me cover the two updates which have been published in the past couple of weeks.
For those interested, I will add a bit of history leading up to the brand new community world map, which has been released just yesterday.

Let's recap:

Update No.1 (released in january)

· dark mode on wikiloops
· 32 new hand-chiseled custom instrument icons
· consistent visual feedback on buttons & clickable interface items

Update No.2 (released february 11th)

· the genuine wikiloops collaborators map, including selection filters and sample track playback, which now resides on the homepage of wikiloops
· the individual „my network“ map, which is now part of the profile showcase of any gold supporter
· upgraded user statistics generation to gather the data for the map visualization

Both „dark mode“ and the initiative to work on the map go back to feedback from the community, and I am happy to present wikiloops in a state where integrating such features is possible.

Those who have followed wikiloops evolution for a longer time will know that we have spent almost two years refactoring the code to make such improvements possible. Most of that was completely invisible to the users eye, so, it is a nice change to present these new features which are visible and hopefully enjoyable to you.

Feature Spotlight: The collaborators map

Let me point out a few nice-to-know things about that map in Q&A-form really quick:

Does the map display all wikiloops members?
No – it currently displays roundabout 1200 members out of 90k people who have ever created a wikiloops user account. The selection is based on the number of track uploads and recency of being active, so, you might not find everybody you ever came across, and you'll have to be active to show up on the map.

Why are some locations taken by multiple users, and why are some placed at the bottom of the map?
The whole map is based on the geo-location coordinate system, so I had to assign geo-locations to the users first to position them. To be able to do that, I simply assigned one location per country, and then matched your country-flag choice with that list. Result: anyone who chose an american flag on their wikiloops profile now has the coordinates of washington DC, and so one for any other country.
That visually gave one stack of dots per country, so, by checking the profiles text statement specifying the location, I was able to move roundabout 300 dots to individual coordinates, resulting in the current look of the map.
There still are stacked dots in each country, and those who did not choose any flag on wikiloops were parked at the bottom of the map.

How can I edit my locations coordinates?
Just visit your wikiloops profile, move on to „edit profile“ and enter your coordinates there.
There are several web tools available to lookup ones coordinates online – there is no automatic geoposition detection in the game, it is up to you to add whichever location suits you, if you like to.

Why are some land areas dark and others brighter?
That actually reflects the current time of day, so one can tell where it is rather late or early right now :)

The world map on wikiloops... a long story

I have spent a few minutes checking some screenshots from early wikiloops versions, and well, the world map has been around on wikiloops in one form or the other since the very early days of wikiloops. Not really much of a surprise, if you want a global jam, show em a globe...


I did like the above map that supposingly displayed any visitor to wikiloops, but removed it due to the privacy concerns that come along with having such a third-party-owned tool on ones website.
That must have been some time in 2012, when the internet was a very different place.

In the following years, the globe / map showed up in several logos and banners, to then re-appear on the wikiloops radio player:


The really big fault there is that the map on the radio is not proportional at all, so, the positioning is entirely custom and unreated to any gelocation coordinates. In short: Quite a pain to maintain & not mobile device friendly at all... but the best I could do in 2018.

So, now here it is (I'll include a static image here, so the current state is captured for the future), the new collaborators map.

You know what I like best about it?
The way it displays the connections which you all have built.
Before, you may have looked at someone elses uploads count and interpret that in some way („oh wow, he's been at it!“ vs „oh, this one is fairly new“).
The connection lines reveal a different picture, shifting focus away from productivity and towards interactivity, which was not as visible before.
I was happy to re-discover some people on the map and warm up some good memories, and I won't deny that I ended up feeling

„this map does show what wikiloops is in a better way than anything I ever came up with“.

My hopes are you will agree, and maybe you will at some point use it to show someone else what wikiloops is, and how it connects you with people from all around the globe.
My five year old son enjoyed assisting me while I was working on the map, and I am certain he has a much clearer idea of what wikiloops is now ;)

As always, let me and with thanking you for the time to read these news,
for the feedback and encouragement from the community and
for the supporting members financial support and donations that keep wikiloops afloat!

It started with one red dot on that map in 2011,
thank you for your support making the global jam come true.