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Add old_name= support#1996

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matkoniecz wants to merge 3 commits intomainfrom
matkoniecz-patch-14
Open

Add old_name= support#1996
matkoniecz wants to merge 3 commits intomainfrom
matkoniecz-patch-14

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@matkoniecz
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Description, Motivation & Context

It makes sense to support this tag

Related issues

fixes #1288

Links and data

Relevant OSM Wiki links:

https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Key:old_name

Relevant tag usage stats:

911k uses

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@matkoniecz matkoniecz added the new-field create a new field (see add-field for cases where field from presets is added to new entries) label Mar 7, 2026
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github-actions bot commented Mar 7, 2026

🍱 Your pull request preview is ready

Please use this preview to check your changes. Ideally use the test documentation template and document your test results by commenting on the PR. This will speed up the review process for everyone.

FYI, once this PR is merged, you can use the iD Editor Preview to test your changes in interaction with all other changes.

@matkoniecz
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matkoniecz commented Mar 8, 2026

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though I see that alt_name gets jumped into random position between

@matkoniecz matkoniecz marked this pull request as ready for review March 9, 2026 08:18
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matkoniecz commented Mar 20, 2026

mentioned at https://community.openstreetmap.org/t/likely-upcoming-tags-in-id-review-welcome-food-old-name-piercing-indoor-seating-yes-no/142495

I propose to wait at least until 2026-04-04 to give community time to review this PR

@mcliquid
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For me it would be important to ensure consistent field ordering and grouping with other name-related tags (like name and alt_name) to avoid a confusing or fragmented user experience in the editor UI.

@1ec5
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1ec5 commented Mar 23, 2026

#215 added several similar fields. They all sort at the bottom because they’re optional fields. Adding them immediately after Name makes logical sense but would push down other fields that are important enough to be visible by default. In any case, that sorting behavior is iD’s responsibility if I’m not mistaken.

Comment thread data/fields/old_name.json Outdated
"label": "Old Name",
"universal": true,
"terms": [
"former name"
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Also: historical name, dated name, formerly known as, fka.

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added!

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matkoniecz commented Mar 23, 2026

In any case, that sorting behavior is iD’s responsibility if I’m not mistaken.

well, we can also define this in tagging schema but it requires https://github.com/ideditor/schema-builder work to extend schema what we can define

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kind of related: openstreetmap/iD#12005 - Show and edit related subtags in the inspector (check_date, note/description, source, conditional, numeric, other)

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Created ideditor/schema-builder#282 to cover field positioning.

The question is now whether it is better to show old_name imperfectly (for now) or not at all.

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1ec5 commented Mar 24, 2026

old_name=* is already more tenuous than the alt_name=* etc. fields we already have. If we can live with those fields having less prominence than operator=* or access=*, then I think we can live with old_name=* being just as obscure.

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Former Name field

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