Updated documentation. Added important EoL announcement.

Author: WeatherGod

doc/conf.py

@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@
 
 # General substitutions.
 project = 'Basemap Matplotlib Toolkit'
-copyright = '2011, Jeffrey Whitaker'
+copyright = '2011, Jeffrey Whitaker; 2016 The matplotlib development team'
 
 # The default replacements for |version| and |release|, also used in various
 # other places throughout the built documents.

doc/index.rst

@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
-Welcome to the Matplotlib Basemap Toolkit documentation!
-========================================================
+Welcome to the Matplotlib Basemap Toolkit documentation
+=======================================================
 
 .. toctree::
    :maxdepth: 2

doc/users/installing.rst

@@ -21,28 +21,27 @@ Python 2.4 (or later, including Python 3)
 numpy 1.2.1 (or later)
     array support for python (`download <http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=1369&package_id=175103>`__)
 
-**Required libraries that ship with basemap**
+`PROJ4 <http://trac.osgeo.org/proj/>`__ Cartographic Projections Library.
+
+**Required library that ship with basemap**
 
 `GEOS <http://trac.osgeo.org/geos/>`__ (Geometry Engine - Open Source) library 3.1.1 or later.
     Source code is included in the geos-3.3.3 directory. 
     When building from source, must be built and installed separately
     from basemap (see build instructions below).
     Included in Windows binary installers.
 
-`PROJ4 <http://trac.osgeo.org/proj/>`__ Cartographic Projections Library.
-    Patched version automatically built into basemap.
-
 **Optional libraries**
 
-PIL
-    Python Imaging Library (`download <http://www.pythonware.com/products/pil/>`__),
+Pillow
+    Python Imaging Library (`download <https://python-pillow.org/>`__),
     only needed for :func:`~mpl_toolkits.basemap.Basemap.bluemarble`, :func:`~mpl_toolkits.basemap.Basemap.etopo`, :func:`~mpl_toolkits.basemap.Basemap.shadedrelief` and :func:`~mpl_toolkits.basemap.Basemap.warpimage` instance methods.
 
 Installation
 ============
 
 Download either Windows binary installers or source tarballs 
-`here <http://sourceforge.net/projects/matplotlib/files/matplotlib-toolkits/>`__. 
+`here <https://github.com/matplotlib/basemap/releases/>`__. 
 
 To install from the source, follow these steps:
 

doc/users/intro.rst

@@ -21,14 +21,30 @@ datasets (from `Generic Mapping Tools <http://gmt.soest.hawaii.edu/>`_)
 are provided, along with methods for plotting them. The `GEOS library 
 <http://geos.refractions.net>`_ is used internally to clip the coastline and polticial boundary features to the desired map projection region.
 
-Basemap provides facilities for reading `shapefiles
-<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shapefile>`_.
-
 Basemap is geared toward the needs of earth scientists, particular 
-oceanographers and meteorologists.  I originally wrote Basemap to help in my
-research (climate and weather forecasting), since at the time 
+oceanographers and meteorologists.  Jeff Whitaker originally wrote Basemap
+to help in his research (climate and weather forecasting), since at the time 
 `CDAT <http://www-pcmdi.llnl.gov/software/cdat/support/vcs/vcs.html>`_ was 
 the only other tool in python for plotting data on map projections.  Over
 the years, the capabilities of Basemap have evolved as scientists in other
 disciplines (such as biology, geology and geophysics) requested and 
-contributed new features.  
+contributed new features.
+
+Cartopy, New Management, and EoL Announcement
+=============================================
+
+Starting in 2016, Basemap came under new management. The
+`Cartopy project <http://scitools.org.uk/cartopy/>`_ will replace
+Basemap, but it hasn't yet implemented all of Basemap's features.
+All new software development should try to use CartoPy whenever possible,
+and existing software should start the process of switching over to use
+Cartopy. All maintenance and development efforts should be focused on
+Cartopy.
+
+Ben Root has volunteered to take over maintenance of Basemap until 2020.
+Pull requests will be reviewed, and bugs will be fixed. Also, the
+maintenance will ensure compatibility with packages like NumPy and matplotlib.
+New features will be accepted, but we stress that new development efforts
+should be focused on Cartopy. When Python 2.7 is officially EoL'ed in 2020,
+a release of Basemap will be made and support from Ben Root will end.
+