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G'day, Welcome to Wazeopedia Australia!

This vital resources serves to explain the unique editing rules that apply to all editors working on the Australian maps.

Are a you a brand new editor to Waze? Take a look at the Waze Australia onboard process.

About Waze

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What The Australian Community Expects From You

This para serves as a guideline for all Wazers, willing to contribute to the Australian map.

Basically we follow general practices, and as an English speaking country we don't need translation of general content. Nevertheless we here in Australia decided to state, how we would like to see the work done.

• Every Wazer, regardless of their rank or origin, is encouraged and welcome to contribute to the Australian map. Nonetheless everyone is required to act in the here-stated manner and to follow the rules as stated in the Australian Wiki. Any rules/guidelines not covered herein will be available in the global Wiki.

• Contributers to the Australian map are also welcome to add the graphic to their (forum) signature to show their affiliation to the Australian Waze Community.

  

• We expect all map editors to regularly visit the Australian forum. Though we would appreciate a post from you too, you're not required to participate in the forum, but to keep in touch with the thoughts and various projects running in our community (i.e Servos, that's what we call a Petrol/Gas station here)

• Always keep in mind, that everyone of us is voluntarily giving their time to Waze. No-one is a Waze employee, so please respect that everybody has a private life too and consider this when expecting an answer - be it in the Forum or PM.

• Work together and not against one another. Always look at the time stamp, when considering to change existing elements. If it has been edited recently, it might still be under construction by the last editor. If you think, something has to be done immediately please get in contact with the last editor via PM.

• Don't leave "loose ends". The last editor of a segment is responsible for it. So if you choose to create a new segment or edit an existing make sure that you make it ready by adding street- and city name, proper label, turn restrictions. We don't expect you to do all at once - sometimes you will have to look for additional information or a feedback from the editor before you, but ensure to make all necessary adjustments at least within a month. Just performing slight geometry changes to snap off some points and edits is not our style here.
  • Special note: Special note: In accordance with the implementation of Google search and to get a working road grid as soon as possible, guest editors, wide area managers and country managers may choose to use the "no name" option when naming a street (or lower) to make them routeable. To prevent smudged cities the city names are to be applied all times. Local editors are encouraged to add the proper street names as they see able to.

• We expect that all activities concerning Waze in Australia are carried out in a spirit of mutual respect and we want you to show it. So keep the wording nice and friendly - and don't be shy using the "thank you"-button if you get an answer to a question or help with a problem.

Waze editing philosophy

It's important to understand the purpose of Waze. Waze is NOT a general-purpose mapping application. It is designed specifically to assist drivers of motor vehicles to navigate to their objectives and to avoid traffic. In other words, it is a NAVIGATION app. The Waze map is not a topographic map; it is a specialised diagram providing navigation information. Edits to the map that do not support these goals in some way are strongly discouraged. Edits that detract from these goals, even unintentionally, do not belong at all. (See Misunderstanding Waze's purpose).

This is hinted at in the first two goals of Waze map editing - usability and simplicity. The map has to work for navigation, and it has to be no more complex than is needed to achieve that. Every extra road segment carries with it a number of costs:

• extra clutter on the map as seen in the app
• extra processing in the mobile device to determine which of many segments best matches the current position estimate, and to display the segments, resulting in extra heat and shorter battery life
• extra bandwidth needed to transfer the data to the app
• the big one: extra complexity for the routing server, potentially causing it to be unable to find a route in the time available
  

The cost for a single extra segment may not be significant, but when there is a high proportion of unnecessary segments, the cumulative cost becomes a concern.

There are a number of guidelines that have been developed to meet these goals:

• We do not represent roads as parallel one-way sections unless it's really needed. See Dual Carriageways
• We do not split roads into a Y-shape where they meet a roundabout. See Roundabouts
• We do not map every lane of a parking lot. See Parking Lot Roads
• We do not map turn lanes unless they are really needed. See Should the connector be mapped
• Most hiking and bicycling paths should not be on the map at all. See Pedestrian Paths
• In general, there is no reason to have multiple rail lines mapped. See Railroads
• We don't map small loops at the end of dead-end segments. See Cul-de-sacs
• we don't map short driveways. See Driveways

A good rule to bear in mind is: will the map generate the right instructions without the change I'm thinking of? If you are uncertain, ask for advice in the Australia forums.

New editors are often keen to add as much as possible to the map. The reality is that the established metro areas have been pretty comprehensively mapped, and you're unlikely to find much that needs doing. Focus on new housing developments, where the Waze map hasn't caught up. Oh, and remember that you mustn't copy information from other maps, only from what you can see in the editor or in real life. See External Sources and Map Editor - External Sources.

Update Request (URs)

As it turns out to be a matter on constant annoyance:

Pay particular attention to the etiquette of adding to the conversation, closing a UR that another editor is working on, and so on.

In the past, there have been a rash of editors giving long winded responses to URs. The average person is not going to read beyond the 3rd or 4th line. In this example:

"Many drivers think a report shows their destination and route information, it doesn't. It doesn't even tell us who filed the report. We volunteer map editors only see where you are when you start your report and short pieces of the recommended and driven routes. We need more information to fix your problem. Thank you for the report and all the WAZE you help. If you respond to my query and I do not acknowledge within 1 day, please e-mail me at xxxxxxxxx@waze.com with a repeat of the information. This report will be closed as 'not identified' if there is no response within 7 days."

and this example:

"Please provide more details so we can investigate the "General error" you reported. Volunteer map editors only fix map problem. We don't see what you see on your screen. We only see where you were located when you started your report and a short segment of the WAZE recommended route and a short segment of the route taken. To test the routing, we need to know the approximate start and end points of your route. Your routing options are important. Do you Avoid toll roads? Avoid major highways? Dirt roads allow/don't allow/avoid long ones? Have you selected 'fastest route' or 'shortest route'? Thank you for the report and all the WAZE you help. If no response within 7 days, this report will be closed as 'Not identified'."

the user will most likely either not get beyond the "We need more information to fix your problem" or they will skim through it and not pay attention to what is being asked of them. Please keep responses to URs at a minimum. Asking someone to explain more information about their issue does not require a novel, it should read like the box score to a game in the newspaper.

A shorter, more to the point response should suffice. An example:

"You reported a general error at ______________________ and ______________________ but left no info as to what's wrong. Can you please elaborate, so we may look into and resolve the issue? Thank you."

or

"You reported a missing road, but didn't tell us the name of the road. Could you please give us the name, so we may add it to the map? Thank you."

These are short, simple, to the point, and don't bother the driver with useless information about satellites, sun spots, the curvature of Earth's horizon in relation to Mars' gravitational pull, or other weird explanations from editors which have popped up on URs.

Speed and Red Light Cameras

The usual lock level for confirmed cameras of all types should be 3. A higher level may be set if necessary to prevent repeated vandalism or incorrect edits. Level 4+ editors are reminded that the map editor currently defaults to "Auto" lock level, which sets the lock to the level of the editor - that is, too high.

The speed setting for a dual red-light/speed camera should be set to 0 to ensure that the camera provides a consistent red-light warning. (This convention will be revised if/when the app is changed to provide both warnings for a dual-function camera.) Note that there is no point in adding another camera to produce the speed alert, as a second camera within about 400 metres will not alert.

Recent Imports

These pages have been recently added and need verification that their links and information are still correct. Please discuss further in the Waze Australia Forums.

Australian City Names

Australian Duplicate Cities

Abbreviations and Acronyms

Australian Road Names

Newly Added

These pages are new to Australian Guidance. Please remember that Australian Guidance if it exists takes precedence over all others when editing in Australia.

Australian Place Style Guide