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G'day, Welcome to Wazeopedia Australia!

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

Are 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 paragraph 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: 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 routable. 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:

1. We do not represent roads as parallel one-way sections unless it's really needed. See Dual Carriageways
2. We do not split roads into a Y-shape where they meet a roundabout. See Roundabouts
3. DON'T map every lane of a parking lot. Only map the parking-lot roads necessary to ensure proper routing to and from destinations, and the perimeter lane when necessary so that parking lot traffic will not be detected as slow traffic on an adjacent road. See Mapping Parking Lot Roads.
4. We do not map turn lanes unless they are really needed. See Should the connector be mapped
5. Most hiking and bicycling paths should not be on the map at all. See Pedestrian Paths
6. In general, there is no reason to have multiple rail lines mapped. See Railroads
7. We don't map small loops at the end of dead-end segments. See Cul-de-sacs
8. We don't map short driveways. See Driveways
9. Don't fiddle with angles or distances near intersections until you thoroughly understand U-turn prevention and How Waze determines turn instructions. The details at those references are more complex than they appear at first, and even a small change (for example, to align the road segment on the map with the road shown on the aerial photography) can cause Waze to issue misleading turn instructions or even direct the driver though an illegal turn.

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 Waze provides in the map editor or you see in real life. See External Sources and Map Editor - External Sources. We have permission from Waze to use Government announcements of road closures when updating the map.

Topic List

Please do not edit any of these pages without Country Management permission.

Waze General

• Who are your country managers in Australia?
• Country management roles (under development)
• Application for Area Manager
• Global Wiki
• Glossary
• External Data / Third-Party Sources Policy
• How to use third-party data sources

Roads and Cities

• City Names
  • Duplicate Cities
• Abbreviations and Acronyms

• Road Attributes
  • Road Names

• Cameras

Places

• Places Style Guide

Update Requests (URs)

• Global Update Requests in Waze Map Editor Policy
• UR Management

New Editor Induction Material

• New Editor Onboarding Wizard (Short Link for URs: http://bit.ly/WazeEditOz)

Scripts

• Australian Scripts

Communication Platforms

• Australia Forums
  • AU Unlock Forums
• Waze Australia Discord Server