User:Moweez/Improve your skills

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Common errors: Improve your skills!

Introduction

Welcome to this Wiki page. You probably got the advice from another editor to read this page, or a specific part of this page. This advice is given to increase the quality of your edits. The edits for which you were referenced might have been deleted or adjusted in the mean while. This might be unhandy, because you miss a specific example. However, realize that the main goal of this advice is to improve your editing skills. If there is no specific subject why you are reading this Wiki page, just consume the information and when you need it, come back to the specific section of your need. Do not try to understand this whole Wiki page with all the details in once, for it might be overwhelming.

You are not the only editor who makes mistakes. All editors made mistakes and also all, now and then, still do. That's the way most people learn. And most of the times it are not even mistakes. The editing guidelines have developed over several years. So, something that was according to the regulations a year ago, might today be ready for improvement.

This Wiki page is not supposed to be a full manual of how to edit the Waze Map. It is an overview of subjects that are often confusing for starting editors, because they did not know the guidelines yet and their own logic tells them differently. This is not strange, because many of the guidelines have changed over the years and if you don't know the history, you don't always see the logic. All (starting) editors had this issue. And because guidelines are still changing and will keep changing, this will also happen to more experienced editors. In addition, the technical working of Waze changes often.

On this Wiki page, we have tried to combine technical knowledge of Waze with the users guidelines in the BeNeLux. To keep duplicate texts to a minimum, we also reference to other Wiki pages.

The best advice we can give to starting editors is to just start and make use of the community. Things will become clear in the process of learning. If something is unclear to you, first try to find it in one of the Wiki pages {overzicht van wiki pagina's, nog te maken}. If you can't find it, [ask your community]; Other editors are very willing to help. While reading the information in the Wiki or getting it from other editors, please keep in mind that, like in real live, also in Waze it is not always black and white. That is why we say we don't have rules or regulations, but guidelines. You may receive several opinions from two experienced editors and both can be correct, although a different interpretation. In addition, exceptions to guidelines are always possible and no problem, provided you have good arguments.

Waze is not a map, but a navigation system

The most made mistakes are because of the overall principle, this is 'Waze is not a topographic map, but a navigation tool'. Many starting editors try to make the map in Waze an exact copy of the actual situation. Roads are split, add pedestrian boarding walks and cycle paths, draw perfect rounded corners and area places are exactly drawn. The actual goal of Waze is to get the best instructions. The less detail on the map, the easier and faster a map can be interpreted, during driving. Especially on small smartphone screens.

An other reason to keep the detail as low as possible is speed. The less details the less bandwidth the downloading of the map requires. Also the less junctions there are, the faster the route calculation is. The number of junctions that Waze handle in one route is limited. So keeping the number of junctions as low as possible, the longer a route can become.

To help you Waze has created a number guidelines. That is what this page is about.

Editing mistakes are inevitable

Everybody, without the need of any prior knowledge or practice, can start editing the Waze map. Therefore, Waze accepts the risk that users make edits that seems logical to them, but lead to undesired results. The Waze community is enthousiastic and active, so the mistake will quickly be noticed. A more experienced editor will contact you to correct the mistake or do the correction himself. It is not meant as criticism, but an encouragement to learn more about editing.

Mistakes are often the result of a misunderstood or unknown guideline, or a lack of technical knowledge. In fact, there is only one true "mistake" you can make, which is withholding from communication with other editors.

Make sure that other editors can contact you

The only true mistake you can make as an editor, is being unreachable to other editors. If editors remark your edits with an undesired result, or if they don't understand the reason why you made this edit, they will try to contact you. They want to increase the quality of the map and meanwhile help you to become a better editor. If other editors cannot reach you, they cannot help you! Moreover, they will probably change your edits according to their own interpretation of the situation.

Therefore, make sure that you can receive e-mails from Waze by providing a valid mail address. Ccheck your mailbox regularly. Also check whether e-mails from Waze are not delivered to your spam- or junkfolder. You might want to make a filter to move the e-mails from Waze to a specific folder, or even create a separate mailbox for Waze. If needed, Adjust your Waze settings.

Communication

How can I contact Waze? Where can I find more information? Where can I post my questions. The local champs are responsible of the goings of your local community. Please contact one of more of them for questions or assistance.

Forum

The forum of your own country is a good starting point for finding more information. You can meet other editors. Read the latest information. Learn from questions of other editors. Or ask a question yourself. You can login using your standard login and password of Waze, which you also use in the app and the editor. In the forum you can also make use Private Messages (PM), this is a kind of inbox, like your e-mail. When you receive a PM you will also receive a regular e-mail to inform you. Also if you have installed the 'WME toolbox' you get a message in the editor of new PM's. How you can handle your PM's you can read here.

Chat

When you are editing you can directly request help in WME chat. When asking for help you can see the level of the colleague you are talking to. Please keep in mind that most editors are willing to help, but not all of them have the technical knowledge or editing experience to give you the best answer. Because the build in chat does not always work as desired, we also have Hangouts© en Slack©. Most editors, especially the higher level ones, have an account on both Hangouts and Slack.

Hangouts

For Hangouts you need a Google account and install the extension in Chrome and/or an app on your smart phone or tablet. Hangouts works with groups and also you can contact users individually. For Waze Benelux several groups are available. There is one per country and one per region (Provence) of the tree countries. If you want to be added in one of the groups, send your Google account to your mentor or another L4+ editor.

Slack

Because of the disadvantages of Hangouts, Slack is now the most used communication platform. You can request access to Slack by filling in this form. You will receive an invitation to Slack, where you need to make an account. In Slack there are several Channels, Private groups, and you can send Direct Messages (DM). The channels are split up by subject, please try to use the correct Channel for your question or remark.

Wiki

A lot of information is available in the Wiki of your country. There is one Wiki for the whole BeNeLux, of course representing the countries Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg. Because the guidelines apply to the whole of the BeNeLux, changes need to be approved in the forum by one of the local champs. You can always suggest updates in this forum.

At the bottom of each Wiki page, the date of the last update is shown. If this is more than half a year ago, please take into consideration that the information might be outdated. The Wiki pages are available in several languages, which you can select that at the top of the page.

Start reading the Wiki at BeNeLux; for editing there is a WME Quick-Start Guide.

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Basic principles of Waze

Many misunderstandings have their origin in the fact that the fundamental principles of Waze are not clear. Waze is developed for general drivers of cars and motor cycles, and should not be used for other means of transportation, like pedestrians, pedal cyclists, public transport or taxi's, or commercial transport. Also, Waze is not meant to include your personal favorite places, historic railways and illegal shortcuts.

Usability

When it comes to the map, the first and foremost goal of editing is to provide the driver with a map that is easy to follow on a small display, and to produce sensible verbal instructions when (and only when) they are needed.

Simplicity

It is not a goal to model the physical roadway lane-by-lane. Doing so often leads to unnecessary complexity--which means a cluttered map, confusing verbal directions, and lots and lots (and lots!) of extra map maintenance.

Retention

As a result of people driving over them, road segments retain certain information (e.g., average speed) that is used in route optimization. When a segment is deleted, that information is deleted too. Given a choice between deleting a tangle of segments and creating new ones in their place, vs. untangling them and reusing them, it is often better to "recycle".

An other reason to be cautious with deleting segments is that an other editor had a reason to add it. And when he or she sees that the segment is deleted without getting notified, can be very demotivating. Everybody can make a mistake, or guidelines can be changed over time. Preferably consult the editor who added the segment, than change the segment yourself.

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Common functional problems

Incorrect or incomplete data can have a negative effect on the navigation or make it even impossible to navigate to a specific location. We call these functional mistakes and they should be corrected as soon as possible. Functional mistakes are, if noticed by an other editor, often directly corrected, because of the great impact.

Unnamed roads

Example of an unnamed road

The road is corrected

When a road does not have a city- or street name it will get a red outline in the WME and it won't be drawn on the map or used for navigation. These roads can originate from

1. Paving roads, who have not been confirmed in the WME.
2. an editor added a road, but forgot to give it a name.

You fill in these two names by selecting the segment, and click 'Edit' in the top left of the screen. If you don't know the name of the street or the city, check None.

Before you delete a segment, first consult the editor who added it. If you think the segment is an improvement to the map, fill in the missing data. Also check the junction arrows; when an editor has forgotten to fill in the name, probably the junction arrows are not set either.

Read more information in: Create a road.

Junction Arrows (JA)

Junction arrows used to be called Turn Restrictions. Junction Arrows are the red, green en orange arrows when you select a segment. They control which turns are allowed. Green is allowed, red is not allowed and orange is partially restricted. You can also restrict entrance based on vehicle type but this feature is not yet functional in the routing calculation.

Incorrect: An editor forget to correct the junction arrows. Once you drive on the selected segment Waze does not know which instruction to give.

Correct: you cannot turn left, but you can take a right turn.

When you change the driving direction of a segment always also check the junction arrows. The WME does not adjust them automatically based on the driving direction. The quickest way to correct hem is to select the junction and press q and w or click on the button 'Allow all turns'. While creating a new road by default all TR's are red. In the advanced settings of the editor check the option 'Draw new roads with all turns allowed'. If you select this option, it is advised to also check the option 'Draw new roads as two-way'.

An easy way to check incorrect red junction arrows is Ctrl-Z. This will show all the red arrows in the area on your screen, also for the not selected segments. Of course these are not all incorrect, but you can check them. It is advised to before you do the correction, you press Ctrl-Z again and select the segment with the red arrow. Otherwise you can not see which segment has the red arrow.

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Disconnected segments

Just because segments appear to intersect on your display, they sometimes do not for real. The fasted way to check this, is to select one of the segments. When you don't see the Junction Arrow(s) light up, it is not connected.

No visible arrows, thus not connected. The selected road will be handled as a dead-end road.

You see the arrows, thus the roads are connected.

When a road should be connected, please check the Junction Arrows. If it is not connected, move the end node away from where it should connect, and drop it somewhere else. Than pick it up again and drag it to where you want the junction to be. WME now automatically creates a junction. Again, check the Junction Arrows.

If you cannot connect a segment using the above described method, one of the segments could have a lock level higher than your editing level. In that case you cannot solve this functional mistake yourself and you might want to ask for an unlock. If the segment is a pedestrian boardwalk, check whether this segment should be connected anyway on the Benelux Pedestrian Boardwalks page. More information is to be found on connecting roads.

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Locked segments

To protect the map segments have a lock level based on the importance of the road. These roads can only be edited by very experienced editors. Connecting roads and high volume roads have a higher lock level then streets. Most editing options are not available, but when you succeed to edit such a segment you can't save your changes. When you try to connect a segment to a road with a higher lock level you will get an not connected segment.

When you want to make an edit on a segment with a higher lock level, you can request a temporary decrease of the lock level. You can ask this to your area or region manager or the last editor via a Direct or Personal message via one of the Communication methods we have. Please provide a permalink where you have selected all segments where you are requesting the temporary decrease for. You van also post this request in this forum. Before you do please read first this topic.

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Incorrect use of roundabouts

When approaching a roundabout specific instructions are given. For a standard roundabout (4 exits) the instruction is 'Turn left at the roundabout'. For other roundabouts the instruction will be 'Take the third exit at the roundabout'. If these instructions are not correct for the situation, please don't use a roundabout. A dead-end street should not have a roundabout at the end. If there is no road sign for a roundabout don't use a roundabout. This will give incorrect instructions, where a driver thinks he is approaching a roundabout, when this is not the case. for more information about how to create a roundabout see Quick Start Guide.

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ToDo: Translate into English

Private access roads that distort routing

Many new editors enthusiastic start mapping all small streets, alleys, driveways, parking lot roads, etcetera. They think if you can drive on it, you can map it. But this can have some negative effects. Of course it means a lot of extra data (bandwidth) and extra calculations. Also it can make the map less clear on small screens. But the biggest disadvantage is that is can distort the routing.

The way Waze works is that is it finds your destination based on GPS coordinates. In a lot of cases from Google. Based on those coordinates it pins your destination. Then it looks for the closed drive-able road, without looking at the name of that road. So that means if the driveway of the rear neighbors is closer to the pin of your destination then you will be lead to the wrong road. And when this is a long road, it can be far of from your actual destination.

An access road that will distort routing.

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Too much or incorrect geometry nodes

This section is moved to the heading 'Too_much_geometry_nodes'.

Local agreements (that are not too logical on first sight)

Waze users have gathered to make agreements on how to best implement Waze's functions and features. In addition, every country has different laws, habits and regulations. Therefore, agreements withing local communities of Waze also can vary. These agreements may not always seem logical at first. However, they exist to make the best navigation possible, with the features Waze offer, and the least data used. If you made edits that were not in accordance with these agreements, you might have been asked to update them. Here is where you can read why.

The relation between the satellite view and map

Starting editors often tend to draw the map exactly like the satellite view shows. However, the Waze map should be as simple as possible, in a way that yield the best navigation instructions, with a clear and simple map on screen. This implies that sometimes roads or parts of roads are even NOT drawn, or drawn differently from the satellite view. In addition, the satellite view may be outdated or doesn´t show everything. For example, a road in the woods is probably not visible on the satellite view. Thus, use the satellite view as a source, not as a goal to copy. In case the road is mapped differently, please consult the previous editor or the area manager.

Roads added according to Satellite View.

Waze Map: A single segment yields a simple and clear routing, that is easy to maintain.

Many examples can be found in Advanced editing Guide.

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Too many geometry nodes

Too much geometry points can slow down the build of your screen and also it makes a segment harder to maintain. For those reasons we use as less nodes as possible. Even if that means that a road in Waze does not exactly follow the road in the satelite view. When you see that a segment had too much nodes, please remove them by hoover with your mouse over the nodes and press 'd'.

• 

  Too much geometry nodes (13 nodes)

• 

  This is efficiënt (3 nodes)

• 

  Too much geometry nodes

• 

  This give excelent navigation instructions

• 

  If you prefer rounded corners you can use this as the intermediate solution

For more information see Create a road.

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Simplify a cross section

The actual situation of the cross section. When you draw in this example the roads exactly as the actual situation you will lots of segments and junctions. Which result in a lot of maintenance. Also the driver will get lots of navigation instructions, where one instruction, e.g. turn left, should be sufficient and much clearer.

This is the prefered way to draw this cross section. This way the driver gets only one navigation instruction and also the map is easy and quick to read also on a small screen.

More examples of drawing complex situations can be found in Advanced guide.

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Type of roads

Choosing the correct type of road is quit important in Waze. Because navigation is highly depending of the road type. Therefore be very careful with changing the type of a road. For example when you change a segment from street to parking lot road (PLR) it can result in drivers needed to drive X extra kilometers, because a PLR has a high penalty. This is done because you don't that drivers use a parking lot as a shortcut to avoid a small traffic jam. Changing the type into PLR is only an example, almost for all types there can be a big influence. If the segment of which you want to change the type of road is last edited by an editor with a higher level then yours, always first consult this editor.

When you have set your language in the editor to something else then the local language, please be careful with translations. Some can't be translated, because the exact type of road does not exist or it can be used for something completely different. Therefore check this page and set the language to the local language of the country you are editing in.

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Freeway / Highway

This is a typical translation issue as menthioned above. Freeway, major highway and minor highway are all translated as 'snelweg' into Dutch. But all tree are used for different types of roads in the Benelux. Therefore check this Benelux page about road types. This guideline is the base, but the actual determination of the type should be done by functional classication. The means that the road type is depending on the amount of traffic the road can handle in relation to the alternatives. Which can result in a small road typed as minor highway and a bussy road in a city as a major highway.

Pedestrian boardwalks and cycle paths

In general both Pedestrian boardwalks and cycle paths should not be added to the map of Waze, because Waze should only be used by motorvehicles. There are some exceptions and they are explained in Wiki non-drivable roads. One of the exceptions is when a non-drivable roads are addeding a value as a landmark. In that case the PB is set to driving direction unknown and not connected to any drivalble road. In the Benelux Walking trails are not used for walking path, but for public transport, like train rails.

Parking Lots

Also parking lots should be drawn as simple as possible with the aim at good navigation instructions. There is not value added to draw every lane on a parking lot and with the inaccruarcy of GPS Waze probably does not know on which lane you are exactly, resulting in wrong instructions. Roads on parking lots have no name, excepts when the road has a housenumber of an official address that can not be linked to regular street.

To much detail

Much better

See Parking Lot Roads for more information.

Splitting up roads

The general rule for splitting up roads into one segment per driving direction that it should only be done when needed for navigion. The fact that road is physically split is of no influence. With Junction arrows you can make sure that physically impossible turns are not advised. Splitting an existing road should only be done after consulting the area or region manager. Be aware that unsplitting a road costs the same amout of work as splitting it.

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Update request (UR)

Ongewenst: De meeste UR's werden zomaar gesloten

Gewenst: Een regio waar de UR’s met aandacht zijn behandeld

While driving, a driver can report a problem by submitting an Update Request (UR). Often there is not enough time to fully describe the issue. Therefore, Waze developed the possibility to start a conversation in the UR. Whenever you pick up a UR, you should take this seriously. The user does not report if he or she doesn't encounter a problem! It is your task to solve the problem as best as you can, or find the help needed to solve it. By solving the users problem, we can improve Waze to serve the needs of all Wazers. Never just close a UR, even if you think it is bogus. The BeNeLux has the following guidelines:

start a conversation. Be aware that the reporter probably is not an editor.

• Start with thanking the reporter for reporting the issue.
• If the report is clear and you can solve this issue directly, please do and explain to the reporter what you have done. The reporter receives a message of your comment, and will feel valued for his/her addition. In addition, other editors can learn from your solution and it can help solving other issues in the neighborhood. You can close the UR as solved.
• When the issue is not clear, ask the reporter politely for more information.
• Officially, nobody ´owns´ a UR. However, if another editor is already handling the problem, don't close or take over without consulting this editor.
• If the reporter doesn´t respond to your question within 5 days, you may send a reminder message. It often happens the reporters do respond only after a reminder.
• When the reporter neither respond to your reminder within 2 days, you can close the UR as unidentified, with a comment in the conversation why you close it.

Samples of comments can be found in the script WME UR Dutch Comments.

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Starting editors: what they can do and what not

Everywhere you have driven using Waze you can edit. In the Benelux the maps are quite good, so there is not much to do for a starting editor. Altough at first you might think there is not much to do for you, please zoom in and you can almost always find something to improve. Even in areas with a lot of editors you will find missing parking lot roads or a part of a street is missing. Also sometimes streetnames are missing or misspelled. Most work you can do is to remove unnessary geonometry nodes, see #Too_much_or_incorrect_geometry_nodes. Read the Wiki and just start editing, that way you will learn to use the editor and earn points to get to a higher level.

Because the maps in the Benelux are already quite good, there is also a risk with editing. You can break things that are working fine. Please be aware that some things might look incorrect or not logical to you, but can be correct based on the #The_principles_of_Waze. Be carefull with changing and deleting work of other editors. In case of the slighest doubt, first contact the previous editor.

To make this more clear we have made two lists, one of things you can do as a starting editor and one you should not do or be extremly caustious.

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Things a starting Waze-editor can do

• Read the Quick Start Guide.
• Check if streetnames are filled in and spelled correctly. Use sources, that we are allowed to use, to check.
• Check if the city is filled in correctly.
• Check the driving direction of streets. You can base this on Google Streetview, your own local knowledge or other sources. When the source is older then the last edit on the segment, assume that Waze is more up-to-date then your other source and don't change it.
• Check if Junction arrows are set correctly. With Shift-Z you will see all the red arrows. When you suspect a red junction arrow to be incorrect, first do Shift-Z again and select the segment connected to the junction. That way you can see which segment has the red junction arrow.
• Check the category, name and address of places. The name should be the official name of the place. If you know this place is called most of the times different, please add that name as a alternative name. That way the search will improve. Also check if this place is vissible on the live map, if not, please convert it to a point place, when applicable.
• Inform your area or region manager of possible issues. See the section #Communication how to do that.
• Monitor road-closures in your neighborhood, see this forum topic how to report them.
• Help with keeping the Wiki up-to-date and make it better. For example with suggestion to improved existing text or help with translations. See this forum how you can help.

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Risky activities for starting editors

Unless you work together with a more experienced editor be very reserved with doing one of the following activities.

• Deleting road-segments. This also deletes the historic traffic information, e.g. the historic average speed.
• Do not change or delete segments that are connected to locked segments.
• Do not split roads, even when there lanes are physically split.
• Do not add non-drivable roads, like pedestrian boardwalks, cycle paths, railways, runways and bus lanes. This seems harmless, but they can result in a wrong navigation advise. Also the will clutter the map and increase the amount of bandwidth.
• Do not add parking lots roads when there are alreay roads on the parking lot. See Wiki PLR.
• Do change the roadtype, this has a big influence on the navigation.
• Be carefull with adding roads, especially private roads and driveways. The same risks as for non-drivable roads apply.
• Do not close update requests or make changes based on them. If you want to help, because you have local knowledge, please make a comment that can help a more experienced editor.

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