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Revision as of 04:53, 30 May 2017

There are three restrictions that affect an editor's ability to change the map:

Driven / editable area - based on map editors' experience
Manual lock - applied to objects by map editors to prevent adjustments from less experienced editors
Automatic lock - applied because of a system driven feature or requirement

Any of the three restrictions can restrict an editor from modifying an object on the map.

The locks help ensure that important roads and other objects are not accidentally (or intentionally) modified and disrupt traffic flow for all the client app users in that area.

Restriction types

Editable area (driving area, management area)

In real edit mode (logged in), you can make changes within your editable area. Your editable area consists of:

The roads you have driven recently (see note below).
Areas within a certain distance of those roads. How far this distance extends depends on your editing rank.
Areas in which you are the Area Manager. You can edit your assigned area, even if you have not driven a road nearby recently.

You can highlight your editable area on the map by turning on the layer for editable area.

An object is editable if any portion of it is inside one of your editable areas, subject to any further restrictions covered in the editing restrictions page.

Recent drives
Waze records your drives when it is operating with or without navigating to a destination while your device has constant GPS and GSM/3G/4G network connectivity. You can see a history of those drives in the editor. Make sure you have nothing selected, and click the Drives tab in the side panel.

Short drives are usually added to the drives list almost immediately. Longer drives may take a day or two to appear.

After a certain period of time, these drives expire. They may still show in your drives list, but Waze will no longer display the drive details, unless there is a more recent drive. This timing may not coincide directly with the expiration of your editable area, noted below.

You can tell the difference between recent drives and expired drives in the Drives panel. Recent drives are a clickable link which will show the path of the drive. Expired drives show the summary (date, elapsed time, length), but you can't click them.

Expiration
Editable area gained by a drive expires 90 days after the date of the drive or on the last day of the third month after the drive, whichever is later. An area manager appointment could also be revoked after 90 days of inactivity.

Lock rank

There are 7 locking ranks for objects (1 through 6 and Staff). The locking ranks correspond to the editor's rank measured by their editing rank on their statistics window.

An unlocked object has a lock rank of 1 and can be edited by any editor rank. Objects can be locked at any rank up to and including the rank of the adjusting editor. Editing an object requires the lock rank of that object be equal to or less than the rank of the editor. A Staff locked object cannot be modified by any editor and requires a special unlock request process discussed below.

Segment lock

A segment may be locked either manually or automatically. This process ensures more important roads and highways are not accidentally altered by less experienced editors (until they get more experience).

A lock on a segment restricts:

Segment editing ability (name changes, node changes, adding junctions, etc.)
Automatic adjustments (changes made by the server when it identifies problems in the map).

Additional details are provided in the Segment lock effects section below.

Manual segment lock

All rank 2 and above editors have the ability to manually lock a segment. This type of lock is manually applied by a higher-ranked editor to a particular segment of road that needs to be protected from accidental change or vandalism. The more important the road, the more likely it is to be locked.

In the past, many segments were locked for other reasons that no longer exist, but the segments do not get unlocked unless they are edited again and the editor adjusts down the lock rank.

Also, in the early days of WME there was a problem where locked segments would follow the rank of the last editor who touched them and, as they increased in rank, the segment would increase in lock rank. This is no longer the case, but there are some segments that previously increased in lock rank and have remained high for no apparent reason. The can be reduced in lock rank as needed.

Automatic segment lock

There are three different automated locks that may affect a segment.

Traffic lock

At this time, traffic locks are disabled in the USA because the leadership team has requested a feature be added to traffic locks that enables AMs to edit segments with a traffic lock set above their rank (but not manual locks above their rank).

A traffic lock is an automatically-applied editing lock for a road segment. A lock is applied by the Waze servers to any road segments having a high volume of traffic traversing it. The lock rank is the same as with manual locks.

Roads with low volumes of traffic have a rank 1 lock, which is really no lock at all, because the lowest editor rank is also 1. Roads with somewhat more traffic are locked at rank 2.

The busiest roads -- generally, the top 10% traveled roads in an area -- are locked at rank 5, so that only rank 5 or 6 editors can edit them.

Generally, rank 3 or 4 should be able to edit about 90% of the roads in their areas, unless manually locked by a senior editor (see below).

Editors with rank 5 can edit nearly all of the roads and rank 6 can edit 100% of them in their editable area.

Road closure lock

When a road is closed through WME, it cannot be edited by any rank until the closure is removed (temporarily or because it expired).

Currently, only rank 3 editors or above can affect road closures. For situations that require an adjustment be made before the closure has ended, the rank 3+ editor can copy down all the relevant closure information, remove the closure, make the change to the segment, and then return the closure information. The editor should be sure the segment is not also locked above their rank before starting this procedure. If either lock is above their rank, the editor should use the procedure for unlocking objects above their rank covered below.

Junction box lock

A junction box currently prevents any modifications to the segments linked to the junction box regardless of the editor's rank. The junction box would need to be removed before the segments could be edited. This is a limitation that may be adjusted in the future.

Currently only editors of rank 4 or greater can create or edit junction boxes. Use the procedure outlined below to get assistance from a local editor with a high enough rank to edit the junction box.

Place lock

A place may be locked either manually, automatically, or by a block to specific users for all places. This locking/blocking process ensures more important places are not accidentally altered by less experienced editors (until they get more experience).

A place with multiple lock conditions noted below will require the highest rank of all the conditions to moderate that PUR (place update request).

Manual place lock

Places are manually locked by setting the lock rank on the general tab of the place. This prevents a place from being directly edited in WME by any editor with a lower rank. It also prevents updates from trusted users when locked at a rank 2 or above.

If an editor tries to modify and save a change to a place manually locked above his rank, the change will be saved as a PUR for moderation by a higher rank.

Automatic place lock

New place

Any new place created by an untrusted user will not be added to the client app until it is moderated (approved) by a rank 2 or greater editor.

Flagged (reported problem)

The following conditions must also consider any other concurrent lock status when determining if a moderator can approve a PUR.

Any flagged content reported by a user up to rank 2 will not be accepted until it is moderated (approved to be removed) by a higher ranked editor.

Additionally, places flagged as duplicates, closed, or residential requires moderation regardless of the reporting user's rank, but the moderator can be of any rank. All other flagged images reported by trusted users will be removed without moderation.

If a place is flagged as a duplicate, when the moderator approves the "merge places" it just deletes the duplicate place without transferring any information.

Promotional staff locks

At times, some places will be associated with promotional efforts by the company through Waze. Depending upon what kind of promotion may be in effect, some or all of the related places may be locked by Waze staff, preventing any direct modifications from any editor rank. However, suggested updates can still be submitted through the client app or WME, but they will require staff level moderation (approvals).

Blocked user

If any user/editor, regardless of trust status or rank, submits too many flagged images, new places or updates to places which are rejected, that user may be blocked from further place creations, edits, or updates. This block would impact the editor/user even for unlocked (rank 1) places. The user must contact their RC to understand more about why they were blocked and information on how to get unblocked.

Violation camera lock

When an editor approves a violation camera (speed or red light), the camera is locked at that editor's rank. An editor with a lower rank may not change / delete the camera, unless he or she is the owner of the camera or an Area Manager for its location.

Segment lock effects

When a segment is locked above an editor's rank, by a manual, traffic, closure, or junction box lock, the editor cannot perform any of the following:

Change the properties of the segment (including name, country, state/province, city, road type, elevation, etc.)
Change the geometry of the segment.
Edit House Numbers on the segment.
Change the turns (including U-turns and partial turn restrictions) visible when the segment is selected.
Change restrictions on the segment.
Set a closure on the segment (unless that segment is within an editor's RTC area).
Disconnect a road from the junction node at either end of the segment.
Create a new junction anywhere on the segment.

The editor can request an unlock in order to make necessary edits on locked segments.

Even when a segment is locked, the editor can still perform the following:

Attach a segment to the junction node at either end of the locked segment.
Change the turn restrictions from other segments into the locked segment.
Delete an unlocked road from a junction with the locked segment (but remember deleting road segments deletes the traffic data for that segment, and so should generally not be done).

Unlocking an object above your rank

This section explains how to deal with various lock types when you need to apply a change to a segment (or connected junction) or other object locked above your rank.

Requesting changes

There are three methods to unlock manual segments and their junctions, or to request an edit change for any type of restriction.

Check the Community section of your state or territory Wazopedia page for the best way to request unlocks in your area.
Post a forum message in the Unlock Request forum.
Make your request in the WME Chat room.

You need to provide specific information to facilitate your change request. Your private message or forum post should contain the following:

Subject: the road lock rank and location. Example: rank 4: Anytown, NY - SR-123
Additional details to include in the body of the message:

Your own "traffic cone rank" -- this gives the unlocking editor some insight into your experience level, and to know the rank reduction needed in case of a manual lock override. Example: I am rank 2.

A permalink. Make sure the segments that need to be unlocked are all selected when the link is followed, and the area zoomed out just enough to see the selected roads and any features of the area necessary to understand the need for the edit you wish made. See the permalink page for more information about how permalinks work, and how to create and use them. Example: The locked segments can be found at http://www.waze.com/editor/?zoom=6&lat=40.73925&lon=-74.07625&env=usa&layers=965&segments=77835875,77469408,77835812

A description of the change you wish to be made. Example: I would like to change mapped road geometry to match physical changes to the road

An explanation of the reason for the change. Example: The road has recently been relocated and straightened and causes Waze to think you drove off the road. You can see the problem by turning on GPS tracks in the editor screen. I drive it often enough that I am able to make the change even though the imagery is out of date.

We ask for all this information so that:

The correct editor (one with the appropriate seniority and with responsibility for the correct geographic area) can respond. Putting the road's existing rank and location in the subject allows responding editors to find the requests appropriate for them.
The responding editor can evaluate the request correctly.
The responding editor can figure out the correct action to take (change lock rank so you can make the edit, apply the edit himself directly, ask for more information, ask for more evidence, do more research, or deny the request).

Note that many segments were locked for reasons that are no longer applicable. However, high traffic areas are locked to prevent less experienced editors from making changes that would cause problems or do not follow the generally agreed mapping procedures. The same applies for "tricky situations," where the road configuration is set up somewhat unusually, in order to meet a specific requirement or solve a specific problem. The lock is to help prevent a less knowledgeable editor from changing it to be more "logical" or "more standard," but thereby actually breaking the map.

Also note that if a traffic lock is active, and above your rank, the segment can't be unlocked, and you can't make the edit yourself. That is because Waze does not support overriding traffic locks. However, your request is the same. The responding editor will make the change for you. If that editor needs your assistance to completing the change, he or she will let you know, and if necessary will work out a plan for collaborating on the edit with you.

Staff locks

A special type of manual lock is the Waze Staff Lock. There have been times when a Waze staff member has locked a segment. In many cases, the lock is no longer required. So if you have a reason to edit it, please use this support link to request it to be unlocked. This link is only for staff rank locks.

Automatic adjustments

Much of the road network came from a "base map import" that Waze set up to initially populate each new country's road map. The data on the base map is not always certain, so Waze initially set "soft restrictions" on turns and unknown road diretcionality for many segments. As Waze learns actual traffic patterns on these segments, it may "change its mind" about the restrictions and directionality.

When a user edits the map and alters a previously untouched segment by changing the segment's nodes, turn restrictions, names, etc., the Waze servers will no longer allow itself to automatically alter that segment in the future. Before a user alters a segment, the Waze server could alter road directionality, shape, and turn restrictions based on tracking real-world driving, via GPS inputs.

In the past, the Waze server was known to have changed even segments that had been edited. This lead to many users locking down roads to prevent the Waze server from adjusting the segment. Since the Waze server can no longer alter edited segments, locking roads for this reason is no longer necessary.

If an editor finds a road locked for seemingly no reason, use the procedure described above for changing locked map segments to request a permanent release of the lock.

Area manager

In short, an area manager (AM) does not have restrictions based on areas recently driven. Manual locks still apply, and Traffic locks (once implemented) may or may not apply.

Most users can edit only the segments they have driven and the surrounding areas (see above, Editable areas). This restriction does not apply to an AM within his or her assigned management area(s). Within these areas, an AM may edit any object locked at or below their rank.

However, locks still apply to AMs. An AM cannot edit anything locked to a higher rank than his own.

When an AM encounters a road locked above his rank, he should follow the same procedure as shown above for unlocking segments. In addition, if the regional manager or country manager allows it, he may request action directly from the regional/country manager using whatever channels the they have established for communication.

Note that regional managers and country managers likewise do not have geographic (drive-based) restrictions within their areas.

Applicability of traffic locks

Traffic locks are implemented only in some countries at this time.