Waze base maps come from the U.S. Census Bureau's Tiger Data [1]. Tiger Data provides somewhat accurate names and locations for roads, but it does not include road directions, distinctions between railroads, pedestrian alleys, canals, and roads, or any navigation data whatsoever.
While simply driving the roads edits them, we need an editor that allows for more detailed features to be defined. That editor is Cartouche. Cartouche is a map editor used by the end user to fine tune the base map. It containing four main panels to aid the user: Layers, Map Control, View, and Edit.
Accessing Cartouche
- Log in to your account.
- Select "Live Map" in the main navigation header.
- Select "Update Map" located just above the map viewer.
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Your screen should look something like this. Each panel can be moved around by clicking and dragging on an empty part of the panel.
- Move around the map by clicking and dragging on an empty space in the viewer.
- There are four ways to zoom in cartouche:
- The buttons on the zoom controller in the upper-left corner of the map viewer will zoom in and out, and the vertical bar allows for immediate zooming to a specific level.
- Double-clicking any point on the map will zoom in and center the map on that point.
- Scrolling up with your mouse wheel will zoom in on a certain point, and scrolling down will zoom out, keeping the mouse pointer's location in the same location."
- Holding the Shift key will allow you to click and drag a box; the map will then zoom in onto the selected area.
Permalink
A permalink allows you to send url or a link to the exact view of the map you currently are viewing. This is a great way to show others a specific area of a map. For example when editing roads and need assistance on the forums you can share a permalink to that region.
On Waze, the permalink is called "SuperPermalink".
To get the SuperPermalink:
- In the bottom left of map viewer press the button "SuperPermalink"
- The page will refresh
- The permalink can be copied out of the address/url bar at the top of your browser.
- Share the URL! Done.
Selecting Multiple Roads
Some edits require that you select two segments of road.
- Mac: Command + Click
- Windows: Ctrl + Click