Locking
All places that are approved will be locked to Level 4. Due to the nature of the new Places system, this will still allow any user to suggest changes to any Place, even if they are level 3 or lower, so nobody will be completely locked out of editing Places, unless they have been blocked for abuse or misuse of the system. These changes will be reviewed by a Level 4+ editor and approved or rejected.
Requests to lower locks on Places will not be honored, since anyone can submit changes. If you notice an area with a large number of Places that need approval, please send a PM to a senior editor or State Manager.
Approvals and Rejections
For users who are submitting new Places, or Place Updates from the Waze app, be sure to take a clear picture of the building, and try to get the business's sign in the picture. The object is to aid Wazers in finding the place as they approach the location. If it's raining or foggy, you probably won't be able to get a good picture and the picture will be deleted. Night shots are ok if the venue is lighted and you can see the venue in the picture.
When adding a picture of a gas station, do not take a picture that specifically shows the gas prices, as this is not helpful since the gas prices change daily. The sign can be in the picture, but should not be the subject of the picture.
Be sure that you've selected the proper venue, or added a new one. If you attach new information to an existing Place, and it's not the correct place, it will have to be rejected, as there is no way to split this information away to a new or different venue. Likewise, if you create a new Place for an existing venue, we can't merge them and the submission will be rejected.
If you have time, enter additional information about the Place into the app. Select the street if it hasn't selected the correct street automatically. In the "House Number" field, enter only the address number (this is NOT the place for a phone number). Don't try to type in the name of the street. In the phone number field, the number should be formatted (###) ###-#### or ###-###-####.
If you add business hours, be absolutely sure that the different sets of hours don't overlap, otherwise, there will be an error in the editor and the only option is to remove the data completely.
In the "Location" section, you'll see a little map, and you'll be able to pan around to correct the location. This is especially helpful because Waze records your location when you start the process of entering the Place. If you're doing this with a Place that you're navigating to, you may get the popup to add the Place 1/2 mile away. If you select it there, that is where the pin on the map will be, and these Places will often get rejected simply because we can't figure out where the correct location is.
Drive-by submissions
If you're doing a drive-by (as a passenger), be sure that you can get a clear picture. Try to get a shot out of a window so that half the picture isn't of the interior of your car. Also, watch out for glare from your windows that will make the picture useless. If you're on a highway and trying to take pictures of places on adjacent roads, your submission will most likely be rejected. If you're driving, you probably won't be able to get a clear picture if the vehicle is in motion, and you're putting yourself and those around you in danger.
Residential Places/Private Homes
Waze has taken measures to protect the privacy of the location of your home. When you add a Private Home, no name is attached to the Place on the editor map. Be absolutely sure you've selected "This is a residential place" when adding a residence. The only other information that is attached to it is the House Number, the Street, and the picture. Tap on the map to adjust the location--it is often difficult to try to correct the location in the editor when every house in the neighborhood looks alike, or the house numbers on the houses/mailboxes aren't readable in streetview.
Private homes must have a House Number and Street, and a useful picture, or they will be rejected. The picture should be of the front of the house as visible from the street. Any other picture will be rejected.
Once a Private Home has been submitted, it can't be changed to any other type of place, so if you've selected this accidentally for a non-private venue, the only option is to reject the submission.
Likewise, don't select any other type of Place category for a Private Home. If you do, you'll reveal your username to anyone who navigates there or looks at the Place in the editor.
Additional Privacy concerns
Any pictures submitted with an identifiable person's face, or license plate will be rejected. Be especially careful at schools to only submit pictures that don't have any children present.
Categories
A couple that need special attention:
The Hospital/Medical Care category should only be used for hospitals that provide emergency services. These Hospitals are drawn as Areas. Additionally, the Emergency Room may be marked at its exact location with a Point, and should also be categorized as Hospital/Medical Care. It should be named "Emergency Room - Hospital Name" for ease in searching.
Doctor's Offices, Dentist's Offices, Eye Doctor's Offices, etc should be categorized as "Offices".
For sub-categories of Lodging (Hotel, Hostel, Camping/Trailer Park, Cottage/Cabin, Bed & Breakfast), please only use these for businesses where you can go and rent a room for a night. These categories don't apply to Nursing Homes or Apartment Complexes.
Nursing Homes and Apartment Complexes don't fit any category very well, and are really residential, however if you want these on the map as a whole (not a specific apartment or room), it's not a good idea to mark them as Residential/Private because some important details such as the name of the complex and phone number will be hidden to anyone trying to search for it. In these cases, it's best to just mark them as Other until we get some better categories. This will allow them to remain searchable by name or address. The address should be the address of the office of an apartment complex. The phone number should be that of the office as well. The Point should be placed at the entrance to an apartment complex, just before other roads start to branch off, and for a nursing home, it should be placed at the main entrance of the building.
(Nursing Homes are not Hospital/Medical Care either)
When approving Places in WME...
Any Place that is approved should be minimally checked for correct spelling and capitalization (Title Case) of the name, and location. The location should be nearest to the entrance of the building. Not in the middle of the parking lot. Not in the middle of the building. Bear in mind that wherever that point is, the Wazer will be navigated to the closest road to that point, so be sure that the closest road to the point is actually accessible to the venue. Add the name of the street the Place is located on if it wasn't done from the app. This helps to differentiate between different locations of a chain type business when searching for the business.
If you are Level 4 or higher, lock the venue to Level 4 once the steps above have been taken. If you are lower than Level 4, leave it unlocked and a higher level editor will lock it when scanning for new Places.
Adding Places from WME
Be sure that you've read the entire Wiki thoroughly before using the editor. Use the guide for Area vs. Point linked above. Don't add Parking Lot Areas in Louisiana, as they will be rejected. Parking Lot Points are acceptable if it's someplace that may need to be navigated to, such as specific parking structures that aren't directly attached to another venue ("Harrah's Parking Garage" is ok, since it's not easily accessible from Harrah's Casino. "Winn Dixie Parking Lot" is not acceptable when it's in the same place as the Winn Dixie grocery store.)
When to use Area or Point
Here is the global guidance on selecting Area or Point for Places in the Waze Map Editor.
The Primary Category for a Place is used to determine whether to use a Point or Area.
| Parent | Category | Type | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| Car Services | Car Wash | Point | |
| Car Services | Charging Station | Point | |
| Car Services | Garage / Automotive Shop | Point | |
| Car Services | Gas Station | Area | Many gas stations also have convenience stores and ATMs. Remember to use "Gas Station" as the primary category and the add any others which are relevant. Please see the Places/Gas Station article. |
| Car Services | Parking Lot | Both | There are very few parking lots which should be mapped at all. Please see the Places/Parking lot article. |
| Transportation | Airport | Area | Special-handling |
| Transportation | Bridge | Area | Use only to represent a named road bridge with local or navigational significance. This should be an official/locally-used name, preferably signed at each approach. Do not use for unnamed bridges signed only for the feature they cross. Bridge areas are normally not used if road segments crossing a bridge use the bridge's name. Non-road bridges (e.g. railroad, pedestrian, aqueduct) are normally not mapped. |
| Transportation | Bus Station | Point | |
| Transportation | Ferry Pier | Point | |
| Transportation | Junction / Interchange | Area | |
| Transportation | Seaport / Marina / Harbor | Area | Size-dependent. |
| Transportation | Subway Station | Point | |
| Transportation | Taxi Station | Point | |
| Transportation | Train Station | Point | |
| Transportation | Tunnel | Area | |
| Professional and public | Cemetery | Area | |
| Professional and public | City Hall | Point | |
| Professional and public | College / University | Area | |
| Professional and public | Conventions / Event Center | Area | Size-dependent |
| Professional and public | Courthouse | Point | |
| Professional and public | Embassy / Consulate | Area | |
| Professional and public | Factory / Industrial | Point | May be Area if Landmark |
| Professional and public | Fire Department | Area | ONLY Fire Stations providing first response to nearby emergencies should use this category. All others should use a different category, such as Office. Administrative, training, and support facilities are not emergency locations. |
| Professional and public | Government | Point | |
| Professional and public | Hospital / Medical Care | Area | ONLY Hospitals, Emergency Rooms, and places offering Urgent Medical Care should use this category. ERs encompassed in a hospital Place Area should be Points.
Clinics, and Medical offices which do not offer urgent medical care for Walk-Ins should use the Office, (and any other appropriate) category instead. |
| Professional and public | Information Point | Point | |
| Professional and public | Kindergarten | Point | |
| Professional and public | Library | Point | |
| Professional and public | Military | Area | |
| Professional and public | Offices | Point | May be Area if Landmark |
| Professional and public | Organization or Association | Point | |
| Professional and public | Police Station | Area | |
| Professional and public | Prison / Correctional Facility | Area | |
| Professional and public | Post Office | Point | |
| Professional and public | Religious Center | Point | |
| Professional and public | School | Area | |
| Shopping and services | Arts & Crafts | Point | |
| Shopping and services | ATM | Point | |
| Shopping and services | Bank / Financial | Point | |
| Shopping and services | Bookstore | Point | |
| Shopping and services | Car Dealership | Point | Size-dependent |
| Shopping and services | Car Rental | Point | |
| Shopping and services | Convenience Store | Point | |
| Shopping and services | Currency Exchange | Point | |
| Shopping and services | Department Store | Point | |
| Shopping and services | Electronics | Point | |
| Shopping and services | Fashion and Clothing | Point | |
| Shopping and services | Flowers | Point | |
| Shopping and services | Furniture / Home Store | Point | |
| Shopping and services | Gifts | Point | |
| Shopping and services | Gym / Fitness | Point | |
| Shopping and services | Hardware Store | Point | |
| Shopping and services | Jewelry | Point | |
| Shopping and services | Laundry / Dry Cleaning | Point | |
| Shopping and services | Market | Point | |
| Shopping and services | Music Store | Point | |
| Shopping and services | Personal Care | Point | |
| Shopping and services | Pet Store / Veterinarian | Point | |
| Shopping and services | Pharmacy | Point | |
| Shopping and services | Photography | Point | |
| Shopping and services | Shopping Center | Area | |
| Shopping and services | Sporting Goods | Point | |
| Shopping and services | Supermarket / Grocery | Point | |
| Shopping and services | Swimming Pool | Point | |
| Shopping and services | Toy Store | Point | |
| Shopping and services | Travel Agency | Point | |
| Food and drink | Bakery | Point | |
| Food and drink | Bar | Point | |
| Food and drink | Coffee shop | Point | |
| Food and drink | Dessert | Point | |
| Food and drink | Fast Food | Point | |
| Food and drink | Food Court | Point | |
| Food and drink | Ice Cream | Point | |
| Food and drink | Restaurant | Point | |
| Culture & entertainment | Art Gallery | Point | |
| Culture & entertainment | Casino | Area | Large hotel-casinos perhaps could be Area Places. |
| Culture & entertainment | Club | Point | |
| Culture & entertainment | Game Club | Point | |
| Culture & entertainment | Movie Theater | Point | |
| Culture & entertainment | Museum | Point | |
| Culture & entertainment | Music Venue | Point | |
| Culture & entertainment | Performing Arts Venue | Point | |
| Culture & entertainment | Racing Track | Area | |
| Culture & entertainment | Stadium / Arena | Area | |
| Culture & entertainment | Theme Park | Area | |
| Culture & entertainment | Theater | Point | |
| Culture & entertainment | Tourist Attraction / Historic Site | Point | May be Area if Landmark |
| Culture & entertainment | Zoo / Aquarium | Area | Size-dependent |
| Other | Construction Site | Area | Not necessary to be mapped. |
| Lodging | Bed & Breakfast | Point | |
| Lodging | Camping / Trailer Park | Point | May be Area if Landmark |
| Lodging | Cottage / Cabin | Point | |
| Lodging | Hostel | Point | |
| Lodging | Hotel | Point | |
| Outdoors | Beach | Area | |
| Outdoors | Golf Course | Area | |
| Outdoors | Park | Area | |
| Outdoors | Playground | Point | |
| Outdoors | Plaza | Point | |
| Outdoors | Promenade | Point | Unsure about mapping these at all |
| Outdoors | Scenic Lookout / Viewpoint | Point | |
| Outdoors | Ski Area | Area | |
| Outdoors | Sports Court | Point | |
| Natural features | Farm | NONE | |
| Natural features | Forest / Grove | Area | Only map official state/national forests, not every stand of trees. |
| Natural features | Island | Area | |
| Natural features | River / Stream | Area | Use only if water itself is visually obvious to drivers on nearby roads. Do not remap features already present in the built-in Waze water layer unless that layer is incomplete or inaccurate. Map only the typical extent of visible water, not adjacent open space, greenbelt, culvert, meadows, or flood plain. If the river/stream is too narrow to map conveniently with an Area Place, it should not be mapped at all. |
| Natural features | Sea / Lake / Pool | Area | Use only if water itself is visually obvious to drivers on nearby roads. Do not remap features already present in the built-in Waze water layer unless that layer is incomplete or inaccurate. Map only the typical extent of visible water, not adjacent beaches or land. If the feature is too small to map conveniently with an Area Place, it should not be mapped at all. |
| Natural features | Canal | Area | |
| Natural features | Swamp / Marsh | Area | |
| Natural features | Dam | Area |
Landmarks
Any Place that functions as a landmark may be represented as an Area Place even if the table above indicates otherwise. A landmark Place is defined as a named, architecturally unique location, locally well known for its uncommon height or iconic exterior appearance, easily visible to and recognizable by passing drivers, that is visually and obviously unlike its immediate surroundings. Horizontal size alone, such as found in vast but nondescript office-building complexes, does not qualify a location as a landmark. Nor does fame due to whatever goes on at or inside the location, especially if its exterior is unremarkable or poorly visible to passing drivers.
Landmarks are not to be confused with local references. A local reference is a location used for orientation by those who frequently pass near it. Every landmark is a local reference, but not every local reference is a landmark. For example, the Golden Gate Bridge is a landmark, while an ordinary tire shop with a big, brightly colored sign is a local reference.
Any location may be mapped as an Area Place if the table above allows it for its category, regardless of whether it qualifies as a landmark.
When creating an Area Place for a landmark, assign its primary category to reflect what makes it a landmark. This primary category may have little or nothing to do with the location's owner, operator, or tenants. For example, the Empire State Building is landmark that happens to house offices; the primary category of its Area Place is "Tourist Attraction / Historic Site", since that is what makes it a landmark, while its secondary category of "Offices" notes the offices within it. Another example is a small but uncommonly historic and visually distinctive retail building with several destination stores; the building would receive a "Tourist Attraction / Historic Site" Area Place, while the stores would receive Point Places within the building.
Retailers
Some retailers have built dedicated stores with such uncommon exterior design that they are unquestionably landmarks by the definition above. Marking such stores with Area Places may, however, puzzle unfamiliar drivers who will simply see the name of the retailer on their map. They may not understand its significance as a landmark, and indeed may confuse the Area Place on their display with an advertisement. As of February 2015[update] it is not encouraged to map as Area Places any structures, regardless of how visually iconic, built by and dedicated to single retailers.
Place Name Standardization
In the interest of making Place searches optimal, please use the following names of Places, and the categories in parentheses. (Check back often, as we will add to this list as problems occur.)
- AutoZone (Car Services)
- Baskin-Robbins (Ice Cream)
- Starbucks (Coffee Shop)
- Walmart Neighborhood Market (Supermarket/Grocery, Pharmacy)
- Walmart Supercenter (Department Store, Supermarket/Grocery, Fashion and Clothing, Pharmacy, Bakery, Garage/Automotive Shop, Sporting Goods)