These map editing tips and hints have been compiled to help new map editors learn some of the many helpful instructions, procedures, settings, etc. that improve the map editing experience.
Map editor startup position
To start Waze Map Editor at a particular position, like your home, every time to start or log into the editor,
- Adjust the map display area (position and zoom) the way you want it to start up in your browser each time.
- Click on the permalink link in the bottom right corner and the URL for that location will appear in the browser URL line.
- Bookmark this URL, and you'll always be at your selected "home location" when you start the editor.
- The editor automatically displays the last location you were editing.
- You can also create a bookmark from the Permalink and use that bookmark to open the editor.
- Sometimes, it is advantageous to allow the editor to open in the previous location, in case you have edits to complete from a previous editing session.
Editing with roads layer off
You can edit roads and nodes without the road layer actually showing on the screen. Turn off the Road overlay layer while leaving the Satellite Imagery layer on. As the mouse pointer hovers over the road or node element, you can then select it and make any necessary changes. This is useful for aligning to aerial images.
Deleting geometry nodes quickly
The "d" key may be held down while moving the cursor along a segment to delete geometry nodes quickly as soon as the cursor reaches it. This will save you having to hit "d" dozens of times for very messy geometries.
Streets with no name or city
- To create or edit segments without a city and/or street name, you must check the "No name" box for these fields.
- Newly drawn streets can be saved without entering a city or street name, but they will show in red on the map and will not be available in the client or for routing.
Streets looping onto itself
- When drawing a new road, it cannot loop back onto itself and create a junction. You must have more than one segment.
Adjusting geometry of multiple selected segments
When multi-selecting streets (such as setting neighborhood streets to set them as two-way), you can also adjust geometry of any selected segment as you hover over it without losing the selection set.
Editing a junction sets the turn restrictions
In areas with base maps, there is a distinction between junctions created or updated by the editors and junctions that have never been touched and were created during the original base map upload process.
These junctions appear as if at the turns are forbidden, but the routing server will act as if the turns are allowed. The routing algorithm will prefer routing using segments and junction whose turns are explicitly set by the users, but in cases where there is no alternate route, or it is much longer, it will route through intersections where there are no explicitly allowed turns.
Setting a road to 2-directional will not change the status of its junction turn restrictions. However, once the junction's turn restrictions are edited, they are assumed to be strictly valid, just like junctions in areas without base maps.
Editing ranks and the locking feature
See Editing rank for more detailed information.
Permissions
The permissions scheme in the Waze Map Editor allows users to gain editing rank, using ranks from -1 to 6. This scheme is based on the user's experience in terms of edit count as well as the importance of each road.
Locking Segments
When you lock a segment, only a user with the same rank or higher can change this segment or an Area Manager covering that segment. Currently this covers all edits including, but not limited to:
- Connecting or disconnecting a different, unlocked segment
- Deleting a segment connected to the locked segment
- Changing the turn restrictions of the locked segment
Moving segments beyond the limit
When the error checker is working, and you move the end of a segment a significant distance from its original ending or beginning location, such as when a section of road is missing and you are stretching a segment across the gap, you may get an error reading, "Could not save changes: Some elements were moved beyond the allowed limit."
Here are some workarounds:
- Adjust the end a shorter distance and save, then repeat until the full gap is crossed.
- Split the segment into two or perhaps more smaller segments.
- Draw a new road, which you can initially draw or stretch as much as you like before saving
Move segment end node and not segment end
When you are adjusting the end location of a segment, like a dead end, or just moving it around as you adjust other segments on the map, grab the junction node at the end of the segment by selecting it first. Don't just grab the A or B handle and move it.
The reason is that every time you grab the A or B of the free-end of a segment, when you drop it, WME creates a new junction node. If you drag the junction at the end instead, then you are preserving data by keeping the same junction node.
One piece of data which is also preserved is the end junction node u-turn settings. When WME creates a new junction node from dragging the A or B handle, the new junction node automatically gets an unlocked u-turn setting.
: Drag the end junction node
and u-turn settings are preserved:
Drag the A or B handle, and a new junction with unlocked u-turn is created.
Cameras - speed and red light
Be sure to review the larger article on Cameras before continuing with this section to ensure a full understanding of how cameras work in Waze.
- The camera direction (the direction from the center of the image to the red circle) defines the driving direction for the camera. The current camera image implies that the camera captures the traffic from behind. Don't be fooled.
- The client app warns about a speed camera if it is valid, points in the same direction as the road segment, and the driver is exceeding the limit set on the camera.
- The client app warns about a red light camera if it is valid and points in the same direction as the road segment.
- The "30" on the speed cam icon is just part of the image and is not an indication of the actual speed to which the speed camera is set.
- The last person to edit the speed cam or red light cam is basically locking it to his rank. A user with a lower rank will not be able to change or delete the camera, unless he is the owner of the camera or if it's in his area of management.
Map Editor Bookmarklet Scripts
Several very useful bookmarklet scripts have been developed to enhance the map editing process.
Here are instructions on Adding a Bookmarklet.
To facilitate rapid switching between maps with the same map view, here are several code snippets you can use for a bookmarklet in any modern browser. Even easier is a drag-n-drop solution on this dropbox page (AlanOfTheBerg's dropbox).
Open Waze Map Editor in LiveMap
javascript:(function(){var center_lonlat=new OpenLayers.LonLat(wazeMap.center.lon,wazeMap.center.lat);center_lonlat.transform(new OpenLayers.Projection('EPSG:900913'),new OpenLayers.Projection('EPSG:4326'));var mapZoom=(window.location.hostname=='world.waze.com' ? (wazeMap.zoom<5 ? (wazeMap.zoom<2 ? wazeMap.zoom+6 : wazeMap.zoom+5) : 9) : (wazeMap.zoom<5 ? wazeMap.zoom+11 : 15));window.open('http://'+window.location.hostname+'/livemap/?zoom='+mapZoom+'&lon='+center_lonlat.lon+'&lat='+center_lonlat.lat,'LiveMap');})();
Open LiveMap in Waze Map Editor
javascript:(function(){var center_lonlat=OpenLayers.Layer.SphericalMercator.inverseMercator(g_map.getCenter().lon,g_map.getCenter().lat);var mapZoom=(window.location.hostname=='world.waze.com' ? (g_map.zoom>6 ? (g_map.zoom>7 ? g_map.zoom-5 : g_map.zoom-6) : 0) : (g_map.zoom>10 ? g_map.zoom-11 : 0));window.open('http://'+window.location.hostname+'/editor/?zoom='+mapZoom+'&lon='+center_lonlat.lon+'&lat='+center_lonlat.lat,'Waze Map Editor');})();
Bookmarklets for specific states and regions
If you know of a script for a specific area, please add it to this list or request here for it to be added.
Plugins, Extensions and Tools
Please see the Community Plugins, Extensions and Tools for details on the Waze Map Editor extension/addon to allow easy correction of smudged cities, misspellings, etc.