Philippines/Other Questions and Tips

• Here are the most asked questions from Pinoy Waze Editors

Is there a manual for Waze map editing?

There is a Waze Map Editor manual that applies to both the US and World map servers. The topics on the wiki may or may not apply to our Philippine Roads.

A Map Editing Guide for the Philippines is available in the Editing Resources for the Philippines and is a compilation of suggestions and made into a guide on how we should edit our Waze maps for the Philippines. A lot of map issues and update requests are due to incomplete or incorrect information on our map. A lot of these issues could be avoided if we follow the Best map editing practice guide in the wiki. However, some items listed on our guide are specifically for our pinoy roads and driving habits.

I've been blocked and I can't edit on WME or send a report through the app

If you have received a message on the app or an email notification that you have been blocked, this is because of either 1. You have been detected by the Waze system as massively reporting. or 2. You have been reported by the community because you are violating the rules imposed by Waze and/or the community.

If #1 is the case, even if we could, we will not help you with this. Like Waze, we do not tolerate cheating, and will not lift a finger to help you get unblocked or unbanned. By spamming the reports function you intentionally send out wrong, inconsistent, spurious, or unneeded data. You are also skewing the data being collected by Waze making the aggregate data inaccurate.

If you fall under #2 then what you should do is 1. Read the wiki, particularly the Philippines section so you can figure out what you did wrong 2. Join the Waze Philippines FB Group 3. Join the Waze Philippines Telegram channel 4. Post a message on the FB group or the Telegram channel and tell us your predicament.

If you fail to read the wiki or figure out why you were blocked, we will not help you.

Why am I not leveling up to Level 2 or 3?

We have implemented a policy which will limit Level 3 to senior Area Managers and Level 2 to those in contact with the local community (member of the PH FB group or active on the Waze PH Forum), have joined at least 1 PH MapRaid, have attended the "Intro to Map Editing Webinar", and have joined the PH Telegram channel. This means all Waze editors will be force-ranked and will remain at Level 1 regardless of their map edit count unless they apply for a level upgrade and get approved. New Area Managers are also not automatically promoted to Level 3 and will remain at their level until the local champs agree to promote based on the quality of edits. In order to be eligible to level up to Level 3, a Level 2 Wazer needs to meet the requirements required to be an Area Manager. The reason for this is that a Level 3 Wazer has the same editing permissions as a senior Area Manager. Waze Area Managers help keep the map accurate by fixing Update Requests (URs) and Map Problems (MPs). Other Level 3 map editors who are not Area Managers can compromise the accuracy of the Waze maps by editing or changing segments currently locked to Area Managers. Instead of helping, they become a detriment and damage already working and accurate maps. This may result in inaccurate roads and cause issues with Wazers using the app. We are also having problems communicating with these Level 3 editors who are not Area Managers since they do not frequent the Waze forum.

You can apply for a level upgrade if you meet the requirements set by the PH community. Please use the Waze Philippines Level Upgrade Application Form

How do I apply to be an Area Manager?

To become an Area Manager, use the Waze Map Editor and position the map and set the zoom level to show the area you want to manage. Click on Permalink and then copy the address from the address bar in your browser. Fill out the Philippine Waze area-management request form and submit. There is also a wiki page on Area Manager. The Philippines is part of a group of countries that practices 'self-management' wherein the approval will come from Philippines Waze Champs identified by Waze. Please bear with us if it takes several days to have your application approved, all the Waze champs are just volunteers and we have other day jobs

To view the requirements for an Area Manager, please check out the Philippine Champs and Area Managers wiki

How long does it take until my edits gets displayed on my Waze app?

It usually takes a couple of days for edits to get reflected on the waze client. If it takes more than that then maybe there is an issue with the map updates, check out waze status page for more details. If your edits still don't display on the client and the map update should have included your edits, you can force a map update on your client by selecting on your client settings > advanced > data transfer > refresh map of my area

When I encounter traffic on the road, what type do I report?

You can report a road traffic or Waze will sometimes prompt you if it detects a slowdown or you are stopped for a period of time. You do not need to submit a traffic condition for all roads if they are not highlighted by a traffic condition. Traffic condition highlights are purely visual and does not affect the routing. Repeatedly reporting traffic might lead to your account getting blocked and your points stripped due to report spamming (also considered cheating). If you would still like to report traffic, here are the traffic types;

Standstill traffic - only select this option if you are in a bumper-to-bumper situation and movement is approximately one car length every 10 minutes and above, and you are not at a traffic light junction (signalized intersection)

Heavy traffic - Bumper-to-bumper situation but the speed is from 1 to 10 kph, and you are not at a traffic light junction (signalized intersection). This is the usual EDSA or C5 traffic where walking is sometimes faster than driving.

Moderate traffic - Speed is usually 10 to 25 kph

I see traffic cameras everywhere and report their locations, why doesn't Waze display them when I pass by them again?

The cameras that should be reported are speed trap cameras, red light cameras or fake cameras. Right now, there are NO ROADS which have fixed or static speed cams. What we have are mobile speed cameras and these are located on Commonwealth Ave, Macapagal Blvd, and most Expressways. There are no other speed cameras elsewhere and there are no red light cameras or fake cameras anywhere in Metro Manila. Red light cameras snaps a picture of your car and license plate when you run a red light. The cameras you see on top of traffic lights or intersections are just plain CCTV cameras and they only monitor the road conditions.

As of 6/19/2014, speedcameras have been disabled on our maps because of report abuse. You will still be able to report them but they will no longer appear on WME and you will not get any points for them.

What is the difference between Map Problems and Update Requests?

Map Problems or MPs are Waze generated and based on analyzed Wazer traffic. Update Requests or URs are Waze user submitted requests to fix user identified map issues.

How do I fix Map Problems?

Visit the Map Problem wiki for more details.

How do I fix Update Requests?

Visit the Update Requests wiki for more details.

Waze keeps on routing an illegal U-Turn on an intersection, how do I stop this?

On the Waze Map Editor (WME), select the road where Waze routes an illegal U-Turn. The properties for that segment are displayed on the left side of the editor. Drag either point A or point B so that the length of the segment is equal or less than 10 meters. Waze will no longer route the U-Turn on this segment.

Waze does not use the U-Turn segment I created between two roads, what could be the problem?

Check the turn restrictions, if the turn restrictions are already enabled, the distance of points A and B could be less than or equal to 10 meters. Drag either of the points to make the segment longer than 15 meters.

Are there any shortcut keys for the Waze Map Editor?

You can view the wiki page on Keyboard shortcuts

Waze keeps routing me on roads inside gated subdivisions, how do I edit the roads to prevent this?

Select all the roads within the gated subdivision and change the road type to "Private Road". This would prevent Waze from using these roads for routing unless your destination is within the subdivision.

I'm trying to edit a road but it is locked, how do I unlock it and why is it locked?

You can request for an unlock in the Philippines - Waze Forum

or in the Philippine Waze Users Facebook Group.

While we appreciate the help of newbie Waze editors in editing our maps, they are prone to creating errors if not informed and educated properly on our map editing guidelines. If you would like to manage an area local to you or you are very familiar with, apply for area manager permissions.

The city names are wrong, I've edited them but the correct name still isn't displayed. What do I need to do to correct this?

The problem with the city names is that city tiles takes a while to update. So even if we fix incorrect city names, the errors are still displayed on the client as well as the editor maps through the city layer. There is really no schedule nor any notice for the city tile updates, we just have to wait until the correction appears.

There is a road near my area which, depending on the time allows you to drive through it, how can I set this road to do this?

You can add Time or Scheduled restrictions to the road or turn. For more details on how to do this, you can visit the Partial restrictions wiki.

Search function doesn't work, how do I fix it?

This is a known issue that has been working on and off. The quick fix is to uninstall and install the app on your device.

I'm editing a road but I keep on getting this message "While you were editing, the elements you're trying to save have been modified and/or deleted.". What do I need to do?

If refreshing the map editor does not work, go to the Waze status page and check for any announcement from Waze about any map tiles update (please note for that date of the update) if the problem persists after the tiles update try to edit around the ghost segment to force the update of the tiles (remember to check the status page for the tiles update a few days later).

How do I report flooding so that Wazers will not be routed on a flooded road?

Road closure reports were added for this, to ensure that routing will not be done on the reported road. Road hazard reporting will not affect routing and will only pop up on the client as a notification. This is the main difference between a "Hazard" report and a "Closure" report.

To report an unpassable road due to flooding, select Closure on the Waze app, select the road that is flooded by tapping on the arrow pointing to the road, tap Continue, select the closure type Hazard. You can add "flood", "unpassable", or whatever you wish to describe the road closure on the detail field and then tap Send.

Notes:

• If one user reports a road closure - it will only affect that user's view of the map. In order to affect all users, a number of users need to report the same closure.

• The number of reports needed to close the roads for all the users varies based on the road's weight, the user's rank, and the country.

• The road will be opened when Waze detects that a number of users have driven through the road.