Latest revision as of 02:06, 4 June 2016

WME Extensions & Scripts:

Do you use any Chrome Extensions or Scripts for WME yet?

Extensions and Scripts are designed to work with WME, and are incredibly powerful tools, that will make your editing time far more productive. Rather than spend countless hours scrolling around looking for something to 'fix', these tools will direct your attention to various parts of WME that MAY need attention.

Remember that these tools will identify items that POSSIBLY need attention. Not every issue identified is actually incorrect. It may actually be a configuration approved by Sr Editors as an exception to wiki guidance based on specific local conditions.

Extensions

All extensions are available at the Chrome Store. Simply view these in the Chrome Store, click to install them, and then do a browser refresh [press F5] when viewing WME to load the newly installed extensions.

NOTE: Remember that WME is designed for use with Chrome, so this page is about installing tools in Chrome, for use with WME. No information is available here for other browser options or tools used by them.

It is highly recommend that new editors start out with the following extensions:

TamperMonkey is a "script manager". It will allow you to install other useful scripts into WME for additional tools that you will use as you learn more about editing in WME.

An additional thought about extension vs script. For those that use the Google profile login on Chrome, any extensions that you have installed at your home device, will also load into a session on any other device [re: work, school, internet cafe]. Scripts on the other hand require you to install the scripts into TamperMonkey on each separate device.

Toolbox for example is offered as an extension and a script. It may be easier to use the extension as you will likely have the three listed above running 90% of your time in WME.

Scripts

Once you have TamperMonkey installed:

Look for the TamperMonkey icon in the upper right corner of Chrome, left click the icon, then select "Get new scripts..."

A new tab will open for TamperMonkey, and there is a listing of Userscript Sources. The most current versions of WME scripts are usually found on the "GreasyFork" site. Click on the link to open another tab for GreasyFork.

Once you get to the GreasyFork page, enter 'WME' in the search box and you should see a list of Scripts for WME

NOTE: Do not feel the need to install any/ all of them, until you are working on an issue where a specific script might be useful!

One script specifically useful for editors in NY, that works with the extension Validator, is WME Validator Localization for New York

Another useful script for new editors who want to process Update Requests [UR's], is WME UR-MP tracking. This can be a very powerful tool once you get familiar with it and adjust it to your editing style.

Tips & Suggestions

PermaLinks & Unlock Requests

An important part about the editing community is interacting with other editors that may have knowledge about the specific issue you are currently trying to resolve. New editors will also follow along with a group discussion, trying to expand their own knowledge.

PermaLinks [PL's] are used by editors, to link directly to some bit(s) of data in WME, when asking another editor for assistance.

For example an editor with level 2 [L2] access needs to connect a PLR to a level 3 [L3] segment. Once you create a PL to that L3 segment, you can send it to a L3 editor and request an 'unlock'.

It is very likely that several editors may click on a PL that is shared in any communication platform. There are however a few nuances about using PL's that an editor needs to keep in mind.

Producing Useful PLs

Centering Screen & Zoom Level

After all the segments to be included are selected, one very important step is to zoom out so you can see them all on the screen, and then center your view in WME on those selected segments.

Keep in mind that anything not centered and farther out than Zoom4 will usually fail to produce a functional PL, and will not open correctly in WME after being clicked on.

So save yourself some grief and remember to keep the screen at maximum of Zoom4 and centered and THEN create your PL!

Layer Data

As an editor you might work on Map Problems [MP's] and Speed cameras, and so you will have those layers turned on in WME.

Editors who are assisting you, as well as other editors trying to learn from the discussion, may not have MP's locally, or there are no Speed cameras in their area, so they would not normally have those layers turned on.

Any editor that clicks on a default PL that includes layer data, has the 'layers' settings changed in their local copy of the Waze Map Editor!

Active editors may click on dozens of PL's during a typical editing session in WME. Having to constantly reset layers in WME to your personal preferences is not only a waste of productive editing time, it simply gets frustrating after a while.

The default PL in WME looks like this:

https://www.waze.com/editor/?env=usa&lon=-77.44210&lat=43.09923&layers=1540&zoom=5&mapProblemFilter=0&mapUpdateRequestFilter=1&venueFilter=1&update_requestsFilter=true&problemsFilter=true&lo%20...%20ueFilter=0&apProblemFilter=0&segments=33958923

Toolbox upgrades WMEs single default 'blue' colored PL icon, into multiple 'red' colored icons, all used to create various types of PL's. Simply hover your mouse over each red icon, and a brief description of what type of PL will be created appears.

The red PL icon located farthest to the right, is the PL icon used most commonly by editors.

Toolbox also offers the ability to toggle the excess layers data on or off from the default PL, by simply pressing the 'Shift' key.

The Toolbox PL [No Layers mode] looks like this:

https://www.waze.com/editor/?env=usa&lon=-77.44210&lat=43.09923&zoom=5&lo%20...%20ueFilter=0&apProblemFilter=0&segments=33958923

NOTE: Waze recently altered the data built into PLs, and the current version of Toolbox does not completely strip away the excess layers data. Hopefully this will be corrected in a future update.

WME Simple Permalink is another script that will also produce a PL with all the extra layers data stripped away.

The WME Simple Permalink looks like this:

https://www.waze.com/editor/?env=usa&lon=-77.44210&lat=43.09923&zoom=5&segments=33958923

Mobile Editors

Often editors that are helping with 'unlock' requests, are accessing WME and the communication platform from a mobile device. They are very limited in what they can do in WME, and the typical smaller screens make doing any editing more challenging in general. They are also using cellular data, rather than 'unlimited' cable/ dsl connections.

When requesting assistance from such an editor, a PL created excluding the layer data is especially important. The extra map data is not needed for the unlock, so it only slows the WME page load, before the editor can actually do the unlock. That extra layer info also uses additional data on their cellular plan. Obviously we don't want to be a nuisance to the very people helping us!

Taking the mobile aspect one step further, it is often not possible to 'copy' a PL out of a single message 'bubble' in chat. Mobile devices usually only offer to copy the entire bubble. Some editors use mobile tools that they will paste the PL into. That extra step have to try to trim out words from the PL is an extra hassle for them.

Asking for the unlock

So after considering all the above information, what exactly do you do to use this PL you created?

Easy, go ask for an unlock!

Describe what you want - [locked level > your level, what you want to do, location of your request]:

L3 to L2, connect a PLR, Rochester

Send your request to the communication platform

Press Enter/ Send

Now paste your PL as a separate message

https://www.waze.com/editor/?env=usa&lon=-77.44210&lat=43.09923&zoom=5&segments=33958923

Send your PL