Locking
Locking is important because it prevents loss of data due to automatic acceptance of Place Update submissions from Trusted Users, or Place Update Request approvals from other editors without careful examination. If you do not have a high enough enough rank to lock the place as indicated, please lock it as high as you can, and notify a higher rank AM, SM, CM, or Champ to lock it higher.
All Places with correct name (that is the place's name has correct capitalization and follows the Washington Place Naming Standard) should be locked at a minimum of level 2
All Places that have complete information (this includes at a minimum, name has correct capitalization and follows the Washington Place Naming Standard, the places full street address, hours of operation) are to be locked at lock level listed below.
Lock levels listed below are minimum lock, places can be locked higher depending on state wide significance.
| Parent | Category | Lock | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| Car Services | Car Wash | 3 | |
| Car Services | Charging Station | 3 | |
| Car Services | Garage / Automotive Shop | 3 | |
| Car Services | Gas Station | 3 | 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 | 3 | Parking lots should be mapped according to the Places/Parking lot article. |
| Transportation | Airport | 4 | |
| Transportation | Bridge | Road Type* | |
| Transportation | Bus Station | 3 | |
| Transportation | Ferry Pier | 4 | Ferries |
| Transportation | Junction / Interchange | Road Type* | |
| Transportation | Seaport / Marina / Harbor | 3 | |
| Transportation | Subway Station | 3 | All Mapped |
| Transportation | Taxi Station | 3 | |
| Transportation | Train Station | 3 | |
| Transportation | Tunnel | Road Type* | |
| Professional and public | Cemetery | 3 | |
| Professional and public | City Hall | 3 | |
| Professional and public | College / University | 5 | |
| Professional and public | Conventions / Event Center | 3 | |
| Professional and public | Courthouse | 3 | |
| Professional and public | Embassy / Consulate | 3 | |
| Professional and public | Factory / Industrial | 5 | |
| Professional and public | Fire Department | 3 | |
| Professional and public | Government | 3 | Things like, licensing offices. |
| Professional and public | Hospital / Medical Care | -> | Lock 5: Hospitals, Emergency Rooms, Urgent Medical Care facilities
Lock 3: Clinics and Medical 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 | 3 | |
| Professional and public | Kindergarten / Preschool/Daycare | 3 | |
| Professional and public | Library | 3 | |
| Professional and public | Military | 5 | |
| Professional and public | Offices | 3 | |
| Professional and public | Organization or Association | 3 | |
| Professional and public | Police Station | 3 | |
| Professional and public | Prison / Correctional Facility | 5 | |
| Professional and public | Post Office | 3 | |
| Professional and public | Religious Center | 3 | |
| Professional and public | School | 3 | |
| Shopping and services | Arts & Crafts | 3 | |
| Shopping and services | ATM | 3 | |
| Shopping and services | Bank / Financial | 3 | |
| Shopping and services | Bookstore | 3 | |
| Shopping and services | Car Dealership | 3 | |
| Shopping and services | Car Rental | 3 | |
| Shopping and services | Convenience Store | 3 | |
| Shopping and services | Currency Exchange | 3 | |
| Shopping and services | Department Store | 3 | |
| Shopping and services | Electronics | 3 | |
| Shopping and services | Fashion and Clothing | 3 | |
| Shopping and services | Flowers | 3 | |
| Shopping and services | Furniture / Home Store | 3 | |
| Shopping and services | Gifts | 3 | |
| Shopping and services | Gym / Fitness | 3 | |
| Shopping and services | Hardware Store | 3 | |
| Shopping and services | Jewelry | 3 | |
| Shopping and services | Laundry / Dry Cleaning | 3 | |
| Shopping and services | Market | 3 | |
| Shopping and services | Music Store | 3 | |
| Shopping and services | Personal Care | 3 | |
| Shopping and services | Pet Store / Veterinarian | 3 | |
| Shopping and services | Pharmacy | 3 | |
| Shopping and services | Photography | 3 | |
| Shopping and services | Shopping Center | 3 | |
| Shopping and services | Sporting Goods | 3 | |
| Shopping and services | Supermarket / Grocery | 3 | |
| Shopping and services | Swimming Pool | 3 | |
| Shopping and services | Toy Store | 3 | |
| Shopping and services | Travel Agency | 3 | |
| Food and drink | Bakery | 3 | |
| Food and drink | Bar/Winery/Tasting Room | 3 | |
| Food and drink | Coffee shop | 3 | |
| Food and drink | Dessert | 3 | |
| Food and drink | Fast Food | 3 | |
| Food and drink | Food Court | 3 | |
| Food and drink | Ice Cream | 3 | |
| Food and drink | Restaurant | 3 | |
| Culture & entertainment | Art Gallery | 3 | |
| Culture & entertainment | Casino | -> | Lock 3: Stand alone casinos (Points)
Lock 3: Large casinos with multiple places (Area) |
| Culture & entertainment | Club | 3 | |
| Culture & entertainment | Game Club | 3 | |
| Culture & entertainment | Movie Theater | 3 | |
| Culture & entertainment | Museum | 3 | |
| Culture & entertainment | Music Venue | 3 | |
| Culture & entertainment | Performing Arts Venue | 3 | |
| Culture & entertainment | Racing Track | 4 | |
| Culture & entertainment | Stadium / Arena | 4 | |
| Culture & entertainment | Theme Park | 4 | |
| Culture & entertainment | Theater | 3 | |
| Culture & entertainment | Tourist Attraction / Historic Site | 3 | |
| Culture & entertainment | Zoo / Aquarium | 4 | |
| Other | Construction Site | 3 | Not necessary to be mapped. |
| Lodging | Bed & Breakfast | 3 | |
| Lodging | Camping / Trailer Park | 3 | |
| Lodging | Cottage / Cabin | 3 | |
| Lodging | Hostel | 3 | |
| Lodging | Hotel | 3 | |
| Outdoors | Beach | 3 | |
| Outdoors | Golf Course | 3 | |
| Outdoors | Park | -> | Lock 3: Local City Parks / Relatively Small Parks
Lock 5: State Parks / National Parks |
| Outdoors | Playground | 3 | |
| Outdoors | Plaza | 3 | |
| Outdoors | Promenade | 3 | |
| Outdoors | Scenic Lookout / Viewpoint | 3 | |
| Outdoors | Ski Area | 3 | |
| Outdoors | Sports Court | 3 | |
| Natural features | Farm | 3 | Should generally not be mapped unless a landmark |
| Natural features | Forest / Grove | 3 | |
| Natural features | Island | 5 | |
| Natural features | River / Stream | 5 | |
| Natural features | Sea / Lake / Pond | 5 |
- Locking by Road Type guide: Street (1), Primary Street / Railroad / Minor Highway (2), Major Highway (3), Ramp and Freeway (4), Military gates locked to (5)
Washington/ To Do Places
Want to help out mapping places in Washington. See Washington/To Do Places
Naming Standard
In an effort to standardize Place Names, Washington uses the following list of Common names. Please note the appropriate category name, as well as the listed spelling. This is necessary for the proper display of any advertising associated with the site (i.e. SUBWAY discounts)
Washington follows the USA standard for Places. Do not deviate from the guidelines without first obtaining consensus to do so via the state State forum linked on this page. We strongly encourage the use of WME Place Harmonization (WMEPH) to standardize place names and maximize completion of places in Washington State. Do not inappropriately use external sources to complete places! Use the place's official website or personal observations at the location to complete fields
Mapping water
If water meets the below criteria, it is eligible to be mapped:
- Lakes, streams, rivers, and the like which are not already in the built-in Waze water layer (or are mapped inadequately), and
- At least one of the following:
- The water would be helpful to navigation (e.g. to orient drivers)
- The water represents named locations that Wazers are likely to search
- In this scenario, please be sure the stop point is set appropriately.
If water is eligible to be mapped, please lock the "place" to Rank 2 after you have completed mapping it.
Water not meeting the criteria may be deleted without notice. This may include, but is not limited to: golf course water obstacles or unnamed canals, private ponds, private swimming pools, etc.
If you have any questions or would like to discuss the guidance itself, please raise them on the Washington state forums.
If you mapped water that was deleted and you disagree with that decision, please send a PM to your area and/or state managers. Do not raise those issues on the forum.
Gas Station
When mapping Gas Stations you should follow national guide. Places/Gas Station
The name of Gas Station should reflect its brand affiliation, so that drivers can select their preferred brand from the gas station search results in the app.
Alternative names may include the name as provided by the third-party provider, or the name of the associated convenience store. For exampleː Arco gas station with a ampm Convenience Store should have primary category of "Gas Station", with secondary category of "Convenience Store". Should also have a "Arco" as the primary name and "ampm" as an alternate name.
Transportation
Airport
Mapping airports you should place the area over all airport owned property. Have the stop point where most helpful for navigation. Airports primary name should be the full name of the Airport. For Exampleː Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. Airports secondary name should be any other names associated with the airport, Including the airport code name, For Exampleː SEA, SeaTac Airport, and SeaTac International Airport
Bridge / Tunnel
Only creat a bridge area place if the bridge has local or national significance.
When mapping Bridge Place you should first have the name of the bridge followed by a hyphen(-) and then the road name associated with the bridge, For Exampleː "Tacoma Narrows Bridge - SR-16" and "Fremont Bridge - 4th Ave N"
Bus Stop / Train Station
Only Map major bus stops / Train Stations should be mapped. Think weather someone would have the need to drive too. Like greyhound bus stops or Park and Ride's or commuter rail stations.
The name for Park and Ride locations should be the local name of the Park and Ride. For Exampleː
- Ash Way Park & Ride
WSDOT has a listing of all park and rides listed here http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/choices/parkride.htm Long distance bus stops should have the Location name followed by company For Exampleː
- Seattle Greyhound Station
Government Agencies
This section to Post Office is currently under review
Police Station / Fire Department
Police/Sheriff Stations: Naming of Police Stations should start with the agencies abbreviation. SPD (Seattle Police Department), WSP (Washington State Patrol), KCS (King County Sheriff), ect. The abbreviation should be followed by the precinct.
- SPD - West Precinct
- WSP - District 1
- KCS - 2nd Precinct
Police stations in small cities should be named by City with Police Dept.
- Bellingham Police Dept
- Sedro-Woolley Police Dept
Fire Stations: "Fire Station" – followed by the City/Agency Name or abbreviation and followed by the station number. For example:
- Fire Station - SFD 5
- Fire Station - Kitties County Fire District 6
City Hall / Courthouse / Library
- Seattle City Hall
- Kind County Courthouse
- King County District Court - Bellevue
- Seattle Public Libray
- SPL - Queen Anne Branch
Post Office
USPS: Start the name with "Post Office", almost every location has a name, put that after "Post Office" separated by a hyphen (-). Location names can be found here. For example: "Post Office - Queen Anne" "Post Office - Ellens
Other
Rest Area
All rest stops have been mapped correct as of May 26, 2015
Ferries
All Ferries have been mapped correct as of June 16th, 2016
When to use Area or Point
Washington follows the US standard for when to use Area or Point. A few exceptions are Ferry terminals/pier and factory/industrial *like Boeing and Microsoft. Message dude463 or nidnarb if unsure if it needs Area or Place. Places#When_to_use_Area_or_Point