See Virginia/Community for guidance in Virginia that may not be universal to all other states and territories.
Update Requests
An Update Request (UR) is a Map Issue reported by a user from the Waze client app. It is also a layer in the Map Editor. See update requests for more information. VA has a policy of shared UR management. This means that URs are open to all editors and that there is no "ownership" implied when posting the initial comment. However, this does not mean that it is not courteous to allow new editors or editors you don't have an informal agreement with an extra day or two to respond to reporter comments and/or post reminders. Effective UR conversations are usually achieved with a single point of contact for the reporter, but other editors can step in if a UR with reporter comments begins to sit idle or if they think another editor needs help. Please be respectful to other editors and reporters while working URs; it is usually best to send a message to the editor rather than chatting with them through a UR. (Most reporters don't care about the chat, they just want it fixed and not be bothered with multiple responses). Typically an editor should be given some time to respond t.o the reporter's comments (since real life has a way to occasionally get in the way to prevent editing time on some days).
In Virginia we have adopted at 0/4/4 system for response to Update Requests. 0/4/4 is the short way of explaining the following.
Day 0
The first editor who is able to respond to UR should attempt to resolve the UR. If they are successful, they should comment as such in the UR and mark it closed. If more information from the reporter is required to make progress towards closure, a query should be sent to the reporter requesting the information needed for resolution
Day 4+
Polite reminders should be sent to a reporter who has never responded to a query, provided at least three full days have elapsed since the initial response was sent. (You can send reminder at 00:01 Eastern Standard (or Daylight when applicable) Time on the fourth day).
Example
"If no further information is provided we will be unable to fix the issue you encountered and this report will be closed soon"
Day 8+
URs may be noted as closed due to lack of reporter response, provided at least three full days have elapsed since the followup message was sent (You can close at 00:01 Eastern Standard (or Daylight when applicable) Time on the fourth day since the reminder was sent)
Example
"This report is being closed due to lack of information, please submit another report if the issue continues. Happy Wazing!"
If you use URComments then the settings should be 4 for reminder and 4 for closure.
Caveat
While we would like to have every inch of Virginia covered with a network of editors, we are not currently at that level of community involvement. The 0/4/8 rule has been set as the standard for areas with Area Managers, active editors, and applies to all of Virginia. However, in many areas of Virginia there is not only spotty cellphone coverage but sometimes very little editor coverage. That being said, use good judgement in areas with with little or no editor coverage, as there may be Update Requests that are greater than 30 or even 60 days old. There is no penalty or negative perception to answering these, quite the opposite. Please, still take the time to send the reporter a message to see if they can remember the issue and allow them additional time to provide more information.
Example:
"Thank you for your report! I apologize for the late response, we are volunteer editors and in some areas there are not many of us. You reported a General Error near 5th street and Main street in Suffolk, VA way back on 8/15/2014. Do you remember what issue you encountered?"