Hopefully you're reading this and want to edit the map, either because you've found a mistake or you want to add a new road. Either way, it is important that you adhere to the standards already set. The idea of this page is to get you started quickly for those people who may not have the time to read the whole of the wiki yet.
However, it is imperative that you do take the time to read further should you decide to edit more. UK Waze page
Basics - Things EVERY editor SHOULD know.
All roads are made up of 1 or more segments.
Segments are connected by 1 or 2 nodes (junctions).
When you select a segment you can see which turns are allowed at its nodes. Green indicates you can turn that way, red, you can't. Simply click on the arrow to turn it from green to red or vice versa. (If you select more than one segment at a time, the turns will not be displayed.)
You can also see its City name & Road name, Type, Direction & Level.
Road types:
| Road Type | Explanation |
|---|---|
| Freeway | Motorway |
| Major Highway | Trunk roads (managed by Highways Agency) |
| Minor Highway | All other A roads |
| Primary Street | B roads and other busy roads |
| Street | Quieter roads, usually residential |
| Parking lot roads | Used for petrol stations, car parks & lay-bys |
Non-drivable - aren't really worth adding, as Waze is an app aimed at commuters who drive, but if you really feel the need to add these, be careful and make sure that they DO NOT connect to drivable roads as Waze has been known to route people along walking trails and the like!
For more information about road types, see how to name roads
Direction: Two-way, one-way or unknown. Unknown is exactly that, and NOT no-entry.
Level: Used when 2 roads cross at different levels, like a bridge or overpass, and there is no junction.
Here Walmley Ash Ln crosses a bridge over the A38.
Editing existing roads
Most editors start here because the have found something wrong with the map. Changing names of roads and/or town names is fairly straightforward.
Changing the name: In the picture above you can see a link "Edit Address" this will allow you to edit all the address information. There are many abbreviations for street names, so check here before entering them.
Changing the road type:
Please refer to the table above.
Changing the direction:
Check carefully it is correct, especially one-way streets.
Changing the level:
Don't worry about the level too much, as it has no affect on routing.
Locked Roads: You cannot edit roads locked by a higher level editor than you. To get it unlocked you should post on the Unlock Request Forum. Although, this is usually full of requests from International users. A post on the UK forum will usually get a quick response. Which is also where you can apply to become an Area Manager and allow you to edit more of the roads around you.
Creating new roads
- Click on the "+" button at the top, and select "Road".
- Draw the new road in, using the aerials or GPS traces.
Each mouse click will add a corner to the road. Double-click to finish.
- When drawing from or to an existing road, a junction will be created automatically.
- The default is one-way, in the direction you drew.
- You can change this once you have finished.
- Select the correct road type. Please refer top the table above.
- Set the correct direction.
- Adjust the level, if necessary. Default is 0.
- Make sure you have set all the correct turns for each segment.
(Remembering to set the turns from any existing roads you may have linked to.)
It is important that the City and Name are set. If you're not sure at this stage, make sure you have ticked "No City" and "No Street" or it will appear on the map as a red line, and Waze won't be able to use it.
Adding Landmarks
Only actual "land marks" should be mapped, i.e. those which help the driver to find their bearings.
For the purposes of searching for addresses or businesses, Waze gets its results from other providers (Bing, Google, foursquare), so it's not necessary to add them to the map as well.
- See the guidelines for How to Draw and Label Landmarks.
Further Details
This page is only intended as a Quickstart and is not intended to answer all of your questions. If you only intend to add a few street names, or allow a turn. Then this is aimed at you. Before you start any serious editing you need to read the UK Waze page. Should you still have questions after that search the forums, and if you still can't find an answer post a topic in the correct forum.
You can also email the Country Managers