Definately a +1 here. You should create this as a suggestion on uservoice. Slight correction for you, I'm assuming you mean "learning by doing" not "my"!

The automatic geometry correction as someone said was turned off not that long ago.
However, I do think that it will work very well with a selective algorithm like you suggest limiting it to 50 users in a week before an edit was made should be sufficient. Even more so if it ranks gps points by the reported accuracy of those points.

RallyChris wrote:Make official training for map editing. Features are only unlocked if you have viewed the training. (and make it not just a click through thing)

They could get even fancier and do flash or other interactive web-based training where they actually can perform actions and be evaluated on their properness.

I agree- to a certain extent. There is a certain point where it really doesn't matter that much anymore. I mean: there is a big difference in experience between 1k points and 10k points, but the difference in experience between 10k points and 20k points is smaller. I think there is little difference in 150k points or 300k points where it concerns experience.

And does it matter how points are gathered? One might do 100.000 km a year and end up with 320.000 points after a year, and suddenly start editing. He/she is still very inexperienced with cartouche!

However, if a high-ranking editor has changed something, the basic elements (directionality, entrance) should not be changed by newbies.

Just out of curiosity: how high do you rank anyway?

Not sure if this is the right place to put this, but I read quite a few posts in the forum and couldn't find a better place.
I've been using Waze for a long time now, and one of the features I think would really help is if users had the ability to confirm or unconfirm reports, so the data became more trustworthy. Maybe, for example, all reports start off with a certain expiration period, like it does now, BUT people driving through that area can either add or subtract time to the report as they go by. Like let's say Speed Traps start with an hour on them, and if someone drives by, a dialog comes up and says "Speed trap ahead - did you see a speed trap?" If the user clicks "no" or does nothing, you take 15 minutes off of the expiration time, but if they say "yes", you add another 15 minutes. Something like that - would need to tune it. I think something like this would greatly improve the accuracy of things like speed traps and accidents.

I thought of this because there used to be someone in the Boston area (northbound Rt 95) near Highland Ave) who would report a "speed trap" just about every day, even though it was just a roadside sign with a K-band transmitter on it. The first few times I heard it, I was driving myself crazy trying to find the cruiser, thinking maybe they were doing the classic "hide in the radar" near the sign, trying to catch people without warning counters (ala Valentine 1). Then I realized it was just someone who got a radar detector squawk every morning and reported it.

Also, something that would help ME a ton is a "motorcycle mode", where you can lock your phone but keep Waze running in the background instead of timing out. If I'm riding, I can't take out my phone and click the "keep running in the background" button, so Waze only works for me for the first few minutes, and then shuts itself off. Leaving it running in my pocket without locking it is just asking for a butt-dial. I'm sure there are also other enhancements people could think of to make a cool "motorcycle mode" for people who JUST listen to it for directions and reports over bluetooth headsets. I find Waze *awesome* for navigating on my motorcycle because I can listen to music on the road and it very nicely lowers the music volume and gives me nav queues at the appropriate places, but it only works for the first few minutes before it automatically shuts down!

My tuppence-worth...

Protect the community's treasure:
This is a difficult one - waze actually has a hierarchy built in but it doesn't get used. As a veteran editor I can definitely see the need for it but if it is to be used there has to be much more transparency around area managers, who they are, whether they're still active and how to get in contact. I also think this hierarchy should be based on editing points and not total points (as per Atlas85's point). AM status should be revoked or suspended based on a time of inactivity!
As raised several times by several users recently there should be a sandbox type environment for new editors to practice and subsequently qualify from before they are let loose!

True Social GPS:
I totally agree here, the "social" side is very weak! I also think we should be able to elect to have a more real-time view of other users on a user-by-user basis!

Learning my doing:
This is difficult again, mainly down to the fact that GPS accuracy can vary wildly.

Only very recently the automatic road correction was switched off for any road which has been manually edited - I think this should be an option in the edit panel - occasionally I don't have time to edit miles of a road but want to confirm name, connectivity, directionality then let the server adjust the geometry - this isn't currently possible!

Quick reports widget:
There is an Android widget on the way - whilst we don't know the full feature set yet I am hopefull that it will have a quick report function! This will however require your GPS to be on more and thus eat battery life!


I had a similar (albeit slightly less structured) rant a few months ago, have a browse through the thread if you've time!

Best,
Darren

monosodium wrote:Truly social features should also be good realtime features - hooking up with local providers of data like fuel prices would be the most useful thing for the community. I think there's a request in uservoice for it already, but it would be good to see this happen sooner rather than later.

Agree it would be good. Plenty of basic functionality to get right first though!

The other thing regarding the title 'Area Manager'. An Area Manager is an editor that decided they wanted to edit in a specific area and requested it. An Area Manager does not own any portion of the map. Just because a section of the map has an Area Manager doesn't mean that person is really on top of all of the edits that need to be done.

If you can add value to the map and you see something that needs work, work on it.

Yes, it's common courtesy to get to know other editors and Area Managers in places you will be editing frequently. In fact, that can even help with coordinating on local projects, standards, etc.

I have initiated contact with other Area Managers in my home areas. I also have been in touch with some of the more experienced editors and frequent forum posters. But I also do extensive editing in other places without feeling the need to contact other editors in the area. I am concerned with improving the map so that Waze as a solution improves.

There really should be many Area Managers in most places, especially larger cities.

c0c0c0 wrote:
...
So I know I stepped on his toes, and pissed him off, but to me having something that a lot of people travel on correct is what is more important.

Anyway, a sandbox to learn the interface, and then a flash based test to pass would have helped me out a lot. I learn most by doing, reading gets me only so far.
...

Is there any chance that the name of the edit that you said was an AM, started with "IGN_"? I ask because I had a similar experience, where an "IGN_" editor removed a multi-mile section of a new US-24 that is being built in my area. Since I could not drive it yet, I had plotted every point where it crossed an existing road, using a more accurate GPS than my phone or iPad, and extrapolated the route from those points. Of course I no longer had those points available after they deleted my work.

You can read about these "IGN_" editors elsewhere in the forums here, but the short story is that they were hired by Waze to help bring the maps up to speed fast. While many have done an excellent job, a few others have made some rather painful mistakes, and many relied too much on the out of date aerial views to make their editing decisions.

While they have editing rights everywhere, they are actually not considered Area Managers. Did you know that with the old editor, (http://www.waze.com/cartouche_old/) that you can open a map layer to see who the AMs are for a particular area. it is a bit hard to figure out however when there are overlapping AMs.

Recently Waze has taken several steps to help prevent this problem using permission levels and better educating the IGN editors.

Several of us at the recent Palo Alto Meet-up discussed the concept of a Sandbox "world" to be used for a training ground and also a test area. What comes to mind, is the training mode of many video games, where you have to pass tests to proceed to the next training level. A sandbox "world" would also be great to test out certain road configurations and routing without damaging the real world maps. A few of us already have some secret little out of the way areas in the real world maps to do such things now. Likely the users that stumble upon them must wonder what their purpose is.

gettingthere wrote:The other thing regarding the title 'Area Manager'. An Area Manager is an editor that decided they wanted to edit in a specific area and requested it. An Area Manager does not own any portion of the map. Just because a section of the map has an Area Manager doesn't mean that person is really on top of all of the edits that need to be done.

Too true...

Whenever I make contact with any Wazer from the Boston area--via the forum or a UR that turns into a PM conversation--I do everything I can to encourage them to start editing. This past Summer, five or six people become AMs within my own area, and I was grateful for the help. For the most part it went smoothly, and I focused on the parts of my Area that did not have any other AM. Unfortunately, judging by the open URs, it looks like many of them have "taken an extended leave of absence" in recent months.

There really should be many Area Managers in most places, especially larger cities.

Hear hear. My area covers from Boston to Manchester NH, which encompasses several larger cities as well as a fair amount of "boondocks". If anyone wants to carve out an area full of red bullseyes (or pushpins, as the case may be) or just start knocking them down wherever, I won't miss them!

c0c0c0 wrote:When I went in the next day the AM's name was on the road, and all my ramps were gone. So I know I stepped on his toes, and pissed him off, but to me having something that a lot of people travel on correct is what is more important.

Don't be so sure that you pissed anyone off. It could be that:

• The AM wasn't aware of the new construction, and didn't bother to check it out
• The AM had been dealing with someone's bad edits somewhere else and assumed that this was more of the same
• The AM possibly knows something you don't about the road, and has a good reason to remove what you added, or
• Your edits somehow went against best editing practice or other instructions in the wiki.

It's hard to tell without communication. If this happened to me when I was starting out, first thing I'd do would be PM whoever undid my edits and ask what's up. Nobody owns any road or territory here, so if the stuff you drew was legit, there's no reason for someone else to undo it.