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Discussion for the unofficial, community-developed addons, extensions and scripts built for the Waze Map Editor.

The official index of these tools is the Community Plugins, Extensions and Tools wiki page.
Post by SuperDave1426
ct13 wrote:Is there a way that some of these links be allowed based on editor level? I believe that most of us that are rank 3+, having put in hundreds of volunteer hours, understand how to get legitimate data and would not compromise the Waze map by using copyrighted data. (Or whatever rank is deemed appropriate.)
I expect you're going to get a big fat "no" on that, but I agree that it would be nice if it could be enabled for something along those lines, for people who know to not just run amok copying stuff. Maybe even not do it according to rank, but to things like AM, CM, SM, RC, etc, to be extra sure that it's going to people with an elevated level of trust already.
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Last edited by SuperDave1426 on Tue Aug 19, 2014 11:30 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Post by SuperDave1426
CBenson wrote:
SuperDave1426 wrote:Then they should be really concerned, if that's the case. Didn't Waze do the initial basemap import from them? Or did they get it from some other (presumably public) source?
I've not heard that Waze got any basemap data from Google. In the US my understanding is that the basemap data is US Census TIGER data.
Ok, thanks for the info. I didn't know where they had gotten it from.
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Post by SuperDave1426
AdreNalinGuY wrote:
Today ToolBox has been killed.

R.I.P.

It will be missed.

Um... Really? You don't use Toolbox for any other function than the now-removed links to other maps? Nothing? At all?

If so, you've been seriously under-using it. :-)
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Post by SuperDave1426
khaytsus wrote: I think his point is, like me, 98% of the clicks in Toolbox was to open stuff in Google Maps to validate something or another. If someone is going to wholesale copy stuff, they'll do it with or without a link, it just makes day to day editing more painful.
I don't disagree with you there (see my earlier tirade in this thread if you don't believe me :)). I used the link to GM, Bing, etc., quite a bit myself.

But it was hardly the only feature that I used. Yea, it's harder to get to the other maps now (and I agree - it doesn't stop it, it just makes it a LOT more inconvenient). But I've always had it set to show me things about the roads I'm editing that I wouldn't see otherwise (even with Validator), and those settings are still there.

I agree completely with what HavanaDay said in an earlier posting - GMM is a PITA to work with on a good day (no, he didn't say that part - that's all me). Without the link button to take me where I'm at in Waze, when I get a "bad address" UR now, I'm just going to tell them that I'm sorry for their inconvenience and that the address location data is in Google Maps, and suggest to them that they use GMM themselves to try and suggest the change to Google, and then close the UR.

But I still find Toolbox useful, if not quite as handy in some regards.
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Post by SuperDave1426
I'm not sure how much help that is when the pin has the right address, but is located in the wrong position (which is what usually causes people to end up in the wrong location)....
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Post by SuperDave1426
Beautiful, that's good to know. It was just that when I gave the form a quick look-over, I didn't see where you could put information that reflects where the pin should physically be moved to on the map. I'll give it another look-over.

Thanks!
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Post by taco909
SuperDave1426 wrote:
AdreNalinGuY wrote:
Today ToolBox has been killed.

R.I.P.

It will be missed.
Um... Really? You don't use Toolbox for any other function than the now-removed links to other maps? Nothing? At all?

If so, you've been seriously under-using it. :-)
No kidding. Those are the features that I rarely use. I've never used the Bing link, and have only used the Google link a couple of times.
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Post by taco909
ctpoole wrote:
I agree, i can't even start to describe how bad is the experience to edit on Google Map Maker, now that there is no easy link to go there, i will not bother.
I agree that my experience with Google Map Maker is pretty awful. The problem with not at least trying to make changes in Google is that many Waze users blame Waze for the really bad routing they sometime get because Google has a pin somewhere strange. When I tell them I have tried to move the pin in Google, they appreciate the effort and probably are happier with Waze.
FYI...

viewtopic.php?p=869326#p869326
tonestertm wrote:Taco- you know about this, right?

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1bpxf3n ... o/viewform
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Last edited by taco909 on Thu Aug 21, 2014 3:38 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by taco909
Caddy-321 wrote:What has this to to with Copyright? It opens another Browser-Window with GoogleMaps or something else. The same as i open the window manually. I think i de-install the toolbox. Or better - quit the editing of waze-maps completely.
It is facilitating the copying of data from Google or Bing.
We have been told not to do it.
An example would be using Google maps to "correct" a street name, when it may indeed be an error, I can point to a location near my home where Google, Garmin, and a number of other online sources do not match the street name signs, the mistake was NOT present in Waze, but was added as an alternate street name in response to URs stating that "we" had the name wrong. This was not a minor road not unlike a parking lot road with a sign saying "Home Depot" and a name on the map like "Marketplace"... this was a 4 mile stretch of minor highway with two completely different English names.
Another example would be to use Google to copy addresses into Waze maps... when again, they may be incorrect.
The presence of such an error on the Waze maps with no corresponding evidence of the error in the field is supportive of the data having been copied. The fact that multiple sources all had the same error would simply indicate that they all purchased that data from the same source.
We can of course use other sources as a reference, perhaps to confirm something, but SV is honestly much more useful than the maps from the other sources.

Anyways... Providing a link is not copying, but it is facilitating copying.
If Bing were to take Waze/Google to court, Waze would indicate that the editors are volunteers acting on their own.
The 2nd question would be "What are you doing to prevent them from using our data on your maps?"
"We told them not to do it"
"You told them not to do it? Why to you allow an editor script that links directly to our property?"

Yes, you can have another browser window open with Google or Bing or Navtech or your county GIS and nobody is going to know (unless perhaps you happen to be a VERY busy editor and suddenly Bing notices a large increase in packets being sent to the frozen tundra of Resolute).
But Waze has told us not to copy data, and the removal of those links from the script allows for an affirmative defense should Waze be questioned on what they are doing to prevent copying of data.


As for whether you are going to stop editing because of this, that is your choice.
I have never relied heavily on those buttons... honestly only used the Google button a few times, and never used the Bing or Livemap buttons. They are a convenience, but given that you are generally editing in the area near where you live and work, that is also going to be the same area that opens by default on Google. I really see these "threats" to quit editing as quite the overreaction.
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Post by tgfathergoose
For me, Google Maps provided a valuable resource not present in the Waze Map Editor: state boundaries. Maybe not so much in metropolitan areas that straddle state lines, but in rural areas, many roads have the wrong state. For example, there are roads in Texas over 150 miles from the New Mexico border that have the state listed as Texas. If I have a whole group of roads somewhere near a state border, Google Maps could tell me which were in which state. It's not too difficult when there's a road listed as being in Alabama when it's really in New Mexico, but we really need the state boundaries in the editor. I have suggested before that state boundaries be added in the WME, but this has not been done. I would NEVER just go with Google Maps for names; I'd go to the local governmental source, if at all possible. Yes, it takes some digging to find these GIS sites, but better to go with the governmental site than what Google may have picked up off some developer's plat.
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