Introduction

This forms part of UK Editing Best Practice. Please read in conjunction with the generic global page on Places, which has more specific information about how to use the editor and moderate Update Requests.

Places are points of interest and should only be mapped if they a useful destination. Places come in 2 forms:

Point Places - These are not visible in the App but are searchable. Examples - convenience store, takeaways, car wash, bank, coffee shop.
Area Place - These are shown in the App and are searchable. Examples - supermarkets, retail parks, airports, golf course, parks, lakes. Overuse of Area Places can clutter the map and make identifying individual landmarks difficult.

Point Places

Point Places should be used for individual businesses that do not occupy an entire building, the building is less than 40m x 40m, or businesses that form part of a retail park that is already covered by a larger Area Place. Points should be positioned over the entrance for the business.

Waze will navigate to the closest segment to the Point Place, if this is not the correct location to send users then an Entry/Exit Point should be added, ensuring that it is close enough to the appropriate street or PLR for correct navigation.

Area Places

Area Places should be drawn as simply as possible as Waze will substantially simplify the shape before displaying it in the App. You will be wasting your time mapping every little corner and change of direction. Consider mapping with a basic rectangle.

There are 3 form factors of Area Places:

Individual buildings - larger businesses such as supermarkets, cinemas, and stadiums, should be mapped to the edge of the building lines only. Example -
Building clusters - locations that consist of multiple buildings such as hospitals, schools, retail parks, should be mapped to cover all of the buildings in a single area. Example -
Campus complexes - buildings that form a unified complex or campus with an overall identity such as universities, and zoos, should be mapped to encompass the entire property, usually the property lines.

Waze will navigate to the closest segment to the centre of the Area Place polygon, if this is not the correct location to send users then an Entry/Exit Point should be added, ensuring that it is close enough to the appropriate street or PLR for correct navigation.

Specific place mapping

Car Parks

If there is a distinctly-marked area where cars can park, separated from the road and with it's own driveable segments, it should be mapped. If the car parking spaces are accessed directly from the road, this is on-street parking and should not be mapped, whether or not there are car park signs. On-street parking will be a future phase of the Parking Project.

All mapped car parks must be areas, editors can only create car parks as an Area polygon within the WME. Car parks should be mapped to the edge of the drivable tarmac. Parking Lot Road segments should be added, but only the minimal amount required to allow navigation into and out of the car park.

For a comprehensive guide to mapping car parks you should refer to the UK Car Parks page.

Lay-bys should not be marked with a Place, but should instead be mapped in accordance with the UK Roads page.

Shopping centres / retail parks

Shopping centres & retail parks should be mapped as an Area Place that covers the outline of the building(s) & named according to the name of the centre or park. Each business within the shopping area can be mapped using a Point Place at the entrance to the individual shops. The name of the shopping centre / retail park should be used for the Point Place Street name.

Minor locations within the shopping centre / retail park, such as Opticians, Pharmacy, ATM, should be added as categories rather than being mapped.

Town high streets / city centres

An exception to this rule would be a general town high street or city centre, although it may be a shopping area this should not be mapped as such. Instead only the individual businesses should be mapped as Place Points with their postal address used .

Supermarkets

Supermarkets should be a single area place, covering the main building
Don't include the car park or petrol station
Supermarket car parks should be mapped with minimum of PLRs (as per usual)
Navigation point should be moved to as close to the car park entrance as possible

Petrol Stations

Petrol Stations should be mapped according to the following guidelines:

A Landmark of "Gas Station" type should be placed over the entire forecourt, so it's visible on the map and prevents any Wazers from creating a false Map Problem.
Routes in and out should be mapped with roads of "Parking Lot Road" type, they should not be named (city name is optional) and they should have appropriate directions and turn restrictions.
The landmark should be named appropriately (not just Petrol Station or Shell etc).
The brand should be selected correctly.
Include full street name in address, with road direction where applicable
The phone number should be added if known.
Also add other applicable categories, e.g. shop, atm, car wash

The example below shows a properly mapped Petrol Station and can be found here:

Service Areas

This advice applies to Motorway Services, and other large service areas on major roads that include several facilities and businesses.

Single area place is to be drawn over entire site, split in to two if separated by the motorway. The shape of the area should be simple as possible, and include the ends of the ramps to provide maximum visibility for drivers.

The Navigation Point for the place is to be positioned at end of exit ramp, so that routing stops as soon as drivers arrive and they can then find their own way to appropriate parking.

The primary category should be Services / Layby with any other relevant secondary categories such as Fast Food, Restaurant, Coffee shop / Cafe, Shop (excluding Fuel or Hotel). Users will then be able to search for "services" along their route. Do NOT add Car Park category!

Name should be like "Suchandsuch Services", with direction as necessary, e.g. (N) or (S) Do not include brand name, or "Motoryway" or "Northbound". Alternate names can be added as required.

In the Description of the place, enter the main brand of the services on first line (Moto, Welcome Break, etc), and then put other businesses on the second line, separated by commas. Add other details and services as applicable.

In the Addres section, set the Street name to "Mx (N)" or "Mx Jx" as applicable.

Petrol Stations and Hotels should be marked with their own *point places*, positioned at the front of the property. They should then be named like "Brand - Location (N)". For example: "Shell - Tibshelf" or "Days Inn - Woodall". The address should match that of the main services area.

Ramps that enter the services directly from the motorway or dual-carriageway should be named simply as "Services". Ramps that then rejoin the carriageway can be left unnamed, as they aren't needed for navigation.

If there is a main route through the services that doesn't provide parking, these segments can be marked as Street. All other segments should be Parking Roads, as per usual guidelines for Car Parks.

Use Private Road for limited access roads (with no public right of way), typically connecting the rear of the site to local roads.

Examples:

Natural Features

These can be used to make the map look pleasing to the eye but serve no purpose for search or navigation. Natural features should be locked to rank 3.

Parks and Woodland

Parks and forests should be mapped using the appropriate category, but only if they're of significant size.

Farms

Farms should NOT be mapped as area places. If they provide public services (e.g. farm shop, camping, etc), then they can be added as a point place so that address search can find them.

Water Features

Rivers and canals should be mapped with the appropriate category with their proper names.
- Use the Street to River script for easy river creation.
Lakes and ponds should be mapped using the type "Sea/Lake/Levee".
Seas should NOT be mapped, as the coastline is provided via an external source.

Private / Residential

When reviewing a Place Update for a Residential (Private) Place:
1. verify that the house number is correct using Street View
2. accept the Update
3. adjust the location if necessary
4. review the attached photo, and delete it if it doesn't clearly show the residence
Homes that have been submitted as the wrong type should be changed to Residential
Residential places without a house number should be rejected or deleted

Locking

Natural features (parks, forests, should be locked at 3
Proper car parks and gas stations should be locked at 3
Any places which have been edited with correct name, category and address, lock at 2.

This forces any updates from low rank users to appear as requests

User:Atrophicshiner/sandbox View history

Introduction

Point Places

Area Places