You’ve found an excellent Waypoint to nominate! What do you do now?
PkmnTrainerJ-ING
Posts: 4,842 Ambassador
I’ve been out on a walk and nominated a few Waypoints today, and wondered what others approaches are when they find something to submit.
Do you spot something when out and about & do some research on it, then go back out and Nominate it later?
Do you do a super quick “Edit later” Nomination, and then do any research and editing on Wayfarer later?
If you’re an Ingress agent, do you take photos, and then complete a Remote Nomination once you’re on WiFi/better connection?
Do you only go for Waypoints that don’t need much/any research such as a post office?
Comments
With PGO: I nominale the object only writing the title and the category (e.g. "playground", "memorial stone", etc.) in the description. Like this, I can go sure that my nomination is meeting criteria with the title/description. Otherwise, your nomination might go into voting without any text. I will then edit it later on my PC.
With ING: I make photos and submit them at home. Normally, I check whether I need to edit my supplemental picture with more information or add the satelite map marking the correct location and how to spot it. I will then do the same as on PGO with the title/description. Once the nomination is visible in Wayfarer, Ill statt to edit the texts and do some research if needed.
Whats very helpful is that ING is not crashing while submitting, other than PGO. I normally have to restart my phone all the time I want to submit something via PGO. Thats why I normally plan my roadtrips to submit all 7 PGO nominations as fast as possible.
To answer the last question: No, the historical things are way more interesting for me. I love doing research and writing texts for other players to educate them. I once submitted a memorial stone where I havent found any information in the Internet. So I asked the local government office about it. That Ende with a call with the major of the community. He could give me super interesting information noone else knew. It got approved a few days ago.
I have to say it's fairly rare for me to discover something unexpectedly and nominate it on the spot. Most of my nominations I have at least an idea of what I want to nominate from looking at trails maps, satellite views, etc. A lot of the time I don't have enough nomination slots when I first see something to nominate, either.
That said, for pretty much all of my nominations (I only nominate through PGO), I will submit with what I expect to be the final title, then write "To do" for the description and supporting info. Occasionally, I might throw in a note about something I want to remind myself to mention when I come back to edit through Wayfarer.
I use IITC and Google maps to locate churches, gyms (karate/etc) that don't have a POI yet. I use PGO to submit but carry an older phone that works when taking the photo. Or use a phone that still allows camera app to open a picture I took already. Can't submit anything on my new phone.
I do put some detail in description and supporting text but _always_ edit in Wayfarer. I would caution to edit quickly because if you have an upgrade usable it will grab it and once goes to In Voting you can no longer edit.
It is possible to do submissions in PGO from home within a certain distance of your current location. If you have an app that uses the camera to open the saved pictures.
I don't have a good acceptance rate yet, and most take two submissions to get the best title, picture and text. I find doing a lot of reviewing is best way to see what others are nominating and how. I've withdrawn nominations after reviewing if I see it was lacking quaility.
Since my home towns are done (except of shaky candidates, that I nominate again and again with gallery pics) I'm nominating mainly few mountain ridges further away, and usually the historic stuff in the forrests, and hiking trail markers.
So when I'm there, then usually not alone, and accompanied by muggles. So I only take the pictures and do it later. Obscure locations can be reconstructed by exif data ..... so evrything is easy.
So my ING-submissions are fully used. My PoGo submissions only occassionally and in fast cell regions, or especially in my hometown, where it is easy to visit a place to do a re-submission live.
My only problem: when I'm on such what-to-nominate-searches, then usually PoGo is open, especially if its a bike tour, so Go-Plus has its heyday. If there are already wayspots, and there are hidden portals, then old Scanner redacted portals are often ~50m misplaced, since the pin was very inaccurate back then, if the submitter didnt double check it.
So usually I miss to take proof pictures of misplaced old stuff. That leads to problems like in this thread:
https://community.wayfarer.nianticlabs.com/discussion/17406/old-incorrect-placed-portals
The first wayspot is a medieval mineshaft with small infoboard in front of it. I wanted to submit this one, and prepare it to become a gym later, since old mineshafts are often the main sights of hiking trails in that region. So they are often the POI with the highest qualitythere and so they are the methodically very often the local best gym candidates. In that case I saw back home on the intel map, that the mine is already a wayspot, but hidden by the kneipp water treading basin. Badumm tssss.
Both are missplaced. A water treading basin that is fed by the nearby creek is for sure not on top of a cliff and needs to be closer by the small river that can be seen in sat view.
But logical thinking about plausible locations of objects, exif data of my photos and accurate OSM data (that aren't manipulated, what can be checked by Nia) seems to be not enough evidence, but ..... I could drop way more even worse examples, what Nia trainees decided in the appeal section. So .... it could be worse.
So in the end the 2nd order problem, that follows from the 1st problem: I have to go a 2nd time to that places. Usually I do that only if the new gyms are ready. A trip only to collect proof for appeals is time waste, maybe fuel waste, and so on ....
I do the remote submit method as this allows me time to actually think about what I want to type in the box.
If you have an app that uses the camera to open the saved pictures.
I probably wouldn’t mention apps like this on the Wayfarer forum @MWHMWH-PGO as I am not sure how the Niantic view would be on these apps. Remote nominations & picking photos from your Camera Roll/existing photos are meant to be coming to Pokémon GO nominations later this year. I do wonder if they’ll have kicked in when it goes back online.
Since Niantic themself didnt code an own camera app for nominating and they use the phones standard cam app, they can't say anything against that as long as the phone allows to change the standard app in the settings ... I guess.
Nethertheless your point is valid. It's a borderline case, where people should be very careful.
It depends.
For brand new nominations, I'd usually prefer to use PoGo, since I try to save my Ingress noms for re-submitting rejected wayspots from home (which happens with many of my nominations due to a long story of petty revenge).
If I've run out of my PoGo nominations, then I'd resort to my Ingress ones (though that didn't happen in a while - last time it happened was when I made two deliberate "nomination runs" in a area with tons of POIs, in which I've used all 21 of my nominations across the two games in both runs).
Most of the time I'd put placeholder text (usually only in the description/supporting information, I usually prefer to try and come up with a good title on the spot), then when I come home I edit it via Wayfarer. That gives me time to research the subject of the nomination when needed, and add information I didn't have on the spot.
I thought Casey previously advocated (or at the very least had no objections to) people using a third party camera app as a workaround for the bug that causes Pokémon Go to crash when submitting, given that this is sometimes the only workaround that actually has any effect.
To reply to my own topic, I play Pokémon GO & Ingress so I get 20 Nominations overall (I’ll happily take more as I have managed to use them all in the past (I am currently on zero)). I tend to use my Pokémon GO ones firstly. If I find something that I’m confident in, I’ll take photos and then do a brief “edit later” nomination where the title, description and supporting make no sense and then I’ll edit them when I get on WiFi so that they do.
I will also use my Ingress nominations in the way I noted where I have an album where I store photos for Remote Nominations, so I can use these when I have spare Ingress Nominations when I know I won’t be going anywhere non-local (all my local places are pretty much done for Waypoints).
I have 11 in there at the moment (so 22 photos, one main, one supporting) and I have Notes on each.
Casey? Casey‽ We all follow Tintino now.
Usually I plan trips to go nominate portals. I think of an area I would like to go to, research it, then use Google My Maps to plot out as much as I can submit. So far the map has over 700 pins of things that could be submitted.
With lockdowns restricting movement, I managed to submit a lot of my older backlog over last year. Which was nice.
Whilst actively working for the Onyx Scout Controller badge last year, I randomly found a lot of things to nominate and would submit them all as soon as they were spotted. However, that also created a backlog as I found too many things to submit.
I have a portal submissions photo folder on my phone and it currently has over 1,200 photos. Multiple photos per nomination (at least one primary and secondary photo), but some may have more depending on the angles and lighting or it may be a zoom-in on a plaque so I can read the text to put as the description. So probably about 500 nominations in my backlog.
I used to submit religiously every fortnight, but have gotten lazy and just do it whenever now. Sitting on 700 portals discovered. Only submitted through PoGo once to test it, didn't like it lol So everything is always through Ingress (so I get a key, AP and the discovery credits).
Everything is basically a shoe-in (lots of historical plaques, war memorials, playgrounds, gazebos, public exercise areas, etc.), though I do like to research some things, especially architecture or if I can tell a unique story about the nomination. In those cases I will usually either submit from home or update the descriptions to give them justice. I don't bother with borderline submissions as they are never worth it and honestly, don't add value to any game or the database. Exploration is the most enjoyable aspect of the games to me.
With every nomination I take the photos separately. I learnt my lesson early on where trying nominate and either the submission crashes or the game crashes, then you're left with nothing if you've moved on to another area. Hence why photos are always taken, as they provide a back up incase anything goes wrong. Plus if I end up with a backlog, they exist on my phone along with the metadata so I can pinpoint them accurately later on.
I rarely nominate anything on the spot. I make a mental note of something I see and get back to it later. I drive for work so I will nominate between stops if it’s convenient or on weekend mornings on my way home. I typically like to do several at a time, if possible, altho not all areas will have multiple things to nominate. Right now I’ve got a couple roads I want to hit up with about 12 noms between them, just not sure the next time I’ll be out that way.
I do all the info at once b/c I know I will forget to go and edit it later. The crashing of the app is annoying, I’ve learned it’s always when submitting the supporting photo (for me). It happens less and less tho it used to be I’d have to restart the app multiple times before it would take.
I add it on my list of things to nominate, and i'll go back later (weeks or months after... because too much things to nominate and too few nominations)
So far, I like submitting when I'm in the mood to take it slow and really explore where I'm at. The need to write interesting and detailed descriptions and supporting info makes me consider and appreciate what it is I'm looking at, and to study any nearby information or to simply Google it on the spot. Of course, the PoGo system crashes all the time, so that really slows things down and needs to be fixed. But I find the submission-oriented exploration to really be relaxing and a lot of fun.
If I find something that's not a clear winner but at least plausible, I put it on the back burner and come back later if I know I'll be back that way. And if I've been to a local restaurant or interesting shop enough to recommend it to people I know, that will also go on my list of things to submit later.
Almost everything I submit is something that I stumbled upon serendipitously, and that usually means new street art in my area.
If the light and environment are good enough for me to get a solid main photo then I'll take the photos immediately, perhaps crop the main photo or very lightly enhance it (e.g. contrast, lighting... phone cameras often get this stuff wrong), then submit it immediately. If it's the wrong time of day to get a good photo then I will make a note to myself to go back ASAP at the right time of day, similar if the candidate is blocked by construction equipment or something.
I may occasionally edit the text when I'm back at a computer.
I bought my mom a book for her birthday, it was about a major part of our local history. After giving it to her I was just flipping through it quickly, mostly just looking at the pictures… and came across a plaque.
My first thought was, “gee, I’ve never hacked that portal before…” And after some poking around on Google’s street view I managed to locate it! and then proceeded to nominate it the next day. It, as well as another plaque and a piece of artwork, all previously unknown to the local Ingress and Pogo communities.
But it’s pretty rare that I am submitting something I’d previously researched, even if by happy accidental circumstance. When I’m out and about in areas I don’t normally frequent, I now have a constant “wayspot” radar thing going. So long as the driver is amenable, I often get them to patiently turn around, stop, and wait while I take the requisite imagery (wayspot, supporting, and photosphere).
Usually the wayspot-ness of the item is self-evident, as the trail already has a name, or the plaque comes with its own title/text. Only rarely am I left wondering about it enough not to be able to provide sufficient info on the fly.
The biggest issue/problem tends to be one of three things, and in each case it’s the same difference to me: I just take enough notes to be able to precisely pinpoint the location in the future, and submit remotely at my leisure later:
I play Pogo much harder than I do Ingress (Level 50 pogo, level 15 Ingress) but I always submit in Ingress unless I have run out of nominations. I get AP in Ingress if it is accepted, and I love being able to come home and look at my bigger map on my computer for placement comparison. I have made some big boo-boos using the tiny map in the submission process when I have submitted through Pogo (crappy eyesight) and that is why I got to a high enough level in Ingress to be able to correct with edits.
I walk pretty much the same routes every day, so it is rare for me to stumble upon a new poi. But people on our Pogo Discord know how much I enjoy submitting and how many I have managed to get through, so they tell me about new things they see. If that is the case, I do a little research first to see if it is worth heading over to take pictures. Whether it is a stumble upon or a researched trip, I take lots and lots of photos so that I can browse through them before picking the best to submit from home in Ingress. Sometimes being able to crop first makes a huge difference in centering the photo, and an awesome photo really seems to help a nomination if it looks like something that should be in game.
If there is any more research that needs to be done, I try to do it before submitting. My friends that send me a lot of ideas also know to send me links.
I usually submit in the mornings before I go walking while I am getting my Pogo buddy excited.
When I am actually submitting, I put in the title I want, because it is confusing to get back an email for a title that doesn't match. I put a minimum amount of text in each box just in case something weird happens, and then I edit to perfection on my computer as soon as the submission is available on Wayfarer.
I don't back away from challenging POI's but I rarely upgrade them if they are not easy 5*. But never say in the supporting information that "this is an easy 5*" lol.
i have a google maps "mymaps" and in that i enter Nomz: Yellow Placemarks are things that i plan to submit, Green are things i submitted. it is nicely found via the "Google Drive", also on the go when i am on Tour.
Theres also the 2nd part for my job: The intel Map from Ingress, to see the info i need.
Also, theres the Ingress App which suits this method of submitting much better (Upload from Phone).
When i play, i play. When i submit, i make photos. I only do 2 Photographs of the thing i want to submit. When i am at home i submit the wayspot. Sometimes i need to pull out the GPS Data from the photo if i dont remember the exact loc.
Research is done before submitting, and also then when completing the submission via the wayfarer Portal.
All in all, this is a hard job that i do not get paid for. I could do it the way the most subs are made: take 2 photos, add some text, thank you. But i prefer to have a good submission.
I do a fair amount of checking Intel, examining satellite views, and general Googling to find obvious candidates like churches or government buildings, but I stumble across a fair amount of unknown stuff. I usually go to a remote area more than an hour away solely to nominate underserved areas. Once I find or relocate something, I’ll take Main and Supporting photos just to get them done, then always try to submit onsite. I enjoy creating on-the-fly titles and descriptions so I try to avoid placeholder text unless there’s a time crunch. If my onsite submission fails, I try it again in Pokemon, then fall back to remote when needed.
The first thing I do when I get home from a submission trip is edit my submissions to remove typos and make descriptions punchier, plus add links if I can find em for supporting detail. I usually end up editing my submission text multiple times because I’m my own harshest critic.
I would love if there was a wayfarer app... So we can have the same website functions, but also be able to view our edits, and have something like the ingress intel website (with IITC-Mobile functionality) built in for planning. I use PoGoMap right now to "plan" where I can submit, since 9/10 I don't have a submission slot available at the moment I notice something. But also I like to check IITC to see if there is already a waypoint in the cell (since I only play PoGo haven't played Ingress since launch).
Usually I submit via Ingress, so I just take a couple of photos and submit later from at home - if the POI is in a range of 25km. If I need additional info, I research first and then submit. And if I found the POI at night or so, I'll come back during daytime (if possible) to take good photos.
You’ve found an excellent Waypoint to nominate! What do you do now?Look at it, say to my self 'what a shame that i never noticed it while i still played that game' and continue my journey.
I never nominate on the spot.
I have a spreadsheet with all my candidates (well over 1000 entries at the moment), where I also keep track of all my acceptances (nearly 600) and rejections (over 100), etc.
Most of the reason I don't nominate on the spot is I do not speak the local language (Japanese), and I want my nominations to have a Japanese title (but mostly English description), and there is no way I can generate such a title on the spot.
What usually happens for me is I say "today I am going to loaction X, where I will photograph candidates X1, X2, X3, etc." - because most of my candidates are pre-researched on the internet. It usually happns though that when I get to candidate X1, I see a whole bunch of related candidates that were not apparent through my research, so I photograph them as well, along with the associated photosphere, and when I get home then they get addeed to the database for later submission.
I am still mostly just nominating in my daily local play area - Ingress players having created very few portals in town - so most of my nominations are things I've passed dozens or hundreds of times. I am nominating them slowly. We're in one of those places where submissions now take years to go through voting, so there's really not much point in submitting faster than I can earn upgrades.
I spend a very minimal amount of time on the title and description at the point of submission - I can and do rework that from home. But I make sure to include the best possible photos of the point of interest, which takes a good amount of thought and planning. Since I submit through Pokemon Go, I don't have the luxury of taking a photo for later, so I have to go out to submit on just the right kind of day. Objects that might reflect the sun need to be photographed on cloudy days or when the sun is at an advantageous angle. Anything that might cast a shadow has similar considerations. Picnic pavilions and sports fields need to be empty. Our extremely popular local pickleball court, generally occupied from dusk to dawn, took over a dozen visits to find it unoccupied. I try to get blue sky in the background whenever possible, and absolutely won't submit things like playgrounds if they are snow-covered or glistening with fresh rain.
Not only does having a great photo look fantastic in-game, but I think it helps nominations get through voting with a minimal number of votes, which benefits everyone. So that really drives my whole submission process.
When I am on vacation and find something I want to nominate, I will open IITC to check the location and see if it is too close to any existing wayspots. If there is room for it, I will take a couple pictures, then find a close shady spot to pick my favorite photos and submit via Ingress.
I usually submit with placeholder text because I want to hurry up and get the submission in there. If I am submitting artwork and there is an informational sign with the name and such, I will take an additional photo of that to reference when I am fixing the text later.