Hi,
I am relatively new to reviewing and I would like to get it right from the start.
When photos guidelines say no pictures “sideways” is that horizontal or just a regular image on a 90 degree rotation so you would need to turn phone to see it the right way up?
If something is really dull and not really unique (eg: a surveyors mark on the ground - technically it has a unique number but it’s smaller than the size of your palm and usually on the edge of the road in Australia which is kinda dangerous for young players), what do I do? It shows potential duplicates for some others that mean it’s the type of thing being accepted but they’re ridiculous and just a way to get a stop when some people are getting rejected for genuine applications?
If there is multiple and obvious spelling mistakes in description, is that ‘accurate’? Can you make a note for them to correct even though everything else is ok?
Any stops I submit have no feedback if they’re not approved so I don’t know what was wrong - is anyone else having this trouble or is this just something that isn’t provided? I don’t want to repeat the mistake but they never say why, just “wayfarer criteria” but they’re community gardens, signs, or statues taken without obstruction, front on, with a great description. It’s really off-putting.
Is there any advice for someone new hoping to make their area a more interesting place to play when submitting stops and reviewing that you wish you had known?
Use your best judgment on photos. Can you tell what it is? Will it look halfway decent in all the games? If a gamer needs to physically find this place, will this photo be sufficient?
Survey markers are the bane of the Australian Wayfinder. Again, use your best judgmemt. If it doesn’t seem interesting to you, don’t approve it. If it’s in the road, mark it as unsafe.
I typically vote to approve with a few mistakes. This is why we have edits. I’d rather help a good POI be approved than deny it for petty reasons. But if the spelling mistake changes the meaning, or makes it unreadable, i will deny it.
We can help with your nominations if you want. Post them in the Nomination Support category. Show us all the parts so we would see it the way a reviewer would. Its likely you’re running afoul of the AI, and we might have some tips for that.
For photos as long as I can see what it is and there’s nothing obvious like a person very prominent in the pic I don’t mind if it’s not completely centred, at an angle. Even at 180° I’d be forgiving if it looks like they accidentally uploaded it that way.
I don’t mind spelling errors either as there’s many reasons for those dyslexia, arthritis or just a simple typo. I’d be less forgiving of
‘A church’ as compared to ‘Protistant church open frm…’
I also don’t see a Wayspot as having to be aesthetically pleasing to be worthy. A trail marker represents more than just the disc, pointer.
In saying that though Survey Markers are a very specific topic that someone who is familiar with them and the trouble they’ve caused may be able to help you
I’d suggest asking on here or another platform to get help, advice with reasons for a rejection rather than relying on Niantic or choices reviewers have made.
I can only say how I personally review I’m sure others are very different
Find out how S2 cells function and how they effect Wayspots if you mainly play Go. It would be disappointing for you to nominate some things and then for them to not even appear for you.
In case this is what your first question was, it is fine for photos to have landscape orientation. In fact, landscape is the best way to photograph many things. You just don’t want people having to turn their heads sideways to see the picture right.
For your last question, “wayfarer criteria” IS telling you why it was rejected. If you want to ask specifically about a rejected nomination, please post it in Nomination Support so we can try to help. I find it easier to help with one nomination at a time.
Landscape is the best way to photograph generally, but in Niantic games 1:1 (with some border between the POI and edge of the picture) seems better. Other aspect ratios lead to unpredictable cropping or blurring.
I would tend to be less inclined to accept photos in a wide or tall ratio where the POI isn’t in the middle of the photo.
There are other threads about how to take good photos for wayspots, from the approval side it doesn’t have to be great but it does have to properly represent the POI, not be third party, not be blurry or dark, not to be tilted or rotated and not to include faces or license plates.
Great advice! For the nomination, I concentrate on getting the best photo I can for the easiest acceptance possible - especially now that ML is in play. I will add a 1:1 photo later if warranted.
Oh wow, thankyou so much for all of the advice!
I appreciate it so much!
I have much to learn which is why I thought I’d reach out and you’ve all made it clearer for me. And thanks for your direction to other threads, I’m sorry I missed them I am still trying to get the hang of the layout for this site.
Happy to take on any more advice if you think of it and I hope you don’t mind me asking such newbie questions.
Annalise
I would not accept a panoramic or fisheye style photo, but I have used panoramic views for my Supporting photo.
Many buildings I nominate I’ll start out in Landscape 16:9 or 3:4 aspect ratio (my phone can default crop to that) and play around with what looks best. Sometimes you might need to step back or use a mild “zoom out” on your camera phone to get the view you want. It’s OK to have a little road or grass in front of the building if that’s what it takes to fit it in frame.
