I was so excited to start reviewing and nominating Waypoints! I play POGO, and one of my favorite things is collecting pretty postcards from different countries. So when I hit level 35, I couldn’t wait to begin.
I’ve submitted a few I’m proud to share, but I’m getting a little stuck when reviewing others’ nominations. Sometimes it’s an easy “yes” — everything is perfect. Sometimes it’s a clear “no.” But there are some I skip, and I’d love feedback so I can feel more confident about making a decision instead of passing.
Am I allowed to share a simple image of someone else’s contribution as an example, so that someone with more experience can advise on how they would vote?
Yes, you can share reviews you arent sure about. Ideally you should explain what your concerns about it are instead of just asking how we would vote though.
Keep in mind that there are some grey areas when it comes to reviewing, so we are advised to use our best judgment. It’s always good to review the Wayspot Criteria and How to Review Wayspot sections in the help center, as these will help you to make the best decisions.
And yes, feel free to post any examples of submissions you are unsure of, and we’ll be glad to take a look.
okay so here is one example of one I skipped, I could see other very similar waypoints used just like this one in the area. However I don’t think this is a safe place for pedestrians as there is no path and it also looks like cars park here based on the grass. Is this an easy pass for you guys or is this actually considered safe and interesting enough? I appreciate the advice thank you
Another one based off looks, easy yes all around apart from i think the photo could look much nicer. It’s not blurry and it does show the whole place so I don’t want to reject just based of my love of photography
I agree that the photo might not be the best, but it clearly shows the whole object in the photo. We don’t have to take professional photo’s. I would accept this, but again use your own judgement with the wayfarer criteria
One thing you’ll see a good amount of are main photos taken in portrait/horizontal for POIs that would be best captured in landscape/vertical. A vertical photo would have helped to eliminate some of the foreground grass and background trees, and focus more on the structure itself.
It’s not a rejected photo, as it does clearly show the POI, but it could have taken better. If it does become a Wayspot and gets added to PoGo, others can submit new photos they feel better represents the Wayspot.
I’d reject that survey marker for being unsafe, as the example given for rejection includes one on the berm of a street. It doesn’t seem to be in an area that worth exploring, like the top of a mountain.
When I started wayfarer you had to climb a few extra levels after accessing submission in order to review. I naively assumed that like me, people would be submitting acceptable things. It didn’t take long to realise that was not always the case.
I don’t know (IDK) is often overlooked. I’m not a fan of the phrase, but it is what we have.
It is in effect a vote in the middle - I don’t know if it should be a or a on this question.
Under the accuracy question you get a full range of tick boxes and a small free text box.
I often find that I can record my vote on the nomination because there is one or two where IDK seems appropriate rather than a full skip.
I also bear in mind that my submissions will not be perfect and I don’t expect perfection from my fellow submitters.
It is easy for me to get something wrong in the text. So a few misspelling I can assess as IDK tick the box for description.
This to me says on this aspect there is a small issue that can be rectified and it is “ Good enough” .
Good enough is what I am looking for overall not perfection. I am mindful that if some of my own nominations are rejected I will not be able to resubmit ao perhaps the opportunity to add to the database has gone.
We have the ability to edit title, description and add a better photo to wayspots we see, so there is a chance to improve and raise the quality.
yes I’ve hit that “i don’t know” button many times now its very helpful. And I’ve just spent a lot more time reading more posts within the link shared above. Again thank you everyone this was very helpful information
Another use of “I Don’t Know” that someone here mentioned and I now use is for “Accuracy” / “Location” when you have deemed it necessary to move the pin.
We are not informed how all of this is processed by Niantic but it seems appropriate.
also why do people seem to add so many tags that seem unnecessary and make the nomination have its first little flaw from my vote. like a pretty mural and they tag mural, painting and then one thing completely off like “totem pole” . how much does disagreeing with a tag affect the nomination?
It has been mentioned that these have no bearing on the vote.
Believe it was the old Niantic that wanted it so hopefully “Niantic / Scopely” will remove them.
Doesn’t help that they are a general list of things and some new wayfarers believe that if its in the list then it must be acceptable even when “School” and “Residential” are in the list.
I tend to pick the category that is closest, even if it isn’t completely accurate. If there really is nothing remotely acceptable, then I’ll search for one. They have absolutely no meaning to any player of the game or whether the wayspot is accepted or not. The categories exist solely so that Niantic can categorise the wayspots.
This is the same as the group size question that comes up when you say it meets Social criteria. This also exists solely so that Niantic can categorise the wayspots.
Wayspots exist primarily so that Niantic can gather information and use it to create a valuable database - this is the most obvious demonstration of that. We also benefit because it adds POI into the game(s) and lots of us enjoy creating/reviewing wayspots.
Regarding the survey marker in the side of the road, these are a longstanding issue of contention. On one side, you have people who want more pokestops. On the other hand are people that think wayspots should meet either Social, Exercise or Exploration, and that no-one (except those people that want more pokestops) has the remotest interest in exploring any of these survey markers.
One useful thing to know is that thumbing down for Social, Exercise and Explore does not reject the wayspot. If you actually want to reject a wayspot, you either have to reject for Accessibility (Appropriate), Safety, Accuracy, or Permanent and Distinct. The last of these is the right one if it is accessible, safe and accurate, but is not good for Social, Exercise or Explore.
(I reject using not Permanent and Distinct a lot.)
I think the system may add categories to the nomination. When Ingress was part of Wayfarer, people who submitted in Ingress did not have the step of adding categories in their nomination process. But sometimes those nominations would have categories in review. You can choose “no” for all the categories without picking a new one and it will still let you submit your review.
or a 
on this question.
