Hi all!
I live in rural Scotland (a little town called Alyth) where I’ve attempted to add more POIs to hopefully get more stops and gyms to the area for Pokémon Go. I’ve been trying to summit stops where I can, and where I feel they’re arguably warranted, however, the options are relatively thin on the ground outside the main town square. I am aware of the cells that are used to divide up the world and how stops and gyms appear dependant on whether or not there’s already a POI being used in that cell.
This leads to ask you all, what exact point should the POI be located at, when there isn’t a definitive point for it? For example, a building, say a community centre or a museum. Should the point be placed at the centre, at the entrance, or just anywhere within the bounds of the building? Should it be at the position the photograph was taken? What about for parks and gardens?
Sorry if these are clearly stated somewhere and thanks for any input anyone has to offer.
Welcome to the forum!
There are some guidelines on pin placement here https://wayfarer.nianticlabs.com/new/help/location-guidelines
Pin placement within your nomination is very important. Make sure to review the following to give your nomination the best chance during review.
Do:
Place the pin at the real life location of the object you are nominating
Place the pin along the edge or entrance of large objects such as buildings and sports fields. Placement should ideally be at the natural point of approach, such as a gate or door
Place the pin at the base of overhead objects
Keep in mind, the location needs to be safe and accessible, even if the access is restricted to employees or people with special access rights.
Don’t:
Don’t place the pin at a location that doesn’t naturally represent what is being nominated
2 Likes
There has been some interesting discussion on this point. I think that it should, but several folks here mentioned they will take a photo of the sign for a church, for example, then put the pin at the church door, since the sign is only important because it marks the church. I still put my pin at the sign if the main photo of my submission is the sign.
I had an interesting case where I had pinned at the front door, and the submission was taken into internal review and the pin was moved to where the Google Maps label was, somewhere vaguely in the center of the building, and in a different L17 S2 cell. I left it where they put it =) but don’t think that is supposed to indicate where the pin should go.
If there is a sign, I personally take a photo of that and put the pin at the sign. The clarification does say that pinning in the middle could be just as good as at an entrance, though:
1 Like
The wayspots for parks and gardens work best at the entrance, just as for buildings. When I come across submissions for buildings with the marker somewhere towards the back, it’s highly suspicious and nearly always because the front of the building is blocked by other wayspots. This feels like abuse because the natural point is the entrance and I never accept these.
It’s different if there is a sign to link the wayspot to.
The position the photograph was taken will not normally be a good location for the wayspot, because you tend to stand at some distance back to take the photograph. The position of the object in the photograph is a good location to use.
2 Likes
Oh we read that statement differently. TY for clarifying if they meant pin it where they were standing.
@Chaosprime be aware that if reviewers think your pin is incorrect, they can move it. So an iffy pin to try to put something in an empty cell is usually not going to stay there. And could be reported as abuse by reviewers. I don’t think you are intending to commit abuse since you are asking this question, but wanted to put that out there.
It’s possible the op didn’t mean what they said - only @Chaosprime can confirm 
What they literally said is what I responded to; what they may have meant is what you responded to.
@Chaosprime
As an example, if you have a building with several entrances and your main photo is of one specific entrance, then that entrance should be where you place the wayspot. If you wanted to put it at a different entrance, then take a photo of that different entrance.
The same holds true for parks and pretty much everything - the wayspot should be at the location that your photo is highlighting.
The position you were when you took the photograph is irrelevant. You probably didn’t mean that even though you said it, but I wanted to make sure the difference is clear
If the pin is located anywhere within the footprint of the place being nominated you have room to argue for where you put the pin. The suggestions already given are what most people will expect when reviewing, I like the idea of using an entrance or centering the pin myself.
Reviewers have the option to choose a different location for the pin when reviewing so be sure to pick a spot that would seem reasonable to others.
Thanks all for your input and clarification, both what I directly asked but also what I accidentally implied!
There are some small buildings in my area (basically small house size) which I think would be justified as being a POIs, where the cell pass through them, where the entrance would be in one cell, but the centre of the building is in another. Would you consider placing it at the centre to be fair in this circumstance, given the size of the building means the off-set from the entrance is a matter of 2-3 meters at best, or do you feel that given the photo will most likely be of the entrance, it would be unreasonable manipulation, for the sake of trying to getting a stop?
While it feels fair in my eyes, I have only every submitted a handful of stops at best, and few taking cells into any sort of consideration. I would like to get expert opinions on the matter before doing something possibly out of line.
Thanks!
If the building is the nomination, centering the pin seems reasonable to me regardless of the picture. Again, I think anywhere within the footprint of the building could be acceptable, just use your best judgement.
1 Like
Just my opinion but I use the “help” comment “Placement should ideally be at the natural point of approach” to state that all buildings should be at the Entrance.
I know this isn’t everybody’s approach but I would see this as manipulation and suggest a new location at the entrance.
Mind you I have had plenty of instances where the original location was the centre of the building which was an occupied cell and if my suggestion to move to the entrance was actioned then it would put it in to an Empty cell so works both ways…
This is how I see it too. If you’re nominating a building, a pin on the building is accurate enough for my liking.
To my mind, selecting which bit of the building works best for cells is not a problem. What you cant do is pin it off the building or in the street for cell reasons - that would be inaccurate. But I see absolutely nothing wrong with pinning the middle of a building, or the entrance 
feels natural on a common sense level to me.
It sounds like you are doing good work. Here’s another tip - if the wayspots are in a cluster then submit the most interesting one first and place the rest on hold. For example, if you have a church, a church noticeboard and a lych gate then that’s three possible wayspots but the church is the most significant so make sure it gets priority. You can place nominations on hold in the Contributions page.
2 Likes