Trail markers and public footpaths are a staple for wayspots / pokestops and yet no matter how good the description is or how perfect the location is or how clear the picture is, people are still rejecting them. Also these are being rejected with zero explanation in the emails for people to even correct what’s even wrong with it. If people keep on with this mentality then all it does is stopping people from exploring the world around them. There are now many areas that can’t get stops put in because of this and it’s detrimental to these games because it’s turning people off and that’s revenue lost for niantic. I have no idea how this is still a public decision.
Mod edit: Removed demeaning statements
Welcome to the forum.
I am sorry you are frustrated, but can assure you that trail markers can be accepted. Would you like to post screenshots of one that you think was incorrectly rejected for advice? The prompt for this category asks for the following:
Please provide:
- A screenshot of your nomination, including rejection reasons if it has already been rejected
- Include the title, description, both photos, and supplemental information
- Copy and paste the title, description and supplemental so others can translate them
- If you feel comfortable please share the location, as it is helpful (i.e. hidden duplicates), but you can mask it if you wish.
Hi, and welcome to the forum.
I know from experience that it is very disappointing when your nominations are rejected, and I agree the emails did not help me in understanding why my first contributions were all rejected.
But having said that, the community in this forum generally is really keen on helping people in finding potential good wayspots, and usually the people here give very good advice on how to submit successfully.
I’ve seen many examples here where forum members gave exceptionally good tips on what to submit.
Also, most nominations that are rejected are either based upon a community consensus, or by AI (you can tell if is rejected by the automated system). But the appeal system works very well, and people here can help you in formulating an appeal.
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Hey bud thanks for getting back to me so quick, I’m having to waste an appeal for this way spot . Screenshots attached and the email I got was generic with no clear or exact reasoning.
(attachments)
Firstly, welcome to the community.
I’m sorry that you are having a bad experience in getting your nominations approved. Without seeing what you have submitted, we can see why it could have been rejected. Also, just because a trail marker in the past have been approved, it doesn’t mean future ones should automatically be approved. Some trail markers have been given a bad reputation, especially with a lot of fakes appearing. So without seeing yours in particular, without knowing the back story behind the trail marker, we can’t really comment.
I generally don’t like generic footpath markers as they are mass produced. Some people will tell me off for rejecting these types of footpath markers, and I can see their point. If the footpath marker had a back story to it, like it led to a particular historic site, I might be convinced….. but would need to have some evidence to back it up.
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Hello
U.K. reviewer so familar with PROW.
this shows as a footpath ok. It looks as though it was the wayfarer team or the auro system that rejected.
I have taken to using websubmit so I can include as one of the images a screenshot from rowmaps to show that it is a proper path. Nice route to walk Sorry about you having to use an appeal
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Thank you for showing us the screenshots, but you did not include the rejection reason. That will be between the title and the photo.
If it was the “automated process” then a human has not looked at this yet. The UK folks here will be familiar with this kind of nomination to help you with next steps.
Unfortunately there are quite a few fakes around which does make you cautious but this is a genuine path.
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There’s a few generic Footpath markers near where I live. I might be tempted to submit those to see how they go.
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It’s getting frustrating because you get a limited amount of appeals per month and once they are done that’s it you have to wait for it to reset.
I walk on average 150km per week and this takes the biscuit when you go out of your way to find spots that should be accepted and they just get rejected 24hrs later.
Otherwise what’s the point of getting out and exploring if all that effort gets thrown back at you.
99% of footpaths lead from one village to the next or from town to town.
I’ve seen all sorts get accepted from people houses to private land and yet I have genuine locations and get told sorry.
Whether it’s automated or by community the wrong decision is being made time and time again and it’s starting out me off.
All I’m trying to do is help the local community with wayspot along genuine routes.
And again thank you to all for a quick response.
Ah, if it gets rejected within 24 hours, it was most likely rejected by AI, this happens very often. In my experience this is (almost) always a picture issue. The AI usually sees nothing distinct. In this case it sees a generic marker, and thus it is rejected.
You may want to experiment with different kind of pictures to check which ones will pass the AI, otherwise you have to rely on appeals.
I don’t know what it is lately, but my markers are also just constantly rejected by the community now, so it seems markers are a little more tough to get through these days.
If ML is rejecting them you might need to work on your photos. Too much or too little nature can confuse the poor thing. I’m in a different country so trail markers look different here but this is how I would frame the photo
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The 24 hours is a giveaway that they are auto rejects.
Could you post one here with the full main photo.
I find a tight crop on the sign works well.
Also I think the description would benefit for a focus on what you will see on the path.
A riverside walk where you can enjoy nature in the heart of the town ……that sort of thing.
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Here are some of mine, including for a similar kind of sign. These can often be a bit difficult but appeals help. I rarely get them rejected by ML so I would agree with the others advice to have your picture focussed more on thr sign (then add a wider view later after its accepted if you like)
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