The mystery surrounding what makes a new wayspot photo submission become the new primary photo vs. what just gets added as a secondary image

[GPS101]

Hello readers/fellow WayFarers… I find you here today because I find myself at a loss regarding my efforts to improve the images being utiliezed for different Pokéstops/Gyms in my neck of the woods. I come bearing multiple examples of what has me truly puzzled, not to mention a bit discouraged from continuing my genuine efforts to improve the landscape for all players who might touch upon any of them…

As can be seen in the first two images, sometimes I submit a new picture, and it goes through almost immediately and the old one is immediately switched out.

Whereas, other times, even when, dare I say, the image I’ve submitted is blatantly the better choice to use, it gets thrown right in the backseat, never to really be seen or noticed by anybody who doesn’t happen to tap into it to see the additional pictures that are on hand for a particular location, which I honestly know of few to none who actually do that.

Please reference images 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 for what I’m getting at. And note the in the 7th image, tapping the in the game has never seemed to make a difference – granted that I’m probably the only one who’s actually gone ahead and done so.

And FIANLLY, ones like this final one, example number 8 are the most offensive/problematic to me as far as upholding acceptance criteria goes…

So not only was the old mural on this wall literally PAINTED OVER and done away with 2-3 YEARS ago at this point, but it was renamed as well, and the name being switched from the title of the old mural to the title of the new one went through no problem, HOWEVER, quite unfair to the credit of the new artist, the old mural is still kept as the primary, but with the NAME of the OLD artist’s piece. I submitted the new image, and there it sits in the backdrop, as if it’s just an alternative view of the same exact thing. As bothersome as it is cringe-worthy to someone like me who cares very much about ACCURACY.

So please, fellow trainers, can anyone please shine some light on this silliness for poor, determined me?

Thanks to all who have read this post that bordered on being a bit of a rant.

[Xenopus]

Mod note: I have edited the post to remove the unnecessary tags to the team on what is neither an urgent issue nor something that the community can’t explain to you way more efficiently

[cyndiepooh]

Okay I got a bit lost, but I see that you have discovered the on the photo to suggest you like that one. If you tap on the individual photos, you should see how many are on each photo. The one with the most will be the disc photo…

UNLESS

Once upon a time, Ingress was the database for all Niantic games. Photos could only be changed by likes in Ingress. When the Lightship database was created and photo likes could be added from Pokemon Go, Ingress likes stopped counting for PoGo. BUT when they changed the mechanic, some votes became trapped. Even if the vote is removed from the portal, it still counts as a vote for that photo in PoGo, and this cannot be seen anywhere. On more recent Pokestops, this should not be a problem.

If you need more votes on a better photo to get the disc photo to change, your friends who are level 38 (yes 38) or higher can the better photo from a gift you send them or a postcard they save.

[cyndiepooh]

@GPS101

So not only was the old mural on this wall literally PAINTED OVER and done away with 2-3 YEARS ago at this point, but it was renamed as well, and the name being switched from the title of the old mural to the title of the new one went through no problem, HOWEVER, quite unfair to the credit of the new artist, the old mural is still kept as the primary, but with the NAME of the OLD artist’s piece.

So for this issue, you can ask Help Chat to remove the old photo. Access Help Chat from the help menu on the Wayfarer site. They will need evidence to remove it, probably a geotagged photo. A lot of folks do enjoy seeing the history of a Wayspot and would like to keep the photo if you want to leave it and try getting friends to like the current from gifts.

[cyndiepooh]

A really cool thing we have noticed is that a newly accepted photo is added to a Pokestop/gym immediately - in Ingress it has to wait for sync. The count in the bottom right corner won’t show it until after sync, or the overview with all the photos, but if you look at the individual photos and swipe through them, it will be there.

[GPS101]

Hey there CyndiePooh, thanks for sharing that perspective on what I’m inquring about here…
Thought I appreciate that quick and thorough reply that gets at some of my conundrum, it still doesn’t explain how to have a COMPLETELY incorrect image not merely switched out to become the secondary, but eliminated completely as the last example highlights where it’s just straight-up WRONG to have displayed.

And while I comprehend the words that you’re speaking and you clearly know what you’re talkingt about, the aspect of the system of Likes👍🏻 working with POIs that are simply younger in age/more recent and not on ones that have already been around for some time is just inherenrtly an issue that needs correcting, because how does something like that really help us adamemt wayfarers in upholding not only the regultions set out for all ofd us to follow, but just the overall correctness of the map that we all collectively navigate?

[GPS101]

Ah, just saw this response. Thanks for taking the time out of your day to put that into simpler to undrstand language for me to grasp hahah

[cyndiepooh]

If the system were to automatically update the Wayspot to the newest accepted photo, we would have a lot more issues like this one:

Someone is adding ugly pikachus to waypoint photos

I came across this edit review yesterday and took a screenshot to show a friend. I wasnt sure what to do because the edit was for the description I think-nothing to do with the image. I think I reported it in the end, but can’t remember [1000015024] Today my friend saw another of these, and shared the picture with me. They reported it already. [1000015127] Is there anything that can be done to remove these images and check if there are more being submitted? I’m sorry that I dont have the d…

The options already exist for getting players to choose which is better and to ask for removal of bad/incorrect photos. There is no need for a change.

[frealafgb]

We definitely do not need more ugly pikachus in this world

[seaprincesshnb]

Also, don’t take this the wrong way, but i dont necessarily agree that your gazebo photo is inherently better than the current one. If the current photo is the one that was added by the person who submitted the gazebo originally, they might have feelings about their work being erased. There’s a fine line between replacing genuinely bad images and just leaving your own mark on someone else’s submission. We need to remember that people take pride in this work, and we should honor what they’ve done for the community.

[frealafgb]

I agree - sometimes pictures are different but not better

For example day vs night on a building that is lit at night.

And like previously mentioned, with murals which have changed over the years, keeping a history is really nice.

Often though the original images on the oldest waypoints are much lower quality just because cameras on phones have moved on so much

Or like one of the examples above, obviously taken from a car

[GPS101]

Okay well…

That person was also me… ssoooo… at least there’s that. guess I can at least feel like I’m a winner either way on that one now hahahah

But to be clear… only on the last screen shot that I provided do I believe the other picture should be actually erased, because it’s not at all of what the current wayspot depicts, and it’s described as the work of another artist in the description.

[GPS101]

Like here’s a second time I was attempting to improve on my own old, inital work that didn’t go through either…

Whereas, to speak to what several of you had said, here’s an example of when it’s fun to see the photographic history…

[GPS101]

And yes, I realized this same change as of late also! Same for very minor title changes like expanding “Ave” into “Avenue”, for example

[MargariteDVille]

New pictures have never been automatically moved to primary (cover) picture. It’s always been the one with the most votes. The exception is if the Wayspot has no picture, like when it’s from an import from Courts of the World or Foursquare.

Ingress votes used to affect which picture was shown in all Niantic maps (PokemonGO, Wayfarer reviews, Pikmin Bloom, Peridot, Monster Hunter Now, etc).

Now Ingress votes only affect the Ingress cover picture.
PokemonGO votes affect everything else. So, for example, if a wayspot is not in PokemonGO, Wayfarer will forever show its original picture on edits of that Wayspot, and on the duplicate map for nearby nominations. Even the Ingress Mission making tool does not return pictures based on Ingress votes.

[madjulle]

Changing the pokestop disc photo by voting is bit of a problem, my local mall has an 11 year old photo and 9 votes and the main entrance got remodeled. If assuming votes come at the same pace, updated photo will be on disc sometime in the 2030’s because I only know one level 38+ player.

[cyndiepooh]

That is hard. You can send gifts to friends who are high enough level and they can vote on the photo from the gift.

Alternatively, if the old photos are no longer accurate, you can ask help chat to remove them with evidence. Go to Niantic Wayfarer and I believe the photo section is under the “Abuse” heading. Idk why they formatted it that way, but you aren’t saying there was abuse by choosing that path.

[26thDoctor]

I would happily help you add likes to photos to improve them.

I’d post my code for you to add me but it’s frowned upon. It’s a shame I can’t add it as a signature or under my username…

[madjulle]

I mean the current vote system needs a complete overhaul due to very old photos, best thing would be that votes from past few years would have more weigth than a vote from decade ago.

[eneeoh]

Too bad they won’t let you put your FC in your profile or something…