Wayspot Titles
Good titles are a balancing act. They should be accurate, precise, unique and maybe even fun. Remember, some of these formatting suggestions are preference, and there can be multiple ways to do things.
Accuracy first: Check if the wayspot has an official name or title, and use that. The official title of a mural, the name on the sign of a church or building. You may hold the nomination while you look up the official name. Add identifiers to that official title, if appropriate. For example “United Methodist Church - Springville”
Consider how titles will work in use. Having multiple, nearby wayspots with identical titles can add a lot of confusion and misunderstandings including players going to the wrong place.
For locations that are similar, such as trail markers, consider adding a direction, intersection, or other identifier to the name. For identical trail signs that need unique wayspot names chose a format you like and try names like:
Greenway Trail - North Trailhead
Greenway Trail: Elmer Ave
Mile 2 Greenway Trail
Instead of “Basketball Court” try “Riceville Basketball Court”, naming it for a town or park if there is no official name.
For better alphabetization and searching, some wayfarers prefer to leave off words like “The” and “A” at the start of a title when appropriate. It is easier to find “Purple Heart Memorial” in a list than to remember it starts with “The”
Balance the need for accuracy and uniqueness with keeping the name reasonably concise. Longer names will be cut off. Titles should not be descriptions. Abbreviations can be used, if needed, but visitors are unlikely to know what they stand for, so should be used minimally.
Have fun!! If you come across something that doesn’t really have an official name, don’t be afraid to come up with something fun and or amusing! For example, a footbridge I named “Opossum Bridge” when I saw a family of opossums living beneath it.
Wayspot Descriptions!
Poor descriptions may lead to rejected nominations, and can be missed opportunities to add value with good descriptions. I appreciate people who do a little research and take time to write a good description. Write your descriptions like a travel guide so visitors can discover sites in the area and learn more about the different points of interest.
Good Descriptions Include:
- Tell the history and significance of the wayspot
- Artists names, sponsors, etc
- Interesting facts about the wayspot
- Tips such as the signature dish at a restaurant
Do Not Include
- References to pokemon go, ingress, or other niantic games
- People’s names or personal information
- First or second person “I” “We” “You”
- Dated information “They just built this”
- Requests for removal “This has been demolished” that belongs in an invalid wayspot report, not a description edit.
- Requests for reviewers to vote a certain way on other edits. Niantic considers this abuse.
- URLs, hashtags, etc (It’s ok if they’re in the photo on a sign, but you should not add them to descriptions)
I often see nominations where the description is “Walking trail” and the supporting statement includes details about where the trail goes and what makes it interesting. Or “Local restaurant” and the supporting statement tells when it was founded and why people would want to go there. Swap those!!! Ask yourself if a visitor would want to know that detail, and if the answer is yes, then include it in the description!
Save the supporting statement for things like what criteria it falls under, notes about things not on streetview, links to sites proving relevance or claims made, notes about recent changes, and information sources.
TIP: Write a short title/description and then hit upload later. When you get on wifi and upload the nominations, you should have time to log into wayfarer and place them on “hold” and you can then fill out the description at your leisure and release the hold!
I suggest refraining from edits just to change from one valid format to another.