User Guide: Places and Place Tags

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About Tags

What is a "tag"?

In Wikimapia a "tag" is a jargon term that is ambiguous and can be one of two things: either a place polygon/wiki page or the categories that the page is added to. The word is most often used as a shorthand term for "place tag", ie: the box, the title, description, etc. for a place. It could also denote the specific "category" tags box that is below the description and address fields, although we do try to just call that one "Category" now.

Guidelines for adding new places

(Note that you can find further details about some of the subtopics (polygons, photos, etc) in other parts of this User Guide.)

What kinds of places should be added to Wikimapia?

Rules for places: Non-movable places that exist at this moment of time.

This means:

1. A place may be added for existing, non-movable objects that are visible in the aerial/satellite view.
   
2. A place may be added for existing objects that are not yet visible on the satellite view. This means, for example, that where you know a building has already been erected at a place since the aerial/satellite image was taken, and you know its outline with reasonable accuracy, you may tag it. Its precise outline can be corrected, if necessary, when the image is next updated.
   
3. A place may be added for settlement boundaries such as cities, villages and neighborhoods if a category is properly assigned to the place.
   
4. A place must have at minimum, a properly constructed outline.
   
5. (Subject to point #7 below) Places that do not physically exist are not permitted.
   
6. Planes, ships & submarines, circuses, festivals and other movable objects may be added only if they are static for at least a week and are seen remaining still at the time of adding. Otherwise a place may be added for a movable object if it is well-known, famous or interesting to a large audience and it does not clutter the map or visually conflict with other places.
   
7. A place may be added for a visible historical place, such as a ruin or artefact of archaelogical interest, if it is well-known, famous or interesting to a large audience and it does not clutter the map or visually conflict with other places. Otherwise, where it is no longer visible it must be assigned an historical layer/disappeared object category.
   
   

Keeping those points in mind, ask yourself some questions:

Is this a place that should be added?

Remember the WikiMapia theme (Let’s describe the whole world!) and that what you add is a “place”. We are describing the world, not the Google-supplied pictures of the world. So add things that are a permanent part of the world (islands, buildings, parks, etc, etc). Subject to the guidance above (@ point 6) generally do not add things that move and are seen moving in the image (airplanes, ships at sea, etc); as when Google supplies an updated satellite image, these things will not be there any longer.

Add places that may be of interest to people in general, not just to you and your group of friends. This means that you should not add your own house, for example. And you should definitely not add the houses of your friends and neighbours. Even if you yourself do not mind having the whole world know exactly where you live, you should not presume that everyone else feels the same way.

Has the place already been added?

Select "Satellite + old places" or "Wikimapia Classic" in the "Map type" menu and then look around (including at different appropriate zoom levels) for existing places that may have been intended to be the same as the place you wanted to add. If it is already there, then do not add another one, just edit that place. (That may sound obvious, but users have seen places with 6 slightly different or duplicate locations marked.)

(This needs editing) Remember that for some parts of the world, View Map actually shows a pretty good map. So it may not be necessary to add some places. Cities/towns and streets are good examples; if WikiMapia (in View Auto mode) or View Map shows and names the place (try it at different zoom levels) then do not add it as a WikiMapia place, unless you have something extra to say about it. But if you want to tell the world something that is special about it, then go right ahead.

How big is the place?

You can not add things that are "too large", you have to be closer than a particular zoom level. There is also a physical limit on the size of polygon which you can add according to your user level ([[1]]). You can and should change the dashed square that appears (drag the corners) so that it better approximates the place you want to add. Do not make the rectangle large just to draw attention to the place. Instead try to make a good fit and do not make the shape much bigger than the place really is; in fact we think that a smaller square is often better than a large one, especially in crowded areas. If you are adding a building/house, do not draw a square 500 m in size unless it is a very, very large building. On the other hand, if you do want to add a large place (maybe a lake?), it is ok to draw a smaller rectangle in the center of the place.

Look at the existing rectangles in the area and do your very best to fit your new place between the existing ones. If there are many, many tags in the area and they are all overlapping then it is very difficult to see which is which. Not only are you having trouble seeing which places are tagged, but others will not be able to see your new tag either.

Sometimes a rectangle is not a very good approximation of the actual shape of your place. So after you have added and saved the place with a rectangle shape you may wish to provide a better shape by resizing its outline with a polygon (see also the Polygons section in this User Guide [[2]]). You will find this option under the place's Menu. You can drag the corners around, add new corner points, and delete the ones you made in error. There is no need to make complicated shapes, though. Remember that the objective is to help people identify your place, so simple is just fine. And finally, if you do add a polygon, it is usually better to make your original rectangle fit inside the polygon, instead of going way outside it.

What information should be added?

Language

There is a reason why this comes first: It is very important to get off to the right start.

Look at the default language that is displayed in the box. If that is not the language you are going to be writing in, then change it. It is not helpful (I’m just making up an example here) to find a place that claims to be in English, but is actually written in Vietnamese.

Remember that each place can have entries in many languages, but you are writing in a single language. So do not try to add a second language into the title (or the description, for that matter). If you want to add something in a different language, then finish with the first language first. You can then go back and add the second language on its own page. (And you will get credit for two places!)

Title

The Title is the name that Wikimapia shows us when we hover over the place. Write something short but meaningful. Remember if a title is too long (more than 45-50 characters)the viewer won't be able to see it all in the title box anyway. Also the longer a title is the closer zoomed in a viewer must be in order to see it displayed within the tag, without having to select the place first. Do not include anything that is NOT part of the place's name. Do not include the name of the country in the place title, especially in parts of the world where the borders may be disputed; this will only invite vandalism. Do not use abbreviations, unless you also write the full name. Most places already have a name, so you don’t have to make one up; just use the name it already has. Please take care to enter the correctly-spelled name.

Description

As for the Description, like it says: Two-three lines would be fine. If you wrote a very short title, then you should write a little more information here. If you are just adding the local Starbucks, then it’s fine to leave this description blank (“everyone” knows what a Starbucks is), especially if you put something in the Category field, below), but try to put yourself in the shoes of someone from another part of the world and provide them with some information. Do not cut and paste a large quantity of text from another web page; just provide the link instead. If you are describing an airport, for example, do not paste in the entire Wikipedia article which might be more than a thousand words long, including all the airlines and all the cities they fly to. No one is going to read it, but it certainly will make it more difficult for people searching for Nairobi and finding it mentioned in the Amsterdam airport description. Although there is no hard and fast rule a handy guide might be not to use more words than fit into the descriptive box when opened in your browser (allowing of course for the space on the right hand side reserved for advertising) which then avoids any viewer having to excessively scroll down their screen, before reaching the information which is reserved for the bottom of the box.

Keep in mind that places added with short cryptic titles and little or no description are likely to get deleted. This is especially true for places that could be interpreted as personal homes, so if you are adding a restaurant called "Henry's House", then you MUST add a description; if you do not, it WILL be mistaken for someone's personal home and WILL be deleted. Also remember what language you are supposed to be using. I do not recognize "Sri Polisetty Kondala Rao Gaari Nivasam" (just as an example, I’m not trying to pick on anyone) as being English, so if you want to add a place like this, please include some more information!

Because marking Historic events have additional rules (see item #7 above) you will want to take additional steps to prove your tag is significant to a large audience. Some suggestions for a description that will insure your historical tag is not deleted:

1. Mention Markers or memorials physically located at the site.
2. Add links to other reputable web sites supporting your claim.
3. Describe why this event is Historic so vistors reading your description will understand and appreciate the history.
4. Describe an existing object in the title, a park or building for example. Use the description for historic events.
5. Make the rectangle as small as possible. Historic tags will be the first deleted in areas cluttered with tags.
   

Remember that it is always possible, even desirable in many instances, to add a couple of lines or more about the history of a location to the description of an existing place tag where that is appropriate instead. So long as you do not thereby displace/replace information given about its current use at the time of making it.

Links are good but remember to start with the "http://" part. Links should come at the end of the description as they are considered to be secondary information.

References are good too, especially if the place you are marking is not self evident from the satellite images and so might be open to dispute and deletion. References can be to online or traditional, paper, sources. Again, as secondary information, references should come at the very end of the description.

Advertising is not permitted in WikiMapia entries. If the description reads like an advertisement (i.e. "property for sale"), then it is not a good entry. You can often tell that something is an advertisement by the fact that prices or a sales pitch are mentioned. On the other hand, it is perfectly alright to add a link to a commercial web page if it is related to the location you are tagging, as long as this is not the main reason for adding the place tag.

Example of an acceptable business entry:

Title: Joe's Shoe Repair

Desc: In this location since 1962, offering all types of shoe repair.

1234 Main Street Loaferville, NY 54321 Tel: 555-123-1234

http://www.joes-shoe-fix-NY.com

Example of an unacceptable business entry:

Title: Joe's Shoe Repair - Shop for sale! Loafer blowout specials!

Desc: Commercial shoe repair shop for sale! $250,000 contact Fred's Realty Going out of business sale! 50% off all loafers!!!

WikiMapia descriptions should be neutral and factual. If you wish to express an opinion ("This place has the best pizza in town!"), you should include that in the Comment field which will appear at the bottom of the panel when you go back and Edit the place after having saved it.

Categories

Click through the possibilities on the left and then pick one or more categories from the middle column. Or enter some letters in the Search box and pick from what becomes available there. WikiMapia users can "filter" their view of the map for tags bearing the category; for example, this view is filtered for volcanoes. One or two categories should be enough.Further and fuller advice about categories is available @ [[3]]

Wikipedia link

There are many, many articles in Wikipedia. Maybe even one about the place you are adding. Take a look! Links are what the web is all about, and a link is one of the most useful things you can provide for the next person who looks at your place.

Do you have a photo?

Is it of interest to someone who has never seen this place? If so, then add it. Find it on the web already, or upload a new one. A photo is supposed to make people interested in learning more about your place, so it’s ok to add a picture that already exists in Wikipedia, for example. But do not add copyrighted pictures.

and finally (before you click on the Save button):

Remember that the whole point of adding a place is to provide some useful information to people who do not already know it. So re-read what you have done and if you can not answer Yes to that question, maybe you should click the Cancel button instead.

and a word of caution: I'm sure you've noticed in your own profile that it keeps a count of how many places you have created and edited. Maybe you are thinking that it would be nice to have really big numbers there? Perhaps you are tempted to just add and add, or make trivial changes to descriptions, for the sake of getting credit for it? Don't do it! Remember that our goal is to create QUALITY places: Places that will be of interest to other people, that will help them learn about the world. This type of artificially gained credit will only make others think bad about you and you may end up being answerable to the Wikimapia community as a whole for this type of redundant activity.

Every image uploaded from your computer is stored on WikiMapia and accessible using a URL for the small thumbnail image and the large image. After adding the image, you can get it's URL by right clicking on the large image and copying it's URL. To reuse this image on other tags, simply paste the image URL into the "Enter photo URL".

Place Tags Q & A

Can I add my own house?

We recommend against it as it may comprise your property's security, but yes, you can. But you should only do so if you size the tag to fit the house, and also provide some more useful information: Who lives in the house? What is its address? (or, How can a visitor locate your house?) What does the house look like? And including the current year is also helpful. Private residences that contain too little useful information are generally considered to be clutter, and will be deleted (if found). Remember that people do move, so information that is more than a few years old will probably be considered to be too old to still be useful.

For multi-housing buildings (apartment complexes, co-op Societies, etc) where many families live in a building, every resident creating a tag for their apartment can create quite a mess. With this in mind, one should add their apartment details as a child object within the parent tag using the Parent & Child tool.

Here is an acceptable entry:

Title: 3478 Rainbow Street.

Description: A nice green house with red roof where I, Tanya, live with my sister Alice, mom Anne and dad Alex. We have a nice garden and a swimming pool. Address: 3478 Rainbow Street, Mytown.

Here are some unacceptable entries:

Title: My house.

Description: Joe lives here.

or

Title: Dr John Smith

Description: none

The above answer applies to homes in most of the so-called "developed" world (North & South America, Europe, Japan, ...). In other parts of the world (India, China, Middle East, Africa, ...) the cultural norms and standards for addresses is not the same, so we can not be as strict. Nonetheless, an acceptable place tag should still contain both your given and family names as well as the address. The tag size should closely match the size of only your home, not multiple homes, and oversize tags will likely be deleted.

Can I add my friend's/brother's/teacher's house?

Yes, you can! But you cannot (even indirectly) identify the people living there. In fact the Wikimapia Terms of Reference (Terms of Service 1.B.b), which you implicitly agreed to when you registered, explicitly states that you must have their written consent to do so. If you do not have permission, do not include their details.

I own a little business. Can I tag it? What information can I give in such a tag?

Yes you can. You can give factual information: the name of the business, the address, what you do or sell, how long you've been in business, a link to your website; that kind of stuff. You should not include promotional material ("best in town", "reasonable prices", actual prices, ...), that would be considered advertising. On the other hand, if you say "Check out my web site for availability and pricing", it may be considered as straightforward touting.

For office buildings, malls, complexes, etc where multiple businesses are located within the same building, every tenant creating their own tag can create quite a mess. There should be a single tag for the building, and if you would like to make note of your business, make a comment under the main tag for that building.

Can I add roads? railroads? ferries? rivers?

Yes you can, but only with the Beta version. There are specific tools (described elsewhere in this User Guide) for adding each of these features, so you should not add these as a Place.

I added some place tags 2 days ago, but only registered today. How do I get credit for the other place tags?

Sorry, but there is no way. And after you've added many more, you won't miss those few anyway.

How detailed should the descriptions be? For example, for a plaza/mall, should I include the individual shops and telephone numbers?

Big malls often have their own web site and it would be better to just provide the link to their web site. Remember that shops sometimes close and others open, and when that happens the mall's own web site will probably be updated, but you won't remember to change the Wikimapia entry. In the same vein, I would not bother marking the locations of individual mall shops either, but doing so would not be against any Wikimapia rule either. For smaller plazas that extra information may indeed be valuable to someone. So it's ok to make a list of the merchants, what they do and their telephone numbers, for example. However, no advertising is allowed.

The tag info tells me that the place is 'semi-protected'. What does that mean?

Sometimes place tags are vandalized frequently and there is a need to protect them. This can be done by UL2 users.

Registered users are able to edit semi-protected tags. Unregistered users can not.

Should I tag a place that has just been built and does not show up in the (not so new) satellite image?

Yes that's ok. When the imagery is updated your tag will look just fine.

I've seen some intersections / parts of roads mapped; is this valid?

Yes, but only if these intersections / parts of roads have their own names or are of special public interest. For example, "Grover's Corners" or "Hare's Corner"

What are the rules for adding places in Wikimapia?

Places must be a non-movable object that exists at this moment of time. The place description must be useful for people.

It is necessary to mark unknown places, so that other users will provide some information.

Do not add movable places. But if it's well known thing or very interesting for people - it may be presented on Wikimapia map. However take note that if satellite imagery will be changed - the place may disappear (avoid cluttering in area where are many places).

Do not add any historical, non-existent objects. A historical layer is currently being developed. However if this historical place is very famous and people refer to it in the present day, feel free to create a tag for it.

Make sure to avoid cluttering in an area where are many places. This usually creates a mess where there are overlapping tags.

Can I add a place that doesn't exist yet, but may be created in a few years as an official plan has been published?

No. (See discussion)

See also

• Quick start guide