Location Fixing

Overview

Unfortunately there are many problems with our geographical database: missing locations, cities in the wrong state, misspelled location names, missing location coordinates, etc. CouchSurfing continues to receive reported errors have been the Wrong locations and Contact Us resources.

Our strategy is to recruit volunteer members who are familiar with the geography of one or more particular countries to review and correct location errors in those countries.

Apply as a volunteer

• Visit the group Location Fixers and look for a thread pertaining to a country you may be interested in helping with. If there is none, we need you, so join the group and start a new thread and mention your qualifications. If you already see other volunteers working on that country, we may still need your help, especially if it is a large country. Perhaps you can report a problem you discovered to a person already fixing that country, or help resolve controversies such as the proper spelling of a location. For large countries, we will need several volunteers.

• If encouraged to do so in the group, apply to be a location fixer here. Select a region, then a country, then click the Apply button. Notify one of theLocation Fixers moderators to be approved.

Guidelines for fixing locations

Approved volunteers can fix locations using this page. they will only be able to make changes in the countries they are approved for.

• You have the options to rename, move, delete (empty cities only) or create (cities and states only) locations, and to change the coordinates of locations. Location creation is accomplished by first duplicating a similar locality, then renaming the duplicate and setting its coordinates. If you duplicate a state, none of the cities it contains are duplicated.

• If two states have names interchanged (as seems to be a common problem), it is not necessary to move all of the cities from one state to the other and vice-versa. Nor is it necessary to create a temporary copy of one state will renaming the other to avoid overwriting. Two states with the same name can exist simultaneously and they can be distinguished by the number of members or the cities they contain.

• The program has the ability to move members from one city to another, anywhere, but only a geo-administrator can do this. Make a request if there is a need for this.

• Location names should be in English. We have a translator that can translate some location names into other languages.

• A Google map is provided for changing location coordinates. Just click on the map to change a location's coordinates. Unfortunately, google maps are not complete--there are many countries not adequately mapped. In such a case, you may need to refer to MapQuest or Google Earth. The latter has a setting Tools->Options->Show Lat/Long->Degrees which displays coordinates in decimal form, compatible with our database.

• Changes you make to the database will not appear on the CouchSearch (mapsurf.html) page for up to 30 minutes. When first learning to fix locations, make a small change and wait for it to appear on surf.html for confirmation before proceeding.

• When in doubt, ask for help, especially with politically sensitive issues or changes that will affect a large number of surfers. "We don't want the volunteers to be expressing their own opinions in areas of conflict. That way would seem as if the CS is taking parts in conflicts ..." -- Promitheus.

• Only location administrators can delete a state or country. If you create a state by mistake, ask an administrator to delete it. Duplicate states should be reported, duplicate (empty) cities can be deleted.

• When you have finished repairing a state/province or country, certify it. What this does is set a flag in the DB which should prevent future upgrades from undoing your work. Certified doesn't necessarily mean that everything is perfect. We want to fix the obvious major problems first, and then fix the problems that affect most members. Small issues, such as the coordinates of a small town, can be left alone until a change is requested by a member, or unless you feel very ambitious...

Useful links

• Google Earth

• MapQuest

• CIA World Factbook