1. Cross-posting

Cross-posting a waymark refers to posting a single location in more than one category. Sometimes a place might fit into several different categories. Here's an example. While tooling about town you come across an old hotel. It's been a hotel for 75 years and so it fits in the "Antique Hotel" category. But wait - this hotel also happens to have an incredible vintage neon sign on it that would fit in the "Neon Lights" category. Oh, and it's listed on the US National Register of Historic Places. That's another category. If you look on the side of the building you might notice that it has a cool old advertisement painted on it. That would fit in the "Ghost Signs" category. The hotel happens to have a restaurant in it that features live jazz music so it could be listed in the "Jazz Clubs" category. Are you getting the picture? If it was only listed in the "Antique Hotel" category, how would the jazz aficionado ever find the jazz club? Likewise, if it was only listed in "Jazz Clubs," then how does the person looking for a cool old historic hotel know how to find it? What I want you to see is that one place can be many different things to different people. Why keep a great place hidden in one category when it is so much more? Cross-posting isn't about trying to inflate the number of waymarks you've posted; it's about doing a great location justice.

2. Using the Location Filter

If you know the name and location of the place you want to waymark, it's always a good idea to run a location filter of the area location, just in case someone else has already waymarked it. However, a visit might have different requirements for the photographs or information you need to gather. To run a location filter, first make sure you are logged into the waymarking.com site. Next, you want to open the Webpage for the category that you plan to post your waymark in. Once the page is open you will see a blue box near the top of the page entitled "Filter: All waymarks." Click on the plus sign to the left of the text and this will open the filter page.

Location: First you'll want to enter the location of the waymark. Click the "change location" link and a box will open giving you the following options: address search, saved searches, region search, and coordinate search. Choose the type of search you'd like to run (I typically do a region search), fill in the location information asked for, and submit the information. The filter box will close and carry out the filter of all the category's waymarks. These will then be displayed based on how far they are from the location that you've entered and display all of the waymarks within a 100 mile radius. Check and see if your spot is on that list.

Other filter settings: There are a number of additional filters that you can also apply, but for now the location filter is all that you really need to use. When you have some time, play around with the various filter features to find out which ones might be handy for your style of waymarking. It may seem complex at first, but with time using this powerful tool will be second nature to you. Listed below are all the different filters that can be applied:

All Waymarks (default)
My Waymarks
My Unfinished Waymarks
Featured Waymarks
Waymarks I've Visited
Waymarks Posted By…
Waymarks Visited By…
Keyword(s)
Radius (100 miles is default but there are settings for between 10 and 200 miles
Within a time period ("no date" is the default, but you can also choose 1week, 1 month or 6 months)
Exclude waymarks without pictures
Exclude waymarks I've visited
Exclude my waymarks

3. Logging a Visit to Your Own Waymark

A question newcomers often have when they first start waymarking is "Why do people log a visit to a waymark that they themselves posted?" There are differing opinions on whether a person should log their own waymarks. However, Groundspeak and we here at Wayward Waymarking encourage the practice. Here are a couple of reasons.

First, when posting a waymark, Groundspeak encourages people to be as unbiased as possible in their description and write-up of the location. Here's an example: Say you detest abstract art but you decide to waymark a sculpture you just came upon in the "Abstract Public Sculpture" category. In your write-up, the category officers who review the submission aren't going to want to hear your opinion about art and your critique of the piece because this is not the place for it. However, after your waymark is approved you are encouraged to log a visit and let folks know how you feel. Your opinion is important and this is the correct place to share it with anyone who might be considering visiting the waymark you posted.

Secondly, when you go to gather the information for the waymark you did "visit" the site, did you not? So why not credit yourself for visiting and let folks know what you thought of it? The waymark's log is the place for that. Just remember, a visit is different than a post. VISIT= "I came. I saw. Here's what I thought of the place." POST= "Here's a spot. Check it out and tell me what you think."

Conclusion

While the above steps to finding and logging a waymark can seem overwhelming at first, once you've completed a few, it will become second nature. If you ever need help, the forums on waymarking.com are a great resource to answer questions. Your fellow waymarkers are happy to help and encourage new participants to become active in the hobby. And of course, we here at Wayward are happy to help too. Just drop us an email at info@waywardwaymarking.com and we'll try our best to find an answer to your question. Most important, remember to have fun! Waymarking is a great way to see interesting sites in your neighborhood, or around the world, and to share them with others.

HAPPY WAYMARKING!

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