Reviewing routes that could not be completed on the day, and how to flag them
The current flagging system is something of a blunt tool, especially as “don't know" flags seem to be treated as negative for the purpose of statistics and route evaluation. So if a walker starts a route and is forced to abandon a route because of a short term problem (for example flooding or path repair work), there is currently no way of writing a review that reflects the situation (maybe we need a fourth flag reason code that counts as no fault, which only applies to Don't Knows).
In my view it is wrong to give a route a Yes (which counts towards snails) if it has not been possible to complete it, but there is also no “no fault flag” that can be used to indicate that the problem is likely to be temporary, and a partial review may be useful to other walkers. The real life prompt for this question is my review of Mexcon two, which I was forced to abandon yesterday because of flooding, and which does not really deserve a negative flag.
I would be interested in how others approach this situation.
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Okay so this is a tricky one only because of snails. If it was a review of many it could say route was closed due to tempoary roadworks but there was a good alternative. The review could even describe the alternative because it's good to know there is more than one route. So what do we do with the set up as it stands. I say if there has been one or more good reviews then don't flag it but note it was or could flood or whatever. If it's a first walk then that's not an option. If you have time get to the other side of the obstruction and then a reliable review can still be submitted. The concern is, and I'm guilty of this, it's so easy to forget to go back and remove the flag. I suggest flags are only for permanent issues.
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On reflection, I am willing to remove the flag on that particular review, as it will still leave it one short of a snail and I trust Ken's judgment, but I still think there is a problem with the system automatically treating “don't know” flags as failures. In my view don't knows should not be regarded as either positive or negative, because we need a neutral value for cases like this one where it has not been possible to evaluate the route fairly.
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Ken's work around is what I'm going with on recent routes with flooded bits.
But a “neutral” review for Maybe would be more intuitive to me than the way it currently works, that's an excellent suggestion. Presumably that change wouldn't remove any snails from the network. And as well as offering an option for partial tests it would also remove the problem of people who simply don't like a route inadvertently flagging it, which is fairly common (pretty sure I've done it myself for grim but functional A-road only urban routes).
The ratings/review system is already unhelpfully opaque because of the “positive review” terminology not matching the commonplace understanding - e.g. Amazon or Trip Advisor.
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It never rains but it pours or buses come along in twos. Out walking Slow Ways on Saturday, yes just a couple of days after Hugh posted his message and I find a path closed due to an unsafe bridge. Closed since 2022 and the Secretary of State extension expires this very month so it will be interesting to see what Cheshire East do. Anyway more to the point what do I do. I have given the route 5* because I found a simple diversion which I have added to the review. See https://beta.slowways.org/Route/Poywha/7743/#reviews.
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I possibly don't have much to add to all your comments and managing of the system as it is. What I did want to share is that maybe and no flags are "neutral" reviews. In that they exist as reviews and share information but they don't count towards the Snail or prevent the route from being verified. So a route could have four reviews. If three have no flag then the route would be verified. Plyply two is an example of this.
It's also in our plans / thoughts to review and adjust how the flag system works to make it better for the reasons you've covered above.
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That is true, but don't knows still appear as flags on the settlement page's list of routes (and if the only review has a don't know the status shows “double check"), and you can't say don't know without choosing a negative reason. I also recall being told that if the flagged reviews outnumber the yes reviews this prevents a route being verified.
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