#01
Creating a Supportive Environment for New Local Guides on Local Guide Connect 18 votes
Summarised by Gemini:
Many new Local Guide Connect users, especially those who are not native English speakers, are unfamiliar with community guidelines, leading to posts that get removed and a discouraging experience. To improve this, the author suggests:
- Personalized replies in users’ native languages: Providing feedback and guidance in a user’s preferred language can make them feel more welcome and understood.
- Contextual pop-ups with guidelines: Reminding users of key guidelines when they create a new post can prevent unintentional violations.
- Gentle onboarding: Encouraging new members and providing examples of quality posts can foster a more supportive learning environment.
Original text
Just as we don’t inherently know the alphabet or grammar before learning a language, most people aren’t familiar with the norms and guidelines of a new online community. This is particularly true for Local Guide Connect, where over 95% of new local guides join without much understanding of community standards and best practices. Many first-time contributors simply write posts of their own interest after seeing community activities or newsletters, which can result in content that doesn’t align with the forum’s guidelines. While moderators often flag, hide, or remove these posts to maintain quality, this can feel discouraging for new members who are eager but unfamiliar with community expectations.
Moreover, language can pose an additional barrier. Many contributors, especially in South Asia, may not feel comfortable expressing themselves in English, preferring their native languages. This makes navigating guidelines in English even more challenging. To make the community more welcoming and supportive for all new users, here are some suggestions:
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Personalized Replies in Native Languages: When a new member makes a post that doesn’t meet the standards, replying in their own language can make the feedback feel more approachable and less intimidating. This helps the user feel seen and understood and can guide them in a way that feels supportive. Additionally, providing links to helpful category posts in their language can serve as a gentle introduction to the forum’s expectations.
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Contextual Pop-Ups with Key Guidelines: Implementing a pop-up reminder when someone starts a new post could provide simple, clear guidance on what is and isn’t allowed in the community. This proactive approach would help new members understand the community’s purpose and standards in real-time, making it easier to learn the expectations over time.
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Gentle Onboarding Process: Instead of immediately flagging or hiding a new member’s post, consider a phased approach where they’re first encouraged with positive feedback and directed to examples of quality posts. If members feel encouraged and supported in learning, they’re more likely to improve and stay involved.
A community that welcomes questions and fosters understanding creates a better space for everyone to learn, contribute, and grow. By guiding new members in a supportive way, we can ensure that Local Guide Connect remains both a high-quality and inclusive community.
My comments:
This is a great suggestion but I feel like it’s addressing other areas of Connect and not about posts themselves! So, this is slightly off-topic 
The forum has an onboarding experience for first time users (also applies to old members migrated to this new Connect) that has pop-up tooltips to explain the different buttons etc. It only happens once but you can re-trigger this by visiting your Preferences > Interface page, and then tap on the Show user tips again button.
And Connect/Google Moderators come from various countries around the world, speaking different languages, so we do try our best to address community members in their native language whenever possible. I appreciate that new members may not be aware of the translation tool, but it should be used to reduce any language barriers amongst community members.
And I do agree on having more good examples which I hope to touch on at the end of this post.
#02
Share a Google Maps link to the place that you’re talking about 15 votes
No further details provided
My comments:
I think that for the Google Maps contribution stories it should be highly recommended to include a Google Maps link or make it a requirement. This is definitely something that I’ve submitted in the feedback form to the Local Guides team to consider.
Hopefully, by requiring a link, community members will think more about what exactly they are writing about and the purpose of sharing their experiences.
But, I can also appreciate that making it a requirement may discourage some members from writing a post. We can still guide and encourage the community without needing a hard requirement. What do you think?
#03
Don’t forget Our Core is " Google Maps" 13 votes
Write more about Local Guides activities e.g. reviews of places 10 votes
More tips/tricks/how-to style to share best practices 10 votes
Engagement is key 2 votes
I think we should not forget that our core is Google Maps. Connect is a means to share the quality contributions we make on the map, take the best practices of those who know the most and try to guide to those who are just starting, always with publications that have the purpose of contributing to Google Maps.
My comments:
Agreed. This suggestion here is about thinking about the type of content that would be suitable for the community and how can it benefit the community members.
I’ve also added two other suggestions that garnered 10 votes each to this because they share the same message: be on-topic!
#04
Medium length = 300-500 words 11 votes
No further details provided
My comments:
Agreed. Obviously, this post breaks that suggestion 
Just remember that if a post is too long, it may put people off from reading. Unfortunately, it’s hard to avoid for this case!
#05
Short context for photos 10 votes
Add caption to the photos 2 votes
Connect post topics 0 votes
If we are adding any photo in post we should add some photo details so that everyone can understand the context of the photo
My comments:
Agreed. Please remember to contribute to an inclusive community by adding a caption text to all images uploaded so that community members who rely on screen readers are able to understand what the images are about. And if you want to know more about how to write a good caption, please check out the post by @ermest
#06
Select proper category and tags suitable to the post 8 votes
No further details provided
My comments:
Although using the correct category and tags are important, I don’t think that it is quite related to what makes a good post, good.
#07
Personalized Experience 8 votes
Consider a post on Connect as an expanded and bit liberal version of a Google Maps review.
We can include more details about a place than permitted in a Google Maps review. For example:
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Mention nearby places to visit if the PoI is closed or you reach there after closing.
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Include tips on the best ways to reach the place.
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Include nearby places to eat, and drink.
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Include in your post, places to stay if required.
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Include in your post photos with people, or selfies, which is not allowed on Google Maps.
My comments:
Personally, I agree with this. A review on Google Maps should be concise and focused on the POI so extra info such as alternative places to visit etc are to be left out. But on Connect, additional info/insight are welcomed.
I am also a keen fan of cultural exchanges so having those kind of posts on Connect is a real plus for me.
#08
Nice formatting; short paragraphs, using text formats like bold/italics properly 8 votes
No further details provided
My comments:
Agreed. Especially on long posts like this, I like to use all the available formatting tools to help make the post more readable! Also, you can use Google Docs to help you write out your long post. I am currently testing out this web-based markdown editor, StackEdit, which has offline support. It’s open-sourced and seems pretty good with a side-by-side preview window.
#09
1-5 images only 6 votes
Have a cover photo 6 votes
If you want to add more, create a collage e.g. 4 photos in a single image or share a link to an online album.
My comments:
I’ve grouped these two suggestion as they are related. I am actually surprised that they didn’t get more votes. So, are you all saying that you’re okay with a post that doesn’t have any image included?
Note: If a post is really short (e.g. asking for assistance to use a feature on Maps), I can appreciate that an image is not entirely necessary.
By the way, if you didn’t know this already, there is a really good markdown code that groups photos together into a grid. Just wrap your images in a [grid][/grid] code.
#10
A good post inspires us to make better Maps contributions 6 votes
The focal point in all posts should be on your Local Guides experiences or challenges so other Local Guides can learn from you.
If you want to share something about a place, an event, or a trip, please write a review on Maps.
If you want to just share a photo, please do so on Instagram, not on Connect.
My comments:
Posts should be about the Local Guides experience. Posts that only include photos with no text runs a very high risk of getting flagged as off-topic. I agree with those bits. But…
Contributing on Google Maps is a solo activity. I’m writing a review based on my own experiences, not others. I’m uploading a photo taken on my phone, not others. So, the beauty of Connect is that it takes the solo activities of Local Guides all over the world and connects us through our common passion for travel, food, photography etc.
Sharing our experiences about a place, an event or a trip can help inspire others to explore their neighbourhood more, to try new cuisines, visit a new country which leads to even more contributions. I definitely contribute more on Maps because I don’t see Maps as a faceless database of reviews. Instead, I feel a more personal connection to it because I see the faces of the Connect community all excited to share their experiences.
But I always circle back that just adding a Maps link to your post is not enough. You have to think about how your post is able to help other Local Guides and frame your post in that manner.
#11
Language translation 4 votes
Need tab for translation of any language of globe in each post.
My comments:
There is already a translation tool available on the new Connect. Make sure that you have set it up properly. There are some bugs related to the translation tool not working properly and the Local Guides team are aware but do continue to share any bug reports to them 
#12
Road Added 4 votes
Road Added is also part of Google map contribution, so whenever anyone draw a road be careful drawn, it’s important contribution in Human perspective & whenever anyone write the review on Google Map try to practice accessibility information write it’s also very important in Human perspective (because recent year we all faced the pandemic problem,& these small contribution makes big impact in our universal community (society).
My comments:
I agree that adding roads is also an important contribution but it’s not related to the question about what makes a good post. If you’re suggesting that this would make a good topic for a post, I do agree with that and I would highly encourage sharing your experiences and best practices on Connect!
#13
Few featured post including in the monthly mail 3 votes
Few featured post in connect can be included in the monthly mail that’s gonna send to local guides showings their contribution from that month. It’s good to inspire more local guides to explore connect.
My comments:
I agree but this is off-topic to the question about what makes a good post on Connect. If you haven’t already, please fill in the feedback form to share this suggestion to the Local Guides team instead. 
#14
Feature of deserving Local guide 3 votes
Need tab to vote nomination for hidden gems local guide whom get feature every month.
My comments:
I agree but this is off-topic to the question about what makes a good post on Connect. If you haven’t already, please fill in the feedback form to share this suggestion to the Local Guides team instead.
#15
Increase the topics number 3 votes
Not sure what to call them anymore, but right now there are not enough subsections for guides to post, hence we see numerous posts all over the place with no rhyme or reason for it being there, this leads to more confusion all over.
My comments:
I think I know what you mean but the majority of posts in the old Connect have been transferred to the new Connect which means that everything that we used to write in the old Connect has a specific place too in the new Connect (in other words, we haven’t lost the way to categorise posts).
The old Connect had 7 main categories; Achievements, Photography, Travel, Food & Drink, Local Stories, Meet-ups and How-tos.
The new Connect has 4 main categories; Google Maps contribution stories, Connections & celebrations, Google Maps tips & tricks and Meet-ups. This may look like a reduction in categories but the Local Guides team has also introduced 25 tags (Accessibility, Attraction, Best practices, Connect forum, Culture, Food & drinks, Gallery, Gratitude post, How-tos, In the news, Introduce Yourself, Leaderboard, Let’s celebrate, Lists, Local business, Map editing, Museum, Nature, Photography, Points, levels & badges, Reviews, Road editing, Street art, Street View, and Videography).
So, we’ve actually expanded from 7 categories to 25 tags. And yes, I am comparing categories (in the old Connect) with tags (in the new Connect) and I’ve explained it in this post; “An in-depth guide to choosing Categories and Tags for your posts”.
#16
Cambio de categorĂa de los PDI 1 vote
Translation: Change of POI category
Poder cambiar la categorizaciĂłn de un PDI a la real, no solamente a las que figuran hoy. Una playa, no deberĂa solamente, poder categorizarse como parque o atracciĂłn turĂstica.
Translation: To be able to change the categorization of a POI to the real one, not only to those that appear today. A beach, should not only, be able to be categorized as a park or tourist attraction.
My comments:
I think that this is more related to Google Maps than Connect. You can read this support page to find out how to send feedback on Google Maps.
#17
Lesedauer ist jetzt viel länger geworden 0 votes
Translation: Reading time has now become much longer
No further details provided
My comments:
I’m not sure if I understood this suggestion/feedback. Reading time is dependent on the length of the post and that just varies all the time. Or are you referring to the loading time of the site? Feel free to explain in the comments.
#19
Das Schreibfeld lässt sich nicht beschreiben 0 votes
Translation: The writing field cannot be described
No further details provided
My comments:
I’m also not sure if I understood this. It is probably that the translation is not translating properly. Please explain in the comments.
#20
ZurĂĽcktaste 0 votes
Translation: Back Button
Die Zurücktaste in den Beiträgen sollte am Ende des Beitrags stehen. Zurzeit muss man bei größeren Beiträgen. endlos über Übersetzung und ursprünglichen Text scrollen um wieder an den Anfang die Zurücktaste zu erreichen.
Translation: The back button in posts should be located at the end of the post. Currently, for longer posts, you have to scroll endlessly through the translation and original text to reach the back button at the beginning.
My comments:
I agree but this is off-topic to the question about what makes a good post on Connect. If you haven’t already, please fill in the feedback form to share this suggestion to the Local Guides team instead.