As Local Guides, it’s often amazing which of all of our great photos on Google Maps is the photo having the most views, which I call our star photo, and this post is all about such stars. It’s an update on the Top 100 Star Photo Leaderboards post of 1 December, 2021 and contains a set of leaderboards that as well as showcasing the star photos of well over 200 Local Guides, it presents a very detailed objective analysis of their performance, and you too can join in! At any time you can see the star photos of participating Local Guides and others by visiting the Local Guides, 2022 Star Photos post and to see why so many Local Guides love participating on the leaderboards, just hit this link.
No you don’t have to be a “top gun” Level 10 with millions of views to participate!
The leaderboards have been specifically designed so that Local Guides at any level can participate, and you’ll see many do. So whether you are an entry level Local Guide or from a small town or village, or a top level Local Guide from London, New York, Paris or New Delhi, you can join in and it’s simple to do! You’ll find all the information you need and more here. You might also be interested in the Top 100 Local Guide Points leaderboards and the very unique Top 100 Photo Views leaderboards. I look forward to seeing you on the leaderboards.
Is this just a competition?
While there is an inherent competitive element within them, the aim of these leaderboards is to motivate us, help us to think about and monitor our contributions and performance, and show us how to improve and make better contributions so that we achieve better results, all in a fun and enjoyable way! If this can be done then these leaderboards will have achieved their objective, the mission will have been accomplished!
So what can you learn from these Leaderboards?
You can learn a lot by the very detailed and objective analysis of the star photos of the hundreds of participating Local Guides including, for example, what type of places and what type of photos seem to get the most views.
The table below lists the Local Guides that have submitted their entry form to participate in the Top 100 Star Views Leaderboards. The following explains this table:
Because these leaderboards are created and being maintained manually, after you submit your participation form it can take approximately 48 hours before you are added to the Who’s next to be added table below. It’s a good idea to note the date and time when you submit your entry and if it’s after the last date that this table was updated (see the date below the table) then just wait until it is updated. If however you submitted your entry before the last date that this table was updated then let me know by way of adding a comment on this post.
On first seeing your name on this table you will know that your entry form has been received. You need to make sure that you have added your screenshot of your star photo in a comment on this post with the details about your “star photo” as specified during the data entry.
Your entry form and comment will then be checked. If there are any issues you will see an against your name on the table and a note for your attention. Your star photo details will not be added on the leaderboards until you have fixed up any issues. Add a comment on this post when you have fixed the issue(s) and I will check this and update the table accordingly.
Once all issues are cleared you will see an against your name indicating that you are ready to be added during the next update of the leaderboards. For more details see the leaderboard documentation.
1 - Top 100 Star Photos Leaderboard of All participating Local Guides (February, 2022)
Briefly this is what you need to know about this and each of the following leaderboards in this post. For more details see the leaderboard documentation:
Local Guides included in the leaderboards must check their entries for any errors.
Because photo view counts for individual photos is private data, it has always been the responsibility of participants on these leaderboards to provide the updated view count (star views) of their star photo. Previously this was done by way of a comment on the leaderboards post but now it is done by way of this data entry form.
around sequence numbers indicate that this is the first time that the Local Guide has participated on the Top 100 leaderboards.
An asterisk (*) shown after a Connect Username indicates that that Local Guide is a Connect Moderator.
Double asterisks (**) shown after a Connect Username indicates that that Local Guide is a Googler.
A ? in a value field indicates that the value cannot be calculated for the respective Local Guide.
Selecting any of the Connect Usernames will take you to that Local Guide’s Connect Profile
Hovering over any of the Maps Category entries should show the name of the relevant Place of Interest.
When hot-linked, selecting the Maps Category will take you to that Local Guide’s star photo.
Note: For the cover photo of the Top 100 Level 8 Star Photos Leaderboard, I have shown the screenshots of the star photos by @Muhammad_Usman@MattGatlin and @YasumiKikuchi (the copyright owners) because they are great examples of meeting the screenshot requirements as detailed in 2022 Star Photos album. To see their star photos entries, simply click their Maps Category on the leaderboard.
Note: For the cover photo of the Top 100 Level 8 Star Photos Leaderboard, I have shown the screenshots of the star photos by @Jean-IgnaceBE (the copyright owner) because it is a great example of meeting the screenshot requirements as detailed in Local Guides, 2022 Star Photos post. To see their star photos entries, simply click their Maps Category on the leaderboard.
Note: For the cover photo of the Top 100 Level 8 Star Photos Leaderboard, I have shown the screenshots of the star photos by @DFX@Mo_TravelleerX and @Rex_Roscoe (the copyright owners) because they are great examples of meeting the screenshot requirements as detailed in 2022 Star Photos album post. To see their star photos entries, simply click their Maps Category on the leaderboard.
Note: For the cover photo of the Top 100 Level 7 Star Photos Leaderboard, I have shown the screenshots of the star photos by @ACCoelho20@katydarhel and @Ses_ame (the copyright owners) because they are great examples of meeting the screenshot requirements as detailed in Local Guides, 2022 Star Photos post. To see their star photos entries, simply click their Maps Category on the leaderboard.
As you can now see, the Top 100 Star Photos Leaderboards for February, 2022 are almost finished, just the Average Views/Day leaderboard to go but there are data problems for this. But here are some comments.
If you believe that you should be on the leaderboards but are not then let me know by adding a comment here and I will investigate. However, you most likely have entered incorrect information perhaps an incorrect Connect Username or Local Guide User-ID on your data entry form so you should check this first.
If you believe the data shown for you on the leaderboards is incorrect then first use your data entry form to check the data that you have entered and if after this you feel that I have made a mistake then let me know by adding of a comment on this post.
If the Maps Category on your entry is hot-linked, then
(a) when you hover over it (e.g. move your mouse over it) make sure that the correct name of your POI pops up in a small window. If not then you need to use your data entry form and check the Place name in Section 27.
(b) when you click it, it should take you to your star photo screenshot on the new 2022 Star Photos album post. If it doesn’t then it is likely that you have entered the wrong link on your data entry form and should check and if necessary correct this. Otherwise let me know by adding a comment here.
If the Maps Category on your entry isn’t hot-linked, then there could be a number of reasons for this but most likely not your fault. It could be that you have been caught up in some issue caused by the transition that I have made to where we store our star photo screenshots. As you know, to simplify things, they must now to be posted on the new 2022 Star Photos album post. Anyway it’s an easy fix, you just need to enter or re-enter the link to your star photo screenshot as follows:
1 - Use your data entry form and when you get to Section 19, select the No I haven’t option.
2 - Then if you have previously added your screenshot of your star photo on the new 2022 Star Photos album post, use step (a) below otherwise use step (b)
(a) skip all the steps in Section 22, just ignore them and finally re-enter your star photo screenshot link in Section 23. Then proceed to the end and submit your form.
(b) follow all the steps in Section 22, proceed to the end and submit your form.
3 - Regardless of whether you used step (a) or (b) above, you must check all the details in the email of your responses.
If you need help with this or help with getting the right link to your star photo screenshot then please add a comment here. I am here to help you. Once we get past this transition stage things are going to be a lot easier for both you and me on this star photo screenshot link business I’ve had some problems with Google Forms and I really can’t wait to move off it.
If you see a ? in any field against your entry then I’m sorry but this indicates that you need to use your data entry form to enter or re-enter some missing information. Again this may have happened because of the transition that I have made to where we now store our star photo screenshots however*, b*elieve me it’s no big deal to fix and this should only take you a few minutes. Most likely the solution will be to re-enter your screenshot link using the right step (a) or (b) mentioned in point 4 above. See the recent example by @Theatrepersonhere.
Please always keep in mind that the data on the leaderboards comes from the data that you enter using your data entry form and that I cannot edit or change this data, only you can!
You will see significant changes in participants in this set of Star Photos Leaderboards. Those who have not updated there data for sometime have been deleted as their out of date data distorted some of that stats and things are going to get more interesting so we want to have up-to-date data.
I have featured some of the star photos however I have to apologize for the quality here as I am having some technology issues when taking screenshots of your screenshots
Likes. I believe, and have always said, that we will get more out of these leaderboards (competitive fun, motivation and knowledge etc) when we have greater participation and I certainly believe that the more that participate the more we can learn about things like what makes a star photo and why do some stars fade away (become “white dwarfs” or “red stars” like mine) and others keep getting brighter and brighter! This is where your kudos can help. The more Likes we have, especially on the opening post like this one and this one oh and this important one, encourages more to join in which is what we want. Also, you giving your kudos is a quick and easy way for you to indicate that you have seen the leaderboards and checked your entries and for me to know that you have done this. It’s also a nice way to show your support, and to encourage and motivate others on their respective leaderboard. Finally, your kudos shows me that all this effort is of “real” interest and value to you and that my time is not being wasted. I can name a handful of LGs that give their likes consistently each time and you guys (you know who you are), are really appreciated. Sadly it’s only a handful But please don’t give your like frivolously. If you don’t see value in these leaderboards or that they are worthwhile then don’t waste your like. Instead, I’d rather see a comment from you sharing your honest and constructive thoughts on perhaps how we can improve things…
I know a number of Local Guides have been trying to get my attention by private messages during the last couple of days and I have not responded to all of you. At the end of the month, especially during the update, rather than using private messages, it’s best to just leave a message for me on the relevant leaderboard post and as soon as I can I will respond. Also, always remember that the issue that you might be having or the question that you have and the answer to it, might well help someone else so for this reason it’s best not to use private messages in these instances. The other thing on this, I just know that others would jump in and help you while I am busy doing what I have to do and I welcome others jumping in helping others at any time.
When you see that I have started posting the leaderboards, I really appreciate that no one jumps in and adds a comment until you can see that the framework of the new post is complete. Thank you all for this. For obvious reasons I prefer not to have comments between the individual leaderboards.
Once we get over this transition and the data is closer to being 100% accurate, I hope to introduce some new leaderboard features that will make this “star watching” much more fun, motivational and educational
Regarding your comment about the hot links, yes like you, I and I’m sure many others agree that it is interesting to be able to quickly and easily view the actual star photo entries of participating Local Guides and the hot links, although quite a bit of extra work on my part, nicely provides for this. However, I decided to do it the way I have now done as it gives me a quick visual summary of who has and who hasn’t correctly entered all their star photo data or those that may be having some problem with this. It also lets the respective Local Guides know that they have a problem to fix. This saves me a lot of messages that I would otherwise have to write here on Connect! I hope you understand.
I think it was you that also asked about kudos but I cannot find that message. However, as you will have seen, I answered this question in my summary comments above.
Thank you @AdamGT for your great efforts on publishing monthly Leaderboards!
One comment from my side, as I might need help to get my numbers updated. I updated the Google form on Jan 30 including my Star Photo screenshot post here:
Perfect @GigiR and thank you for being first here to solve this problem and I can see you have the same problem that @ModNomad had (see here) so it is easy fix this but unfortunately for the first step, I need you to read point 4 in my previous comment and follow step (a). Once you do this, I can update the leaderboards.
I’m not sure if I am understanding the exact problem you are having but can you please try the solution mentioned at point 4 in my comment here and follow step (a). This is your screenshot link you need to enter using your data entry form:
Thank you sooo much @AdamGT … I am working on my updates now and will soon finish the form. Amazing to see all the great work you make. It personally makes me want to contribute more and more. Cheers, mate…
Well done @indahnuria and thank you for your most encouraging and supportive comment. I’m so happy to hear you say that the leaderboards encourage you to contribute more and more What I recommend is that you add a personal reminder on your Google calendar to update your stats just before the end of the month.
Good to hear that you love Wellington a place I last visited in February 2020. Yes there are many places to review and add so this will shoot you up both the Local Guide charts as well as the Top 100 leaderboards, hehehe
I finally do set it up in my calendar @AdamGT … repeat every month, never end hehehe.
Yes, I really enjoy Wellington and amidst the crazy schedule, I do try to explore more areas and places around the city. Come and visit us when it’s open!
against your name on the table and a note for your attention. Your star photo details will not be added on the leaderboards until you have fixed up any issues. Add a comment on this post when you have fixed the issue(s) and I will check this and update the table accordingly.
against your name indicating that you are ready to be added during the next update of the leaderboards. For more details see the 
I’ve had some problems with Google Forms and I really can’t wait to move off it.
But please don’t give your like frivolously. If you don’t see value in these leaderboards or that they are worthwhile then don’t waste your like. Instead, I’d rather see a comment from you sharing your honest and constructive thoughts on perhaps how we can improve things…