Hi,
I regularly come across species whose common name is missing in my language, even though this information is readily available from, for example, Wikipedia.
I would be happy to contribute this information but for some reason the “Add a Name” button which is visible when logged out, is not available when logged in. I tried to look in the documentation (maybe my account is too young, or I’m missing some prerequisites) but I could not find the reason why.
Thanks in advance
I changed the category to Bug Reports, since I think the “Add a Name” button shouldn’t appear when not logged in. Users need to meet some basic requirements for numbers of observations and IDs I believe to be able to add a name. This is to prevent spam-type activity.
As pointed out, however, it doesn’t make sense to have the button appear when users aren’t logged in if it doesn’t appear for users who haven’t met the activity requirements. Clicking on the button when not logged in just directs the user to log in. I think it would be more consistent to have the button not appear on any platform if a user isn’t logged in.
Are these requirements documented somewhere? I think it’s a shame that this is not possible by default. I’m not really in a position to make quality observations or qualified for identification, but submitting sourced information is not exactly a problem.
Also for what it’s worth, I think it would be better to show the button but to disable it, and give feedback to the user why they can’t do this action.
I believe that the requirements are intentionally not documented to discourage attempts to exploit them. I do think that it is quite easy and quick to make observations in general. Some level of activity on iNat is also required for access to other features of iNat (eg, creating some projects), so this is consistent at least.
I made this a Bug Report because it seemed like the inconsistency of having the “Add a Name” button not appear for some users that are logged in but still appear when users aren’t logged in wasn’t intentional. Having the button appear but be greyed out also seems reasonable, but whatever approach is taken should probably be consistent in my mind.
Unfortunately, what might be easy for you or the average person is not necessarily easy for everybody, especially when you take disabilities into account.
Is flagging the species for which I spot missing names an acceptable work-around?
Yes - flag - leave a comment.
Common name - in this language - in this country - with a link to a published source.
(We are asked not to ‘invent’ common names on iNat)
I fervently believe, since iNat is international - that we should be able to search for and find the common names we use.
You know we can choose 3 languages to display for common names?
https://help.inaturalist.org/en/support/solutions/articles/151000170373-can-i-add-common-names-
PS you can help to identify or annotate, if you are not able to get to observing? Your profile has no info. What part of biodiversity interests you? And where in the world?
https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/deaf-and-hard-of-hearing-naturalists/46829/3
https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/blind-iders-and-audio-ids/54576/29
You can flag taxa to request name additions. If you do so, please add a link to a source for the name or some other citation.
There are many iNat users who have various disabilities/are differently abled. You noted that you aren’t in a position to make “quality” observations, but observations of any organism are allowed on iNat. Wild (non-captive) organisms are preferred, but lifeform is ok. Many observers make observations within their own living spaces (eg, https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/er-mi-casa-es-su-casa-i-guess/59959) or immediate surroundings. Plants in a crack in the sidewalk, birds outside the window, mold on the old produce in the fridge - all are good on iNat.
Likewise, you noted you are not “qualified for identification” but there is lots of basic IDing that is still very valuable to do on iNat. You can check out some previous threads on the forum, including this one from a user who can’t get out much:
https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/suggestion-to-help-those-who-want-to-id/58412
As well as a good exploration of things “non-experts” can do on iNat:
https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/useful-inaturalist-tasks-for-non-experts-wiki/35034
@omtose Thanks for wanting to help out. Since the requirements are primarily there to prevent trolling I’d be OK granting you the privilege of being to add common names, but I don’t think you’ve added any yet, is that correct? If so, please make some flags with suggestions for names to be added just to provide some examples of the names you’d like to add that can be evaluated. Then I’d be happy to take a look and grant you the privilege to add names if those look good.
I agree the “Add a name” button should be grayed our or removed for those who aren’t logged in.
Thank you all for the replies and suggestions, I appreciate it very much. I think for now I’m happy with manually flagging entries where I see such omissions, I think anyway I would feel more comfortable getting it reviewed by experienced users first.