I was just about to create my own topic to request this, but this one already exists, so I’ll just copy and paste what I was going to have in mine here! (Hopefully that’s okay, I don’t want to be rude or anything! This issue has just been bugging me for a while now so I wanted to explain why we need it!)
This is my first time creating a topic on the forum, so please let me know if I’m doing anything wrong!
Platforms: Desktop site and mobile app
Description of need: Annotations are important for the overal quality of information on iNaturalist, and I’ve made it my mission to add annotations to all of the observations I post, however, that is not as easy as it sounds, even when I know which annotations I should be adding.
Adding annotations on the mobile app (for Android, at least) is very slow, and sometimes won’t load at all. Trying to do it on the site requires jumping around either opening dozens of tabs and going through one at a time, or trying to use the (often very confusing) Identify tool to try and sort it to show my own observations.
It is neither easy to accomplish, or quick, or easy.
Annotations not only help the people doing research on the species in question, if people are trying to avoid seeing observations of dead animals, their only recourse as of November 11th 2021 is to use the Identify tool and set it to only display observations that have been annotated as alive.
But with probably 99% of observations not being annotated at all, trying to find annotations that are marked alive isn’t nearly as helpful as you’d think it is.
The solution to that problem is to get more people to add annotations, but the way annotations are right now makes that not only confusing, but difficult.
Feature request details:
I would like to see the option for adding annotations added directly to the “Upload Observation” page, added on with the other basic information like location/date, and notes. This would allow everyone the option to quickly and easy annotate their observations while they’re adding the rest of the information, without having to go back later and slowly add them in one at a time for each observation.
It would also be immesely helpful if iNaturalist could include a tutorial on annotations, explaining what they’re used for, why they’re important, and what each different annotation means. A simple info box next to the annotation spot when uploading would suffice with a quick explanation, like “if you are observing an animal, is it alive or dead?” “if you are observing a plant, are there any open flowers? Are there fruits? Just flower buds?” “Is this an adult animal, or a juvenile?” Ect.
I’ve created a fake screenshot here that helps to illustrate what it would hopefully look like
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This would put the ability to annotate things right in front of the users, where they are guarenteed to see them, and therefore much more likley to use them.
You could also have the most basic “dead or alive” available as recommended, and then the rest below a dropdown menu so they aren’t taking up space.
fake screeenshot2691×691 129 KB
Adding the ability to add annotations at the same time as you are uploading the observation would make adding annotations quicker and easier, since if it’s right in front of you, you won’t forget to add them in later, it will make more people realize that it’s an option, and would hopefully get more people to add them, which would help not only with people who need information on the species, but would help people filter the results in the future!
I definitely think that people should be encouraged to at least annotate the observation as “dead or alive” when it’s applicable, because that at least is an easy one to answer for the person making the observation, and would get people into the habit of annotating when they can!