Platform(s), such as mobile, website, API, other:
Website.
URLs (aka web addresses) of any pages, if relevant:
Description of need:
Describe the iNaturalist community need that your requested feature addresses. Include screenshots, URLs, and other details to help us all understand the issue.
A feature that automatically updates taxa in collection projects following a 1:1 change would be very useful for people who manage (or prefer to not have to manage) larger taxon-based collection projects. I definitely think it should be opt-in, rather than automatic.
I have a large umbrella project that tracks observations of species recorded in Flora of the Chicago Region (2017) by Wilhelm & Rericha, which, using iNat URLs, allows me to find observations of taxa not recorded in our flora with a single search. The taxon list was too huge to put in a single collection project, so I had to split it up amongst a number of smaller projects, but load times make it tedious to edit. Every time a change is committed, even a 1:1, I have to manually update the relevant subordinate collection project to include the output taxon of the change, else the known species is now included in the list of entities not recorded in our flora. Finding/remembering to update these smaller collection projects post-swap is a chore. I imagine other people have similar experiences with their projects, as well.
I haven’t been able to find a similar request, aside from a somewhat related post that mentions this issue. However, that request was focused on subscriptions, and resolved because a revamp of the subscription system is coming up eventually, which I don’t think is strictly related to my request: https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/automatically-update-subscriptions-to-taxon-to-reflect-taxon-swap/3237
Feature request details:
In detail, describe the feature you are requesting. This includes its functionality, where the feature is implemented, and what it might look like. Screenshots or mock-ups are helpful. The idea is to have a concrete and actionable request which the community can discuss and vote on. It might change through discussion, but it’s much easier to iterate and talk about something specific.
I think this could just be a checkbox in a collection project’s “Edit Project” page, with text along the lines of “Opt-in to automatic updates of collected taxa following 1:1 taxon changes.” Ideally, it would be directly next to the “Include Taxa” filter. Following a 1:1 change (taxon swap), the output taxon would be added automatically to the included taxon list, with the old taxon retained in case of user taxon change opt-outs.