Attribute Automatic Photo File Name IDs to iNaturalist instead of to the Observer

Tags are a bit of a hassle. They’re an extra few steps and you don’t see them when you’re browsing a folder filled with images. It’s faster, easier, and more user-friendly to rename the image.

Tags certainly can be useful though, no question.

I am pretty sure this was discussed here and trialled before it was implemented. (Doesn’t affect me either way since I bring to iNat mysteries that need an ID)

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Yesterday I posted a Bull thistle. I had written that as the file name (bull thistle.jpg). I was entertained to see that the ID came up as a cow. I didn’t accept the proposal but changed it to the plant.

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I had no idea that file names were used for IDs, probably because I use essentially a sequential number scheme for my file names. What I HAVE seen, though, is EXIF/IPTC data used for determining identification. I usually don’t want this.

For cases where file name is used, how does the file get that name in the first place? Isn’t it the user who set the name? This discussion seems to indicate that iNaturalist is setting it. If so, how is iNaturalist setting it? Or is it just using the name set for the file name BY THE UPLOADER?

If it works like the EXIF/IPTC tags, I’d like to see an option to commit/confirm the selection rather than it automatically populated. Used as a default is fine, but the user should have to do something to accept the default.

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Yes, I wish it were possible to see tags when browsing.

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see this topic: https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/add-observation-automatically-tagged-my-observations-with-incorrect-names-based-on-photo-filenames/8203

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For everyone’s information, here is the original request and discussion that ended up with file name parsing being implemented:

https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/extract-species-name-from-photo-filename-upon-upload/6510

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Thanks for that link. I probably had not followed it since it started out talking about species names in the file names and I didn’t/don’t have any.

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BTW, when I’m uploading a bunch of photos, in order to get around this, I preload a tag I’d like to have on the image and click the tag button immediately on uploading. In this way, I win the race to tag the photo with the utility that scrapes tags from the metadata. This is a real time saver, especially if I happen to have a lot of tags in an image. Much better would be to not auto-populate tags from metadata but offer it as a default value that the user can accept if desired. Still, this kludge works. I put it out there in case others wish to use it. You just have to be faster than the metadata parser, which usually takes a couple seconds.

If by “here” you mean the forums, then one could ask if that’s comprehensive enough: What percentage of iNat users also regularly check the forums?

I know I see a lot of names on the site that I never see here (assuming they aren’t lurking, that is).

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I like the idea of this, but I think the people that it’s affecting adversely the most would not know how to manually correct. Maybe a “Reject” button should be on the identification during uploading. Then, if rejected, the observation would just be a normal “Unknown.”

Yeah, I guess it depends on how much information can be packed into (or linked to) the pop-up. Would love to take the opportunity to educate newer users. But if that’s not practical, then yes, your idea of a Reject button could be a workable alternative.

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That is a chicken and egg situation. iNat can offer the information in the forum, and iNatters can choose to be informed. Or not. (You have to want to click thru to see what the forum is about. Can’t force people)

It’s nothing to do with chickens and eggs. If you take the same route to work everyday, and then one day you come across a roadworks that is going to detour you and make your trip take twice as long, you would rightfully think they should have warned you about the upcoming changes so that you could plan your commute around it. It’s a stretch to suggest that you should have been at the planning meetings that were held to discuss how it was going to be designed! Even if the new road (when it is finished) is going to be better than the old, it’s about communicating the changes to those that use it!

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Yes. Roadworks. We are in the middle of that. There are updates on Facebook. But. They are only seen by people who choose to follow that.

How can iNat communicate with people who are not on the forum?

On the dashboard on the website, there are links to forum topics, so at least the ones where there are major changes to the way iNaturalist works could be advertised. I don’t know about the apps, though.

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I could be wrong, but changes are made on a development copy of the system and then tested in a test environment. When the developer is happy that a change is working the way it should they “roll out” to the live system. There are occasions when minor tweaks will occur on a live system, this is not about those though. Whenever a roll out occurs, put out a direct message to all users notifying of the release, what it fixes/affects, and possibly with links to forum and/or GitHub where appropriate. This doesn’t have to be a book, just an alert to say something has changed, here is a link to more info if you want the detail. Something akin to the sign on the motorway that says roadworks ahead, rather than letting you sit in a queue for 3 hours wondering if there is an accident up ahead! Ideally if there are big changes planned then the alerts/dm would go out ahead of time to warn/inform those that might be affected of the upcoming change, akin to the motorway sign warning of roadworks all next week. For instance, if I’m about to show a group how to make an observation, and that part of iNat changes, then it is very embarrassing to have to stumble around trying to figure out why what worked yesterday suddenly doesn’t work (has happened to me!), Whereas if I know the system has or is going to change, then I can either postpone the session until after I have had a chance to explore the changes, or I can explain upfront to the group that the system is in the midst of an update, and ask them to bare with me as I encounter any issues.

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Off the top of my head? The exact same places they announce the observation of the week (i.e., the blog, the iNat homepage newsfeed, the Twitter account, the FB page, email notifications, and the Instagram) would be where to start.

If they do it in ALL those locations, especially the blog and the newsfeed*, then it reaches even the people who don’t have access to one or more (people who don’t follow the FB page, or don’t have Instagram,…or go to the forums).

*since the newsfeed is on every user’s iNat home on the website, and in “News” on both the iOS and Android apps, everyone has them.

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None of those alternatives work for me. I will stay with the forum - where I appreciate the - your mileage may differ - discussion.

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And that’s fine, because I’m not saying that changes shouldn’t be still be announced on the forums. :)
I’m saying the forums shouldn’t be the only place changes are announced.

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