Cant create a new place

Hi,

I’m attempting to create a new place - Grove Farm Local nature reserve Ealing. I have the required 50+ observations and have followed the web page:

https://www.inaturalist.org/pages/getting+started#create_place

however the kmz file that I’ve created is being rejected with the error “There were problems importing that place: File was invalid or did not contain any polygons, Latitude can’t be blank, Longitude can’t be blank, Place geometry can’t be blank”.

I’ve checked the file in a KML viewer (https://www.doogal.co.uk/KmlViewer.php) and it has no issues with the file. The site is unusual in that there is a sports centre in the middle but I dont believe that the issues is around the complexity of the polygon. Any help, greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Mike

You’re submitting a kmz not a kml? iNat will only accept kml, see previous bug report.

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Hi,

I disagree. The file is a KML not a KMZ. Is there a way I can submit the file for you to confirm otherwise its just a difference of opinion.

Thanks

Mike

If it is a kml file, you should be able to open it in something like Notepad and see the boundary definition. You can then copy and paste the text into a forum post and we can check on it. If you open it in a text editor and it looks like nonsense, you probably have a kmz file. They are similar file types, but not identical: kmz is a zipped kml (the z means zipped).

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?> KML2.kml 1.3 http://maps.google.com/mapfiles/kml/pushpin/ylw-pushpin.png normal #s_ylw-pushpin highlight #s_ylw-pushpin_hl 1.1 http://maps.google.com/mapfiles/kml/pushpin/ylw-pushpin.png KML2 #m_ylw-pushpin 1 -0.3439391035019512,51.55357362275249,0 -0.3438721023363256,51.55330866255371,0 -0.3418471042412685,51.55368040345897,0 -0.3416516971714334,51.55339354079525,0 -0.3414508402618688,51.55345423315125,0 -0.341670905328898,51.55374576762885,0 -0.3401056934204749,51.55414277373153,0 -0.3398570149407965,51.55386536045283,0 -0.3391688630900436,51.55409172490782,0 -0.3385206361972104,51.55417521158932,0 -0.338700079689066,51.55460933407156,0 -0.3391479110277684,51.55475633720677,0 -0.3395647275299618,51.5552041545221,0 -0.3393778408792669,51.55558317627128,0 -0.3383851859991427,51.55581343996423,0 -0.3377808044209485,51.55676258053691,0 -0.3370822223381076,51.55659570682674,0 -0.3375288336053761,51.55700356158266,0 -0.3381636216071793,51.5571895212741,0 -0.3382958652137746,51.55675936446569,0 -0.3389865237312917,51.55687910982345,0 -0.338817199904492,51.55720407309994,0 -0.3398284030417265,51.5573753393896,0 -0.3407481939774026,51.5574043551263,0 -0.3421264865854379,51.55751803873674,0 -0.3429232328395404,51.55757212430692,0 -0.3447031414867407,51.55806101326561,0 -0.3454412604037282,51.55719746524365,0 -0.3460163623848456,51.55552451118139,0 -0.3440888319670476,51.55519127733677,0 -0.3440483866706556,51.55529101234848,0 -0.3449824146479175,51.5554219595323,0 -0.344615007601391,51.5565947018208,0 -0.3440584724939422,51.55652472177973,0 -0.3439475134936143,51.55660204294679,0 -0.3436307923073667,51.55674354004042,0 -0.3433815599555901,51.55670234317018,0 -0.3432747801232638,51.55683304795077,0 -0.3426480221082961,51.55673272432663,0 -0.342682447194278,51.55643983574305,0 -0.3425875934503286,51.55631543646347,0 -0.3426922174610736,51.5559596525386,0 -0.3431409340060942,51.55561759898835,0 -0.3433950398526886,51.55537098810655,0 -0.3434562706398392,51.55503736730391,0 -0.3436342272745174,51.5548002813711,0 -0.3440065222854671,51.55477480506024,0 -0.3440433170999124,51.55464005439809,0 -0.3435817569417787,51.55459598203026,0 -0.3436068500627998,51.55442102053388,0 -0.3435361712639762,51.55393362322584,0 -0.3438038559232948,51.55388075521341,0 -0.3437975279751593,51.55381503403431,0 -0.343665871622989,51.55364660110241,0 -0.3439391035019512,51.55357362275249,0

Hm, that text doesn’t meet kml standards and can’t be processed by the kml viewer you mentioned above. Did you possibly change anything since checking it in the kml viewer?

At any rate, it can be fixed by enclosing the coordinates in the appropriate tags:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<kml xmlns="http://www.opengis.net/kml/2.2">
  <Placemark>
      <Polygon><outerBoundaryIs><LinearRing><coordinates>-0.3439391035019512,51.55357362275249,0 -0.3438721023363256,51.55330866255371,0 -0.3418471042412685,51.55368040345897,0 -0.3416516971714334,51.55339354079525,0 -0.3414508402618688,51.55345423315125,0 -0.341670905328898,51.55374576762885,0 -0.3401056934204749,51.55414277373153,0 -0.3398570149407965,51.55386536045283,0 -0.3391688630900436,51.55409172490782,0 -0.3385206361972104,51.55417521158932,0 -0.338700079689066,51.55460933407156,0 -0.3391479110277684,51.55475633720677,0 -0.3395647275299618,51.5552041545221,0 -0.3393778408792669,51.55558317627128,0 -0.3383851859991427,51.55581343996423,0 -0.3377808044209485,51.55676258053691,0 -0.3370822223381076,51.55659570682674,0 -0.3375288336053761,51.55700356158266,0 -0.3381636216071793,51.5571895212741,0 -0.3382958652137746,51.55675936446569,0 -0.3389865237312917,51.55687910982345,0 -0.338817199904492,51.55720407309994,0 -0.3398284030417265,51.5573753393896,0 -0.3407481939774026,51.5574043551263,0 -0.3421264865854379,51.55751803873674,0 -0.3429232328395404,51.55757212430692,0 -0.3447031414867407,51.55806101326561,0 -0.3454412604037282,51.55719746524365,0 -0.3460163623848456,51.55552451118139,0 -0.3440888319670476,51.55519127733677,0 -0.3440483866706556,51.55529101234848,0 -0.3449824146479175,51.5554219595323,0 -0.344615007601391,51.5565947018208,0 -0.3440584724939422,51.55652472177973,0 -0.3439475134936143,51.55660204294679,0 -0.3436307923073667,51.55674354004042,0 -0.3433815599555901,51.55670234317018,0 -0.3432747801232638,51.55683304795077,0 -0.3426480221082961,51.55673272432663,0 -0.342682447194278,51.55643983574305,0 -0.3425875934503286,51.55631543646347,0 -0.3426922174610736,51.5559596525386,0 -0.3431409340060942,51.55561759898835,0 -0.3433950398526886,51.55537098810655,0 -0.3434562706398392,51.55503736730391,0 -0.3436342272745174,51.5548002813711,0 -0.3440065222854671,51.55477480506024,0 -0.3440433170999124,51.55464005439809,0 -0.3435817569417787,51.55459598203026,0 -0.3436068500627998,51.55442102053388,0 -0.3435361712639762,51.55393362322584,0 -0.3438038559232948,51.55388075521341,0 -0.3437975279751593,51.55381503403431,0 -0.343665871622989,51.55364660110241,0 -0.3439391035019512,51.55357362275249,0</coordinates></LinearRing></outerBoundaryIs></Polygon>
  </Placemark>
</kml>

Hi,

I guess that the text was too long when I pasted it (number of characters). The KML was generated from google earth so presume that some of the XML tags were not expected in the upload. Anyway, stripped down the file to your version and it’s uploaded now.

Thanks for the help.

Mike

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