Changing of ID from specific species to higher taxa

[jdmore]

@nathantaylor

The difficulty of opting out of Community ID is that it applies to all your observations

Pretty sure you can do it for a single observation by clicking “Reject” at the top right of the Community Taxon box on the observation detail page. I think that is only available when the observation is in Needs ID status. Not terribly convenient for whole taxa or other batches, but given Charlie’s point about the overall purpose of iNat, it’s something at least.

[nathantaylor]

@jdmore

Pretty sure you can do it for a single observation by clicking “Reject” at the top right of the Community Taxon box on the observation detail page.

Hmm. I can’t seem to track that feature down. Does it only work when there are conflicting identifications?

[charlie]

@nathantaylor

Hmm. I can’t seem to track that feature down. Does it only work when there are conflicting identifications?

yep, it seems to only appear when ones ID disagrees with the community ID:

@nathantaylor

Good to know. That’s a little sad to hear as I think it could alleviate some difficulties and/or tensions, but I suppose it really isn’t crucial or anything.

Well, I don’t really know what the future of iNat holds and i suspect over time as it grows and more features are added there may be some new back doors at least to this sort of functionality… but it definitely isn’t a core goal of the site.

[jdmore]

@charlie

seems to only appear when ones ID disagrees with the community ID:

@nathantaylor

Does it only work when there are conflicting identifications?

@jdmore

that is only available when the observation is in Needs ID status

It also shows up on observations that haven’t been identified yet (except by the observer) – so, everything that is in initial Needs ID status, as far as I can tell.

EDIT: This seems to have been temporary, now I’m only seeing it

@charlie

when one’s ID disagrees with the community ID

[nathantaylor]

Hmm. I don’t see it when it’s on Needs ID status.

[jdmore]

Hmmm, are you looking on your phone or on the web? I think Charlie’s screen shot is from the web site. You should see it if you view https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/35175295 while signed in on the web (until that one gets a second ID at least).

[nathantaylor]

I actually just looked at that observation on the web to see if it was there. It’s not visible to me.

[jdmore]

Yep, strange, that seems to have been transitory, now I’m not seeing it on my initial Needs ID observations any more, just when

@charlie

one’s ID disagrees with the community ID

which seems to be the intent as indicated in the help FAQ. (Edited my earlier post to reflect this also.) If no community ID yet exists, it is not yet an option to reject.

[Star3]

@clamsdell

I have had people changeign things because they do not agree 100% what it is but cannot say what it is

In that scenario, I’ll personally ID to the higher taxon but would not make it an explicit disagreement; i.e., when the prompt appeared after my ID, I’ll select the option that corresponds to “I don’t know [if it is [species]], but I’m sure it’s [genus]].”* and I’ll try to leave a comment that I am IDing to the best of my ability. To my knowledge, that won’t hurt the observation’s ability to attain RG, because it doesn’t count as a vote AGAINST the 2/3 consensus needed.

*As opposed to explicit disagreement, which is phrased as “No, [it’s definitely not [species]], but it is [genus].”

[fffffffff]

Some people don’t see the difference or understand the choice between disagreements a wrong way, just last week I had an identifier who chose he’s in a strong disagree, but it appeared he’s not and it was hard for me to fully explain what’s wrong with that.