# Common names are shown in many different languages while batch editing

**URL:** <https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/common-names-are-shown-in-many-different-languages-while-batch-editing/6971>\
**Category:** Bug Reports\
**Tags:** web\
**Created:** [October 3, 2019, 8:42am UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/common-names-are-shown-in-many-different-languages-while-batch-editing/6971 "2019-10-03T08:42:02Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Showing post:** 9

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**Author:** ![jwidness](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9d8465/32.png) [@jwidness](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/jwidness)\
**Post date:** [August 22, 2020, 2:13pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/common-names-are-shown-in-many-different-languages-while-batch-editing/6971/9 "2020-08-22T14:13:50Z")

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The github issue that was deemed not worth fixing was whether to use `species_guess` for the names on the batch edit page. In theory `species_guess` is a defensible design choice for that field.

The actual problem, which was not addressed in the github issue, is that somehow `species_guess` is getting set in languages that don’t make sense. For example, some of my observations have the `species_guess` in Czech, but I certainly didn’t enter the name in Czech. The example Tony gave shows one of his set in Chinese, but I’m willing to bet he didn’t enter the name in Chinese.

Seeing “Bleu Commun d’Europe” is not the same problem since it has nothing to do with `species_guess`. It’s not even an error at all in the sense of a issue with the code. Rather, someone has set “Blue Commun d’Europe” as the preferred name for North America, so you _should_ see that name if your account is set to North America.

 ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/uploads/inaturalist/original/2X/7/772cb025e27494bd7ddaaa46fdd736e1210fec70.png)

> [@wouterkoch](#):
>
> maybe I will start seeing more Spanish and Tagalog from now on

If someone has set a Spanish name or Tagalog name as the preferred name for your place, then yes, you would see those names. It’s not a bug, that’s how the system is intended to work. This is a problem with users associating names with places, either because they want to see their preferred name or because they don’t understand how name-place associations work.

> [@wouterkoch](#):
>
> I think the common names should be based on the interface language _AND_ the region, rather than just the region.

They’re based on both already, but place has priority over interface:

> [@Run job to associate translated common names to places](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/run-job-to-associate-translated-common-names-to-places/3964/4):
>
> Just to clarify, the order that determines what common name is shown to a user is as follows:  
> 1 - Any name set to explictly be used in a place that the user has specified they want names to be displayed from  
> 2 - If the user has not specified a place priority for their names, the primary name entered in the language the user is running the site in  
> 3 - If there is no name entered in the language the user is running, the default overall taxon name, which is usually the American English one.

(2 could be amended to say “If the user has not specified a place priority for their names or there is no name associated with their place, the primary name entered in the language the user is running the site in”)

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