# Delineating a project area **URL:** \ **Category:** General\ **Created:** [September 22, 2020, 2:20pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/delineating-a-project-area/16562 "2020-09-22T14:20:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![woodsfarer14](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/woodsfarer14/32/12541_2.png) [@woodsfarer14](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/woodsfarer14)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2020, 2:20pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/delineating-a-project-area/16562/1 "2020-09-22T14:20:11Z")
New user here. I’ve set up a project that will only include lifeforms found on my private property found by myself, which is around 240 so far not counting birds. Only problem is the tightest geographical area I seem to be able to create is the entire county. There must be a way to restrict the list to a smaller area, right? I’ve been active on eBird for years and I love having a lot list for birds, (105 so far this year, 139 in 25 years) hoped to do the same with everything else. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![schoenitz](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/schoenitz/32/56_2.png) [@schoenitz](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/schoenitz)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2020, 2:30pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/delineating-a-project-area/16562/2 "2020-09-22T14:30:38Z")
Sounds like so far you’re looking at existing places. Have you tried drawing the boundaries on the map ([https://www.inaturalist.org/places/new](https://www.inaturalist.org/places/new))? That said, if you do this, then everybody will see where you live. Places on inaturalist can’t be private or obscured. Not everybody is OK with that for their home, so consider alternatives. For my yard list I have made a traditional project ([https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/new\_traditional](https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/new_traditional)) to which I add every observation manually. Other people have used observation fields to associate observations with their home. ---
**Author:** ![woodsfarer14](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/woodsfarer14/32/12541_2.png) [@woodsfarer14](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/woodsfarer14)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2020, 2:33pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/delineating-a-project-area/16562/3 "2020-09-22T14:33:53Z")
Thanks, I’ll check that out. Not sure if I care if people know where I live. Once created, I assume I can somehow drag all my previous observations into this project? ---
**Author:** ![schoenitz](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/schoenitz/32/56_2.png) [@schoenitz](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/schoenitz)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2020, 2:38pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/delineating-a-project-area/16562/4 "2020-09-22T14:38:09Z")
If you do make a place, then things are easy. Just make a new style collection project ([https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/new](https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/new)) and specify that it should contain all observations in that new place you made – and you’re done. Keep in mind that location accuracy now matters: if your phone GPS takes the day off and puts your observation a county over, that observation won’t be in your project. So keep an eye on that. Otherwise, and if you’re OK with privacy issues, a place is the most convenient way for a yard list. ---
**Author:** ![ourmikegeorge](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/ourmikegeorge/32/3020_2.png) [@ourmikegeorge](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/ourmikegeorge)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2020, 2:39pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/delineating-a-project-area/16562/5 "2020-09-22T14:39:26Z")
If you set up the project to include all observations in the place, all your previous observations there will be included as long as they’ve got location data. You might want to set the boundary of the place a few metres outside your actual property boundary to make sure you catch the ones close to it. ---
**Author:** ![thebeachcomber](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/thebeachcomber/32/12748_2.png) [@thebeachcomber](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/thebeachcomber)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2020, 2:39pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/delineating-a-project-area/16562/6 "2020-09-22T14:39:37Z")
also keep in mind any observations with obscured coordinates (namely species with a conservation status of near threatened or higher) will end up getting bounced out of the place and not included ---
**Author:** ![bouteloua](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/bouteloua/32/1180_2.png) [@bouteloua](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/bouteloua)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2020, 3:15pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/delineating-a-project-area/16562/7 "2020-09-22T15:15:46Z")
> [@woodsfarer14](#): > > Once created, I assume I can somehow drag all my previous observations into this project? No need to do anything once a [place](https://www.inaturalist.org/places) is created - observations that fall within the place will be added automatically. You can then use the header search for the place name and click View Observations to see all the the things that have been observed in that place. ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/uploads/inaturalist/original/2X/a/aa1b00397fa0b41863faad475a057b0d6303d824.png) > [@schoenitz](#): > > Keep in mind that location accuracy now matters @woodsfarer14 - more info on that here: [https://www.inaturalist.org/pages/help#placeindex](https://www.inaturalist.org/pages/help#placeindex) Some of your other options for congregating all your observations in one locale, that are more geoprivacy friendly, are to use tags, observation fields, or to add them manually to a [traditional project](https://www.inaturalist.org/pages/managing-projects). ---
**Author:** ![system](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/uploads/inaturalist/original/2X/7/7831452cf7f0d653ff1ffd34176334b7ef1b6a17.png) [@system](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/system)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2020, 3:15pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/delineating-a-project-area/16562/8 "2020-11-21T15:15:47Z")
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