When I first saw the journal I thought “why would I post on that?” but, I’ve come to really like it. I can use it like a public notebook. Unlike social media posts, or blogging I’m don’t need to make the posts fun, easy to read, or explain everything, but I can refer back to the Journal when discussing species with others.
However recently I’ve been thinking of starting a blog on a server for this purpose and it’s mostly because it’s hard to post images in the journal. It’s old school HTML. I don’t mind this, but if I want to add images to an entry I need to first upload it to an outsider server, then type ‘img src=’ and all of that. I wish it had some of the features that we have here in the forum, like link tracking, and image support.
How do you use the journal… if at all?
Also, if I’m following someone I thought I’d see their journal posts in my feed. But, I’m following a lot of people and have never seen a journal post. How does that work?
I think, the journal posts I see on my dashboard are because they @mentioned me. Come and help ID … and I add another URL to my list. But also if you follow someone ? Altho I think few iNatters write journal posts.
Maybe with new iNat staff they will improve the formatting options ?
I am a fairly frequent Journal-ist on iNat. I use it for two broad purposes: (a) travelogue, i.e. overviews of recent field efforts and travels, and (b) identification notes, issues, and challenges that I am researching. There are a few other topics scattered in over the years, but this is most of my usage. https://www.inaturalist.org/journal/gcwarbler/120658-index-to-my-journal-posts
I totally agree with the need to address the photo upload limitations in the Journal. Since I use this frequently, I’ve had to learn all the formatting and work-arounds that have been mentioned. There is a long-standing request to upgrade the photo search so that it is more efficient and user-friendly.
I used to have a couple of scratch text files with text to use and notes. When my laptop crashed, I lost them. I was not backing them up like I do photos.
Just FYI, any photo uploaded to iNaturalist may be used directly in the journal without uploading the image to a 3rd party. However, if the photo was taken by a user other than yourself, you must adhere to the photo license. Usually that means that proper attribution is required in the journal article. Here’s a simple example of a photo in the public domain (CC0).
You can use the journal, e.g., for field notes, Identification hints or collecting useful links.
If you plan to make a lot of journal entries, I would recommend making a post as an index (like @gcwarbler did) and link it on your profile page, so that others easily find it.
PS: Also, the journal of a project can be used this way.
I use the journal to share information about how to identify organisms, occasionally to share my ideas about what to post.
Also, to ask people involved with STEM fields (science, technology, engineering, math) to sign up to become a pen-pal for one school year to a 5th through 8th grader (US school system; 10-14 year olds, mostly) from a poor school district, through the program Letters to a Pre-Scientist. The time to sign up has been extended through tomorrow (Monday, August 10) because of the need to match students with an expanded set of participating school.
I use it for my own notetaking, a lot of ID guides, any analysis that I find interesting. I have an index linked from my profile that has hyperlinks to all my articles to make it more navigable.
I try to keep at least one of my projects updated with any new species added to it. I link to the newly confirmed RG observation, date, and tag the user who uploaded the observation. I also may add a note such as Possible 1st species for the state.
I tried a few times, but the horrible experience formatting it is too much for my entire lack of html skills.
I keep my notes in notes instead. There’s potential but I also understand why iNat staff isn’t considering it as a priority compared to other features.
I’ve only used it once so far, to paste an old Livejournal entry that goes with an observation of Mulga Snake. This particular mulga snake was well known at the campground I was working at, and on this day had ended up on my bed while I was away having a shower and left my donga door open to catch the evening breeze. Fantastic opportunity for photos.
To see the journals (if any) from people you follow, click on “view all” under the names on your profile page which will then list all the people you follow along with links to their journal pages.
I use journals extensively, mainly for my reference use. You can also just make notes and not publish which will keep your notes on a side bar for easy reference.
I upload photos that I want to use in my journal to flickr. When you click “embed” it generates the code and you just have to copypaste it. When I make one of my personal challenges, I write a post about it, or something like the “year in review”.
Oops, I did not type the “upload:” URLs, the forum software must have substituted them for the actual “https:” URLs I originally typed. In any case, I’m glad you got it working.
You should see them in your daily update email. They should also generate a notification in your website dashboard feed, but not every notification is really findable in your dashboard feed, unfortunately. It’s a bit janky.
I write when I feel inspired about plants I’ve seen and botany-related things I’ve learned. Writing is thinking for me and I like to have a low key space to do it. But I really do wish there was at least a basic formatting toolbar, though I realise it’s not a development priority. But I like things to look neat, and sometimes the thought of styling text or embedding pictures and links with the HTML tags kind of puts me off dashing off a quick post.
