When I find something that’s “unknown,” I usually try to identify it at least to the Kingdom to help experts find it. Does anyone else do this/find it annoying? Does anyone have a better idea to handle the situation?

@erininmd I am the opposite… I would recommend that as a general strategy, for all the reasons you gave as to why it was a success! I’ll add the following though: If someone is not likely to return to the site, or to review their IDs and followup on conversations, then they should only ID to the l…

To answer the original question: yes, plenty of people add general IDs. In fact for some people, that’s all the identifying they do. It often speeds up the identifying process for that observation. At the very least, it helps the database know something about the observation. But yes, there are also…

Only once do I remember receiving any backlash from a high level ID. The woman commented she was sure “Angiospermae” wasn’t right because her flower looked nothing like the magnolia blossom used as the image for Angiospermae. :laughing:

Similarly I sometimes I wonder if new users (who may not have a strong understanding of taonomy) understand that I’ve given them a high level ID rather than a species, especially when some of the higher level IDs still sound like a potential organism name. On the other hand, the most often negative…

[image] arboretum_amy: Only once do I remember receiving any backlash from a high level ID. I have, from observers with observations with placeholders. Because a couple of the observers were extremely rude, I made sure to copy the placeholders after that. Then a couple of the observers on tho…

I frequently ID to the level I am most confident with as a novice. I also include a comment - “This ID may get the attention of someone able to ID” which translates well to Spanish.

I’ve heard others say that if a user doesn’t want notifications about vague IDs like “plant,” they should put that ID on themselves when they upload. I have seen some people uploading observations in bulk and not adding their initial IDs until after they’ve finished that process. I think there’s…

If you don’t mind being told you are wrong (non-fragile ego), and then withdrawing an ID, the latter makes sense. In my area there are several identifiers who generally patrol species they know and in whom I have high confidence that they are knowledgeable and most often correct. If I guess at somet…

Ну, я использую следующий подход. Если я “точно уверен” или “скорее всего” - то ставлю соответствующий таксон. Если “может быть” - то я ставлю либо соответствующий таксон с комментарием, либо ставлю таксон рангом выше, в котором уверен. Gogle translate Well, I use the following approach. If I am…

ID when you don’t know

General

Topic		Replies	Views
Should I give up identifying unknowns? General question	118	4133	May 10, 2025
Thoughts on unknown ID level? General	60	1283	December 8, 2025
A Kind Reminder To Only Identify What You Are Sure Of! General	32	2033	June 7, 2024
Heavy sigh. Comments regarding the UNKNOWN option of identifying the observation General	141	3327	November 21, 2024
Why are some accounts adding super high level ids to my unknown observations General question	81	3756	September 22, 2022

ID when you don’t know

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