Platform(s), such as mobile, website, API, other: all
URLs (aka web addresses) of any pages, if relevant: n/a
Description of need: see below
Feature request details: Those of us who perform microscopy on our fungal collections are often in the habit of giving detailed filenames to our micrographs, which quickly and clearly convey important information to the viewer like magnification level, mounting medium/stain/reagent, and some overachievers even spell out the anatomical feature(s) highlighted in the image. iNat, since its inception, has flattened these many data points into a homogeneous, single-word slurry (ie: ‘large.jpg,’ ‘original.jpg,’ etc.) for reasons which have never been clear to me. This is compounded by exif data being indiscernible without navigating away from the observation onto each individual photo’s metadata page.
This feature request proposes that not only should user-generated image filenames left intact, they ought to be displayed in the form of a small font, plaintext caption at the bottom of each image when viewed in enlarged mode, as opposed to having to download an image to one’s device to learn its filename. Exif data should be similarly displayed, discretely, without having to completely leave the observation page
The file name is maintained in the photo metadata. When you click on the “i” in a circle at the bottom center of a photo to open the details page for that photo, it displays near the top.
Only you (the uploader) can see the filename though. Which is a good thing, it shouldn’t be visible to others; I often label my files with the locality, which usually needs to be obscured.
I don’t think that’s desirable because Exif data is tied to an image not an observation. If there are 6 images for an observation, you don’t want Exif data for all 6 images on the one observation page.
Agreed, I wouldn’t want the EXIF info on an observation page. EXIF for one photo can be a ton of lines (depending on the device making the image), and showing up to 20 photos worth of EXIF data that is rarely needed would not be a good use of space on the observation page.
Then leave it up to the uploader. A toggle-able setting for ‘show original filenames.’ just as many people may be wanting filenames to be displayed for the data they convey as people who want them obscured for whatever reason. why not make both types of users happy?
i am not advocating for the entire exif data to be splattered across an observation page. I’m advocating for a small subset of the most common/basic exposure characteristics (ie: shutter speed, aperture, iso, etc.) to be contained in a small font, plaintext caption superimposed along the bottom of images when viewed in enlarged mode.
