# iNat useful browser plugins **URL:** \ **Category:** Tutorials\ **Tags:** search, third-party-tools\ **Created:** [January 28, 2023, 4:54pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/inat-useful-browser-plugins/38936 "2023-01-28T16:54:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![deniszp](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/deniszp/32/34571_2.png) [@deniszp](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/deniszp)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2023, 4:54pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/inat-useful-browser-plugins/38936/1 "2023-01-28T16:54:27Z")
I want to share two useful add-ons (plugins) for browser that I use with iNaturalist site. * * * ## First one called **Swift Selection Search** (SSS) by Daniel Lobo Firefox add-on page: [https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/swift-selection-search/](https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/swift-selection-search/) I am a Firefox user, this add-on is available only in Firefox, but I’m sure that Chrome has some alternatives if you will search. This is a universal add-on that can be very useful not only on iNaturalist, but on many other sites. Select text on a webpage and a small popup will show up with multiple search options. For example, you are reading a wiki article and you stumble upon something that you want to check out on iNat, so select that text (species name for example) and the pop-up panel shows up. Here is mine look like: ![2023-01-28_114927](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/uploads/inaturalist/original/3X/0/a/0a871da9ac66c613d8f8e7863950c63c6de9c0ad.jpeg) The first one with iNat logo is just a search on iNat. There is search URL: `[https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/{searchTerms](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/%7BsearchTerms)}` Next one with all my observation of that species, URL: `[https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?place_id=any&user_id=deniszp&verifiable=any&taxon_name={searchTerms](https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?place_id=any&user_id=deniszp&verifiable=any&taxon_name={[searchTerms)}` And so on… You can customize it whatever you like. You can add Google images search, search on other naturalist related sites, or as one of my searches only males observation on iNat:` [https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?place_id=any&term_id=9&term_value_id=11&taxon_name={searchTerms](https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?place_id=any&term_id=9&term_value_id=11&taxon_name={[searchTerms)}` If you want to google search on any site, you can paste a URL like this: `https://www.google.com/search?q={searchTerms} site:naturespot.org.uk` About different options to use URL search on iNat you can read this: [https://www.inaturalist.org/pages/search+urls#obs-field](https://www.inaturalist.org/pages/search+urls#obs-field) [https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/how-to-use-inaturalists-search-urls-wiki-part-1-of-2/63](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/how-to-use-inaturalists-search-urls-wiki-part-1-of-2/63) [https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/how-to-use-inaturalists-search-urls-wiki-part-2-of-2/18792](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/how-to-use-inaturalists-search-urls-wiki-part-2-of-2/18792) It is a convenient and very time saving add-on. You can configure it like you want to suit your needs * * * ## Second add-on is **Highlight This** by Wim Deboel Firefox add-on page: [https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/highlightthis](https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/highlightthis) Chrome add-on page: [https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/highlight-this-finds-and/fgmbnmjmbjenlhbefngfibmjkpbcljaj?hl=en-US](https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/highlight-this-finds-and/fgmbnmjmbjenlhbefngfibmjkpbcljaj?hl=en-US) This add-on is for highlighting species that you already have in your collection. It is useful for people who want to know if they have observations of that species or not. This add-on can work on any page on iNat. You can configure it, so it will be highlight only on wiki and iNat, for example, or on any site. ![2023-01-28_162301](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/uploads/inaturalist/original/3X/e/b/eb8738087d7b2e39e8826a9c20adb84c57af9695.jpeg) It’s working everywhere, on species suggestions pop-up, on species main page, everywhere. But it does not automatically parse your observation. You need to put it in manually. Easiest way to do so is to go to the Observation page, then click “Download” (red arrow on screenshot). ![2023-01-28_163517](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/uploads/inaturalist/original/3X/4/a/4a31805e9bcb1315f8981903f90c0a84b4cafd0a.jpeg) On the Download page, you need to uncheck all checkboxes except scientific\_name and then click “Create export”. Export process can take a while, so you can click “Receive an email with your data ‘’ and wait for the email. After that, you will receive a CSV file in your email. You can edit this CSV file in Excel ([onedrive.live.com](http://onedrive.live.com)) or Google sheets. Just open that file, click on column A, to select all entries and then click “Remove duplicates”. Google sheets: menu Data → Data cleanup → Remove duplicates. Excel: menu Data → Remove duplicates button. Then select all cells with names( you can do this by clicking on first cell, then Ctrl+Shift+arrow down). Then copy it (Ctrl+C) and paste (Ctrl+V) in the add-on window. In this add-on you can create multiple lists. So, for example on iNat Download page, you can choose in filter “Research” and download only research grade observation, and paste this list in add-on with green highlight. And yellow highlight can be used only for “needs ID” observations, for example. Also you can configure on download page highest or lowest rank, or exact rank, so you download only species, not families or above. * * * Maybe you have something useful too you want to share? ---
**Author:** ![pisum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/91b2a8/32.png) [@pisum](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/pisum)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2023, 9:37pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/inat-useful-browser-plugins/38936/2 "2023-01-28T21:37:57Z")
> [@deniszp](#): > > Easiest way to do so is to go to the Observation page, then click “Download” (red arrow on screenshot). if you’re specifically trying to get a list of taxa you’ve seen, the quickest way to do this is probably to export from your dynamic life list. ---
**Author:** ![radrat](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/radrat/32/2093_2.png) [@radrat](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/radrat)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2023, 3:15am UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/inat-useful-browser-plugins/38936/3 "2023-01-30T03:15:21Z")
> [@deniszp](#): > > This add-on is for highlighting species that you already have in your collection IMO this is a type of core functionality that iNat should support natively, see this feature request: [https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/checkmarks-for-species-on-life-list/9400/6](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/checkmarks-for-species-on-life-list/9400/6) ---
**Author:** ![deniszp](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/deniszp/32/34571_2.png) [@deniszp](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/deniszp)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2023, 12:23pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/inat-useful-browser-plugins/38936/4 "2023-01-30T12:23:38Z")
> [@radrat](#): > > IMO this is a type of core functionality that iNat should support natively, see this feature request: [https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/checkmarks-for-species-on-_life_-list/9400/6](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/checkmarks-for-species-on-life-list/9400/6) Agree. Saw this post years ago, but things aren’t moving. ---
**Author:** ![fmiudo](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/fmiudo/32/5584_2.png) [@fmiudo](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/fmiudo)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2023, 1:01pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/inat-useful-browser-plugins/38936/5 "2023-01-30T13:01:30Z")
While we wait for an official dark theme, I suggest and use this plugin called Dark Reader a lot [https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/dark-reader/eimadpbcbfnmbkopoojfekhnkhdbieeh](https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/dark-reader/eimadpbcbfnmbkopoojfekhnkhdbieeh) ---
**Author:** ![dark-shark](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/dark-shark/32/33245_2.png) [@dark-shark](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/dark-shark)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2023, 11:04pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/inat-useful-browser-plugins/38936/6 "2023-01-30T23:04:04Z")
I use that sometimes. Light mode is proven to hurt your health. ---
**Author:** ![tiwane](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/tiwane/32/54612_2.png) [@tiwane](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/tiwane)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2023, 11:10pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/inat-useful-browser-plugins/38936/7 "2023-01-30T23:10:12Z")
I’ve mentioned this in a few other places on the forum, but I rely heavily on Auto Text Expander to enter commonly-used comments when identifying and doing other things. All you do is set up a key combination and the extension replaces it with saved text. For example, if type `faa`, it’s replaced with `We've posted it to our Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook accounts.` There are a bunch of text expander extensions, not sure which one is best. ---
**Author:** ![DianaStuder](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/dianastuder/32/43358_2.png) [@DianaStuder](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/DianaStuder)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2023, 9:54am UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/inat-useful-browser-plugins/38936/8 "2023-01-31T09:54:54Z")
> [@dark-shark](#): > > Light mode is proven to hurt your health > people with normal and corrected vision perform better with Light mode I skim and move on when I trip over a dark mode display. Depends on your preference, and your own eyes ---
**Author:** ![joaolemoslima](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/joaolemoslima/32/13728_2.png) [@joaolemoslima](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/joaolemoslima)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2023, 2:53pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/inat-useful-browser-plugins/38936/9 "2023-01-31T14:53:27Z")
Out of curiosity, which one do you use? I’ve been looking for something like this exactly to speed up the “commenting while ID-ing” process ---
**Author:** ![vreinkymov](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/vreinkymov/32/58876_2.png) [@vreinkymov](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/vreinkymov)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2023, 4:18pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/inat-useful-browser-plugins/38936/10 "2023-01-31T16:18:16Z")
Thanks for sharing that! I just started using it and it’s especially useful for commenting observations with iNat’s [canned responses](https://www.inaturalist.org/pages/responses), especially for new users who haven’t added IDs or have multiple organisms in one observation. Is [this one](https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/auto-text-expander/) the Auto Text Expander you’re using? ---
**Author:** ![tiwane](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/tiwane/32/54612_2.png) [@tiwane](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/tiwane)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2023, 6:42pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/inat-useful-browser-plugins/38936/11 "2023-01-31T18:42:24Z")
I use this one: [https://github.com/pviswanathan/ChromeAutoTextExpander](https://github.com/pviswanathan/ChromeAutoTextExpander) Ironically, I use it with Firefox. ---
**Author:** ![squiresk](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/squiresk/32/7292_2.png) [@squiresk](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/squiresk)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2023, 1:56am UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/inat-useful-browser-plugins/38936/12 "2023-03-26T01:56:01Z")
" Second add-on is **Highlight This** by Wim Deboel" This and your implementation of it, is great. ---
**Author:** ![DianaStuder](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/dianastuder/32/43358_2.png) [@DianaStuder](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/DianaStuder)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2023, 8:18am UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/inat-useful-browser-plugins/38936/13 "2023-03-26T08:18:58Z")
For a visual prompt of [Pretty Sure](https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/inaturalist-enhancement-s/hdnjehcihcpjphgbkagjobenejgldnah), or not. You can set your preferred options. Created for us by an iNat user.