I took two pictures of the same thing, and rather than having two observations, I’d like to combine them into a single one with two pictures. Can this be done?
If you have not created the records yet, then you can add as many photos as you want (of the same thing) into an observation at creation.
If you have already created the records, there is no tool to merge them, you can go add the 2nd picture onto one of them and then delete the other, but that manual process is all that is available.
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Got it! Many thanks!
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This is a huge issue with new users and some kind of a merge tool woulda been really useful.
When i encounter this problem (user has uploaded every picture of the same species as separate observation or several specimen of the same species, pictures of which were taken in close proximity to each other on the same day, as a separate observations), i usually leave a comment, bit if user does not use the web platform it becomes pointless errand. This can get a bit frustrating, since it’s just littering the database as far as i’m concerned.
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For your 2nd example, multiple pics of different individuals of the same species as separate records, there is a legitimate argument/debate that that is exactly what the site rules say you should do.
https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/what-is-an-observation/3367
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Now this gets a bit complicated with my second example - i’ll look into that.
For now i’m following Moscow State Univerisity Digital herbarium project guideline, which specifically states that several specimen of the same species in close proximity to each other should not be uploaded as several observations: that is true for plants and mushrooms though - i’m not into birding.
Concerning first example - would different angle shots of the single specimen count as legitimate obs then by general guidelines?
Well, there is what the rules say, and by any technical or literal reading of them, they say 1 observation = 1 individual, and there is what the community consensus is. If you saw there is a poll in there asking what the community thinks, and while not a huge sample, almost 80% felt the approach was wrong.
Effectively anyone who does enter multiple records or one for each different individual is not breaking the rules on the site, they are not doing what the majority does however.
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