Platform(s), such as mobile, website, API, other: Website
URLs (aka web addresses) of any pages, if relevant: Species/genus taxon pages
Description of need:
I like to use the links to disagreeing observations in the Similar Species tab on taxon pages to do identifying of disagreements. However, at present the links go to the list of observations rather than to the Identify page, meaning I then have to click through to Identify. It’s not a big issue, but each extra page in the process uses both time and data. (And the time can be not insignificant if things are running slowly and you want to look at several sets of disagreements.)
Feature request details:
I think it would be more helpful if the links (numbers at the top right of each ‘similar species’ picture) went to the relevant Identify page rather than the current Observations page. People can look through the ‘open’ disagreements more easily that way, including applying IDs if possible; and if they want to look at ones that have made it to RG, that’s not hard to do. (Alternatively, it may be possible to set the link to automatically include both Needs ID and RG?)
Another option could be to add an extra link on each, labelled ‘Identify’, with the potential value of making it more obvious that these are based on current disagreements and You May Be Able To Help!
I will be interested to see whether others agree on this or have different workflows and so prefer the way it currently works…
I like the idea of adding a dedicated ‘Identify’ button or link to those numbers. Rather than removing what is already present implementing a less clunky sperate observation that helps resolve disagreements would be useful.
I’ve personally just used filters to find disagreements fairly easily, but this would be a nice touch.
This seems like it actually makes it much more intuitive for newer users to realize they can jump in, helping them discover identifying.
Fyi, just for the use of finding disagreements now here are a few listed methods, I’m sure @grampianshiker is aware, but for the of others reading this:
1. The Built-in “Disagreements” Filter, usually the most direct method
How to use it: Go to the Identify page, click the Filters box at the top, and look for the Disagreements checkbox.
The Result: It will isolate only observations within your active search (certain taxa, locations, etc.) where at least one user has explicitly input a disagreeing ID.
If you like looking for disagreements between specific groups of species, you can manipulate the URL string. By using the ident_taxon_id parameter, you can pull up observations where someone has suggested a certain taxon, even if it is not the current consensus.
How to use it: Use a URL format like this: https://inaturalist.org[Taxon A ID]&ident_taxon_id=[Taxon B ID]
The Result: This forces the Identify page to show you records currently sitting in Taxon A, but where someone else has actively suggested Taxon B.
I’ll add to those that you can also find disagreements which involve a specific taxon with a current ID at any level (or only certain levels, high or low) using ident_taxon_id rather than taxon_id (I don’t have taxon numbers memorised so I tend to search in Identify for a given taxon then adjust the URL, and potentially adjust the lowest rank to only catch disagreements currently at a higher level).
The thing I like about accessing it via the Similar Species tab is that it specifically catches cases with two particular taxa (and without me needing to note down taxon numbers!). It means I can focus on ones I’m more likely to be able to help with (if I don’t know the alternative, it’s more likely I can only say ‘not that’, which doesn’t really help).
One further note re your point 1: I like the disagreements filter, but it’s worth bearing in mind that it won’t find observations where the initial disagreement has been withdrawn and replaced with a different, but still disagreeing, ID. (So if I disagreed to a higher level, then later suggested a different species, or someone else suggested a different species and I withdrew.)
seems unnecessary. if you’re on the Explore page in the website, you can click Filters > Identify to get to the Identify screen. that existing option seems like it’s good enough for your particular use case. i doubt there are so many people using your workflow that it’s worth cluttering up and complicating the similar species tab with extra link options.
I’m well aware of that option because it’s what I currently use. My point was that providing a way to get straight to Identify would save both time and data (since I started using iNat, my usage has gone from under 20GB a month to over 100GB, and my computer is permanently slow…). If others don’t use the links to identify, that’s fine, it just seemed worth asking (personally, I find Identify easier to use to scan through a group of observations anyway, so I’d probably prefer that even if I didn’t intend to identify). Also, it took me a long time to realise that the link to disagreeing observations was even there, so I thought a link making it clearer might actually be helpful.
Given how long pages sometimes take to load, that could actually save both at times. It should have occurred to me before but hadn’t, so thanks. I’ll bear that in mind.
(And I never know the taxon IDs, I deal with too many different ones to ever learn any. I’ve made a note of some location IDs to make it easier to combine them, but the taxon list would be too long.)