# Observation showing two active IDs from the same user **URL:** \ **Category:** Bug Reports\ **Created:** [January 23, 2020, 4:21pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/observation-showing-two-active-ids-from-the-same-user/9681 "2020-01-23T16:21:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![abersbird](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/abersbird/32/5835_2.png) [@abersbird](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/abersbird)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2020, 11:44pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/observation-showing-two-active-ids-from-the-same-user/9681/21 "2020-02-22T23:44:44Z")
I’ve been able to replicate twice more. All you have to do is go to the identify page, click on the photo part of an observation, hit the agree button there, and then go back and hit the agree button on the outside. I’ll make a quick video detailing the steps. In the meantime, here are the two observations (with screenshots) of what I was able to replicate. [https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/39064950](https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/39064950) ![Annotation 2020-02-22 154212](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/uploads/inaturalist/original/2X/5/5abb02b9363a5281ede6cec94cf62b6312ca58b6.png) [https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/39064942](https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/39064942) ![Annotation 2020-02-22 154157](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/uploads/inaturalist/original/2X/c/c4329c2caa0c17fa0286e4882e2c5891fedb4ea3.png) ---
**Author:** ![abersbird](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/abersbird/32/5835_2.png) [@abersbird](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/abersbird)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2020, 11:57pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/observation-showing-two-active-ids-from-the-same-user/9681/22 "2020-02-22T23:57:15Z")
Well, it seems you can’t upload videos, so here it is in pictures ([https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/39065356](https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/39065356)): The one circled in red is the one I’m doing it to. ![Annotation 2020-02-22 155246](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/uploads/inaturalist/original/2X/0/076926e5a826c8bdcb6ef1459d20b4cfe7efcd16.jpeg) I then hit the agree button that is circled in red. ![Annotation 2020-02-22 155316](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/uploads/inaturalist/original/2X/d/dc25f8eb3a21ec447485a20527274c26d7695f36.jpeg) I then very quickly exited out of the picture view (by clicking on the gray area outside it) and hit the other agree button circled in red. ![Annotation 2020-02-22 155344](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/uploads/inaturalist/original/2X/c/c18505cce18dca2176902d4712a917b756d44e0d.jpeg) This yielded my double ID. ![Annotation 2020-02-22 155425](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/uploads/inaturalist/original/2X/9/95253782b25b64c3ee3a5579b78ee4aa35c37b0f.png) I was also able to do the same thing to [https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/39065355](https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/39065355). I also tried this on a few other observations, but it didn’t work. This usually works a little over half the time. ---
**Author:** ![jdmore](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/jdmore/32/1116_2.png) [@jdmore](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/jdmore)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2020, 4:51am UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/observation-showing-two-active-ids-from-the-same-user/9681/23 "2020-02-23T04:51:40Z")
Thanks for the replication information! I think staff will want to take a look at this. ---
**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:** [February 25, 2020, 1:17am UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/observation-showing-two-active-ids-from-the-same-user/9681/24 "2020-02-25T01:17:06Z")
@abersbird thank you for the detailed instructions. However, I haven’t been able to replicate this on Firefox on my computer. Which browser are you using, and do you have any idea how fast your internet connection is? I have a pretty quick one which might prevent this from happening. ---
**Author:** ![abersbird](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/abersbird/32/5835_2.png) [@abersbird](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/abersbird)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2020, 5:01am UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/observation-showing-two-active-ids-from-the-same-user/9681/25 "2020-02-25T05:01:01Z")
I was using Chrome and have a moderately fast internet connection. ---
**Author:** ![kiwifergus](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/kiwifergus/32/1904_2.png) [@kiwifergus](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/kiwifergus)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2020, 6:28am UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/observation-showing-two-active-ids-from-the-same-user/9681/26 "2020-02-25T06:28:02Z")
I can replicate sometimes so I think it is speed dependant. From New Zealand on a chrome browser relatively fast internet. ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/uploads/inaturalist/original/2X/1/1f72475296c92ffaf99958a37d691de2b47f6ff3.png) [https://inaturalist.nz/observations/39197540](https://inaturalist.nz/observations/39197540) [https://inaturalist.org/observations/39197540](https://inaturalist.org/observations/39197540) ---
**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:** [February 25, 2020, 6:47am UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/observation-showing-two-active-ids-from-the-same-user/9681/27 "2020-02-25T06:47:08Z")
Heh, can’t do it in Chrome either. When I click agree in the pop-up modal, then close the modal and try to click agree on the grid view, I can’t click anything until the “Agree” stops spinning: ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/uploads/inaturalist/original/2X/5/59d8050d9215fe7378370706633e6120bdfe78ed.jpeg) What do you see when you close the modal? Do you see the arrow animation next to agree? Are you able to click on it while it’s spinning? ---
**Author:** ![kiwifergus](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/kiwifergus/32/1904_2.png) [@kiwifergus](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/kiwifergus)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2020, 8:37am UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/observation-showing-two-active-ids-from-the-same-user/9681/28 "2020-02-25T08:37:27Z")
I’m clicking the agree in the thumbnails before it starts the animated graphic. It seems to do the double IDs if I don’t move the mouse immdeiately after clicking the thumbnail agree? Maybe it’s a state verification event triggered by the mouse over instead of mouse click? I have noticed in the past that if I, say, delete an ID from the observation view in a different tab, and then go back to the Identify page/tab the deleted ID is still there (logical, nothing to tell it otherwise), and then a left arrow to go to previous observation followed by a right to bring back the target observation, will logically show the correct current state… but if I toggle a reviewed setting, it seems to figure out what the current state is, so there is definitely some sort of state checking happening within the modal. [edit] just noting observations that I have tested on to go back and “tidyup” after we finish exploring this: [https://inaturalist.nz/observations/39199341](https://inaturalist.nz/observations/39199341) [https://inaturalist.nz/observations/39199061](https://inaturalist.nz/observations/39199061) ---
**Author:** ![alexis\_orion](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/alexis_orion/32/30298_2.png) [@alexis\_orion](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/alexis_orion)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2020, 4:17pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/observation-showing-two-active-ids-from-the-same-user/9681/29 "2020-02-25T16:17:37Z")
I’m able to replicate this as well, see: [https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/39207201](https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/39207201) ![double-ID](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/uploads/inaturalist/original/2X/e/eb9c0d0c23367eac572f6e324cf6304508caadd7.png) ---
**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:** [February 25, 2020, 11:48pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/observation-showing-two-active-ids-from-the-same-user/9681/30 "2020-02-25T23:48:32Z")
Is this something one would do often, though, click agree and then click agree again on the same observation’s thumbnail? ---
**Author:** ![kiwifergus](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/kiwifergus/32/1904_2.png) [@kiwifergus](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/kiwifergus)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2020, 12:19am UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/observation-showing-two-active-ids-from-the-same-user/9681/31 "2020-02-26T00:19:50Z")
I don’t think so! Nifty little trick for when there is an absentee identifier and you need that “one more to tip it…”. Maybe call it a “feature” :) [edit: this was a joke by the way, I do not advocate using it for this purpose!] ---
**Author:** ![jwidness](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9d8465/32.png) [@jwidness](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/jwidness)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2020, 2:10am UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/observation-showing-two-active-ids-from-the-same-user/9681/32 "2020-02-26T02:10:46Z")
Interesting. It’s true that the sparrow @alexis_orion linked showed 4 votes when I first opened it. But forcing the observation to re-index by checking and unchecking in the DQA removed the duplicate vote; now it only has 3. (Sorry if you wanted to keep the double ID up.) ---
**Author:** ![sethmiller](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/sethmiller/32/3930_2.png) [@sethmiller](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/sethmiller)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2020, 2:12pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/observation-showing-two-active-ids-from-the-same-user/9681/33 "2020-02-27T14:12:11Z")
I have also occasionally had this exact bug. Never tried to replicate it though. For me at least it tends to happen when my connection is just a little slow ---
**Author:** ![sethmiller](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/sethmiller/32/3930_2.png) [@sethmiller](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/sethmiller)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2020, 2:14pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/observation-showing-two-active-ids-from-the-same-user/9681/34 "2020-02-27T14:14:15Z")
Was able to duplicate it just now. [https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/39273204](https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/39273204) ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/uploads/inaturalist/original/2X/4/45c179916fb085beffe9612689f445f577c73fa2.jpeg) ---
**Author:** ![abersbird](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/abersbird/32/5835_2.png) [@abersbird](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/abersbird)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2020, 4:58pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/observation-showing-two-active-ids-from-the-same-user/9681/35 "2020-02-29T16:58:29Z")
I was also able to do it in reverse order ([https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/39357074](https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/39357074)): ![Annotation 2020-02-29 085730](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/uploads/inaturalist/original/2X/f/f8171b0ea9ed181761f083ab9c8ec92473535119.jpeg) ---
**Author:** ![jdmore](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/jdmore/32/1116_2.png) [@jdmore](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/jdmore)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2020, 7:04pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/observation-showing-two-active-ids-from-the-same-user/9681/36 "2020-02-29T19:04:13Z")
Seems like this is fairly easy to replicate intentionally. But I think more to the point, it does happen accidentally too, along with other redundant ID situations. So I’m going to shamelessly advocate again for this feature request: [https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/prevent-duplicate-identifications/6498](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/prevent-duplicate-identifications/6498) ---
**Author:** ![abersbird](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/abersbird/32/5835_2.png) [@abersbird](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/abersbird)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2020, 8:19pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/observation-showing-two-active-ids-from-the-same-user/9681/37 "2020-02-29T20:19:25Z")
It seems I can do it another way also. If you click on the photo of the observation, bringing up: ![Annotation 2020-02-29 121710](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/uploads/inaturalist/original/2X/9/9a206d01ea9e7adaa045e3b395893035e7254490.png) And then bring up the actual obs itself on a separate tab (say [https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/39365763](https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/39365763), the one I was trying this on). Clicking agree in rapid succession on both will yield a double ID. This is easier if you have your tabs separated into two different windows. Combining the first way and this way may yield a triple ID, but you’d have to be very fast. ---
**Author:** ![abersbird](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/abersbird/32/5835_2.png) [@abersbird](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/abersbird)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2020, 8:22pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/observation-showing-two-active-ids-from-the-same-user/9681/38 "2020-02-29T20:22:51Z")
In fact, it does yield a triple ID ([https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/39367752](https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/39367752)): ![Annotation 2020-02-29 122113](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/uploads/inaturalist/original/2X/1/1328ebd1ed4455f5442e4bdad937e05acdd532dc.png) Doing the same thing but having multiple windows open, may open the possibility of a near infinite amount of IDs by the same person (as long as they have enough screen space). This is relatively easy to exploit, if say someone is upset about their ID being mavericked, or are just frustrated with people contradicting them, and probably should be fixed as fast as possible. ---
**Author:** ![kiwifergus](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/kiwifergus/32/1904_2.png) [@kiwifergus](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/kiwifergus)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2020, 9:16pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/observation-showing-two-active-ids-from-the-same-user/9681/39 "2020-02-29T21:16:19Z")
I don’t think there is any urgency on this. It doesn’t break iNat when it happens, for the most part you have to be consciously trying to do it, and any malicious use of the bug would likely land someone a suspension. As a community we have to conduct ourselves with a degree of good faith, and if we spot anyone making multiple IDs in this manner and they refuse to correct them after a fairly straight forward conversation, then that can hardly be viewed as good faith. ---
**Author:** ![jdmore](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/jdmore/32/1116_2.png) [@jdmore](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/jdmore)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2020, 9:33pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/observation-showing-two-active-ids-from-the-same-user/9681/40 "2020-02-29T21:33:00Z")
> [@abersbird](#): > > This is relatively easy to exploit It’s also pretty easy to undo, just by ticking and unticking one of the Data Quality Assessment items at bottom to force the observation to re-index. (Haven’t tried it on your example yet.) But it does end up cluttering the activity feed needlessly and creating confusion. Seems like a no brainer to just not allow this to happen in the first place. [Previous page](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/observation-showing-two-active-ids-from-the-same-user/9681.md?page=1) [Next page](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/observation-showing-two-active-ids-from-the-same-user/9681.md?page=3)