Do you mean that as a question? or as a statement that there IS an onboarding process? My understanding is that they were working on one… not sure if that has been released yet though. And I’m more just stating that any impact on new users making blind agreements is more likely to be effective from an on-boarding approach rather than any other…
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Well, the team is working on it.
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Oh, I’m just peevish. It annoys me to hear People complain about other users who “don’t do it right”.
I get peevish because iNat does not provide reasonable access to standards of usage to new users or app users. It’s just, ‘Oh, we need better on boarding… someday …unspecified.’ This is not a 6-month old app. It’s been around for years.
There is no HELP, FAQ, nor even a ~LINK~ to iNaturalist.org in the iOS app.
With no link to iNaturalist.org and the /help or /FAQ, there is NO WAY users are going to happen to guess right about features and functionality.
And then more experienced and more educated users get annoyed or complain how others misuse the system. And, I get peeved.
@kiwifergus , Mark I know you specifically excluded “un-onboarded” users in your excellent commentary. But there is a lot of bitterness about the mistakes people make. I feel such is unfair in light of the lack of helping resources available to them.
(Update: how ironic that I am being peevish in a topic labeled, “Patience is a Virtue” 
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lol… irony: I’m OCD, and I’m an advocate for letting newbies make their mistakes!
I totally get it though… the explicit disagreements thing is something that astounds me that it hasn’t been “fixed” after all this time… but it’s a small team trying to manage a lot of change, where “getting things wrong” can bring a lot of backlash. I vent and harp on about the explicits at every opportunity, but I fully appreciate the difficulties.
and to illustrate how OCD I can get…
…how on earth did that happen? :D
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And in many cases, the reason for that is that an inexperienced observer was struck by a feature that really isn’t that diagnostic. Like when I see a photo of new growth of a bright red color. Striking to someone who is new to noticing plants; but not very useful for identification, because a LOT of tropical trees do that.
A decent camera really doesn’t cost that much. I have a camera-equipped phone, too, but it would never have occurred to me to use it for this purpose. But maybe that is because of my science background, where you don’t just publish your realtime data as you collect it, but take the time to analyze it and publish the results; I do the same with my photos, if I have any intention of using them for a science-related purpose.
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I’m cautious by nature, but was flummoxed by the “agree” button when I first joined. I didn’t, and maybe still don’t, understand when it’s okay to agree. For example, if an expert clearly explains why my ID is incorrect, and I “see” that I was wrong, now I can ID it correctly. So, do I then agree? Do I agree because I know & trust a person who has correctly corrected me many times?
So, yeah, an “onboarding” process would have been great. I feel like I’m stumbling along. I’ve found this a welcoming place, but also intimidating. And my skin is fairly thick.
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I’m an Instagram user, but even on that platform, I use my “real” camera and choose between multiple photos, then tweak, crop, keyword and upload after deliberation. However, the vast majority of Instagram users point, shoot & upload. Many upload multiples of the same person/dinnerplate/scene. So I’m going to blame much of the photo quality “issues” (using this word lightly) on the “Instagram Mentality.”
I will say, my favorite observations in WV are from a kid just south of me whose enthusiasm for the world around him (and sharp eye!) more than makes up for any lack of photography skills. I understand the need for balance here, and appreciate the pragmatic, welcoming spirit.
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Interesting. I imagine there are as many ways of using this forum as there are personalities and occupations and approaches. I’m learning that, slowly.
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I’d love to see info-bites, boxes that pop up to explain the use of different click-able features.
This is the most amazingly well-designed platform.
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Quite pleasantly peevish, I opine. 
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Good points. I didn’t think about experts combing through specific taxa for their own purposes. Thanks for giving me some ideas, and some confidence.
Curious - tried again - it has Fergus this time.
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iNat rules are to agree - if you can ID it as that yourself.
If the clear explanation convinces me - but I can’t honestly say I could have / could in future ID it - then I move on. And wait for someone I trust to add that confirming agree.
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I recall having some minor struggles with how the quoting works when I first joined the forum… eventually got the hang of it… the typo in the username is likely from having copy and pasted the text in, applying a quote format to it and then manually typing in the username as the source, versus using the discourse quoting feature where you highlight the text and click the quote option that pops up, which in turn applies the quote formatting and source name automatically, so wouldn’t have the typo… No problem with it, both ways are fine… it was more a tongue in cheek example of my OCD-ness to notice such things!
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Yah, I think it was me 
rather than Diane that made that mistake
You can withdraw your ID If you can’t specifically agree with the the new one but defer to their experience. That way, the more informed ID can then seek community agreement. I think you have to use the website to do it. The twisty to the right of your ID has a Withdraw option.
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Thank you. (I only use the website). I appreciate learning about the options available and when to use them.
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That is a nice usage. Only, the iOS app users don’t have a Withdraw function, and likely do not know it exists. (I just checked and that’s still so in v3.1, just released).
Back when I only knew about the iOS app, an IDer suggested I could withdraw my original ID. I asked how to do that, and the answer was ‘oh you have to use a website’. I had no idea such existed or that there were all these other features people expected me to be using differently than indicated in the iOS app.
That’s why when I welcome new users I be sure to tell them there’s a website!
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