Previously not shown observations are shown after refreshing the page

Previously not shown observations are shown after refreshing the page.
Let me explain better: I am identifying old (now ca. 5 months old) observations for a given area. If I refresh the page or come back again to the same url, previously “hidden” or not shown observations appear among other observations that some minutes before were observable. I have the filters “plants” and “needs id”. It is unlikely that in the meanwhile something has changed so that these “hidden” observations are now shown because they fit the filters.

Why don’t you give us the exact URL?

try this
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?iconic_taxa=Plantae&page=21&place_id=13073&quality_grade=needs_id

When identifiers, including you, make something Research Grade - it will disappear from the search and the following results will come into view. Second, some observations might had been outside Plants (Unknown, Life) and then became matches for the search when they were identified as plants in the meantime. Third, observations are constantly added and they will shift the results of the current page.

The effect of shifting observations would be especially common for the higher pages in searches since more observations would be behind them - at page 25 you have thousands of observations behind the current view and the observations with constantly shift forward/backward and occasionally new observations will appear/disappear as they get identified.

1 Like

Let me explain possibly better. Of course, it is clear for me that if something becomes RG it disappears among the needs id observations. But I wrote that previously non-observable observations appear among (not after) observations that are still “needs id”. In other words, they do not replace observations that in the meanwhile have reached RG but apparently are shown among observations that still need to reach RG.
I hope that now it is clearer.

As already written, they have not been identified by other users as “plants” exaclty when I was identiying the other observable observations. They simply become shown.

Sorry but I am writing about old observations.

I actually observe the same since a while. Going through certain search parameters every several days and suddenly observations appear that are some weeks or months old that had not been there before. They were uploaded a while ago and the last ID they got is also older then when I last checked. So I also don’t get it.

3 Likes

Are you refreshing before continuing to the next page? If not, any gaps you’ve created from reviewing observations will get filled in when you continue to the next page. This means you effectively skip observations. I touch on this here:
https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/identify-mode-page-break/11219

1 Like

There are lots of reasons that this can happen. Some can include deleted IDs (not withdrawn) which you won’t see and affect whether an observation shows up or not, changes in the DQA fields, changes in whether an observation is needs ID or casual (like a user adding a photo or data or location to an observation that didn’t have one before).

2 Likes

As said, usually it’s a deleted id, deleted user, voted/unvoted DQA.

Thi is what happens after refreshing, not necessarily only after changing page to the next one and then coming back.