Provide a LinkList or Site-resident Bookmarks list

[kiwifergus]

I have bookmarks in my browser that I use in conjunction with iNat, especially when identifying, that are essentially saved search filters, as well as a LOT of bookmarks that are to external resources that I use often, such as World Spider Catalogue, Landcare large moths, FloraNZ to name but a few. When I am on another computer I am lucky in that some of my bookmarks are saved in my google/chrome profile, so I have access to them still, but for many people they don’t use google/chrome or just don’t utilise that feature of the browser and so can’t access bookmarks in the same way.

I recall an online game I played, that would allow you to make a “Linklist” which is essentially a list of links that you access on a regular basis, right on the main page of the game so they are always accessible. The links would either open in the same browser page (ie a normal link) or would open in a new browser tab if you entered it into the list with an asterisk at the end of it.

I’m proposing here a similar feature. The links don’t need to be on the page proper, but could be tucked away into the profile dropdown menu, the following mockup showing what I mean:

note the graphic to depict links that will open in a new window (borrowed here from the game as example only) and the differentiation from iNat supplied links.

In the game that I get this idea from, the linklist has a link at the top to a page for editing the list. We could have this as a section in the user profile “edit page”, or if that page is deemed already too cluttered, then perhaps a link in the profile page to a seperate edit page for the linklist. The game allows you to put an index number with each entry, which is used to determine the order that they display, but there could be other ways to determine the order

This feature would allow people to save “bookmarks” that then become available anywhere they have access to iNat, including when they sign in on computers other than their own or using different browsers.

When you first start using the linklist in the game mentioned above, it is initially populated with links that are commonly used. The game has a forum feature, much like iNat, but many players choose to use an external forum such as discord, in which case they simply replace or add the link.

As an indication of the sort of scenarios where it could be useful:
https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/change-default-sort-order-of-your-observations-to-date-observed-instead-of-date-added/7803
It’s a feature that I could imagine wouldn’t need to be explained to everyone (in the on-boarding for example), but rather another tool that can be offered as a solution to those type of problems, or at least as interim workarounds.

[jdmore]

+1 I agree this would be a very helpful feature! Though probably development-intensive, so don’t hold your breath…

FWIW, for taxonomic sites with text-based look-up abilities, I like to use the existing ability of curators to add links to the More Info section on the About tab of taxon pages.

For example I just added a generalized taxon link for the World Spider Catalog you mentioned. As set up (visible to curators), this will appear on each Araneae taxon page for species or below, example here.

Such links can also be limited to appear only for taxa on the checklist of a particular place (potentially useful for FloraNZ?), as well as to a taxon and/or its descendants.

This can be done for any taxon, for any related web resource deemed useful to the community. Check the pages of some applicable taxa first, to make sure someone hasn’t already added a link to the same resource.

[kiwifergus]

That is seriously cute, similar to how the “search external authorities” used to work. I wonder if it could be done for plants out of PoWO:
eg http://powo.science.kew.org/?q=pinus%20radiata

[kiwifergus]

I think you might realise it, but I’ll clarify just in case. The linklist entries would be personal to the user, so if I set one for wsc for instance, it will only appear in my profile menu. Anyone else wanting that link would also need to add it. I would see it most useful for saving those “custom identify filters” that are used most often and especially from different PCs etc. It essentially becomes a custom menu.

[chris_earle]

Until this feature is implemented, I just add them to the text section of my profile. Then they’re only a click away, and anyone else that finds it convenient, can just visit my profile.

[kiwifergus]

That is a cool idea, accomplishes almost exactly the same result!

[jdmore]

@kiwifergus

I wonder if it could be done for plants out of PoWO:

There is already a “IPNI + POWO” taxon link set up for plants. The two data sets are now so closely linked that it doesn’t make sense to make separate links for them. The initial IPNI query result includes links to POWO.

The taxon links are just informational look-up links on the About tabs. “Search External Authorities” is a separate (and still working) facility for adding taxa not yet in iNaturalist, and I have proposed adding POWO to the available sources for that.

@kiwifergus

The linklist entries would be personal to the user, so if I set one for wsc for instance, it will only appear in my profile menu.

Yep, the taxon links definitely don’t address the main part of your request to store personal bookmarks on-site, which I also support. Just wanted to mention an alternate way to make links available site-wide for resources that have broad application and interest.

[tiwane]

This is a cool idea but we’ve decided it won’t be something we’ll develop, it’s a bit beyond iNat’s scope, so I’m going to close this request. For what it’s worth, browsers like Firefox, Chrome, and Safari (I’m not sure about Edge or IE, but I wouldn’t recommend using those with iNat anyway) allow you to sync bookmarks across devices.