Because the site is hard to use. I’ve recommended it to a few birdwatchers I know saying they might have more luck with it than me. They haven’t. You have a lot of people here who are good with finite details and who are used to fiddling with complicated applications. Unfortunately mine and my friend’s information will sadly go unrecorded even though we live in a huge almost empty area of your map (central coastal oregon). Make the site easier to use for god’s sake.
Hi Ann. Sorry you’re having trouble. Do you have a more concrete example of the difficulty you are having? Are you on an app, or the website? and have you read the Getting Started guide?
and another note, we encourage forum users to use their iNaturalist usernames here. And we want posts to have more questions about solutions and fewer open-ended complaints.
Yeah, i don’t think complaints peppered through unrelated threads are going to be helpful here, nor complaints embedded in your username. Feel free to contribute feature requests or to ask for clarity on the forum.
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I’m using a desktop computer and don’t have a device that will use your app unless it works on a desktop as well. Yes I’ve tried reading the user manual for the site a few times, or should say, read through it without getting much out of it. I’ll try not to go off on a tangent but I’ve got a handful of issues and have seen many replies that only suggest partial solutions. I don’t consider myself a stupid person but figuring out complicated applications is neither my talent nor cup of tea, admittedly. If I’d not read the directions on how to use the site I wouldn’t be complaining, I just couldn’t figure them out nonetheless even after reading them. After hearing a couple people in a class I was taking mention your site, about six people had heard of it, only two used it, partially, the rest said it was too complicated. All of them are amateur naturalists with interests in, mainly sea algae, birds and mushrooms. The site is very exciting when you see the home page the first time, such a great idea. Then finding out I literally couldn’t make it work was really disappointing. So I read the directions, fiddled around, made some attempts. Left and came back to try again. I swear it actually got worse. Most people wouldn’t bother to tell you they are too stupid or lazy or ADHD or w/e you prefer to call it, to bother with your complicated website. I’m not one of them.
Also define username? I really thought I knew what one of those was by now but apparently I’m not able to use it correctly and I see you’re using my real name which I thought was kept private. Ok wrong again.
I’ve moved this sub-conversation to its own thread because at this point it is out of the scope of forum discussion according to the forum guidelines.
However, we still do want to help you find a solution. Give me a minute to compose a longer reply.
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Firstly, it isn’t appropriate to conflate neurodivergence (adhd) with being lazy or stupid so please remove that part of your comment.
Secondly, it sounds like iNat just may not be for you. It’s got a huge userbase, and a lot of people do enjoy using it. Some people do not. There’s no shame in that, but since I am not seeing any concrete suggestions or questions here, i am not understanding why you are coming here to post this. I’ve found that some people take to iNat and some do not. I used to spend lots of time trying to recruit my friends, only to learn that if someone doesn’t enjoy iNat, there’s no point in pushing it.
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or to suggest that having ADHD and being stupid are the same. Lots of people are good at different skill sets, very few are really stupid. And ADHD has no relation to intelligence. I have ADHD.
(still composing longer post)
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Is there a specific page that is giving you trouble? Or a specific action / function you are attempting? Our web designers greatly value input and feedback, but a generalized complaint contains no information and thus is not actionable.
As for your name –
on iNaturalist, you have a username (your sign-in name), and optionally a profile name which is used on your profile page as well as for copyright attribution and some other things.
on the forum, we ask that you use either your log-in username, or as a secondary preference your profile name, and a valid link to your user profile within your forum user information.
You have included your real name, Ann Nielsen, within your forum profile information. It should be indicated on your profile page / settings which information is public and which is private.
It is 100% your right not to use your real name, here or on the main website, but please use a consistent username so that you can remain identifiable.
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Okay, I understand and share some of those frustrations. I sometimes find the user interface doesn’t seem to work as expected. There is a bit of incongruity between the iOS app and the website; and I have frustrations using the website with mobile devises (my main equipment). e.g., Zoom often freezes if I’m on a mobile device. Features are missing from iOS app, or there are website features that are almost hidden or unintuitive. User conventions are not enforced in the UI or well explained in the UI (e.g., Agree button usage).
Even so, I find iNaturalist endlessly fascinating and brimming with value.
I can offer that asking for help with specific problems you encounter will likely be super useful.
Pick one or two things, describe such, and say what’s frustrating or confusing. Staff, moderators, and regular users will try to support you as best as they can. Screenshots are really helpful to people who may want to try to support you and help you along.
I’ve learned my work arounds for some functionalities or learned to live without the use of some features. Much of what I learned came from support I got here in the Forum.
One thing we live with is that the development staff has a very, very long to-do list to fix issues raised by users. They don’t currently have the capacity to address everything quickly. I think you can check the Discourse site to see what is already in the queue for software fixes and enhancements.
Anyhoo, let us know how we can help.
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I’ve been using iNat for about 8 years and probably understand or use about a third of its functionality. Probably about the same percentage for my smartphone. I tend to not read instructions unless I get totally stuck. Or I find a workaround that works for me but probably is not the most efficient way to go. Just the way I roll. I still enjoy the site.
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