# What changes the colour?

**URL:** <https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/what-changes-the-colour/86119>\
**Category:** Forum Feedback\
**Created:** [September 29, 2026, 2:32pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/what-changes-the-colour/86119 "2026-09-29T14:32:52Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 7\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![aaravmishra](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/aaravmishra/32/33901_2.png) [@aaravmishra](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/aaravmishra)\
**Post date:** [September 29, 2026, 2:32pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/what-changes-the-colour/86119/1 "2026-09-29T14:32:52Z")

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![Screenshot 2026-09-29 at 8.02.33 pm](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/uploads/inaturalist/original/3X/2/6/26cba9ef79a87e2c2bbc8aa5f3730f252aaa4dd7.png)

Why are some orange, some bold etc., what is the algorithm?

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**Author:** ![gcwarbler](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/gcwarbler/32/1787_2.png) [@gcwarbler](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/gcwarbler)\
**Post date:** [September 29, 2026, 8:42pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/what-changes-the-colour/86119/2 "2026-09-29T20:42:36Z")

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Aarav, please add more context around a question like this. We don’t know what you’re looking at. Please give us a page/observation reference, etc.

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**Author:** ![Star3](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/star3/32/73028_2.png) [@Star3](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/Star3)\
**Post date:** [September 29, 2026, 9:21pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/what-changes-the-colour/86119/3 "2026-09-29T21:21:55Z")

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Since you posted this in “Forum Feedback”, I’ll assume you’re looking at something on the Forum. Perhaps the replies & viewscolumns (since I don’t see units like h for hours or m for minutes in your screenshot, which would apply to the activity column)?

 ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/uploads/inaturalist/original/3X/1/1/11a9e52e37d02fd9c095bcd6e1200cb9859a524a.png)

If so, from what I can find it’s a Discourse (the forum platform) UX/UI feature called “heat”

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**Author:** ![Star3](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/star3/32/73028_2.png) [@Star3](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/Star3)\
**Post date:** [September 29, 2026, 9:35pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/what-changes-the-colour/86119/4 "2026-09-29T21:35:26Z")

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[What does a red reply count mean - Support - Discourse Meta](https://meta.discourse.org/t/what-does-a-red-reply-count-mean/256007/)

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**Author:** ![aaravmishra](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/aaravmishra/32/33901_2.png) [@aaravmishra](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/aaravmishra)\
**Post date:** [September 30, 2026, 7:51am UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/what-changes-the-colour/86119/5 "2026-09-30T07:51:30Z")

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yup, that’s it!

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**Author:** ![Star3](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/star3/32/73028_2.png) [@Star3](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/Star3)\
**Post date:** [September 30, 2026, 9:03pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/what-changes-the-colour/86119/6 "2026-09-30T21:03:31Z")

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Glad to help!

Although for future reference, gcwarbler was correct that more context and details are helpful.

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**Author:** ![system](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/uploads/inaturalist/original/2X/7/7831452cf7f0d653ff1ffd34176334b7ef1b6a17.png) [@system](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/system)\
**Post date:** [October 2, 2026, 9:04pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/what-changes-the-colour/86119/7 "2026-10-02T21:04:14Z")

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