Why do the Explore and Identify windows return records before hitting Go button?

General
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I have always wondered why, in the iNaturalist web interface (I don’t use the mobile apps so don’t know how they operate), the Explore and Identify windows return results before I have entered all of the search parameters I want to use. On the surface this seems like a waste of bandwidth. At a minimum, I almost always enter at least one parameter, either a taxon or a location, and I almost always enter both and often with additional filters, but the interface starts returning results after entering each new parameter. I imagine this must have been discussed somewhere, perhaps on the old forum, but I cannot figure out how to phrase my search on the forum to get any related results.

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I’ve often wondered this, too, but concluded it was just one of life’s imponderables. I suppose the initial designers weren’t worried about efficiency, but were worried about users getting turned off by a blank screen. I agree that it seems a waste of bandwith, and also server time.

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I’m not sure of the explicit reasoning, but I expect that

is at least a part of it. If no content were visible, beginners might think the platform wasn’t working.

For “Identify”, I do think the content has some meaning in that it is the most recent observations and generally has an initial location filter for individuals. Some people may have that location as their county/state/province, etc and do some initial IDing from the landing page.

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I have not noticed any default location filter when I open the Identify interface. The only defaults that I see is that it only returns needs ID observations which I have not reviewed. If the location is a sticky setting, I probably would not notice as I am constantly opening and closing new iNat windows. I imagine they could gain some efficiency by eliminating these extra fetches, but I don’t know how much.

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Do you have a default search place preference in your Account Settings? If so, I think that’s why you’re seeing a geographic restriction.

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This is kind of annoying. I think, “Wait! Wait! Can’t you wait until I stop talking before you start?” On the other hand, it seems a minor annoyance.

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Yes, for me it is “United States”, but I imagine others use it as well.