(Sorry if this has already been addressed, I did try a search and didn't find what I was looking for.) I've been looking around at the plant ID sections, and been helped several times by folks who were able to either definitively identify a plant or point me in the right direction. It seems to me that if an ID has been agreed upon or is at least tentative, it would be neat if we could edit the original thread name so that the plant name or names appear. This would make it MUCH easier for folks to find answers through search etc. Even being able to go back and change the tags would help. Instead, the only "edit" function that seems to appear is the capability of editing the original message itself. So, that's just my suggestion.
I really hate it when the title of a threads is altered, following an id. If you are trying to id a plant, and have no clue what it may be, you cannot search for say Arum italicum. Whereas a catchy title such as "Small bright red berries" may catch your eye and make you wonder .. is that like mine? W.Cutler, used to change her title after they were id. You may like to follow this thread to see the pitfalls of doing this. If you put the latin name in the heading, after it is id, it may stop others from looking at the thread. http://www.botanicalgarden.ubc.ca/forums/showthread.php?t=55089&highlight=arum+italicum
Hey, I was going to reply that Silver Surfer hates it when I do that (change the titles)! When you search, it does search the body of the postings, so if the name was mentioned it will come up. But I work a lot with recognition memory, so it really helps me to be able to browse and see the names in the subject lines. The problem is really people who give their postings titles like "what is this plant?" or "tree needs an id" (instead of "what tree with opposite compound leaves, white fluffy flowers?"). It's hard for me to imagine that you would find it confusing to replace "tree needs an id" with the name that was settled on. I used to wait a week or so, till it seemed no other postings were coming in, before putting the name in the title. I've stopped renaming them now, except in the Ornamental Cherries ID forum.
There are some potential drawbacks to amending the subject title. Initial suggestions to a plant's identity could be incorrect. That has happened before though not often. By the time the mistake is caught the OP has long abandoned the thread and thus the title will remain uncorrected. Keeping titles up-to-date then becomes a maintenance issue. It is not uncommon for someone to post a number of plants to be identified in one post. In such cases it would be impractical if not impossible to include all names in the title.
One option would be to retain the original title but add something like "title edit: now identified as Xxxxx" in brackets after.
If I could presume to speak for Silver Surfer, I think even if the OP does keep the titles up-to-date with the current id, that's the problem he's citing in the link to the posting I started. So Michael's idea of adding on to the subject line doesn't address that, where one week it's one ID, and then next week, it's changed to some other ID. I don't find that too confusing, but I'm generally not answering questions, just posing them. Theodora asked about using tags. I've never used them. Does anybody? Besides not thinking about using them, I don't know where they are. It's the responder who would presumably set the tag to the identified name, but I don't see where to do that right now as I'm typing this reply. And now I'm in edit, and I don't see them either. Are they something only the originator can set, or must they be set when the thread is initiated? The originator wouldn't know yet what to set them to.
Yes, I think it'd be a bit difficult from a maintenance standpoint. If the forum had a moderator who was a) expert enough to assess when an ID given is 90% likely; and b) had the time to do this, I could see editing the thread title to add a "+ve ID" prefix (so the thread title would look like '+ve ID: What is this plant?' instead of 'What is this plant?' It'd be the rare person who could and would want to do this. It would have the advantage (if other thread prefixes were used such as "tentative ID", "tough to ID") of being able to search on the thread prefix, though.
Daniel is in the position he is in because he understands what he wrote, Sorry, to me making a new thread is far easier.
That's ok, Katalina -- I don't think prefixes are well-explained anywhere. In some forums, when people start a new thread, they can prepend (the opposite of append ;-) ) the thread title with a small blurb. For examples, check out this forum -- you'll notice in the display listing of threads that some threads have Beeches: and others have Oaks: Not only can you see at a glance what the thread is about in these cases, but you can also use the Advanced Search to only search on those threads, under search options -> Find Threads with Prefix. Instead of something that classifies posts into "types of trees in the beech family" like it does in that forum, one could come up with a small set of prefixes that classifies based on "status of identification". Hope that clears things up.
Oh, I get it now, Katalina. I thought you meant: unlike some of us who don't understand what we're writing (thinking of myself, of course). I'm still laughing.
From a keyword search point of view the "tag" or in other places known as "subject headings" would be a really good addition to some messages that need pinning down. I have added tags a couple of times to try and tease information out. When out on Google if I preface a search with UBC and what I think I want it usually gives me what I want. Liz
LOL @ Wendy LOL Daniel, many thanks I will read your link, and progress...hopefully! Its by doing a lot of reading here I learn everyday. Although I do class myself as a 'gardener', was also an allotment holder these forums are a learning curve. Since I joined I have heard words like Genus, Species I know about species because wildlife also is species...as in flora and fauna. Botanical naming, someting we never did as gardeners, a Cauliflower was just that, it said so on the pack. Synonyms: These cross refer to the correct Botanical name. There will be tons to learn from the plant dictionary, time is all.
I've been good and not changed any thread titles for at least two months now <grin>, but I'm not happy about it. Every now and then, I do a search on the threads I started in Plant Identification, to try to remember the names people went to all that trouble to tell me. It's really helpful seeing the actual names in the subject lines (on the older ones, where I put the IDs in). I know - I could be quizzing myself to see if I've learned them, but no, I haven't, and all I really want is to see the names again. Surely there's a length of time after which no-one cares except the originator and it would be ok to edit the title? One month??
Do a keyword search "name of plant" or someother thing you remember from yr message. You may still have your messages in "my messages " undrer "Forum links" Liz
I don't know if Daniel would approve of this hack. For a thread that you want to remember, reply to it with a modified title using a marker that you could search by at a later time. Your username could be prepended or appended to the title. (e.g. (wcutler)) Subsequently an Advanced Search could be done on your marker as the keyword, selecting the Search Titles Only option and entering your username in the User Name field, selecting Find Posts by User. In theory this should work. I tried to test this using the Test Bed but search results seem to exclude its contents. The marker could be embedded in the text itself if the search by title proves not workable.
Thanks for the comments, Liz and Junglekeeper. It's not that I can't find the threads - I did find, in an advanced search, all of the ones I started in the Plants Identification forum. I really liked seeing the titles of the ones I'd renamed - that was all I needed to see to remind myself of the names and I was able to remember what they looked like. For the others, I had to open them to see the names I'd forgotten (which were the recent postings - it's pathetic, I know).
Neat trick junglekeeper. What would be useful once correct names are located for some of these things is to add a "TAG" to the post as well. Sort of a housekeeping task to make the database more useful. So while you are in there Wcutler do the dishes so to speak :) Liz
