Export your observations to iNaturalist to share them with the global community. Each observation is exported individually, so you choose which ones to share.
Before You Export
Connect your iNaturalist account first.
Exporting an Observation
- Open your observation on the website. The export option is in the Connected Networks section, and also on the Edit Observation page.
- Choose the Geoprivacy for iNaturalist:
- Open: show the exact location on iNaturalist
- Obscured: hide the precise location on iNaturalist
- Private: hide the location completely on iNaturalist
- Click the export button and wait while your photos upload.
If your observation is Private on Field Mycologist UK, it’s always exported as Private.
What’s Exported
- The species, matched to iNaturalist’s taxonomy where possible
- All your photos
- The location, according to the iNaturalist geoprivacy you chose
- The date
- Your notes, followed by an Additional Details section with the habitat, substrate and associates
- Your licence (CC BY or CC BY-NC)
Not exported: the vice county, how sure you were of the ID, and comments or suggestions from Field Mycologist UK.
After Exporting
- The observation appears on your iNaturalist profile, where the iNaturalist community can identify it.
- On Field Mycologist UK, Connected Networks shows Observation exported to iNaturalist, the export date and a View on iNaturalist link.
Research Grade
Once a day, Field Mycologist UK checks your exported observations on iNaturalist.
- If one reaches Research Grade as the same species, it’s confirmed here automatically (unless members here have put forward a different ID), a note is added to its activity and you’ll receive a Research Grade email. It also shows a Research Grade label.
- If it reaches Research Grade as a different species, it stays unconfirmed here and a note explains what iNaturalist’s community identified it as, so you and our Identifiers can take a look.
Research Grade observations also count towards the Research Grade badge. See Recorder Badges.
Good to Know
- One-way and one-off: changes made after exporting aren’t copied in either direction. Edit the iNaturalist observation directly if needed.
- Separate privacy: the iNaturalist geoprivacy is independent of your Field Mycologist UK setting.
- Removing it: to remove an exported observation, delete it on iNaturalist.
- No bulk export: observations are exported one at a time.
Troubleshooting
- Export failed? Check your connection and try again. If none of the photos upload, the export is cancelled so you’re not left with an incomplete record on iNaturalist.
- Species not matched? If iNaturalist doesn’t recognise the name, your species name is still sent as a guess, and the iNaturalist community can add the identification.
- Connection expired? Disconnect and reconnect your iNaturalist account in Settings.