Introduction - WTU Herbarium Image Collection<

WTU Image Collection:

Plants of Washington
Lichens of Washington

Writing species descriptions:

The WTU Image Collection website presents a unique opportunity for interested botanists to share their knowledge of our state's flora. With password access, and right from your web browser, you can contribute to the site by writing species descriptions, providing identification tips, selecting photos for display, and more. You can even expand upon species pages that others have written. Contributors will receive recognition for each species page they write or add to.

Please carefully read the instructions below before writing any species pages.

General instructions:

You can contribute to as many (or as few) species pages as you like, provided you can write accurate botanical descriptions of the species you undertake. You do not need to be an expert botanist to write adequate descriptions. However, we recommend you work on species that you are familiar with and for which you can find up to date literature references.

Writing new species pages: You'll find many pages that have not been worked on by any other contributors. On these pages you are not constrained by what has already been written and have more freedom. We encourage contributors to focus their efforts on these pages first, and to plan on completing the entire page rather than filling out only a few parts and moving on.

Adding to pages written by another contributor: You'll also find other pages that have already been filled out by one or more other contributors. You are free to add or change information found on these pages; however, be respectful of what has already been written. In general, you should restrict your contributions to making corrections of erronous/outdated data, or adding additional information that the previous contributor(s) did not include.

All contributions to species pages subject to review by herbarium staff as a precautionary measure and to help avoid conflicts between information provided by multiple contributors. Following review, your contributions will be added to the live species page. If we have any concerns, we will first contact you by email and try to resolve them. Typically, it takes 1-3 days before your contributions will go live.

Detailed steps for writing a species description:

Editing a species description requires several steps, each step with several components that can be filled out. Each step is described here to help contributors understand what they are being asked to do.
(see also the species edit page reference sheet)

1) Access the Edit Page for the species: Once you have selected a page to write or expand upon, scroll down to the bottom of the species page, where you will find an "Edit Page" button. Clicking on this button will take you to the login screen (unless you are already logged in), and after entering your user name and password, you will be directed to the species edit page. Part of an edit page is shown at right. If you wish to back out at this point, click the Cancel Button.

2) Checking the species common name: The default common names shown on the page may need to be cleaned up to look better, and culled down to the most frequently used names. Clicking on the "Edit Name" button on the Edit Page will display a popup window with further instructions for changing the common name.

4) Editing the species text data: Text information that can be filled out for each species includes: distribution, habitat, bloom period, origin, a categorized description, distinguishing characteristics, and notes. Clicking on the "Edit Section" button in the Core Data section or the Species Description section will display a popup window containing text boxes where you can directly edit the text, then update the main edit page with your new text. Part of a Edit popup window is shown at right below. (note: until you click the Save Button your work will not be saved to our database. Until step 8, none of your work will be saved).

5) Fill out descriptions for each subspecies and varieties: Species with more than one subtaxon in Washington contain links to separate pages for each of those subtaxa, with basic information, photos, and range maps. As the author for the species, you are expected to also complete the subtaxa pages as well. These pages are much simpler and require only that you select photos (if available), and write the distribution, habitat and distinguishing characters text. Of course, you are free to write more detailed subtaxa descriptions if you like.

6) Select photos and add photo captions: Each page can have up to 3 screen-size photographs displayed down the right side of the screen. The "Edit Photo and Caption" buttons allows you to select from among any of photos we have for the species and optionally supply a caption for each photo.

7) Fill out the Identification Key characteristics: At the bottom of the edit page (not shown in the screenshot) is a section that looks nearly the same as the Identification Key page. In this section you can select all the key characteristics that apply to the species. It is very important that you complete every one of the categories in the key section and do it accurately, otherwise, the identification key will not provide reliable access to this species.

8) Save your changes: After you have completed the species Edit Page you must then click the "Save Changes" button at the top of the page. This button will store your changes in our database for review, and return you to the live (but unchanged) view of the species page. The changes you have made will be reviewed by herbarium staff within several days, after which the live species page will be updated with your additions, with you listed as a contributor. At any time up to this step you can discard your current changes and back out of the Edit Page by clicking on the "Cancel" button.

Sample edit page:

Sample popup window:

Making later changes to your work:

At any time, you can go back to the Edit Page for a species you have contributed to and there modify or add to the information you have already written. If your page has not yet been reviewed, you will be presented with your unreviewed work. If your page has been reviewed and accepted, you will be presented with the live version of the species page, to which you can make new changes. As with your initial contributions to the page, your changes will first be reviewed by herbarium staff before being posted to the live page.

Permanently deleting your unreviewed work:

If you wish, you can permanently delete your unreviewed work by clicking the Delete Button at the top of the species edit page. You can only delete unreviewed work you have submitted. Clicking the Delete Button will have no effect on other contributors's work, nor on the live version that may contain work you previously submitted.

©2006 Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture.
All Rights Reserved. Box 353010, University of Washington,
Seattle, WA 98195-3010, Phone: 206-543-5590.
On the UW campus at 17th Avenue NE and NE 45th Street.

WA Native Plant Society