Geograph - photograph every grid square

In the line of links just below the credit line on the photo page are one or two yellow 'thumbs up' icons. Just one, which says [👍🏻 Like] if there is no description. Or one saying [👍🏻 Like Image] and another with [👍🏻 Like Description]. You can also find the 'Like' thumbs on the 'Full listing + Links' format of the photo search under 'Thumb'.
Click on one or both to show your appreciation.
When this happens to one of your photos, it is reported on the section of your profile 'Use of my photos around the site'.

The answers given by Barry have been on the site for a long time, and they form the basis of what the site is about. Yet many good Geographs do not fulfil any of those criteria, and two are almost contradictory (at close up and being useful in interpreting a map).

It is important to realise that the site has grown way beyond what was first envisaged, and so the site's definition of Geography is now very wide, incorporating a lot of social history, ecology, geology and other allied subjects. This is encouraged but it means that the definition of a Geograph has become broader.

So a Geograph is any photograph, accurately geoloacted, that depicts the Geography of a square, or any aspect of the Geography of the square, shown in some form of context. A description is useful and encouraged, especially for photographs in which the geography is not obvious, but it is not essential.

Some other photographs are still extremely welcome and contain useful geographical information but may not be classified as Geographs*, and listed below:

Firstly, it was felt that it was very important that every square should be actually visited and not just 'view-bagged' from a distance. So, Geographs must be taken within the square. Nevertheless, certain views can only be seen from outside a square. These cross-grid shots are classified as "Cross Grid".

Secondly, some photographs don't have much context. These are usually details of large objects, but they may just be very small objects or they could be large objects that are not shown completely. Most mods would agree that the smaller the object the more context that is needed to make it a Geograph. These close-ups are classified as "Close Look"*. The largest objects that tend to be classed as shown in close-up or incompletely are buildings. Most mods believe that to be a Geograph a building photograph should the whole building or some context, although some mods would prefer both.

Thirdly, indoor shots are classified as "Inside". They can add useful information, but indoors, being an entirely human environment, is on the fringe of the site's definition. Only public indoor areas are acceptable.

Fourthly, shots taken from the air are classified as "Aerial". They are often useful, but they approach the subject of Geography in a different way than was originally envisaged.

Finally some shots are classified as "Extra" these include:
Silhouettes
Sunsets and sunrises
Cloudscapes, sky, auroras, celestial bodies etc
Things in the sky such as birds, aircraft, balloons etc.
Things on the sea that are not permanently fixed to the sea bed for extended periods of time such as boats, windsurfers, inflatables


*(From 11 May 2016 the Supplemental Classification is replaced by Image Type Tags:
see http://www.geograph.org.uk/article/Image-Type-Tags-update ).

This is not really a question for Geograph. Unless we happen to have a photograph taken there and mentioning Clay Pool Lane in its description, we are not able to help you. I suggest you try Google maps.

Geograph runs on a pretty large database, and the load is spread over several servers. That means things do occasionally go wrong, and they aren't always consistent.

If a page doesn't display properly, try loading it again (by pressing F5) _once_. If that doesn't work, navigate away from the page, clear your cache (under privacy settings in most browsers) and try again. Or just wait a while, most of the time things get cleared up automatically given time.

If you think something is permanently wrong, post a bug report on the forum http://www.geograph.org.uk/discuss/index.php?&action=vtopic&forum=4 . Remember to say which page is affected (best paste in its address), which browser and version, and which operating system and version you use.

If something is wrong about the _content_ of a page (description text, photo location etc.), use the 'suggest an update' link under the main picture to contact the contributor and moderators.

Geograph publishes photos that illustrate the geography of Great Britain, Ireland and the Isle of Man.

For the first six years and 2 million images, Geograph contributors have been required to choose a primary geographical category for each of their images. They could either select one from a list or create a new one if what they wanted didn't exist. Some contributors limited themselves to a small number of very general categories (moorland, lake, buildings...) while others preferred to create much more detailed, often unique, categories (church (Roman Catholic) (former), artificial fish farming pool, bat hibernaculum...). The list grew to an unwieldy 9,000 categories, mostly of detailed photograph subjects. The primary geographical categories – which offered a broad-brush way of organising the archive – had got lost.

The system showed its limitations as the archive grew. For example, in this subject-rich photo http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1579473 the short title and description and single category (Watercourse) mean that other features go unrecorded, so will not be picked up in a search. Similarly in http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/716196 the category selected was Lake. A search on Lake would return over 25,000 images – not very useful. The interesting detail in the description would only be found by a very specific search. In a third example http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/514710 the category Artificial fish farming pool is unique, although the image would be found by a search for Fish farm. All these images would of course be seen in browsing their respective gridsquares. Photos with the minimum information will tend to be invisible to searches because searches are text-based. The solution is to enable contributors to choose multiple categories – tags – and one or more primary geographical categories – geographical context - that describe the content of the photo.

Of course, submitter knows best. The new system asks submitters to choose at least one geographical context from a fixed list of 46 very general options. If several of them apply, all their boxes can be ticked. At the same time, detail is encouraged with free-form tags which would previously have cluttered up the category list, and which can now be put to good use in narrowing down searches. So, geographical context and tags together should do all that categories used to, but without their limitations. In the Askern example several context boxes could be ticked: Lake, Village, Open space, Leisure; possibly Mining. From these alone a picture forms in the mind. Tags would fill in details of the birds, the tree, and the vanished historical features. The more information that can be attached to a photo the greater its value to the archive.

[edited by Robin Stott]

Simply click them if you like the image and/or description (separate entries in the thumb pop-up for each).

We don't know what use we will make of the data, but note that there are number of things we won't do. We won't disclose who is voting (all anonymous), we won't be using it to produce leaderboards, and we won't be disclosing which images that have few/no votes. The general idea is to simply find great content worth showcasing.

See this page for a bit more information, and the general principles behind voting on Geograph.
http://www.geograph.org.uk/help/voting

If you find a picture or its description particularly good or useful, you'll find links to heap praise on either in the thumbs pop-up menu which shows when hovering over the thumb symbol to the right of the main picture. Just click the appropriate link(s).

Contributors can see which of their pictures others found useful at http://www.geograph.org.uk/thumbed.php?type=&who=others .

You can also 'thumb' your own images to keep track of your own favourites. This is counted separately from feedback by others.

While you're at it, you can use the thumb pop-up to throw the image in one or several 'image buckets' - categories which classify the type of image, e.g. whether it is a close-up or a panorama, or if it shows people or landscapes. By doing this, you can help Geograph to narrow down searches and add value for other site users.

[PERSONAL OPINION OF THE AUTHOR] Geograph takes pride in taking care about accuracy of location and information content. We like to think that this sets us apart from many other picture sites on the internet.

Whether it is one of your own pictures or someone else's, if you think something's wrong, please use the 'change image details' or 'suggest update' link under the main picture. This gives you access to a form where you can amend any of the details (subject and camera position, view direction, title, description etc). After making your changes, leave a short explanation in the box at the end of the form.

Changes to your own images will update immediately. The only exception are changes to the subject grid square, which are moderated; this will typically take a day or so.

If you suggest changes to someone else's pictures, they will be alerted and have an opportunity to reply. Ideally, you should work with the original contributor to come to a consensus. Moderators will try to assist with that. Generally, accuracy is taken very seriously, but if additional information is presented, it is the photo contributor's prerogative to decide whether to accept it.

When making a suggestion, please bear in mind that you are communicating with the original author, not primarily with Geograph. Explain your changes in a friendly and civil manner, and supply sources to verify your point. Avoid making many suggestions to the same contributor at the same time.

Suggestions which are mainly concerned with geograph/supplemental* classification or seek to move positions by small amounts within the stated precision (often 100m) are regarded as a waste of time by many and can cause aggravation out of proportion with their usefulness.

* (From 11 May 2016 the Supplemental Classification is replaced by Image Type Tags:
see http://www.geograph.org.uk/article/Image-Type-Tags ).

All photos are Creative Commons (CC) licensed. That means you can use them for free for any purpose as long as you credit the photographer individually and state the fact that the image is CC-licensed. You can find suggested wordings for both print and electronic publications if you click 'reuse this picture' under the photo description on each photo page.

If you need a higher-resolution version, there may be a CC-licensed version available by clicking the 'more sizes' link (if present) to the top right of the main photo. Alternatively, you can contact the photographer through their profile page (click their name on the photo page to get there) and ask if they are willing to give or sell you a copy under a separate licence.

* You must clearly show one of the main geographical features within the square

* You should include a short description relating the image to the map square

* Photographing a subject that could be useful to a child in interpreting a map

It is not possible to replace the image on the photo page but you can upload a larger size version of the same image with different/better processing and note the fact it exists in your description.
We are reluctant to remove images which have been on the site for a while (no telling where they have been linked from) so this is the preferred method of adding a better quality version.

Click the link 'Use of my photos around the site' near the foot of your profile page.
Follow the link at the top of the page you arrive at to get notification emails of new additions in selected areas.

Adding a link to the source of information, or showing details of an off-line publication within your description or article are the usual ways to add a citation.

Chances are that someone on Geograph will recognise it if you show it to them. We've got a special area for images of unidentified locations at http://www.nearby.org.uk/geograph/speculative/ . To use it, you need to sign up with Geograph first (free and painless) at http://www.geograph.org.uk/register.php . Members are alerted to these speculative uploads on a special forum thread http://www.geograph.org.uk/discuss/index.php?&action=vthread&forum=2&topic=12804&page=0 .

Quite a few uncertain images are located using this facility. Once they are, they are transferred to the Geograph collection, and you can add a description and further information from your own research if you like. Good luck!

I'm sorry, you can't.
We keep the formatting simple on descriptions so the text can be used in the widest possible number of places without causing problems.
You can, however, use italics in articles - see http://www.geograph.org.uk/article/Help_on_formatting_of_articles

You can certainly link to any relevant website in the description of your images. However, if the description and link look too much like advertising may be removed or modified by a moderator.

Using this form https://www.geograph.org.uk/snippets.php tick the 'Only show my descriptions' box and add a keyword then click [Find] - there is a delete button beside each result.
If you find more than one description with your search ensure you pick the right one.

Please see the article http://www.geograph.org.uk/article/Shared-Descriptions

The easiest place from which to add shared descriptions to a few recently submitted images (or check if you have attached it to all you intended) is your Recent Uploads page http://www.geograph.org.uk/submissions.php (link in side bar).
The Shared Descriptions tab below the description box shows how many shared descriptions are attached to an image. Click it to check which they are, create a new shared description or attach one already created.
There is a bulk attach tool available to facilitate the adding of a shared description to up to 50 images at a time (see article).
Note you can only add shared descriptions to your own images but are free to contact other contributors to alert them to the existence of a shared description relevant to their photo which they may wish to add.

It's usually best to paraphrase information from other sources and then add a reference (or hyperlink) to those sources. If you want to quote something verbatim, you need to ask the author for permission to use it and to re-licence it under the Creative Commons licence - which essentially means they not only allow you but the whole world to use their text, provided credit is given. If you have their permission to re-use their text, you should still acknowledge that it's theirs.

It doesn't matter if the text you wish to quote is from a commercial printed work, a website or just a handwritten note the original author wrote just for your information.

(Inspired by a question asked by Jon2 and answered by barryhunter on the forum http://www.geograph.org.uk/discuss/index.php?&action=vthread&forum=18&topic=13068&dontcount=1&page=0#6 .)

On the bottom of your profile page, look for "Download: CSV , XML for Excel 2003 of all images".
This has links to download as Comma Separate Values (CSV) or Excel XML format.

These can be opened in spreadsheet software, eg LibreOffice or Micrsoft Excel.

The URL for these downloads looks like this:
For CSV: http://www.geograph.org.uk/export.csv.php?u=XXXX&supp=1&taken=1&submitted=1&hits=1&tags=1
For Excel: http://www.geograph.org.uk/export.excel.xml.php?u=XXXX&supp=1&taken=1&submitted=1&hits=1&tags=1

The parameters specify what is included. The contributor is u=XXXX, where XXXX is the user ID. If you use a link from your own profile, it will include your own ID.

Other options:
&supp=1 - include photos classed as supplemental
&taken=1 - include taken date
&submitted=1 - include submitted date
&hits=1 - include hit count
&tags=1 - include tags, in a list separated by question marks
&desc=1 - include description
&class=1 - include classification (geograph or supplemental)
&level=1 - include geograph points, eg 1st, 2nd, 3rd
&ll=1 - include latitude and longitude (in separate columns)
&en=1 - include numerical grid reference, in easting and northing, plus figures for precision
&ppos=1 - include photographer position, easting and northing

For more details, see the API help: http://www.geograph.org.uk/help/api#csv

There are three simple ways to link two (or more) photos.
To produce a link which simply shows as Link, add the full URL of the photo to be linked to in the description eg
"See http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/5966333 for a wider view."
To produce a link which shows the grid square and title, enclose the photo ID number (found at the end of the photo page URL) in double square brackets [[5966333]] so the link (in this example) will show as "See SO1189 : The Berwyns under snow for a wider view."
Either way it is a good idea to describe the other photo a bit, rather than just give the link.
For linking several photos a shared description - which may only be a title - can work well. Create your shared description in the Shared Description tab and then add it to each of the relevant images. This will produce an automatic link "see other photos of [title of shared description]"
For recent uploads such linkings are most easily done using the Recent Uploads page https://www.geograph.org.uk/submissions.php where the ID numbers are provided below the thumbnails and you won't need to visit individual edit pages to add the links.

If you have taken the picture yourself, or you have inherited it from a deceased relative and are certain of the copyright history, the age of the photograph is of no consequence.

With regard to old postcards or photographs without provenance, although the photo may well be out of copyright it is incompatible with the Creative Commons share alike licence and cannot be accepted on Geograph.

If you have taken a current view of the same place and would like to link it to the old photograph you can submit the recent shot here and upload the old photo to the media repository http://media.geograph.org.uk or a photo-sharing site like Flickr and link to it there in your description.

Shared descriptions are blocks of text that you can apply to a number of images. You can also use shared descriptions written by others.

This may be useful if you have taken a number of photos at one location, and want to write a paragraph about that location. Also if you make a change to the shared description (e.g. correct a typo) it will be updated on all the images it is attached to.

For example I wrote a shared description for a number of images featuring Epping Long Green, which I can re-use if I take any more images of that location. It also enables a viewer to access a page where all images using that description are displayed.

If someone else has already written a helpful description of a feature, you can re-use this. It also allows a way of grouping images from different contributors together. For example Ian Capper had written a description of Coal Tax Posts, which I was able to attach to one of my images: Anyone searching for "Coal Tax Posts" would be able to access a page where images from all contributors who had used that description are displayed.

You can find a detailed article on the topic written by Barry Hunter here: http://www.geograph.org.uk/article/Shared-Descriptions

You can search for shared descriptions already written here: http://www.geograph.org.uk/snippets.php

In your description you can create a link to another picture on geograph in 2 ways:
1) By entering the ID surrounded by 2 or 3 square brackets e.g. [[12345]] This will display as a link to (e.g.) " NN2544 : Coire Toaig"

An easy way of getting ID's for your recent photo's is to click on "recent uploads", where the id's are listed in square brackets for you to copy. This can be helpful when creating links before pics are moderated.

2) You can enter the full URL of a pic e.g. http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/12345 and that will display as "link". Note that the set of numbers at the end of the url is the photo ID.

For more detail, and for editing pics that have already been moderated, we suggest taking a look at Rudi Winter's tutorial (click on "More information on this topic... " below)

You can put links (URL or URI) to web pages and geograph photos into your description, and this will display with the text "link" in the description. Always leave a space after the link to avoid punctuation marks being included in the link. A link to any web resource will work, including a link to a photo on geograph such as http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/12345. Note that the set of numbers at the end of the url is the photo ID.

You can also link directly to a pic on geograph by entering the ID surrounded by 2 or 3 square brackets e.g. [[12345]] This will display as a link to (e.g.) " NN2544 : Coire Toaig".

An easy way of getting ID's for your recent photo's is to click on "recent uploads", where the id's are listed in square brackets for you to copy. This can be helpful when creating links before pics are moderated.

For more detail, and for editing pics that have already been moderated, we suggest taking a look at Rudi Winter's tutorial (click on "More information on this topic... " below)

As accurately as you can. If you can pinpoint subject and photographer position on the map then do so. If you are unsure then don't worry but do expect others to make suggestions of more accurate positions. You can help them by mentioning in the description things such as the direction you were facing or the name of nearby roads.

The idea is that you specify at least one 'top' (or 'geographical context') tag. These are about 40 broad classes describing the main aspect of the subject at the time the image was taken. You can add additional top tags if you like, depending on what surrounds your main subject. The top tags are shown in the tagging box if the radiobutton "context list" is selected.

In addition to the top tags, you can highlight detail that you feel is important. For that purpose, free-form tags are also available as an option. You can pick the most salient words from your description or any others that you would like your image to be found by if someone uses the word as a search term.

In addition you can use prefixed tags for collections of special interest: A railway enthusiast might create a prefix 'locomotive:' and use it to tag the different engines in their pictures. Or someone interested in churches could use a 'denomination:' tag to indicate which particular community uses the place of worship shown. You can also use existing prefixes, e.g. 'place:' or 'near:' to indicate which town something is in or near to. Have a look at what prefixes and tags others have already created: http://www.geograph.org.uk/tags/ . However, there is no need to restrict yourself in any way to that list. Prefixes are best used wherever it is likely that there will be other examples of your subject (church, locomotive...) with a slightly different attribute (Methodist, Diesel...).

As far as tags are concerned, chaotic growth is encouraged - the top tags are meant to counterbalance that!

If you know the year and/or month for certain please add these in the date field. Any fields you are not sure of, please leave them blank.
If you have a rough idea, such as 'late 1970s', it would be helpful if you mentioned this in your description.

The main picture on Geograph should be free from annotations because different people may want to use it in different contexts. However, annotated pictures demonstrating features such as geological or geographical details are very welcome. Please upload annotated versions to Geograph's media repository http://media.geograph.org.uk/ and link them from the description of the original image uploaded to Geograph's main archive. This article http://www.geograph.org.uk/article/Howto-Crosslinking-descriptions shows how to make such links.

The media repository can also be used for out-of-copyright images such as old postcards to compare with the same scene in a current geograph, or for user-generated maps of the area.

You can also annotate other people's images and link them as external images from an article you're writing. To get started with article writing, have a look at this overview: http://www.geograph.org.uk/article/Help_on_formatting_of_articles .

There are a number of forum threads where knowledgeable Geograph members help out identifying a variety of things. Just upload your picture (with the usual geographical information) and post it on the appropriate thread, then update your description when you get a satisfactory answer.

- insects: http://www.geograph.org.uk/discuss/index.php?&action=vthread&forum=18&topic=10511
- fish: http://www.geograph.org.uk/discuss/index.php?&action=vthread&forum=2&topic=12115
- birds: http://www.geograph.org.uk/discuss/index.php?&action=vthread&forum=2&topic=7307
- deer: http://www.geograph.org.uk/discuss/index.php?&action=vthread&forum=2&topic=13388
- livestock breeds: http://www.geograph.org.uk/discuss/index.php?&action=vthread&forum=2&topic=7733
- trees: http://www.geograph.org.uk/discuss/index.php?&action=vthread&forum=2&topic=12362
- orchids: http://www.geograph.org.uk/discuss/index.php?&action=vthread&forum=2&topic=11958
- crops: http://www.geograph.org.uk/discuss/index.php?&action=vthread&forum=2&topic=7530
- plants in general: http://www.geograph.org.uk/discuss/index.php?&action=vthread&forum=2&topic=4791
- fungi: http://www.geograph.org.uk/discuss/index.php?&action=vthread&forum=18&topic=12620
- geological curiosities: http://www.geograph.org.uk/discuss/index.php?&action=vthread&forum=6&topic=1910
- clouds: http://www.geograph.org.uk/discuss/index.php?&action=vthread&forum=6&topic=14038
- ships: http://www.geograph.org.uk/discuss/index.php?&action=vthread&forum=2&topic=12872
- phoneboxes: http://www.geograph.org.uk/discuss/index.php?&action=vthread&forum=6&topic=12931
- pillboxes: http://www.geograph.org.uk/discuss/index.php?&action=vthread&forum=18&topic=12600
- tractors: http://www.geograph.org.uk/discuss/index.php?&action=vthread&forum=2&topic=11962
- farm machinery: http://www.geograph.org.uk/discuss/index.php?&action=vthread&forum=2&topic=3366
- locomotives: http://www.geograph.org.uk/discuss/index.php?&action=vthread&forum=2&topic=11550
- railway paraphernalia: http://www.geograph.org.uk/discuss/index.php?&action=vthread&forum=2&topic=12095
- mystery objects: http://www.geograph.org.uk/discuss/index.php?&action=vthread&forum=2&topic=3736

If none of these fits your identification problem, try searching the forum (entry box top right on any forum page) or start a new thread, ideally using the word 'identification' in the title. And please edit this answer and include a link to it!