Ispot makes noting localities easy. You have four choices: Coordinates, Map, Automatic or Autocomplete.

(Too long??: see the short version .)
(Dont know where you were? Ask for help in the Locality Notes! Dont try and bluff your way: you will be caught out!)

* Locality by Coordinates

Simply type in your latitude and longitude.

Note that iSpot uses Decimal Degrees (DD), the default on most cell phones, cameras and GPSs. If you use Decimal Minuts (DM) or Degrees Minutes and Seconds (DMS) you will need to convert these to DD. See Locality formats - only DD?

Note that South and West are minus (i.e. -34.33 = S/W) and East and North are positive (i.e. 25.44 = E/N)

Note that how many decimal places you use determines you locality accuracy - roughly:
- None (0.) decimal places = 110km;
- One (0.1) decimal places = 11km;
- Two (0.01) decimal places = 1km;
- Three (0.001) decimal places = 110m;
- Four (0.0001) decimal places = 11m; and
- Five (0.00001) decimal places = 1m;
Three decimal places is usually adequate, fewer is too vague and more is often unnecessary, except for really isolated stands.

Fill in your Location title: this is what is shown on the observation when you look at the photo of the specimen. Make it useful and accurate, but short. Also make it unique and explicit, especially if you might visit the site in the future (more below under Autocomplete).

Fill in your Location notes: this is what is shown when one clicks on the location title and the map opens up showing the locality, with these details below. It can be as long and detailed as you like, and include tips on where to find the population. This is also where you put the nature reserve name, the farm name, and other fine-scale details.

Dont bother clicking on the "Hide Location" button. All sensitive species (as per the National List) are automatically 'hidden'. Use this mainly if you want to maintain your own privacy (e.g. for your garden or holiday cottage), should you feel the need to do so. All observations 'hidden' are displayed on the intersections of a 10X10km grid and shown to only one decimal place (but you as 'owner' can see full details). For more on sensitive species please see: http://za.ispot.org.uk/node/126336

* Locality by Map

To use the map option, simply click on the "Use Map" button. Don't fill anything in the other boxes: they will all be automatically filled in from the map and overwritten.

Clicking the "Use Map" button opens Google Maps, and if you have used Google Maps previously, you will feel at home. The map opens on southern Africa (else you are not at the southern African iSpot site!).
* You can use the +/- bar too zoom in and out (your mouse wheel works as a zoom too!)
* The hand with 4 arrows is used to pan across the map or move the map. If you select the hand and hold the button down you can drag the map about.
* Clicking (left click) places your flag and marks your spot

So look at the map, find where you were, zoom in, pan around and click to mark your spot. What could be simpler.

Note that your marker has the group symbol (i.e. bird, plant, etc.) of your observation (or blank if you have not selected a group yet, or iSpot symbol if there are many observations already at that point)

Note: Ispot determines your locality accuracy by how fine you zoom in. If you select your locality with the whole of southern Africa showing, then your resolution is 1100km. You can zoom in and mark the individual bush (resolution 5m) if you want. Ideally the scale bar (top right-hand corner) should read at least in metres, not kilometres, for your record to be useful.

Cannot find where you were? Simple, type in a nearby town or place in the "Find a location" box (Googlemaps often makes suggestions - choose a good one), press Go and the location will be the centre of the shown map.

Happy, all OK. Press Done. ISpot will fill in all the fields for you. Check that they make sense.

Your Location title will probably be inadequate - Googlemaps uses the street address, which is useless in a nature reserve or mountain or veld. Type in something more meaningful: this is what is shown on the observation when you look at the photo of the specimen. Make it useful and accurate, but short. Also make it unique and explicit, especially if you might visit the site in the future (more below under Autocomplete).

Fill in your Location notes: this is what is shown when one clicks on the location title and the map opens up showing the locality, with these details below. This is usually information too fine for Googlemaps to capture. It can be as long and detailed as you like, and include tips on where to find the population. This is also where you put the nature reserve name, the farm name, and other fine-scale details.

Dont bother clicking on the "Hide Location" button. All sensitive species (as per the National List) are automatically 'hidden'. Use this mainly if you want to maintain your own privacy (e.g. for your garden or holiday cottage), should you feel the need to do so. All observations 'hidden' are displayed on the intersections 10X10km grid and shown to only one decimal place (but you as 'owner' can see full details).

* Locality Automatically filled in

If your phone or camera has GPS enabled, then iSpot will automatically fill in the locality when you load your photograph. As simple as that.

Your Location title will probably be inadequate. Type in something more meaningful: this is what is shown on the observation when you look at the photo of the specimen. Make it useful and accurate, but short. Also make it unique and explicit, especially if you might visit the site in the future (more below under Autocomplete).

Fill in your Location notes: this is what is shown when one clicks on the location title and the map opens up showing the locality, with these details below. It can be as long and detailed as you like, and include tips on where to find the population. This is also where you put the nature reserve name, the farm name, and other fine-scale details.

Dont bother clicking on the "Hide Location" button. All sensitive species (as per the National List) are automatically 'hidden'. Use this mainly if you want to maintain your own privacy (e.g. for your garden or holiday cottage), should you feel the need to do so. All observations 'hidden' are displayed on the intersections 10X10km grid and shown to only one decimal place (but you as 'owner' can see full details).

* Using Autocomplete to do Localities

This requires cunning and planning.

Say you regularly visit a certain place or walk a route and you wish to every quarter put some pictures on iSpot. Your key is your Location title! Give it some thought. Say the locations are (by example, for Sirkelsvlei Trail these are 500m sections as per Peter Slingsby's excellent map):
* Paulsberg Lookout.
* Sirkelsvlei Trail - Olifantsbos start
* Sirkelsvlei Trail - Submarine lookout
* Sirkelsvlei Trail - Staavia edge
* Sirkelsvlei Trail - Leucadendron ridge
* Sirkelsvlei Trail - Broken ridge
* Sirkelsvlei Trail - Reed flats
* Sirkelsvlei Trail - Rietpan

The first time at any of these locations one needs to use methods 1-3 to fill in the locality.

Now for any subsequent observation, or any additional observations for the site, one can fill in the locality merely by typing into the Location title the following "Sirk" and giving iSpot a few microseconds to load up all ones past localities containing "Sirk". Look over the list, click on the desired location, click on the box that asks you do you want to load all details, and BANG: you have done all your mapwork.

That's it: iSpot will fill in the coordinates, the Location title, the Location notes (which one was clever enough to fill in with "Cape of Good Hope Section of the Table Mountain National Park, 500m section from The Pointer junction to the cairn at Hesterdam river crossing" or whatever). All automatic.

There is a catch - several:
* You need to remember your locality names - so plan carefully, it helps to keep things tidy and alphabetical. Do this by having a "major" locality first, followed by the "minor" locality;
* Don't accidentally add a second locality to the same name: iSpot programmers have found a clever routine that ensures that the OTHER locality will ALWAYS load up. Every now and then just check that things are still fine.
* Dont have too many names, iSpot only displays the first 12 matches, so limit your minor localities to less than 13.
* You have to type in part of the major locality, so keep it short and unique: don't choose too big an big area for the "major" locality, or if so make it short (e.g.: Cape of Good Hope Nature Reserve will clog up the system both in length and space - use CGHNR if you have to).

STILL CONFUSED? STILL DONT KNOW WHERE YOU ARE?
Ask for help.
Just explain where you were in words in the Location Notes and ask for help.
Dont just put in the nearest town, or a random place, or (a favourite!) "hide" the locality. You will be found out!

iSpot101

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