Geograph - photograph every grid square

Keeping the Geograph website operational requires many people to donate their time or resources, and we want to be sure that the website is a resource free from commercial exploitation in future. To that end, the site software is available for re-use under the terms of the GNU Public Licence (GPL).

Also, we require all submitters to adopt a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike licence on their photographic submissions.
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/

Under this licence the photographer keeps the copyright on their images but grants the right to anyone to copy and/or distribute and/or modify the image and its attached metadata, provided they give credit. This right to reuse the image may include someone printing and selling the image on Ebay or elsewhere.

On submission, contributors licence their images at one or more specific sizes. Once a licence is granted it is irrevocable, as that image and licence may legally have been downloaded and used elsewhere.

In a nutshell, we wanted to build a true community project that won't leave a nasty taste in the mouth by getting sold for shedloads of cash and taken away from the people who contributed. These licence terms ensure that the site and content can never be "taken away" from you. See Freedom - The Geograph Manifesto http://www.geograph.org.uk/help/freedom



(Developer? http://www.geograph.org.uk/article/Geograph-for-Developers )

Currently (June 2021), updated every Tuesday morning.
But could still take a few days to show due to caching.

Not all submissions have EXIF details attached, some image manipulation software strips the EXIF unless you ask it not too. Some contributors deliberately strip the EXIF as an easy fix to portrait images appearing sideways on the site.
Where it exists you can use a browser add-on to view the EXIF or download the photo (not the smallest version when larger ones are available - the next size up will have it). In Windows right-click on the photo in question and select 'Properties' then 'Details'. On macOS, open the photo in Preview, click on 'Tools' up in the menu bar at the top then select 'Show Inspector' and click on the 'Exif' tab. In Irfanview use the 'Image information' button.

RSS, or Really Simple Syndication, allows you to obtain an up-to-date listing of the latest Geograph submissions for integration into another website or RSS reader. For more information, try this Wikipedia article on RSS.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RSS_(protocol)

We provide an GeoRSS (RSS1.0) feed at http://www.geograph.org.uk/feed/recent.rss which contains links to the latest 20 moderated images.

We have recently added RSS feeds to other parts of the site:
* You will find an RSS button at the bottom of search results, useful to keep updated on local images.
* Registered users can access an RSS feed of the latest topics in the Discussion Forum, and even subscribe to an individual topic, just look for the RSS button!
* the Grid Square Discussions even supports GeoRSS.
* Get an RSS feed of recently updated Articles.
* The newer Content section has an RSS feed.
* Find out about organized meets by following the RSS feed.

(They also accept the format parameter like the main feed.)

If you use the Firefox web browser, you should be able use our feeds as "live bookmarks" - simply click the orange button in the address bar (or in the status bar on older versions).

For more technical information, see
http://www.geograph.org.uk/help/api

Yes, as with any of the information you added when submitting, this can be edited using the 'Change image details' form which is linked to just below the photo on its main page.

It's essentially the most viewed - weighted so length the image been on the site is taken into account and deduplicated so only one from any shots taken same day. The alternative selection is different, in that it carves the period up into a number of periods (by submission date!) and then just displays the most viewed in that period. For more info see forum thread.

This will depend upon how many moderators are active and the rate at which images are being submitted. It can vary between a few minutes and a couple of days.
Occasionally technical problems can lead to the suspension of moderation for brief periods. This may be announced in the forum.
You can view your recent uploads, moderated or not, via your Recent uploads page http://www.geograph.org.uk/submissions.php (link in the side bar) or from links on your profile page http://www.geograph.org.uk/profile.php (link top right of most pages).

You can submit all your photos under a pseudonym by changing the name on your Profile http://www.geograph.org.uk/profile.php (link top write on most pages). Note that by doing this, the name will be changed on all photos you have previously submitted from the account. These may already have been used elsewhere, crediting the name originally shown.
You can change the credit on an individual image, for instance if you asked someone else to take it for you, but the name on your profile will still be shown on the photo page and the photographer name will still link back to your profile.
You can open another account under a pseudonym but this will need to be done from a different email address and you will have to take care which account you are signed in with before submitting, making changes or posting in the forums.

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.

Yes, it is still possible to change the category on older submissions but why not embrace Tags?
The old Category system is no longer available for most contributors on new submissions and there is a plan to remove Categories and replace with a tag. You can add tags to images which already have a Category and this may be a more useful exercise.

In the grey bar near the centre of the photo page, is a link "Suggest a change to this image" - click that and fill out the form.

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.

All images shown on the general photo pages fit within a 1024pixel-square area. If they are bigger than that when uploaded, the site software will reduce them to fit into that frame. If they are smaller than 640px, the moderator is likely to request a larger version.

Optionally, you can upload a larger version of the same photo and license that larger version with the same Creative Commons licence (unlimited free re-use by anyone for any purpose as long as credit is given) as the main image. To do this, select the largest image size that you are happy to contribute when prompted by the submission dialogue after uploading your photo in step 1. Geograph will produce the standard 1024px image as well as this higher-resolution one according to your request.

Site users can access these larger images by clicking on 'more sizes' above the main photo on the photo page.

One of our contributors and moderator, Peter Facey, recorded the following video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L4SQ_cRlwjw

This page http://www.geograph.org.uk/submit-example.php shows the four stages of the submission process (locate - upload - describe - license) on one page. If you'd rather watch a video showing how it works, look at http://www.geograph.org.uk/faq3.php#49 .

They probably look fine on your computer where they are auto-rotated but Geograph just takes the picture as stored. You will be shown a preview of the image during submission, if it looks wrong please use the buttons on the preview to rotate it before completing the submission process and clicking [I agree] as the rotation cannot be done afterwards.

You can, as long as you now hold the copyright in the image, which will be the case if you've inherited them. During submission, you will be asked in step 4 to confirm the Creative Commons licence. You should untick 'I am the photographer' and enter the name of your deceased relative there. The picture will then show on your profile but will be credited to your relative. Alternative, you can change the credit after submission by clicking 'change image details' under the photo and then 'change credit' after your name.

If you are sure that you hold the copyright but there are several possible deceased relatives which could have taken the picture, you can submit them under a name such as 'Smith family archive'.

You can switch to version 2 of the submission procedure http://www.geograph.org.uk/submit2.php , which has all four steps on one page in collapsible boxes. To open and close the boxes, click on their header bar. You can begin filling in the boxes while your picture is uploading, although a few options such as tags only become available once the upload is finished.

Version 2 becomes available once you're familiar with the kind of information needed for a submission to Geograph, having uploaded a few pictures using the standard method.

Instead of switching each time, you can set your preferred submission method in your profile http://www.geograph.org.uk/profile.php?edit=1 .

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)

You can use multi-submit as your submission procedure http://www.geograph.org.uk/submit-multi.php , which allows you to upload up to 20 images in one go by dragging them into tab A. You can upload multiple batches of images using this procedure. Once all your uploads are finished, switch to either of the two 'B' tabs, depending on whether you prefer the remaining three steps of the submission process (locate, describe, license) on separate pages (version 1) or on a single page per picture (version 2). In tab B, select one image at a time and complete the submission process as usual. You've got a week to fill in the details and license your images before they disappear from multi-submit.

Instead of switching each time, you can set your preferred submission method in your profile http://www.geograph.org.uk/profile.php?edit=1 .

Most GPS receivers allow you to change the datum and display format to OSGB36 and British National Grid, the convention used by the Ordnance Survey of Great Britain. If you're using a GPS built into a mobile phone, this may not be possible, and your coordinates will always be in WGS84 lat/lon format. If you also use your GPS phone to take your geographs, it should store the positions in the GeoExif header, which Geograph should interpret correctly as camera position (via the Geotagged Image option).

Otherwise, you can use the map part of the submission routine ('locate/find on map') and enter your lat/lon coordinates in the format the 'Search' function, in decimal degrees like 56.45657,-4.54675 . This will look up the grid reference for the location and insert it as _subject_ position into the submission dialogue. You may have to adjust this unless the subject was right in front of you.

Alternatively, there is a conversion tool here on Geograph Tools http://www.nearby.org.uk/coord.cgi?f=conv from which you can copy and paste. Or one built into geograph at https://www.geograph.org.uk/latlong.php

(Question asked by Roga and answered by barryhunter, oasthouse and DHL on the forum http://www.geograph.org.uk/discuss/index.php?&action=vthread&forum=18&topic=13483&dontcount=1&page=0#1
Later updated, as conversion tools have changed over time))

The Photo of the Week competition is an informal competition intended to showcase some of the best images submitted during the week.

The only criterion for an image to be considered is that it must have been taken during the qualifying week, which runs from Saturday to Friday, and submitted by midnight on the following Tuesday.

Some people like to make sure that their images are submitted within the qualifying period, and other like to delay their submissions to make sure they are not considered.

What constitutes 'best' is very much subjective, because the selections of both shortlist and winner are done by different contributors each week.

As with all subjective selections, there is often disagreement with some of the selections, but that usually manifests itself by people saying which image they would have picked if it had been up to them to do so.

It all takes place in the Discussion Forum "Photograph of the Year (date)".