Terms
of use for the ACTIAS Gallery
[As
of: 10.03.2021]
Dear
ACTIAS community
the
topic of "posting pictures" in the ACTIAS Gallery has been
on our minds for a while. Already 2-3 years ago and with Rudi's
notice of April 2020, we tried with various guidelines in respect to
the informative content to give the posted pictures a certain value
and quality. Unfortunately, this was only of limited success and
involved a considerable amount of time on the part of the ACTIAS team
in order to supplement what was missing.
In
the context of the current dissolution of the old "General
Folder" with its originally more than 42,000 images, which takes
a lot of time but is unavoidable, I have decided to clean up, i.e.
also delete these images before they are moved to the new categories.
Pictures
that are already in the new categories (as of the beginning of March
2021) are not affected, as most of them have already been reviewed,
moved and corrected by us.
In
general, we are happy about every informative and well-made photo
that finds its way into the ACTIAS gallery so that we can enjoy it,
and which lets us be part of the work of our colleagues. In order to
be in dialogue with each other and to provide information, pictures
are an adequate means - a picture says more than a thousand words.
This is the main idea of the ACTIAS gallery.
Since,
unfortunately, the majority of the pictures still do not conform to
what we would like to see on ACTIAS, the existing guidelines will be
updated with further rules and distributed to all users of ACTIAS by
collective e-mail as well as being made available on the start page
via link to the main text.
General
gallery rules
Pictures
can only be uploaded to the gallery if at least one album has been
created/exists in which the picture can be put into and if a category
folder has been selected for public presentation, preferably the
correct one.
Pictures
showing one and the same animal should have been taken from different
perspectives/angles in order to give different information about the
animal.
ACTIAS
is an insect forum. This means that all off-topic pictures as well as
off-topic comments in the gallery are not welcome and will be
deleted. For these pictures, ACTIAS offers the possibility to post
them in forums such as the "Chat Room", under "Travel"
or "Collecting and Taxidermy" and provide appropriate
information.
Only
the market place on ACTIAS is intended for trading animals and
plants. References to trade are not allowed in the gallery and will
be deleted.
Identification
queries also do not belong in the gallery and are to be posted
exclusively in the forum area intended for this purpose. Photos that
are obviously uploaded for identification purposes will be deleted
from the gallery or moved to an appropriate forum.
A
picture uploaded to the gallery may be linked to in the
identification request in the corresponding forum.
In
which cases will images be deleted?
Images
will be deleted without comment if ...
...
one or more required pieces of information are not included/missing,
...
several pictures obviously show one and the same animal from the same
perspective,
...
pictures are blurry,
...
pictures offer little significance/information content,
...
pictures of birds, lizards, and other non-insect species,
...
show human body parts such as arms, hands, etc. (exception: if
sweat-sucking insects are shown)
...
the picture was posted with the intention for identification.
Why
are images going to be deleted?
1.
Over time, the gallery should reach a level of quality that meets the
requirements of a structured gallery.
2.
Pictures will be deleted if it would mean too much work to write to
every submitter separately for each incorrectly uploaded picture and
to ask for additional information.
When
will images not be deleted?
1.
When images contain all the required information.
2.
If a title does not fully correspond to the specified format, the
first author is missing or the category has obviously been chosen
incorrectly. In these cases, the discrepancies will be resolved by a
moderator or admin, if necessary after consultation with the
submitter.
Minimum
requirements for posting pictures
1.
Title of the image: scientific/latin name and stage, if applicable.
For
example:
Aglais
urticae
or
Aglais urticae (LINNAUES, 1758)
or
Aglais urticae, L1 caterpillar
No
further additional information!
2.
Description of the picture: Name (scientific and if desired
English/German) Stage, origin or place of recording, date of
recording.
Example:
Name:
Aglais urticae or Aglais urticae / small tortoiseshell.
Stage:
(egg, caterpillar, pupa)
Origin:
England, Kent, Canterbury area
Recording
location/date: Canterbury, 12.03.2021
Exceptions
to the specification of the location/recording site: If protected or
rare species are shown.
The
location of the photograph should be given as precisely as possible.
As a minimum, the country and a nearby town should be given. The size
as well as the actual distance of the town can be chosen at one's own
discretion and may be chosen generously in the case of localities
that are not to be made public. Example: South of Stuttgart, instead
of Tübingen.
3.
further information on the picture (optional)
Information on
breeding/breeding conditions
Information on habitat/biotope
Information
on the host plant, e.g.
Stinging
nettle or Urtica dioica
Technical
details on photographical methods used
Individual
explanatory text
Supplementary
information in the context of uploading images
In addition to the
purely picture-related information, the input mask for the pictures
offers a number of other input fields. Filling in these fields adds
further information to the picture, which gives the viewer
supplementary information about the picture. Examples are:
- Activation of the
map by entering the location in the map input field.
- Input of tags,
independent of the title, e.g. the associated family, country of
origin, etc.
The new Gallery
Terms of Use are available in the following languages, English,
Dutch, French, Spanish,
Italian, Polish and Russian.
Thank you for your
trust and consideration of the new rules.
Your ACTIAS team
