Detailed Posting Guidelines
1. Maximum 3 posts per day for Identification requests/ confirmations- with one plant per mail (with preferably three or more pictures from different angles along with Close-ups), with different subject lines only are allowed. Members uploading the photographs for ID should ensure that all photographs belong to the same plant. Pl. follow the following format (without any spacing between the lines for easy incorporation in the website) for Identification requests/ confirmations:
Date/Time-
Location- Place, Altitude, GPS-
Habitat- Garden/ Urban/ Wild/ Type-
Plant Habit- Tree/ Shrub/ Climber/ Herb-
Height/Length-
Leaves Type/ Shape/ Size-
Inflorescence Type/ Size-
Flowers Size/ Colour/ Calyx/ Bracts-
Fruits Type/ Shape/ Size Seeds-
Other Information like Fragrance, Pollinator, Uses etc.-
Pl. copy it & keep it on desktop in a Word document so that you can copy & paste it & fill in the information (& provide pictures for these) to the extent possible while requesting for Id. This is compulsory for Id requests.
2. No restriction of format & number on postings for posting of identified plants.
3. Please post pictures as attachments, discuss the subjects etc. relating to Indian Flora, which is the main focus of this group. This is done by sending an e-mail to indian...@googlegroups.com. One can add attachment while composing the mail. Photographs of well developed leaves, flowers, fruits, bark/ stem, full view of the plant etc. & that too from different angles including front, side & rear views should be posted for correct identification of plants. Avoid posting anything which violates copyrights of others. Only individual members will be responsible & not the group for any copyright violations. Try to furnish the inf. yourself (if possible) or from Efloraofindia site by searching for the required species' page (https://sites.google.com/site/efloraofindia/) or from Wikipedia stating its link or provide suitable other links etc.
4. Mention the date & place (at least upto state level) of the pictures posted. It is useful to add your name and location. Please try to identify yourself while posting. Mistakes are encouraged over stating nothing, for better learning/ understanding. No one is infallible.
5. Each attachment preferably be of around 150 KB or less (with minimum size of 800 by 600 pixels or more). But one can have many attachments to illustrate different aspects of a tree/plant. But one has to be cautious not to post unnecessary pictures as far as possible. One has to re-size one's pictures to say 800 by 600 pixels or more at 72 DPI with quality settings of say 5 to 10 to bring it around 150 KB in Photoshop as per group guidelines for posting. Links are to be avoided as far as possible as attachments are allowed.
To re-size in Microsoft Office Picture Manager, which is available in most Window based computers: Open your picture in Microsoft Office Picture Manager. Click on 'Picture' in the top at Menu Bar & Select 'Resize' under it & select 800 by 600 pixels or more, Click on OK. Select File--> Save as, choose a file name & click on save button. It is much reduced in size. Similar procedure can be followed in other picture processing software.
To re-size all pictures in a folder at a time: Keep a copy of the folder (of which all pictures are to be re-sized) under My pictures folder. Open Microsoft Office Picture Manager. Select the desired folder from the left side Pan. Select all the pictures to be re-sized in the main Pan. Click on 'Edit Pictures' in the formatting bar at the top. Select on 'Re-size' in the right hand pan. Select size 800 by 600 pixels or more. Click on OK at the bottom. Click on Save button.
6. Different flowers / plants etc. to be posted in a separate mail for better response, linking, avoiding confusion etc.
7. Scientific or Common names to be given in the subject as far as possible or like "Is this Bombax species?" or "Is it Semal?" etc.
8. If you reply to a posting, your message can be sent to the whole group (by clicking on ‘Reply to all’) or just to the author (by clicking on ‘Reply’). If the reply is only of interest to the author or is personal, then use ‘Reply’, otherwise it has to be 'Reply to all'. All members are requested to either ‘Reply’, 'Reply to all' or ‘Forward’ (Don't use other methods), so that links/ messages/ mails don’t break off. Due to this we are not able to link messages properly on Efloraofindia Database along with other problems.
9. Numbering for Id requests in subject line: Bottomline is that there should not be any two posts with the same subject line & subject line should be as relevant as possible.Members may follow numbering of Id requests like DDMMYY+ Initials+ Sl.No. (if more than one on same day) to avoid any confusion, clubbing of mails with same subject line on the Google group, better linking in Efloraofindia database etc. For example if I post an Id request, it will be like ''For Id 060408JM1’’, 060408JM2 etc., in case it is not like ''Is it Bombax ceiba (Semal)?'' (this is much better & recommended). This is to facilitate that no two subject lines are same. However, members may follow other methods to ensure that no two subject lines are exactly identical. One may post two to three Id requests a day for better attention & feedback.
10. Members are requested to forward Id. requests/ confirmation mails again in case there is no response for about 3 days on the group.