# suggestion - plant index



## aaronnorth (24 Aug 2008)

Hi, i was wondering if it is a good idea to create a sub forum for a plant index? Anyone can create a profile. Give some ideas for everyone starting up. Let us know what you think!

Thanks, Aaron


----------



## Superman (25 Aug 2008)

That would be a good idea as I only really browse the Tropica Online Catelogue but that's not easy to work out.

Maybe like a code at the front of the post subject to say..
[FG] Foreground
[MD] Midground
[BG] Background
[??] Attach to wood/rocks

Plus other categories.


----------



## Garuf (25 Aug 2008)

I suppose but there is the very good plant geek index's which order plants and have rarer ones that tropica don't stock.


----------



## Dan Crawford (26 Aug 2008)

It's a good idea, something that we have discussed but never gotten round to doing.
It would have to be done "right" and it doesn't want to be just a blatant rip-off of someone else's work. Somehow it want to be unique to UKaps, any thoughts?


----------



## Voo (26 Aug 2008)

Rather than having just a couple of images of each plant species, what about having it link to the journals that contain those species? Tropica give images of individual plants, which make it harder to picture them in a group in a tank.

Not sure how it would be implemented though. Maybe just a link to the journal?


----------



## aaronnorth (26 Aug 2008)

Dan Crawford said:
			
		

> It's a good idea, something that we have discussed but never gotten round to doing.
> It would have to be done "right" and it doesn't want to be just a blatant rip-off of someone else's work. Somehow it want to be unique to UKaps, any thoughts?



definatley, it has to be special   

The link thing could work but it depends on what type of style you are after. dutch etc


----------



## a1Matt (26 Aug 2008)

For me when choosing a plant I like to see as many pictures of a plant in as many different tank environments as possible. Most plant indexes have just one or two and you never know the conditions (if it is high light\low light\added CO2, etc.)

I can visualise a plant index whereby members can upload a picture of a plant with preset comments next to it to complete.  e.g. you upload based on scientific name. then there is a whole list of comments you can choose to complete for say, common name, min height, max height, sections on tank conditions etc.

This gives the database a chance to gather quite a collection of pictures with data. 

One of the issues is of maintenance which becomes more of an issue when links to other pages are used. For this reason and also for 'neatness'  IMHO it would be better to if all the pics were contained in the same page\section rather than linking to journals.

It may also be preferable to allow only members to upload pics, which then need approving by moderators\admins.

I have seen a plant index that showed the plants in situ and had all the other plants in the tank in monochrome while the plant being shown was highlighted by being left in its original colour.  This worked well. You could see the plant in context yet you still knew which plant it was you were looking at amidst the myriad of plants that could be in the picture.

Thats all I can think of for now. Its easy to have bright ideas when someone else will be doing the work of coding it up!


----------



## Thomas McMillan (26 Aug 2008)

i think this is a great idea. 

when searching on the internet for plants, i'm looking for the 'ultimate' profile - the one that gives the most information. it would be great if everyone could contribute in some way with experiences and stuff to each profile so that everything is covered and nothing is missed about that plant. lots of pics too!


----------



## nickyc (26 Aug 2008)

a1Matt said:
			
		

> ...all the other plants in the tank in monochrome while the plant being shown was highlighted by being left in its original colour



Matt, this sounds like a really cool idea!  It would certainly make our index different!


----------



## aaronnorth (27 Aug 2008)

nickyc said:
			
		

> a1Matt said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



sounds good.  I know there a a few people oon here that are good on photoshop


----------



## aaronnorth (27 Aug 2008)

we could also have a part that says how to pronounce it. I notice not many have this on.


----------



## Thomas McMillan (27 Aug 2008)

*i al*



			
				aaronnorth said:
			
		

> we could also have a part that says how to pronounce it. I notice not many have this on.



that's a great idea! i always feel like such an idiot trying to pronounce some plant names in shops so i just point to the ones i want... hah


----------



## aaronnorth (27 Aug 2008)

*Re: i al*



			
				Thomas McMillan said:
			
		

> aaronnorth said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



lol, i am bad with aquatic brand names, i had to spell eheim out the other month as i didnt know how o pronounce it


----------



## a1Matt (27 Aug 2008)

*Re: i al*



			
				aaronnorth said:
			
		

> Thomas McMillan said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Me too.  I used to read a lot and know many words that I have never heard said out loud.  I used the word 'Hyperbole' (I said hyper-bowl, it hsoudl have been high-perbollee) at work the other day and half the room asked what it meant and the other half laughed at how I pronounced it.   

Anyway I digress, more plant index ID's please everyone


----------



## bugs (6 Sep 2008)

Reinvent the wheel? Why not contribute to an already established plant index such as PlantGeek.net?


----------



## aaronnorth (6 Sep 2008)

bugs said:
			
		

> Reinvent the wheel? Why not contribute to an already established plant index such as PlantGeek.net?



we could but we want UKAPS to be the best   try and get everything on here to enhance the site and push the UK plant enthusiasts up. Also, plantgeek doesnt have the great guides that are on here like drop checkers, EI, CO2 etc. so this will be a great addition to the site.


----------



## bugs (6 Sep 2008)

aaronnorth said:
			
		

> bugs said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



LOL - I'm still living the original internet/WWW dream... 

Note to self: Take a look at the guides.


----------



## Egmel (9 Sep 2008)

What would be really nice would be to create a front end that once the data has been collated allows you to search on height/light requirements etc.  

I envisage it being a bit like an ebay search with check boxes and it returns thumbnails with scientific names and a link to the data page/thread.

The reason I say this is that quite often you have a spot in an aquarium where you know what sort of plant you want but you don't have a clue which ones fit that category!

Though I always want the moon on a stick and the sun for a lollipop so feel free to ignore this suggestion


----------

