Changes in the database schema

Hello, it is possible to change the database schema created by specify without breaking the software?

Hi @davi,

Thank you for your question!

We do not support manual edits to the database schema. However, users are free to customize the interface schema. Manual edits would complicate maintaining consistency among all Specify users and make it harder to update and synchronize all instances. We believe we can best support members of the Specify Collections Consortium if the underlying database schema remains the same across all instances. Therefore, we do not warranty any database customizations made outside of those implemented at the software level by the Specify application.

If you have already updated the database schema, the software is unlikely to “break” since we aim to make new additions and changes as seamless as possible, but we cannot guarantee that future updates or changes will not undo your modifications, nor can we ensure their success. If we discover any issues related to the modifications made to the database, we will not be able to provide support or remediation options without an additional membership fee.

TL;DR: We do not warranty or support database modifications.


If you have suggestions for improving our database schema, we would love to hear from you! We collect user requests on our GitHub and prioritize changes based on their general applicability for our members. You can create a topic in New Feature Requests to share the changes you would like. Our team will take these into consideration!

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