Collection Preferences

Documentation Configuration & Installation
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:book: This guide explains the preferences available at the collection-level that can be customized by collection administrators.

Collection Preferences allows collection administrators to manage settings that affect how the collection behaves for all users. These settings provide fine-grained control over the user interface, data entry rules, and statistics.

Collection Preferences are accessed through the User Tools menu. A Collection Preferences file may also be available at the collection level in App Resources.

Preferences are grouped into functional categories to help you find the setting you need quickly.

General

These settings control global behavior for data entry and privacy.

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Pick Lists

  • Scope Entire Table Picklists
    By default, pick lists in Specify are context-aware. However, when this setting is enabled (default: true), pick lists will load all values available in a table, regardless of the current record’s context.

Attachments

  • Public by Default
    Controls the visibility of new files attached to records.
    • Enabled: New attachments are marked as Public immediately.
    • Disabled (Default): New attachments are private. Users must explicitly change the visibility to make them public.

[!note]
Keeping this disabled helps maintain data privacy by ensuring sensitive images or documents are not accidentally published.

Tree Management

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Synonymized Nodes

In Specify, “synonymized” nodes in trees (like Taxonomy or Geography) are typically inactive, meaning they have been merged or redirected to an accepted value.
These toggles allow you to override standard behavior and add child nodes to a parent that has been synonymized. This can be toggled individually for:

  • Taxon
  • Geography
  • Storage
  • Geologic Time Period
  • Litho Stratigraphy
  • Tectonic Unit

[!note]
For collections with more than one Taxon tree, this preference will affect all Taxon trees in the applicable collection.

Statistics

Customize how your collection’s data is visualized on the dashboard and set Specify Network integration.

Appearance

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  • Show Preparations Total
    When enabled (default: true), the statistics dashboard will include totals for Preparations alongside specimen counts.
  • Auto-Refresh Rate
    Determines how often the statistics charts update automatically (default: 24 hours).

Specify Network

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  • Publishing Organization Key: The GBIF identifier for your organization.
  • Collection Key: The GBIF key for this specific collection.

Collection Object

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  • Catalog Number Inheritance
    This setting automates how Catalog Numbers are assigned between related records. When enabled (default: false), Component objects (parts of a specimen) will automatically inherit their Catalog Numbers from their parent Collection Objects or Groups.

Component

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  • Inheritance (Component to Parent)
    This specific setting (default: false) enforces inheritance logic specifically from the Parent Collection Object down to the Component.

Component & Collection Object

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  • Uniqueness
    When enabled (default: true), Specify enforces strict numbering discipline. A Catalog Number must be unique across both the Component table and the Collection Object table.