This page describes how to associate externally hosted images with records in your portal using a CSV of image links/URLs.
⚠️ When providing images via URLs, the URLs should begin with “https://” (not “http://") in order for them to display correctly in various browsers. This is especially important for thumbnail images. If you provide images using URLs containing “https” and they do not display correctly in your Symbiota portal, check that the server that hosts your images maintains an SSL certificate that supports the use of “https”.
A template for this upload type can be found here.
The required fields for this upload type are (1) a subject identifier for the occurrence you are linking to (occurrenceID, catalog number, and/or other catalog number), and (2) originalUrl. The originalUrl should include a direct link to the desired image (i.e., ideally ending in .jpg or .tif or some other image file extension). Note that uploading a link to a webpage where that image may be found rather than directly to the image may result in images not displaying as expected.
Optional fields are listed in the table below.
| Field Name | Data Type (Length in characters) | Description |
|---|---|---|
| subject identifier: catalogNumber | Text (32) | The primary human-readable identifier for the record you are linking the image to. |
| subject identifier: otherCatalogNumbers | Text (45) | An alternative catalog number stored as an “Additional Identifier” in the portal for the record you are linking the image to. See this page for more context. |
| subject identifier: occurrenceID | Text (255) | The global unique identifier (GUID) of the record you are linking the image to. |
| accessRights | Text (255) | A url to the page describing who can access the resource or an indication of its security status. |
| anatomy | Text (100) | Textual description of the anatomical features visible in the image or media item. |
| archiveurl | Text (255) | A stable link to a publicly available archival image (generally a large TIF or RAW file). Not commonly used. |
| caption | Text (100) | A textual description of the image or media item. The caption will be publicly viewable and should ideally be kept brief. |
| copyright | Text (255) | The organization to which a copyright or license belongs. |
| format | Text (100) | The media type of the media item, such a JPG, TIFF, video, GIF, etc. |
| hashFunction | Text (45) | Name of the function that was used to generate a hash (fixed-size value representation of the item) for the media item. See this article for more information about hashing. |
| hashValue | Text (45) | A fixed-size value representation of the media item generated using a given hashing algorithm. See this article for more information about hashing. |
| mediaMD5 | Text (45) | Hash for the image or media item created using the MD5 algorithm. See this article for more information about hashing. |
| notes | Text (350) | Comments or other notes regarding the image or media item. |
| originalUrl | Text (255) | The large or highest-quality version of the image or media item. This url will be used to create thumbnail and web-ready versions of images using the thumbnail maintenance tool, if used. |
| owner | Text (250) | The legal owner of the image or media item. |
| photographer | Text (100) | The creator of the image or media item. |
| photographerUid | Integer (10) | The unique number assigned to the Symbiota portal user who created the image or media item. Note that this can only be populated in cases when the photographer has a user account in the portal. |
| referenceUrl | Text (255) | A link to a URL or page that features the image in the original software. |
| rights | Text (255) | The rights applied to the image or media item dictating appropriate reuse of the item. For example, a Creative Commons license may be applied here. |
| sortOccurrence | Integer (11) | The sort order of the image as it will appear on the page related to the occurrence record. Lower numbers will be displayed before higher numbers. |
| sourceIdentifier | Text (150) | A unique identifier belonging to the image or media item provided by the source of the media item. |
| thumbnailUrl | Text (255) | A thumbnail-sized version (e.g., ~300 pixels in the widest dimension) of the image or media item to be shown quickly in search results. |
| url | Text (255) | A web-ready version of the image or media item, such as a JPG no larger than 2 MB. This is the version that is displayed as “medium resolution” in the occurrence editor. |
Katie Pearson, ed: Lindsay Walker. Image URL Upload. In: Symbiota Support Hub (2024). Symbiota Documentation. https://biokic.github.io/symbiota-docs/coll_manager/images/url_upload/. Created on 31 Oct 2023, last edited on 08 Aug 2024.