Here are some instructions for getting the most out of this site. See About the guide for more information on what Nature Navigator sets out to do.
Starting off
There are two ways of using Nature Navigator. You can either browse the Navigator page or search for a particular name.
Browsing
Either click on the Navigator link that appears at the top of every page, or click on the Browse button on the middle of the Home page. Whichever you choose, you will be taken to the top level of the Navigator page, which displays the five kingdoms of the natural world. How you interact with the Navigator page is described below.
Searching
Type a name, or just part of a name, in the empty box next to the search button on the Nature Navigator Home page. This can be a common name or a scientific name for a single species, or a group, of living things that occur in the British Isles. Examples would include beetle (or try just bee!), daffodil, buttercup, bird. TIP: You don't need to enter a name in the plural - 'buttercup' will find the group 'buttercups'.
Now click on the search button or press the return key. The Navigator will look for entries that match, or include, the term that you typed. There can be three outcomes to your search:
- if there is a single exact match on the name that you typed, then you will be taken direct to the relevant Navigator page
- if the Navigator is unable to find a match then you will be invited to try again
- or, most likely, you will get a number of matches and you will be taken to a Results list.
Here you see a list of matching entries arranged in two columns and ordered as follows:
- exact match to term entered
- common names that include the term entered, ordered alphabetically
- scientific names ordered by taxonomic rank.
Choose one of the names to proceed to the Navigator page - or you can use the search box at the top of the page to make a fresh search.
The Navigator page
This is the heart of Nature Navigator. On the right of the page is an interactive display showing the name that you have selected placed within a classification system. This display may be viewed either as a fixed display or, if you have Java installed, you can switch to a dynamic version. (See the Settings section below for more about Java.) On the left of the page is information about the organism, or group of organisms.
Navigator page - fixed display
The name that you have selected is displayed in a 'family tree'-like classification which traces its position in relation to other groups of organisms. Right at the top is the all-embracing category 'Life' (Omne vivum in Latin!), which is then divided first into kingdoms and then into component groups in decreasing order of taxonomic rank (see the Nature named page for an explanation of how organisms are classified). Where the name that you have selected occurs quite a long way down the classification, its related higher groups are initially hidden - click on the 'show parents' bar to reveal these groups. Below the selected name you will see lower terms ('children'), synonyms and related terms. Arrows indicate the nature of the relationship between names - position your mouse over an arrow and the type of relationship will appear.
The display shows common names and equivalent scientific name in separate columns. You can click on any name bar to make it the selected term - the display is then re-organised to show related names, and the information panel is updated with details relating to the selected name.
Navigator page - dynamic display
While the fixed display shows you only a linear representation of the immediate 'parents' and 'children' of a name, the dynamic display allows you to explore groups in much more detail.
You can:
- hold down the left mouse button and drag to move the whole display
- click on a name to update the information panel
- right-click on a name to expand or contract a branch (a number above the name shows the number of linked names)
- position the cursor over a link line to show the nature of the link
- position the cursor over a scientific name to show the taxonomic rank
- right-click on a space to access further options.
Navigator page - information panel
On the left of your screen you will see a collection of facts and sources for further information that relate to your selected name. TIP: If you are looking at the page for a scientific name, or a name which is a synonym of another name, try switching to the equivalent common name - there may be more information to read. Unfortunately, not all the names will have illustrations or facts - please bear with us as we continue to expand Nature Navigator.
Settings
We have taken care to make Nature Navigator as accessible as possible.
There is a lot of information to be displayed and we recommend setting your screen resolution to 800 x 600 or higher (although the images are best viewed at 800 x 600) and your screen font size to medium or lower (although the pages will still work with large text).
We have used JavaScript to improve the page display - please ensure that it is turned on in your browser settings.
The dynamic display page of the Navigator requires the current version of the Java Runtime Environment. If you do not have this installed you may download it for free from:
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