General Help
Left Screen Area

CONTENTS

• Overview
• User-Selectable Controls
  • "TIARA" Logo
  • "Finders" Function Group
  • "Back to" Function Group
  • "Settings" Function Group
  • "Go to" Function Group
  • "Show" Function Group
• More Information . . .

     The Left Screen Area, or Left Function Area, is a broad vertical band running down the left margin of all TIARA screens. This screen area contains many of the most important user-selectable controls through which the user interacts with the TIARA system. These controls are grouped for convenience into "Function Groups", which are functionally-related groups of controls. Each Function Group is designated by a brief header. The five current function groups are: "Finders", "Back to", "Settings", "Go to" and "Show". General information on each of the function groups, and each of the controls belonging to them, are given below. The function groups and controls visible in the Left Screen Area of any TIARA screen will be a (sometimes much restricted) subset of the list below.

User-Selectable Controls

 TIARA Logo

• "TIARA" image link  - Click on the TIARA logo to display the TIARA Home Page. This action is exactly equivalent to clicking on "Home" in the Blue Menu Bar at the top of the screen.

  "Finders" Function Group

• "Scientific Name" text link - Click on the Scientific Name link to display the Scientific Name Finder. The default option for this finder is Classification view. Other Scientific Name Finder options can be selected from the "Select a finder option" combo box in the Main-Display Screen Area. For more information about this finder see: Help for Scientific Name Finder (Classification Option), or  Help for Scientific Name Finder (Search Option).
• "Common Name" text link - Click on the Common Name link to display the Common Name Finder. The default option for this finder is List view. Other Common Name Finder options can be selected from the "Select a finder option" combo box in the Main-Display Screen Area. For more information about this finder see: Help for Common Name Finder (List Option), or Help for Common Name Finder (Search Option).
• "Special Projects" text link  - Click on the Special Projects link to display the Special Projects Finder. Any of several Special Project finders can be selected from the "Select a finder option" combo box in the Main-Display Screen Area. For more information about this finder see: Help for Special Projects Finder.

  "Back to" Function Group

• "Last finder" text link - Click on the Last Finder link to jump back to the last Finder that you used. This may be helpful when you want to use the results displayed on a Finder screen as an index page to link to multiple taxon pages. The Last Finder link remembers the last Finder screen from which you activated a link to a taxon page, and allows you to jump back to that Finder. Note that a Finder that was only viewed, i.e., looked at but not used to link to a taxon page, cannot be jumped back to using the Last Finder link. To move back to a viewed-only Finder use the "Back" function on the Blue Menu Bar, or reselect the Finder from its link in the Finders Function Group. The Last Finder link is only available when when the active screen is a Taxon Page screen.

  "Settings" Function Group

• "List Order" combo box - Make a selection from the List Order combo box to change the order of the displayed list. "Alphabetical" displays lists with subtaxa arranged alphabetically within the next higher ranked taxon. "Most species" displays lists with subtaxa arranged in descending order of the number of species in each subtaxon. The List Order function is visible only in association with certain list-displaying screens, e.g., the Classification Option screen of the Scientific Name Finder.
• "Geography" combo box - Make a selection from the Geography combo box to change the scope of the displayed list. "All TIARA taxa" displays lists composed of all appropriately ranked subtaxa contained in the TIARA system that belong to the higher taxon associated with the active screen. Other combo box options restrict the geographic scope of the displayed taxa based on distribution data records contained in the TIARA database.

  "Go to" Function Group

• "[TaxonName]" taxon home page icon () - Click on the yellow Taxon Home Page icon to jump to the default screen of the Taxon Page associated with the taxon name preceding the icon.
• "Orders" taxon list icon () - Click on the blue Taxon List icon to display a list of orders belonging to the active higher taxon. Only orders that have been entered into the TIARA system and that match any applicable Settings criteria are displayed.
• "Families" taxon list icon () - Click on the blue Taxon List icon to display a list of families belonging to the active higher taxon. Only families that have been entered into the TIARA system and that match any applicable Settings criteria are displayed.
• "Genera" taxon list icon () - Click on the blue Taxon List icon to display a list of genera belonging to the active higher taxon. Only genera that have been entered into the TIARA system and that match any applicable Settings criteria are displayed. Genus lists of large higher taxa (e.g., some groups of arthropods) may take considerable time to load (but are possible!). Generally, lists displaying >1000 elements should be avoided because of reduced system performance (this limit is currently reached only for several of the largest insect orders). The number of genera entered in the TIARA system for family and higher ranked taxa can be viewed on the Scientific Name Finder (Classification Option) screen.
• "Species" taxon list icon () - Click on the blue Taxon List icon to display a list of species/subspecies belonging to the active higher taxon. Only species/subspecies that have been entered into the TIARA system and that match any applicable Settings criteria are displayed. Species/subspecies lists of large higher taxa (e.g., some groups of arthropods) may take considerable time to display (but are possible!). Generally, lists displaying >1000 elements should be avoided because of reduced system performance (this limit is currently reached only for several of the largest insect orders). The number of species entered in the TIARA system for genus and higher ranked taxa can be viewed on the Scientific Name Finder (Classification Option) screen.

  "Show" Function Group

• "Classification" text link - Click on the Classification link to display the higher classification of the active taxon. Frequently, this classification will provide information on taxonomic subcategories that are not represented in the Finders or Taxon Lists displays (e.g., suborder, superfamily, subfamily, tribe). The Classification link is only available when the active screen is a Taxon Page screen.
• "Collaborators" text link - Click on the Collaborators link to display information about the people, institutions and organizations that have contributed data, funding or special skills to the TIARA project. To display the Collaborators link, click on Home in the Blue Menu Bar.
• "Contact Us" text link- Click on the Contact Us link to display information about how to contact the TIARA project manager. To display the Contact Us link, click on Home in the Blue Menu Bar.
• "Images" text link - Click on the Images link to access images available for the active taxon. The Images link is only available when the active screen is a Taxon Page screen and one or more images exist in the TIARA system for the active taxon.
• "Join Us" text link - Click on the Join Us link to display information about how to joint the TIARA project as a collaborator.
• "Maps" text link - Click on the Maps link to display the default map for the active taxon. Other maps may be accessible using controls located in the Main-Display Screen Area. The Maps link is only available when the active screen is a Taxon Page screen and one or more maps exist in the TIARA system for the active taxon.
• "Overview" text link - Click on the Overview link to display a general overview of the TIARA system. To display the Overview link, click on Home in the Blue Menu Bar. See also "General Overview for Newcomers" under "More information..." below.
• "Taxon Lists" text link - Click on the Taxon Lists link to display the default taxon list for the active taxon. The default Taxon List is a display of included taxa one major rank below the rank of the active taxon (e.g., for a family page, the default is a genus listing). The displayed Taxon List can be changed by using the Taxon List links in the "Go to" function group of the Left Screen Area, or by controls located in the Main-Display Screen Area. The Taxon Lists link is only available when the active screen is a Taxon Page screen and the active taxon is of generic or higher rank.
• "TAMU Holdings" text link - Click on the TAMU Holdings link to display general holdings information for the active taxon in the Texas A&M University Insect Collection. The TAMU Holdings link is only available when the active screen is a Taxon Page screen and one or more specimens of the active taxon are contained in the Texas A&M University Insect Collection.
• "What's New" text link - Click on the What's New link to display episodically updated information about new functionality and data developed for the TIARA web site.
• "Web Links" text link - Click on the Web Links link to display a list of external web links pertaining to the active taxon. The Web Links link is only available when the active screen is a Taxon Page screen and one or more web links exist in the TIARA system for the active taxon.  

More information . . . 

• General Overview for Newcomers
• Top Screen Area