Bloom Clock/How to Contribute

The bloom clock works by organizing data that is provided by our participants. The most important thing participants can do is just record what they've seen blooming on a particular day and in a particular region, and then help organize the data so that we can make keys for that region.

To start, add yourself to the contributors list, which tells us what part of the world you're reporting from. This will help us create keys for your particular region after you've logged enough plants to get a key started (as a rule, 10 plants during any particular month is enough to make starting a key worthwhile).

Logging

Next, start logging flowers! There are a few different ways to find the log pages for the plants you've seen today. Finding the right page to log on depends on how well you know your plants.

If you know the plant by its scientific name, you should be able to find it by either looking through the main category or on the master list.
If you know the common name but not the scientific name, try searching on Wikipedia to get the scientific name, then come back and look on the master list.
If you don't know the common name or the scientific name, try browsing through the keys, which may help you identify a plant you've seen flowering. If there is no key for your region yet, you might try searching a region with a similar climate (you might want to look at an earlier or later month is your region is considerably warmer or cooler than the regions that have keys so far).
If all else fails, you can ask for help on the unknown plants page, where other contributors might be able to figure it out for you.

Creating and editing profiles (BCP pages)

See Bloom Clock/Editing BCP Pages for detailed instructions.

Questions and Answers

Q: How do I log something as blooming?

A: Just sign with an asterisk and four tildes (*~~~~) on a separate line below the last entry, either on the log page or on the main clock page. Please make sure to sign in on the Contributors page first though, so we can make proper use of the data later on.

Q: Do I need to log every day? Every week?

A: No. The bloom clock works by collecting data from many sources, and even a once-a-year contribution is useful (as long as you're on the contributors page so we know where you are). The more you can contribute, the more helpful... but this is a wiki, and you need only contribute what you can, when you can.

Q: When I log, do I need to log every flower I saw today?

A: No. Whatever you have time to do is helpful.

Q: Should I only log a flower the first time I see it?

A: The two most important times to log are the first and last times you see a flower. However, the more data the better, so if you logged something blooming yesterday and you want to log it again today, that's helpful, because you really can't predict when the last day of bloom will be.

Q: If I saw a flower yesterday or the day before, do I need to alter the date on the signature?

A: No, a few days won't make any difference. If it's more than 4 days, then yes, the date should be altered.

Q: If I see flowers i want to log, but they're in a different area than the place i usually log flowers from, how should i log them?

A: The best way is to simple create an alternate account, and register it on the Contributors page. It's also a good idea to make note of the nature of the account on the user page and redirect the talk page (see, e.g., User:SBJ and User:SB_Johnny-LM)

Q: What do I do if there is no listing of the plant on the clock?

A: You can start a listing on the clock using {{bcp+|Scientific name|Common name}}~~~~ on the Master List. Just enter that on a separate line just above the four dashes of the alphabetically next plant (using the scientific name). See Bloom Clock/Editing BCP Pages for more details.