Community Input lets you collect Events from the public without requiring them to have an EarthRanger account. This is useful for crowdsourced reporting, like wildlife sightings or incidents reported by people outside your organization.

What community members can do

Users will access a public link (or QR code) that opens an Event form. No sign-in required. When a community member submits the form, you  can expect:

• Their report to be automatically tagged with the Event Type you've configured for that link
• Their location to be captured automatically, if they're submitting from a phone browser

Setting up a Community Input

1. In EarthRanger Admin, go to Activity > Community Activity.
2. You'll see a list of your existing Community Inputs. Select Add Community Input in the top right.
3. Fill in:
   • Name — an internal label to identify this Community Input.
   • Value — used to build the public link for this Community Input.
   • Active — check this to enable it.
   • Cool Off Period — in minutes; leave at 0 to disable (see below).
   • Event Types — select one or more Event Types this Community Input should collect reports for.
4. Save. Your new Community Input now appears in the Community Activity list.
5. Select it from the list to get:
   • A QR code, downloadable as a PNG
   • A URL, which you can copy directly

What community members see:

• If you selected a single Event Type, the link opens straight into that report form.
• If you selected multiple Event Types, users will first see a selection screen to choose which type of report they're submitting, based on the Event Types you added.

Setting a cool-off period between reports

Because Community Input reports are anonymous, EarthRanger can't fully stop someone from submitting the same report over and over. Admins can set a cool-off period so a community member has to wait before submitting another report of the same type through the same link.

How this works: The cool-off period is enforced in the reporter's browser, not on EarthRanger's servers. It's meant to curb accidental or casual repeat submissions — a community member who clears their browser cookies, or uses a different browser or device, can bypass it. The rate limiting already built into Community Input remains the real safeguard against abuse.

To set a cool-off period:

1. Open the Community Input you want to configure.
2. Set the Cool Off Period field, in minutes.
3. Leave it at 0 if you don't want a cool-off period — this is the default.
4. Save your changes.

Users can set a different cool-off period for each report type on the same link — submitting one type won't block a community member from submitting a different type right away.

A couple of things worth knowing:

• If you change the cool-off period, it won't apply retroactively — it takes effect the next time someone loads the form, not on a page a community member already has open.
• This is a soft deterrent, not a hard limit. A determined user can get around it by clearing cookies or switching devices.