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  #1  
Old Jan 5, 2010, 01:09 AM
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Default The New Album Submission System

VGMdb wishes all its users a happy new year!

After months of work, it's finally time to unveil the new album submission page. Most of the changes are behind-the-scenes so you won't notice anything too different about the interface, but it suffices to say that the programmers will have a much easier time creating and manipulating album objects. This paves the way for new, powerful features down the road.

A few important things to note: Release type has been separated into two new fields: Publisher type (commercial, doujin/indie, bootleg) and Distribution type. Release status replaces the Cancelled release checkbox, and Category allows users to specify product associations beyond gaming franchises. In preparation for the extension of scope, users will eventually be able to filter album listings using a combination of these fields. More details will be available soon.

Additional media fields are available for editing as well -- disc ID (for freedb matching), copy control, and individual classification. Note that media editing will eventually be moved over to the tracklist submission system.

The URLs have also changed to a friendlier format:

http://vgmdb.net/album/1234/edit (to edit album #1234)
http://vgmdb.net/album/new (to submit a new album)

Feel free to submit information as per usual; the system monitors submissions for errors and automatically notifies administrators with debug information. Ain't that cool?
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  #2  
Old Jan 5, 2010, 02:29 AM
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Another thing to note: all albums formerly of "Enclosure/Promo" release type have been switched to the catch-all "enclosure" distribution type. Since some albums had overlapping release types (for example, animation + enclosure), they may be labeled with the incorrect category for the moment. Over the next few days staff will be going over the entries to fine tune the information.
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  #3  
Old Jan 5, 2010, 03:52 AM
Zorbfish Zorbfish is offline
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Nice. Like the RESTful urls, and the new form layout really pulls the data together.

Just one question: what distribution type should be selected for a doujin work that is never sold outside of an event (i.e. never consigned to shops)? I notice right now they are just defaulting to retail.
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  #4  
Old Jan 5, 2010, 05:01 AM
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Hm. I was originally going to have them labeled as "Promo/Gift", but the volume of distribution is too high for that type. In any case, I've created a new "Event/Convention" type for these albums.
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  #5  
Old Jan 5, 2010, 06:59 AM
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This is a major change to our album cataloging. The old Release Type was not a very consistent way to classify albums. It was pieced together over time as a way to filter out things people didn't want to see, chiefly game-related anime albums and doujin albums that caused contention when included in GMRonline. Overtime we've added types, and it became clear that 3-4 separate fields were needed to do this properly. Now, we can have a Canceled Doujin Enclosure that covers Anime (this could have been filed in any of 4 categories in the old system).

The new color coding will still preserve the effect of the old release type, though it determines the colors based on the new fields. There are also some new colors.

The second part of the classification now allows us to be more specific about an album's "Genre". Note that the Game Animation and Film category now ceases to exist in favor of the Anime classification. This category was only needed to justify the inclusion of this album in the database anyway. Ultimately, the user will be able to figure out if an anime is related to a game via the hierarchy in the products table once that is completed. Note also that the Works category and the Other category are also gone. These kinds of albums are now given no classification (i.e. not anime or game, etc.) We still want to keep adding these of course to improve the discographies.
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  #6  
Old Jan 5, 2010, 07:50 AM
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Two questions:

1) The anime albums in database that isn't related with games already can be classified as anime? For example, Blassreiter, Guin Saga, Makoto Shinkai Image Album "Promise" etc.

2) Now that Limited Edition release is indicated in the Release Type Field, the "[Limited Edition]" or "(Limited Edition)" should be removed on display name?
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  #7  
Old Jan 5, 2010, 07:55 AM
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1) Yeah, we need to reclassify those Works albums as anime. Now is probably a good time, even though we're not quite ready for anime submissions.

2) I think it's okay to leave "Limited Edition" in the title. I think Retail and Limited Edition are currently the same color (or more accurately, they both defer to the content classification.)
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  #8  
Old Jan 5, 2010, 08:10 AM
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For now, leave "limited edition" in the title, but later on I'll make it so that it's automatically appended to the end of the album title.
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  #9  
Old Jan 5, 2010, 08:30 AM
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Thanks, looks pretty nice. Some comments:

- In the release date status, what's the correct use of "delayed" and "recalled"? It's temporary info or should we add an entry for an album "delayed" then another entry for the normal cd or something?

- What's the use of "remasted" in the cd classification?

- In the "format" combo I think "digital" should go after CD, as most likely it's going to be the 2nd most common format.

- I think the "platform" list really needs to be trimmed or at least reordered, it's too cluttered right now and it takes a while to find "normal" consoles. Apple Pippin? Gizmondo? Playdia? Most of the consoles there are so unlikely to be used that I'd just go with Other + notes field. Some are just hardware revisions (Sega Nomad, NeoGeo CDZ).
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  #10  
Old Jan 5, 2010, 09:02 AM
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"Recalled" is for albums that were released normally, but cancelled afterwards by the publisher (usually for misprints or legal issues).

"Delayed" is temporary information until a new release date is found, or until a cancelled status is confirmed. If only the release date has changed, there's no need to make a new entry, just place the old release date in the notes section.

"Remaster" is used to classify, well, media with remastered tracks. It's important to differentiate between identical and remastered reprints. I totally forgot to mention this in the first post.

I suppose a different interface is needed for platform selection. I'll think of something.
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  #11  
Old Jan 5, 2010, 09:24 AM
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Strangely the color coding of these anime albums that were "Works" or "Other" and now is classified as anime not changed in artists and search pages. The new color only appears in Recently Updated Albums page.
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  #12  
Old Jan 5, 2010, 09:28 AM
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Those pages are still using the old color-coding based on the old field. They'll all be updated soon.
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  #13  
Old Jan 5, 2010, 10:07 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Gigablah View Post
"Remaster" is used to classify, well, media with remastered tracks. It's important to differentiate between identical and remastered reprints.
Do you mean something like the Vagrant Story reprint, with tracks remastered that sound differently, or it's applied to something like DS osts?
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  #14  
Old Jan 5, 2010, 11:00 AM
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Now for the better, the DiscID submission is great. I will start testing things now, feedback will come later.
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  #15  
Old Jan 5, 2010, 11:03 AM
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Awesome, I had actually been wanting to see the publisher and distribution type split up.
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  #16  
Old Jan 5, 2010, 11:07 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Dag View Post
Do you mean something like the Vagrant Story reprint, with tracks remastered that sound differently, or it's applied to something like DS osts?
Yeah, it's the former. The latter would be "reprogram", wouldn't it? Actually, I may need to add that classification as well.
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  #17  
Old Jan 5, 2010, 11:18 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Gigablah View Post
Yeah, it's the former. The latter would be "reprogram", wouldn't it? Actually, I may need to add that classification as well.
I do not know if all Staff agree, but I seconded all those suggestions that CHz had done to add Licensed, Unused, Sound Effect, Voice Clip and Silence as well.
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  #18  
Old Jan 5, 2010, 11:40 AM
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Oh yeah, I'll look into that. Thanks for reminding me.

In response to a query from IRA, I've changed the "Retail" distribution type to "General" so that it accounts for free (online) releases as well. "General" will not show up on the album page under release type, but the rest will.

Edit: "Official" has been changed to "Commercial", since doujin releases for doujin franchises are themselves 'official' too.
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  #19  
Old Jan 5, 2010, 01:01 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Gigablah View Post
Yeah, it's the former. The latter would be "reprogram", wouldn't it? Actually, I may need to add that classification as well.
Typically I've heard these releases referred to as "Full Sound Version".

I really like the new album submission design. Awesome work!

Other random notes:

Instead of "Use the western convention of First Name followed by Surname." I would recommend "Use the western convention of Given Name followed by Family Name."

What about Staff Notes? The textboxes to edit them are gone, but the notes are still showing up on albums. I know the staff notes are no longer needed due to the forum thread integration, but what should be done with the existing text?

Can we have a page to explain all of the release types, classifications, and categories? I don't know what "Publications" are or some of the other things. If these items are data driven, you could have a description field in the tables so that you could propagate the descriptions in multiple places while updating it in one location.

"Publisher type" and "Distribution type" sound good, but "Classification" and "Category" sound a bit generic. Why not something like "Audio type" and "Product -or- Source type"?
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  #20  
Old Jan 5, 2010, 02:07 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Gigablah View Post
Yeah, it's the former. The latter would be "reprogram", wouldn't it? Actually, I may need to add that classification as well.
Got it, I wasn't sure since there aren't many reprints like that.
Yeah, a classification that shows the album is meant to be the ost (not arranged), but doesn't sound exactly like that in-game could be useful. Not only DS osts, others like the Shadow Hearts OSTs too. Though I guess it's debatable when to use it as you could call that "arrange", or if the improvement it's just part of the CD mastering process.
Also maybe "reprogram" delves too much on how it is processed, some other term instead? (enhance? mastering? alteration?). Thoug I don't think "full sound version" really reflects this case.
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  #21  
Old Jan 5, 2010, 04:00 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Revoc View Post
I do not know if all Staff agree, but I seconded all those suggestions that CHz had done to add Licensed, Unused, Sound Effect, Voice Clip and Silence as well.
In addition, I'd request a classification of data tracks, and if we'll keep adding extra medias (DVD or such) which usually contain videos, I'd personally love to have a dedicated classification for them. Perhaps 'Video' is a bit too vast but fine.

By the way, does 'First Press Bonus' cover what's called '早期購入特典' (Early Purchase Bonus, literally) in Japanese and is offered on a first-come-first-served basis?
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  #22  
Old Jan 5, 2010, 06:18 PM
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That should cover it. There are games which have First Press, Preorder and Retailer bonuses all at once; I doubt they're going to add early purchase bonuses on top of that, so I think it's safe to have first press / early purchase share the same type.


Edit: Quicksearch and Advanced Search now display the correct color codings.
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  #23  
Old Jan 5, 2010, 09:23 PM
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If I had registered a month later I would have saved myself an headache Now I understand why the last submissions went odd.

Also, how do I input "not for sale" in the price field? I got either "free" or unknown last time I tried.
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  #24  
Old Jan 5, 2010, 10:50 PM
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"Not For Sale" is automatically displayed if you have an "enclosure" or "bonus" distribution type selected, and no price entered. The "Price Unknown" checkbox must not be ticked. (If you do this for other distribution types, "Free" will be displayed).

If you do enter a price, "Package Price" will be shown.
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  #25  
Old Jan 5, 2010, 11:52 PM
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Thanks, I should've asked earlier
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  #26  
Old Jan 6, 2010, 12:35 AM
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A few more details about the upgraded system:
  • Anything the user inputs is now checked against the database entry. If the value has changed, only that field is updated. This means that simultaneous edits by different users on different fields will not cause the other to be overwritten.
  • All text is now stored in UTF-8 (not just album titles).
  • All album submission interfaces -- adding a new album, adding a new reprint, editing a normal album, editing a child album -- have been consolidated into a single procedure and a single template. (That was a major motivation for this rewrite in the first place)
  • Any valid information the user inputs, including new media entries not yet stored in the database, will be preserved across page loads (the page will reload with an error message if any required field has an invalid value)
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  #27  
Old Jan 6, 2010, 12:12 PM
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A new "Independent" publisher type has been added below Doujin, to accommodate self-releases by professional artists.
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  #28  
Old Jan 6, 2010, 12:33 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Gigablah View Post
A new "Independent" publisher type has been added below Doujin, to accommodate self-releases by professional artists.
Just a small thing: I don't know why, but the album Okami Retro Version is appearing with the Works color coding.
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  #29  
Old Jan 6, 2010, 12:36 PM
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It appears 'Independent' shares the same color coding as 'Works', and is it temporary? Not that I object to it, but out of curiosity.


Edit: Revoc beats me Sorry in advance in case this type only applies to what's also classified as Original Works (I set Okami Retro Album and kt2's Works 2001~2006 to this type while they were moderately game-related).

Last edited by Cedille; Jan 6, 2010 at 12:49 PM.
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  #30  
Old Jan 6, 2010, 12:49 PM
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I'm still not sure about the entirety of what "Independent" will cover. If you buy an album directly from Nintendo, is that an Independent release because they are self-distributing?
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