Rachel's profile
Employee

Employee

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161 Messages

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5.9K Points

Wednesday, November 15th, 2017 3:33 PM

Changes to formats supported for creating links within contributions

Today, Wednesday 15th November 2017, we will begin the roll-out of changes to the types of linking formats supported within our contribution interfaces.

Currently within our contribution interfaces we support two types of linking. They are:-

  • [link=nm1234567] for names and [link=tt1234567] for titles.  This is our modern linking method, which utilizes the unique identifier for each name or title in the database (which can be harvested from our URLs).
  • 'Tomoyuki Tanaka (I)'(qv) for names and _"Buffythe Vampire Slayer" (2001) {Once More, with Feeling (#6.7)}_ (qv) for titles. This is our legacy format which requires in-depth knowledge of our legacy name or title text format and is error prone.
As we continue our work to make improvements to our systems to simplify and make contribution consistent across all desktop/mobile platforms (please see Upcoming changes to several IMDb features for more details), we have made the decision to move fully to our modern linking method. 

As part of this work, the existing ability within the legacy format to perform name matching will be removed. An example of this feature is below:-



From today all contribution interfaces will begin being updated to support only the [link=nm1234567] for name and [link=tt1234567]. This change will not impact how the data is displayed on IMDb, it is purely a change to the contribution interfaces. This change affects 23 different data types:-

  • Plot Outline
  • Plot Summary
  • Crazy Credits
  • Alternate Versions
  • Connections
  • Articles
  • Books About This Person
  • Biographical Movies
  • Biography
  • Real Life Quotes
  • Name Trivia
  • Trivia
  • Nickname
  • Other Works
  • Portrayed in Other Movies
  • Salary
  • Spouse
  • Trademarks
  • Goofs
  • Quotes
  • Awards
  • Soundtracks
  • Literature

These changes will be rolling out over the next 24 hours during which time we will be monitoring the launch. We are in the process of ensuring that all submission guides are updated to reflect this change.

If you do spot any issues or have questions/feedback, please respond to this thread.

Thanks,

Rachel

39 Messages

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1.2K Points

7 years ago

Now that the new format of linking names and titles is fully implemented, some tools that would be nice might be (they probably would have been nice in the past, but, better now than never):

1.  Add a button on all name and title pages to write the appropriate format link to the clipboard (or similar location) that could then be pasted into an appropriate place in a submission.

2.  Add a button to all appropriate submission pages that pops up a search box over the page so a submitter can search for the name or title they want. Once the name or title is found, a button in the pop-up box would write the link in the correct format to the clipboard (or similar location) so all the submitter need do is paste the link in at the desired point in the submission.

My point is that, by providing simple tools that take a lot of the manual work out of building the link (and hiding the actual mechanics of the link itself), I think many of the complaints I see above would fade away. Also, by having the tools create the link in the appropriate format, any time links are changed/enhanced in the future, changing the tools would automatically provide the new format without changing the way a submitter creates the link.

354 Messages

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7.6K Points

That would be Appreciated, and easier to have.

378 Messages

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9.3K Points

7 years ago

I haven't had a chance to fully digest this change yet, but have had some thoughts about it so far.  I mostly live within the Soundtrack space, so my comments refer to that section, but obvously cross over to the others.

Complaint: Readability has been eliminated during editing.
Previously:
Written by 'Justin Timberlake' (qv), 'Tim Mosley (I)' (qv) and 'Scott Storch' (qv)
Performed by 'Justin Timberlake' (qv)
Produced by 'Tim Mosley (I)' (qv)
Currently:
Written by [link=nm0005493], [link=nm0608856] and [link=nm1395028]
Performed by [link=nm0005493]
Produced by [link=nm0608856]

The enhancements Owen suggests would greatly improve this, and should be the highest priority fix.

Suggestion: Putting in something like this should be allowed:
Performed by [link=Justin Timberlake]
and the system would make the conversion automagically.

Putting in something liks this, would bring up the name picker, where we select the correct name (roman numeral), and the system auto-converts it to the name const.
Produced by [link=Tim Mosley]

To-Do item: The back-end needs to update links when name merges happen. Example from soundtracks:
Music by [link=nm2228215]
Name/page doesn't exist under that const anymore.

To-Do item: Links to companies need to be disallowed at submission, and lists scrubbed for them. Example from soundtracks:
Courtesy [link=co0508645]

Typing the new syntax on a virtual keyboard (phone/tablet, etc...) is very time comsuming because the square brackets are not part of the standard virtual keyboard layout. The old (qv) system was much easier to type because single ticks and parens were easy to get to from a virtual keyboard.

354 Messages

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7.6K Points

Indeed what you stated there would be a good improvement to have sometime.

35 Messages

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956 Points

7 years ago

Apparently, using this method on a mobile phone is a real pain. Just getting a person’s or a title’s number copied to the clipboard is a nightmare. Seems like nobody bothered to consider that some people use phones to enter contributions while sitting on the couch and watching TV.
As things stand now, I’ll be passing on anything that involves this tedious procedure - too much work for me, sorry. I’ll gladly reconsider this decision if and when the system is improved.

354 Messages

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7.6K Points

7 years ago

I realise this when it comes to linking, they won't do so if you use Capital Letters.

354 Messages

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7.6K Points

7 years ago

I notice just now that you can't put in Full Links when linking pages, it can only be the stuff at the end. When doing so on the IMDB App, sometimes when I select on something so I can delete it, it can select a whole thing, making it harded to only include the starting point of the links. Things have gotten harder I'll say.

Champion

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5K Messages

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118.1K Points

7 years ago

I'm adding to a Soundtrack listing today, and when I clicked on the little blue ? to the right of the item, the help text that comes up still talks about qv's, not about [link=...].

Also, we need a preview function to make sure we've put in the correct links. You don't want to process a bunch of corrections because we can't see what we did. My item has 8 names in it.

It's a BIG shame that you won't let us put in the whole URL instead of just nmXXX or ttXXXX. It takes a lot more effort to extract the code from the url. (To get URL: right click on name and Copy. To get code, either Paste that and remove the excess, or instead Open the link and extract the code. So either it's time to copy/paste/extract or time to open page/extract. Much better to copy alone.)

So the new process is very tedious, especially compared with the old way, and doing it blind is downright exhausting. Fortunately I'm working on a laptop, and opened a list of mine, and set up the links in the comments section of an item, and verified it there before putting it in the Contribution. But please make it friendlier!

Champion

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5K Messages

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118.1K Points

On Nov 24 I made the following BUG report, and nothing has changed:
I'm adding to a Soundtrack listing today, and when I clicked on the little blue ? to the right of the item, the help text that comes up still talks about qv's, not about [link=...].
Nor do I see any feedback on the suggestions above:
Also, we need a preview function to make sure we've put in the correct links. You don't want to process a bunch of corrections because we can't see what we did. My item has 8 names in it.
It's a BIG shame that you won't let us put in the whole URL instead of just nmXXX or ttXXXX. It takes a lot more effort to extract the code from the url. (To get URL: right click on name and Copy. To get code, either Paste that and remove the excess, or instead Open the link and extract the code. So either it's time to copy/paste/extract or time to open page/extract. Much better to copy alone.)
I tried looking at the official responses to others on this thread, so if I missed feedback that would have applied to these, my apologies and please point me there.

But why has the BUG not been fixed? (I'm calling a bad help screen a bug, but others are reporting a huge mess among Soundtrack submissions, and a proper help screen might, well, help.)

354 Messages

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7.6K Points

Agreed, things have gotten harder with simply having to remember weblinks rather than simply typing in a name.

Champion

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7.3K Messages

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274.8K Points

7 years ago

While it's one thing to use the [link=nmXXXXXXX] for submitting data, it needs to be made more user-friendly for purposes of editing the data. If there is an error in the trivia for a title, a human being shouldn't be expected to edit a number of trivia items that look like this:
[link=nm1876497] cites [link=tt0047478] as an influence on the film.
[link=nm0000255] and [link=nm0001354] appeared in [link=tt0164184].
The second time [link=nm3009232] and [link=nm0001082] have worked together. The first was [link=tt0420293].
I don't know what can be done to make the display of trivia items in edit mode more user-friendly, but I think that something needs to be done about it.

354 Messages

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7.6K Points

7 years ago

I had to go back on fourth between pages for a lot of web links while I was editing submissions for this today: www.imdb.com/title/tt3606756/trivia

It certainly would seem easier to simply type in the names than searching for weblinks.

10.6K Messages

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225.2K Points

Thanks for not being discouraged. My suspicion is that most contributors will be.

2.5K Messages

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69.2K Points

7 years ago

I find it pretty easy. I have 5-6 pages open when I add info/titles/etc. And I often have to double check some names from IMDb anyway (I want to make sure that I have the ”correct” person and correct numeral). I’m sure people get used to this very quickly.

But sure, Gromit has a good point also. Updating (existing) names (well, numbers now) can take some time since you have to double check what number belongs to what person etc.

354 Messages

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7.6K Points

You can't have open quite a number of pages on the IMDB App, only one thing can be viewed at a time on our Mobile Devices.

2.5K Messages

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69.2K Points

Sure, I never update anything with my phone. Simply can’t work that way. I usually take my time with my submissions since I hate correcting/updating them later on.

354 Messages

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7.6K Points

7 years ago

When you click on a weblink to use for linking on the IMDB App, it selects the whole thing highlighted in red, making me unable to make adjustments if need be such as removing the /s and making sure there's a link= in front of it and []s around it. So I end up having to put in the [link=] before I submit the weblink, which for now has seemed a slight bit easier.

10.6K Messages

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225.2K Points

Where there is a will, there is a way.

378 Messages

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9.3K Points

7 years ago

At the minimum, the back-end system should be looking for links to name and title constants that are not correctly formed.  This should be an easy regex.  When found, the staff should be alerted so that the problems can be addressed before being published to the site. (ideally the error should be noted at time of submission)

Here are some examples from the Soundtrack section:

Raw data:
Written by [link=nm0005153] (as Richard Penniman), [nm8991191], and [link=nm0187685]
Display:
Written by [link=nm0005153] (as Richard Penniman), [

You can see how the mistake not only messes up the one name, but the entire line of text on the display side.

Raw data (same thing is displayed)
Written by nm0113768, nm0090303 & nm0921739
Performed by nm0113768 & nm8851569
tt0069792 Motion Picture Soundtrack
Courtesy of co0135933 1973

Raw data:
Written by Cailee Spaeny (nm8314228)
Written by Jackson Tyler Hunt (nm4942699)
Written by Nathan Samuel Langford
Written by Jordan Adelberger
Courtesy of Future Town Music Group
Performed by [link=nm8314228] (nm8314228)
Display:
Written by Cailee Spaeny (nm8314228)
Written by Jackson Tyler Hunt (nm4942699)
Written by Nathan Samuel Langford
Written by Jordan Adelberger
Courtesy of Future Town Music Group
Performed by Cailee Spaeny (nm8314228)

Raw data (same thing is displayed)
Performed by https://pro-labs.imdb.com/name/nm6855911?s=36b00a3b-82c6-bba1-0262-c817c45cff79 & https://pro-labs.imdb.com/name/nm7214498?s=84b00a3b-af7f-aaaa-3425-68e5a5168557

Raw data:
Performed by [ink=nm5326567] and 'Skylar Grey (I)' (qv)
Display:
Performed by [ink=nm5326567] and Skylar Grey


etc... you get the idea.

378 Messages

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9.3K Points

I've just submitted around 50 corrections to clean up the name-consts that I could find in soundtrack data.  Can't imagine what other, more popular, sections are like.

378 Messages

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9.3K Points

Using the last data dump, cleaned up another ~10 titles of Soundtrack data containing errors that were submitted in the past week.  Other more popular sections are probably getting filled with errors that should be very easy to detect at submission time with some simple regex.

378 Messages

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9.3K Points

A quick peek at the Trivia section shows 100 or more link errors.

10.6K Messages

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225.2K Points

Very observant, Ron. Thanks.

Employee

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7.2K Messages

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177.8K Points

Thanks for the bug report.  We now have a ticket open to investigate and fix. 

Employee

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7.2K Messages

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177.8K Points

We have found and fixed the cause of this now (and cleaned-up where we could).  Thanks again for the problem report. 

378 Messages

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9.3K Points

Just a quick request, can you clarify what was fixed?  Thanks!

Employee

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7.2K Messages

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177.8K Points

No problem -- an internal process was mangling [link=] URLs and creating quite a bit of chaos across any section which supports the new format.  We have blocked this now and unwound the cases which could be detected and fixed automatically. 

378 Messages

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9.3K Points

7 years ago

Don't know if this applies to other sections of the database, but it seems there is a problem somewhere.

The text [error] is replacing linked names in the soundtrack section.  Examples:
http://imdb.com/title/tt7657426/soundtrack Song "Run to You"

http://imdb.com/title/tt0492784/soundtrack First two songs

http://imdb.com/title/tt0043783/soundtrack Only song

The problem is very bad in titles that have been {{SUSPENDED}}, which you can find in the raw data on the FTP site.  Example:
# "Pequeñeces" (2010) {(#1.1)} {{SUSPENDED}}
- "Pequeñeces"
  Written by [error], [error], [error], [error] and [error]
  Performed by [error], [error], [error], [error], [error], [error], [error], [error], [error], [error], 'Eugenia García' (qv), [error], [error], [error], [error], [error], [error], [error] and [error]
  Recorded by [error]
  Published by ACN Music Records

I would suspect that if a title were to no longer be {{SUSPENDED}}, that all the original linked data is lost.

This problem appears more than 350 times in the soundtrack.list file on the FTP site.

10.6K Messages

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225.2K Points

Damn. That's rather sad.

378 Messages

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9.3K Points

About four months have past, and the situation doesn't appear to have changed much.  These errors appear in the soundrack entries for the following titles (these are the ones I could find, there may be more).  The Staff should review the original submission for each title, correct the bad data, and determine what happened, and fix the system(s) so it doesn't continue.  Thanks.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0492784/soundtrack/
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3505712/soundtrack/
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2988110/soundtrack/
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5904658/soundtrack/
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt6003508/soundtrack/
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt6114450/soundtrack/
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt6156730/soundtrack/
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt6171958/soundtrack/
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt6273938/soundtrack/
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt6396392/soundtrack/
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0043783/soundtrack/
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2986748/soundtrack/
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5870612/soundtrack/
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt6195790/soundtrack/
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt6358178/soundtrack/
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0468820/soundtrack/
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5827630/soundtrack/
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5960060/soundtrack/
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt6030980/soundtrack/
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt6068824/soundtrack/
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt6235608/soundtrack/
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt6252882/soundtrack/
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt6255926/soundtrack/
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt6340694/soundtrack/
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt6452068/soundtrack/
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt6519144/soundtrack/
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5849864/soundtrack/
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5920874/soundtrack/
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5946832/soundtrack/
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt6112896/soundtrack/
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt6293416/soundtrack/
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt6320242/soundtrack/
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt6421146/soundtrack/
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5841770/soundtrack/
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5980094/soundtrack/
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt6068852/soundtrack/
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt6093576/soundtrack/
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt6096964/soundtrack/
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt6134736/soundtrack/
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt6215866/soundtrack/
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt6497104/soundtrack/
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt7657426/soundtrack/
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4952126/soundtrack/

378 Messages

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9.3K Points

The [error] issues appear to remain unresolved.

378 Messages

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9.3K Points

If there isn't the staff to take care of this, feel free to send me the original submissions, and I'll clean it up.  Thanks.

354 Messages

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7.6K Points

6 years ago

A Petition of mine that should be signed which is in regards to linking pages in trivia submissions: https://www.change.org/p/imdb-let-us-have-an-easier-way-of-linking-pages-in-trivia-pieces

Champion

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5K Messages

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118.1K Points

@CuriousUserX90

Not sure why you would start a petition on an external site when you can start an Idea on this site where people can also Vote. I don't know whether giving an email address is mandatory there, but I wouldn't do so.

At your petition, it's unclear what you want. You say
"Instead of putting (qv) links, now we have to use [Link=Web Address]. It would be easier to type in the Name of the Page were linking rather than having to always remember the web address..."
What do you mean by "the Name of the Page"? 

Then you say
"I mean look how this submission of mine ended up turning out: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5220122/trivia?tab=tr&item=tr3688509"
I don't see anything wrong with
First Trailer was shown the same day as the release of The Star (2017), another film by Sony Animation.
which has the trivia id you site: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5220122/trivia?item=tr3688509.

There is a similar suggestion here:
https://getsatisfaction.com/imdb/topics/updating-information-esp-via-the-app 
that you might want to vote for and/or comment on. It already has some votes.

354 Messages

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7.6K Points

I'm talking about improving the way pages get linked. Previously you could simply type in the name of the page you're linking, but now you have to find the web address for that page, more specifically the last part of it.

10.6K Messages

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225.2K Points

The "(qv)" syntax? Yes, that is gone. You're asking for that back, in other words?

354 Messages

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7.6K Points

Asking for the newer method of linking pages to improve a bit, that can save us from having to go find web addresses of pages.

35 Messages

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956 Points

I have to agree that this new system does seem to have taken us a few steps back, when it comes to interface design. I'd expect a newer interface to be more intuitive and easy to use, yet we got a new interface which at the very least, is as uncomfortable and as tedious as the previous one.

354 Messages

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7.6K Points

6 years ago

One thing that should be fixed is the auto highlighting whenever I click near a title when using the IMDB App. It highlights in red and doesn't go with the 2 ts. This doesn't happen with actor names though thankfully.

378 Messages

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9.3K Points

6 years ago

After the advanced search tool for Soundtracks was made available again, I had submitted about 100 corrections to tidy up the mal-formed [link=xxxxxxx] links in that data that I found.
A couple more months have passed, and I just submitted another 45+ corrections to clean up more mal-formed links.
What is the status of the submission system being able to detect this mal-formed data at submission time, and forcing the contribors to fix the issue before the submission can be made? (like it did with mal-formed (qv) links)Thanks.