DataOrganizer's profile

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Tuesday, January 24th, 2023 7:10 AM

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Keyword Title Search with Keywords including the "&" char is not working.

@keyword_expert @bradley_kent @Michelle 

Example:

Keyword "black & white"

https://www.imdb.com/find/?s=kw&q=black%20%26%20white

If "exact matches" is used, the keyword does not show up.

The bigger problem is, if you click on the "black & white" Keyword  in the List,

no matching titles are shown:

https://www.imdb.com/search/keyword/?keywords=black-&-white

In the description the problem becomes visible:

"Shows tagged with keyword "black-""

Everything after the "&" character is cut off.

Possible Solutions:

1. Fixing the problem with the "&" Char.

2. Converting all "&" Chars to the word "and"

In my opinion the 2nd solution would be good enough and keywords would be consistent.

1.3K Messages

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23.3K Points

2 years ago

"black-&-white," "black-and-white," "black-&-white-film," "black-and-white film," etc. SHOULD NOT EVEN BE keywords since that information is already located elsewhere in the database.  This has been previously discussed, and the staff said that this keyword (and its variations) should be blocked.  However, like so many other things, that has apparently not happened.  (P.S. When I come across them, I have been deleting them based this previous ruling.)

Oh, and "&" should be spelled out as "and."

(edited)

Employee

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2 years ago

Hi @DataOrganizer -

I have to agree with @bradley_kent , this "keyword" should not be listed. We still have a process that is pending to be finished so we can start blocking and cleaning up some keywords.

Is there any other user of "&" other thank black & white that is being affected by this?

Thanks!

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Employee

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@Peter_pbn​ This helps a lot thanks.
I have now reported it to the team in charge and will keep you all posted.

Cheers!

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@Bethanny​ 

We still have a process that is pending to be finished so we can start blocking and cleaning up some keywords.

Any estimates on when IMDb staff will regain the ability to delete, block, mass merge, and enable auto-conversion of keywords?  It has been a couple months now that staff have not had these abilities. 

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47K Points

2 years ago

I endorse solution #2 suggested by @DataOrganizer

That would be a similar fix to this other pending request -- I recommend addressing both of these issues together:

IMDb Staff: When adding keywords, the system should auto-convert two hyphens (--) and one hyphen plus a space (- ) to one hyphen (-)

Champion

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If & is converted to and, hyphens should also be added if they aren't already there (-and-)

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47K Points

@Peter_pbn​ Yes, I think that would have to be done.

Employee

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312.9K Points

1 year ago

Hi @DataOrganizer & All -

It seems this issue has since been resolved.  Otherwise, if you are still experiencing this keyword search issue, let us know!

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@Michelle​ 

While the keywords do show up in the search results, clicking the keywords with '&' still doesn't appear to produce any titles, exactly as described in the first post:

The bigger problem is, if you click on the "black & white" Keyword  in the List, no matching titles are shown: https://www.imdb.com/search/keyword/?keywords=black-&-white

This also appears to be the case if you click on a keyword with '&' on a title keyword page:

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt19381966/keywords/

It seems that when the character is encoded differently it does work:

https://www.imdb.com/search/keyword/?keywords=r%26b

(edited)

19 Messages

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414 Points

1 year ago

Many giallo fans may want to search for the keyword "J&B Scotch."  However, clicking on this keyword defaults to "J" and delivers 0 results.  The ampersand is causing troubles.
In the past it was possible to search for J&B Scotch without difficulty - is there a solution to this problem?

Note: This comment was created from a merged conversation originally titled Keyword Search Problem: J&B Scotch

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29.8K Points

9 months ago

Search results say that the keyword u.s.-department-of-health-&-human-services is attached to three titles.

But when I click on it, the display says the keyword is attached to zero titles. Plus, the keyword displays as u.s.-department-of-health- before cutting off.

It looks like the ampersand may be causing the issue.

Note: This comment was created from a merged conversation originally titled An ampersand may be causing an issue with a keyword

Employee

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Hello @jay_spirit,

Thanks for reporting.

I have filed a ticket to the corresponding team in place.

They will be looking into this for you.

We will post the details here once we have update.

Ticket reference: D118008104

Employee

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3 months ago

@DataOrganizer / @Peter_pbn / @keyword_expert / @jay_spirit / @lakep  A fix for this issue went live this week.  Thanks again for the problem reports and sorry for the inconvenience.