Photos added to my cast aren't updated

@jeorj_euler​ Then how did they appear for many cast members for the first title I've worked on?

Just to note, the "rule" specified above doesn't necessarily apply to IMDb Title Scorecard uploads, and the variance of to what extent it applies to Scorecard probably has something to do with whether or not Scorecard was set up for an IMDb title page after 2014 or so. The situation is a bit of a mystery to contributors, since the IMDb staff won't explain the history of the nuances of IMDb's various image upload interfaces.

@jeorj_euler​ That would be possible if I only used the scorecard feature. But it happened when I've added people (who even where outside the cast completely) but were included in the pictures of my team on other events. And as you know, the scorecard uploads allow you to tag only the cast (not even other involved individuals like the cinematographer or the gaffer).

For instance, This is a photo I've added normally (from the image upload in the title's IMDbPro page), and I tagged Ahmed who is NOT in the film at all, and the photo was added automatically to his photo gallery & as a profile picture for him.

Well, that's really interesting, argman. You can confirm that you uploaded rm2241669889 on the 25th or 26th of March, 2023? Given the use case described, I don't know whether event is a feature or an anomaly, and I've no idea whether the behavior is new or old. The IMDb developers might have been conducting an experiment during the past month.

@jeorj_euler​ How to find this? I have uploaded hundreds of photos , I can't find this information, why does it matter though?

Whenever you click the icon to edit the tags of an image slide, the menu that opens up contains an HTML "iframe" element, which has its own URL. The icon for that purpose used to double as a hyperlink that could be right-clicked to open in a new browser tab. I've used my knowledge of this retired aspect of the feature to create custom hyperlink to the submission form for editing tags on IMDb images. The hyperlink I supplied earlier is improper (or least useful), though. I meant to refer to https://contribute.imdb.com/image/rm2241669889/edit?bus=imdb&return_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.imdb.com%2Fclose_me&site=web?context=default#, not https://contribute.imdb.com/image/rm2241669889/edit?bus=imdb&return_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.imdb.com%2Fclose_me&site=web?context=default#/submit.

Pardon me, but I didn't understand, how can I specifically help you help me? I am not technical, but opened the link you've posted now, and didn't see any iframe or a related hyperlink to it.

Right, and that is because Web browsers don't make obvious the URL of an HTML "iframe" element. I was just trying to answer the question about how I became aware of the existence of these unusual IMDb URLs for specific image slides. They represent the content of the popup menu at slightly different URL, but they do not open up a popup menu within themselves. To underscore the difference, an observer would note the distinction, for example, between https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3215857/mediaviewer/rm3030199041/ and https://contribute.imdb.com/image/rm2241669889/edit?bus=imdb&return_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.imdb.com%2Fclose_me&site=web?context=default#. The latter can be found inside the former, when the "edit tags" button is clicked. That's all. I apologize for not making this technical stuff easier to understand right off the bat, but the technical underpinnings about how the web pages work isn't really the point,

(Actually, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3215857/mediaviewer/rm3030199041/ better corresponds to https://contribute.imdb.com/image/rm3030199041/edit?bus=imdb&return_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.imdb.com%2Fclose_me&site=web?context=default#.)

@jeorj_euler​ Yes. Check out my original message for the failure to tag Jamaan Alrowaiei. And check my experience with Ahmed Akbar on my latest reply.

Right, argman, but how long have you been contributing images to IMDb? What has your experience been like throughout the years?

@jeorj_euler​ Just since this March 1st. Nothing before.

The anomaly documented here is what I've been lately referencing in other places.

@mbmb 

@ben_hampel 

@Marco 

@bderoes 

@ben_hampel​ 

Ahmed is the guy without a cap.

But, I don't think any suggested equation is applicable:

1- IMDb will still choose the picture as a primary image even if it is tagged with others. Example: Loay Tattan.

2- Some people had IMDb choose a primary image (Which also is a profile picture) shortly after I've tagged them in a film's event photo (Especially/specifically in WAJBA film, even the non-actors crew), while in In My Shoes, it didn't (although I've did the exact same thing). Ironically, Ahmed is indeed a part of In My Shoes but not involved in WAJBA at all.

Although I understand where you're coming from; that the primary image should naturally be only with one person, not a group photo, so if an image is tagged with more than one name, it should automatically be uncategorized from being a primary image. Common sense, but IMDb isn't.

@ben_hampel​ 

Thank you !

Yes, that is Ahmed, but I only brought him as an example. Not sure if you shall change his picture, so you can leave it be.

Regarding the rest, I'll list them from the most significant contribution needed to the least. I am not sure what are you going to do or how, but this is what I can get from IMDb pictures for each individual.

for Loay Tattan, this fits more for example:

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm14517689/mediaviewer/rm2981505793?ref_=nmmi_mi_all_evt_293

and for others:

============

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1504593/?ref_=tt_cl_t_1

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1504593/mediaviewer/rm2975082497/?ref_=nm_md_4

============

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm12659159/?ref_=tt_cl_t_2

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm12659159/mediaviewer/rm1259743233/?ref_=nm_md_1

============

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm14676636/?ref_=tt_cl_t_3

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm14676636/mediaviewer/rm3340118017/?ref_=nm_md_2

============

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm14634213/?ref_=tt_cl_t_4

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm14634213/mediaviewer/rm3507890177?ref_=nmmi_mi_all_evt_9

============

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm14676637/?ref_=tt_cl_t_5

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt27053371/mediaviewer/rm3490981889?ref_=ttmi_mi_all_bts_46

============

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm14676642/?ref_=tt_cl_t_6

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm14676642/mediaviewer/rm2870290433/?ref_=nm_md_3

============

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm14676635/?ref_=tt_cl_t_7

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm14676635/mediaviewer/rm2769627137/?ref_=nm_md_1

============

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm14676650/?ref_=tt_cl_t_9

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm14676650/mediaviewer/rm2501060609?ref_=nmmi_mi_all_bts_5

============

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm14676651/?ref_=tt_cl_t_8

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm14676650/mediaviewer/rm2501060609?ref_=nmmi_mi_all_bts_5

============

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm14676648/?ref_=tt_cl_t_10

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm14676650/mediaviewer/rm2501060609?ref_=nmmi_mi_all_bts_5

============

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm14676645/?ref_=tt_cl_t_11

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm14676645/mediaviewer/rm1729439745/?ref_=nm_md_1

============

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm14676656/?ref_=tt_cl_t_12

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm14676656/mediaviewer/rm2253662209/?ref_=nm_md_3

============

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm14676643/?ref_=tt_cl_t_13

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm14676643/mediaviewer/rm3155503105/?ref_=nm_md_1

===========

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm14676649/?ref_=tt_cl_t_15

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm14676649/mediaviewer/rm3759351809/?ref_=nm_md_4

===========

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm14676655/?ref_=tt_cl_t_16

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm14676655/mediaviewer/rm1511270401/?ref_=nm_md_4

===========

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm14676646/?ref_=tt_cl_t_17

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm14676646/mediaviewer/rm3642042369/?ref_=nm_md_2

===========

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm14676652/?ref_=tt_cl_t_18

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm14676652/mediaviewer/rm1762994177/?ref_=nm_md_1

===========

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm14676653/?ref_=ttfc_fc_cl_t19

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm14676653/mediaviewer/rm1762994177/?ref_=nm_md_1

===========

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm14676641/?ref_=ttfc_fc_cl_t20

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm14676641/mediaviewer/rm753805569/?ref_=nm_md_3

===========

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm14676644/?ref_=ttfc_fc_cl_t21

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm14676644/mediaviewer/rm1729439745/?ref_=nm_md_1

===========

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm14676640/?ref_=ttfc_fc_cl_t22

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm14676640/mediaviewer/rm3356829697/?ref_=nm_md_2

===========

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm14676647/?ref_=ttfc_fc_cl_t23

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt27053371/mediaviewer/rm3127912449?ref_=ttmi_mi_nm_bts_3

===========

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm14676639/?ref_=ttfc_fc_cl_t24

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm14676639/mediaviewer/rm2081826817/?ref_=nm_md_1

===========

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm14676654/?ref_=ttfc_fc_cl_t26

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm14676654/mediaviewer/rm1511270401/?ref_=nm_md_4

===========

Well my advice is to only have one person in the primary image to avoid confusion. Also below can you identify who is who in the bottom two jpgs? The names that I didn't include I'm not sure a primary image can be culled from the images provided. If you approve I can upload the cropped image with copyright info. If you want me not to that's fine too. 

@ben_hampel​ Yes, that would be fine (don't forget Loay Tattan as well).

Regarding the last two photos, I am not sure who is who for the nurses and the kids, so either add them as is, or just skip them if not possible.

Does Loay Tattan or a representative have control of his page? https://www.imdb.com/name/nm14517689/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0_tt_0_nm_1_q_%2520Loay%2520Tattan                I requested twice to update his primary, image to https://www.imdb.com/name/nm14517689/mediaviewer/rm2876777217?ref_=nmmi_mi_all_evt_146 and twice I was told OK, updated. However it didn't update. Perhaps @Michelle or @Maya can explain or accomplish the update. 

Also should 'cielo' be capitalized?

These are updated.... But these I need you to confirm that they are the correct person. I'm worried I selected the wrong person. If they are not correct then they might have to be abandoned.

@ben_hampel​ Thank you! A appreciate it very much.

I am the representative who have a control on Loay's. Why is it still a problem while the others are ok?

Regarding The last three photos, they are correct.

Also, Oswin Fernandes with this picture. He is the guy with the yellow shirt in the middle.

If you have control of his page you are the only person that can update his primary image. https://help.imdb.com/article/imdbpro/manage-your-imdb-page/manage-your-images/GYJLH267T2DMYJ53#addimage  Let us know if you need help after looking at this page. Someone can chime in.

OK so Abbas and Edmar are correct. Oswin is which? The guy in the Kellog's t-shirt or the guy in the yellow shirt?

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm14676643/mediaviewer/rm3071617025/

Is Edmar in this photo?

@ben_hampel​ 

1- I've already set my primary image, but when my subscription finished, IMDb changed it to this one (although it has other people)!!! Now, obviously, I cannot change it because I have the free version of the Pro!

2- Oswin is the man in yellow shirt as I said, with the little boats in the middle wearing a beard.

@ben_hampel​ Hi Ben, thank you for all the help you've done 

My picture was updated perfectly for a good period, now I am checking it and it is back to the weird group photo that I am marginal in it! Do you know what's going on with this? (Also, all the work you've done was apparently reversed!!) Thank you.

IMDb turned off many of the primary images that I posted with no explanation.  I'm done with IMDb.

I know; they discard our voluntary help to them ungratefully. Unbelievable.

Hi @ben_hampel​ -

Concerning these recent primary image removals you referenced, I am happy to investigate further.  Can you provide some additional information such as the related titles or some of the submission ID numbers associated with these images?

@Michelle   I am not involved with this anymore. Someone sent me as anonymous threatening email to stop helping him. Which I reluctantly did. Shortly afterwards I added primary images and a few updates to a different show and the contributor who does the updates complained. Our understanding of who gets included on a cast list differed. We explained ourselves here on the community board and all was good. I told IMDb to remove my changes including primary images to that show. The contributor was very gracious and asked IMDb to clarify the rules. As far as I know there was no conclusion. Then about a week later I noticed a primary image of Arnold Schwarzenegger's mother disappeared. Then I noticed even more primary images I put up disappeared. I sent an email to costumer service and the reply was lacking any explanation. I replied and asked for clarification and received the same stock answer. 'Thank you for your constant support but...' Never addressing why after seven years I'm not allowed to upload a primary image to a name page for someone who's been dead for decades or is 'Mother of Victim' in a documentary. People who would never get an IMDb Pro account. Also I'm told I can't even make suggestions to update a primary image if it's horrible like these ...

No explanation of the change. I don't understand why IMDb would prefer these primary images just to adhere to some rule. I'd prefer to have had this conversation via email but Customer Service provided no explanation. I would love to continue contributing to the site but I don't want to do a half ass job. If I'm filling out a documentary cast list and have access to great images to make a primary it seems like a waste to not include it. Especially if it's for people who would never in a million years get a pro account. Since there are numerous examples of names with many, many roman numerals it seems counter productive to not include something that would help differentiate them.   

Sorry I've hijacked Argman's thread. The primaries were perfectly good images that I put up for him. IMDb took them down, not me. 

@ben_hampel​ Agreed. The key word is "communication". @Michelle was willing to help, which is good, but also ignored my question as a the thread owner and only addressed Ben's issue (which is also important). Moreover, other than the quality of IMDb's communication, the speed of which communication happens is super slow (takes weeks and months to reply to each chat piece) & random (Sometimes they answer a silly question and many times they ignore big issues).

A huge entity like IMDb must add dedicated customer support for their prime users, a proper chat facility, ticketing system with following-up quality assurance (emails usually gets one answer and then no matter what happens there is no following-up).

And once you're not a prime member, you're directly stripped out of many of the hardwork you've done and get multiple messages in a threating notes that we'll remove this and that unless you -basically- pay us, feels like blackmailing tbh.

What an awful situation. I've been trying to keep to it low-key as to the involvement of Trisha S, Ben Hampel and urbanemovies involvement in "the one thing", but without treating it as some kind of secret. Based upon what has been explained above, I do wonder if there is some kind of copyright issue involved. I can't image there sound concerns about personal privacy have anything to do with it. I do sort of get the impression that the IMDb editorial team (if there is such a thing) prefers that there be a certain percentage of uploaded placeholder primary images that are off-center, about-face, cluttered, ambiguous or problematic in some way, or vacant (showing the the stock template icon), so as to incentivize customers to sign up for IMDbPro, but that only works for people who are alive or whose estates are managed by a surviving next of kin (which in the case of celebrities or historical figures who died centuries ago, we may never be able to identify a living descendant or, in the case of those who had no offspring, a living indirect descendant).

For the record @Michelle , @Maya and @Bethanny have been very helpful to me in the past. As a former employee of a similar company I can attest to how it's difficult to keep everyone in the public happy. The employees have to adhere to policy and be polite to people who don't have the same obligations. I worked for a company owned by Bill Gates. Every complaint was followed by 'Why can't Bill throw money at the problem?' That's just not how businesses work. All I want is to be able to continue how I was. I know to avoid the wraith of publicists and whoever might have control of their own name page. In all the time I've contributed to IMDb one photographer complained very early so I avoided certain images. And recently I added a still image to the gallery of an Anne Frank documentary. The Anne Frank copyright holder complained. Other than that no complaints about the images. 

@jeorj_euler​ Well, even I, as a very alive young active filmmaker, they can't twist my arm like that. They allow you to set a primary image only while you're actively paying them, they think it is worth it but it is not. Above that, the instant you stop paying, they'll (in my case, and my team's case) change your primary photo to a photo that has a bunch of people, where you're barely one of them and you're out of the frame or awkwardly in it.

I understand that it is a business and they need to incentivize the users to pay, but this way of forcing them (do this or else) instead of actually providing value, is very very unprofessional, it gives the vibes like we're being blackmailed to pay in perpetuity for a decent photo and a bunch of featured films, well, that ain't happening. (Even for the featured films, they'll choose the future films that are empty and useless as the featured film, just to pressure you into paying)

I don't recall him ever exhibiting much excitement about the present and future of this aspect of IMDb, but I've only really been paying attention to his forum presence since late 2016. Some other people seem to be in charge of this other thing, with some limited internal consensus.

@Michelle Thank you for your reply. Writing only in regards to my concerns, I have always had the ability to post any image on an episode or film page and once tagged the image would show up on the name page as well. It's been the case for seven years. If the name page had no primary image I made sure that the first image uploaded was primary image worthy. I enjoyed watching documentaries so the majority of who I created primary images for were not actors/director types who would have an IMDbPro membership. If they were actors they more than often were long dead. Also if the primary image such as those shown above were just terrible I would email customer service and suggest a change. For years you guys were fine with this. Then this summer I noticed some of my primary images being removed without being told. I wrote customer service and did not receive a satisfactory answer. I wrote again and got the same answer. No explanation as to why all of the sudden I wasn't allowed to create a primary image for someone who would never get an IMDbPro membership for themselves. Someone dead or a pro athlete or a police officer or a serial killer. I was politely informed that I couldn't even suggest new primary images for people who had horrible primary images. Someone in Star Trek makeup or being gruesomely killed in a horror movie or just plain very, very off center. I've stopped contributing to IMDb since I wasn't given a reason why. 

Hi @ben_hampel​ -

Apologies for the late reply here.  Thanks for outlining all the information related to your experience and previous image contributions.  I will raise these concerns with the appropriate team.

@Michelle Any feedback regarding my concerns? I'm watching a lot of documentaries that have blank IMDb pages that I would love to fill out and also add primary images. But if they are just going to be deleted for no reason then I won't waste my time. 

Hi @ben_hampel​ -

Your comments/concerns were raised to the appropriate team for visibility.  The status of allowing tagged name images to appear within name page photo galleries is still being discussed by the appropriate teams and does not yet have a resolution.

You are welcome to continue submitting images to title pages, however, know that tagging the name will not currently activate a name page gallery display.

The underlying issue seems to be that somebody working as an IMDb data editor doesn't want to Ben Hampel to upload any images at all. Wouldn't be it be nice if somebody would explain why (not necessarily publicly) to him?

@Michelle​   So this is an example of what I would like to continue to do. I created the cast list for this documentary https://www.imdb.com/title/tt30852970/?ref_=ttfc_fc_tt   and for the eleven people featured there are images that would be great for primary images on each individual name page. None of them are in the entertainment business and would never take control of their name pages. So why not add the images? I was doing this for 8 years and then someone decided to start deleting the primary images as well as still images from film/shows without telling me why. 

Hi @ben_hampel​ -

I can confirm that our support team reached out back in July 2023 to discuss the state of the images, if you missed the email and would like further clarification, I would encourage you to check your email (as well as any junk/spam folders) to gather that information directly.

In the meantime, thanks for posting your use-case above, I will be sure that the appropriate team reviewing the options is aware.