Difference between revisions of "ISFDB:Help desk"

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{{Shortcut3|shortcut1=ISFDB:HELPDESK|link1=ISFDB:HELPDESK|shortcut2=ISFDB:HD|link2=ISFDB:HD|shortcut3=HELPDESK|link3=HELPDESK}}
 
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[[Category:ISFDB Help]]
 
[[Category:ISFDB Help]]
  
== Publisher information ==
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== "Top Science Fiction" -- adding author intros ==
  
I need to know if I’m doing this right.  While updating the late author Gary Brandner’s page I entered [https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pl.cgi?896984 this edition]. I would like to know if I entered the publisher correctly. Was the publisher iUniverse, Backinprint.com, iUniverse / Backinprint.com, etc.? [[User:MLB|MLB]] 19:39, 1 May 2022 (EDT)
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Hi. I have a copy of this to hand [https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pl.cgi?270633 Top Science Fiction: The Authors' Choice] and I note that the ISFDB entry does not list the authors' intros. It seems like it ought to, although they're just a few paragraphs before the story starts. Could-should I add them?
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[[User:Frink|Frink]] ([[User talk:Frink|talk]]) 19:05, 3 October 2023 (EDT)
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:Yes, that would be great! I assume they are by Josh Pachter? ···[[User:Nihonjoe|<font color="darkgreen">日本穣</font>]] · <small>[[Special:Contributions/Nihonjoe|<font color="blue">投稿</font>]] · [[User talk:Nihonjoe|Talk to Nihonjoe]]</small> 14:36, 4 October 2023 (EDT)
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::They're actually by the authors and aren't separated explicitly from the stories, which is why I was unsure about this. I'll go ahead and do it, and if it's undesirable it's easily reverted. [[User:Frink|Frink]] ([[User talk:Frink|talk]]) 21:26, 4 October 2023 (EDT)
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:::Yes, just enter them as essays by the authors then. If they don't have explicit titles, give them the name of the story with "(introduction)" at the end. ···[[User:Nihonjoe|<font color="darkgreen">日本穣</font>]] · <small>[[Special:Contributions/Nihonjoe|<font color="blue">投稿</font>]] · [[User talk:Nihonjoe|Talk to Nihonjoe]]</small> 13:46, 5 October 2023 (EDT)
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::::Done. Thank you for the help! [[User:Frink|Frink]] ([[User talk:Frink|talk]]) 09:48, 7 October 2023 (EDT)
  
: One person's not particularly educated opinion: From [http://web.archive.org/web/20150524143938/http:/www.backinprint.com/ this] archived backinprint.com page, it sounds to me like iUniverse is technically the publisher: they provided the electronic source to Backinprint.com; they paid the royalties to the authors; authors granted the publication rights to them.  So I think Backinprint.com would be more like an imprint, in which case the names you used should be swapped around (our format is Imprint / Publisher) to be "Backinprint.com / iUniverse".  --[[User:MartyD|MartyD]] 09:57, 4 May 2022 (EDT)
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== Messy situation with a translated essay and author credit ==
  
:: Okay. [[User:MLB|MLB]] 02:53, 5 May 2022 (EDT)
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I'm in the process of adding [https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pl.cgi?973163 a Chinese fanzine] that is mostly translated articles, and I've encountered a case that I'm not sure I've handled optimally, but I'm not sure what the correct way to go is.
  
== Question on Printer's key ==
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[https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?3231621 This essay] is credited to "洛朗蒂乌·尼斯托雷斯库 等", where the body of it is a Sinocization of [https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?303758 Laurențiu Nistorescu] with the trailing "等" indicating "et al".  As such, I've credited the essay to 洛朗蒂乌·尼斯托雷斯库, added a note for the "et al", and made that author an alternate for Laurențiu Nistorescu.
  
I am new here so I am not sure if this information is somewhere (searched but couldn't find) or has been answered but...
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The problem comes in because [http://www.concatenation.org/europe/sf_romania_2.html the original online publication] doesn't clearly indicate the author(s).  A footnote states "This article was a co-operative venture. Much is owed to Laurentiu Nistorescu (SF writer and journalist), Antuza Genescu and Dorin Davideanu (editor of the H. G. Wells Society zine Paradox).", but that feels like some unnamed editor assembled an English-language essay from articles by those authors, quite possibly in Romanian.  As such I've added [https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?3233285 that English essay] as by "uncredited", with the footnote copypasted into the note.
Looking at 'Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone' (Publication Record # 215741), the Notes has:
 
  
30th printing. Printing line goes 35 34 33 32 31 30    9/9 0/0 01 02 Assuming that means this is from 2002.
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The problem comes in that the essay doesn't show up on [https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?303758 the Nistorescu author page] (which is understandable), nor [https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?369192 the alternate Chinese author page].  The latter seems bad for discoverability and understanding why that author record even exists.
  
The record has the date as 2002-00-00.
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Any thoughts on whether I should change how these essays have been recorded?  A technical fix might be to not "hide" titles on the alternate author's page, if the parent title is logged against unknown/uncredited/etc, but I dunno how much work that would be, or even if it's desirable.
  
The way I read the date part of the printing line is this is a 1999 publication date.
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Thanks [[User:ErsatzCulture|ErsatzCulture]] ([[User talk:ErsatzCulture|talk]]) 12:25, 7 October 2023 (EDT)
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:One option:
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:*Credit the Chinese title to 洛朗蒂乌·尼斯托雷斯库 and uncredited
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:*Credit the English title to Laurentiu Nistorescu, Antuza Genescu, Dorin Davideanu, Silviu Genescu, and uncredited
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:A simpler option: Delete the English essay record. As entered, it does not appear in an eligible publication. We only enter webzines, not any web essay. Everything entered in that record can be moved to the Chinese title record. --&nbsp;[[User:JLaTondre|JLaTondre]] ([[User talk:JLaTondre#top|talk]]) 13:05, 7 October 2023 (EDT)
  
Which should it be? <small>—The preceding unsigned comment was added by [[User:Stealth DBA|Stealth DBA]] ([[User talk:Stealth DBA|talk]] [[Special:Contributions/Stealth DBA|contribs]]) .</small> 15:31, 2 May 2022 (EDT)
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:: I would also use the "A" template for {{A|Antuza Genescu}}, {{A|Dorin Davideanu}}, and {{A|Silviu Genescu}} since we have author records for them. [[User:Ahasuerus|Ahasuerus]] ([[User talk:Ahasuerus|talk]]) 13:08, 7 October 2023 (EDT)
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::: Thanks both.  I'll update the author names to use the template.
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::: Re. the original "publication" - I appreciate the original isn't really eligible for inclusion in ISFDB, but I'm more interested in capturing the fact that the Chinese publication is a translation of an older essay, and I don't think there's any other way of recording that than creating an English (or whatever) title record to variant to?  (Same as how translated webnovels get a parent title record, even though the original webnovel "publication" isn't really ISFDB-eligible.) [[User:ErsatzCulture|ErsatzCulture]] ([[User talk:ErsatzCulture|talk]]) 19:40, 8 October 2023 (EDT)
  
: The publisher, Scholastic, uses an uncommon "printer's key" system. To quote [https://www.raptisrarebooks.com/first-edition-identification/ this Web page]:
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:::: The point about "translated webnovels get[ting] a parent title record" is an interesting one. I maintain a few publishers who do exactly that, e.g.:
:* 7 8 9 0/0 . . .would indicate 1997
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::::* [https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/publisher.cgi?61427 Cross Infinite World]: publishes English translations of Japanese light novels
:* 8 9 0/0 . . .is 1998
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::::* [https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/publisher.cgi?72362 Magic Dome Books]/[https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/publisher.cgi?74983 Magic Dome Books and 1C-Publishing]: mostly publishes European (mostly Russian and Ukrainian, but also some German) authors, often in translation
:* 9 0/0 . . .is 1999, etc.
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:::: Some of these translated novels were originally published in book form, but many original versions are Web novels and have not been published as books. I don't think we have a standard for these types of scenarios, which results in inconsistent dating: some parent titles are enter as "8888-00-00" while others use the date of the online publication. We probably need to discuss these issues on the Rules and Standards page. [[User:Ahasuerus|Ahasuerus]] ([[User talk:Ahasuerus|talk]]) 13:51, 9 October 2023 (EDT)
  
: In other words, your hypothesis was correct and the publication year is 1999. Also see [https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pl.cgi?16430 this ISFDB publication record] for the printer's key of the first (1998) printing of this edition, which uses "8 9/9 0/0 01 02". [[User:Ahasuerus|Ahasuerus]] 10:34, 3 May 2022 (EDT)
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== Stuck submission? ==
  
: P.S. I have updated [[Template:PublicationFields:PubNote]] to link to this resource. [[User:Ahasuerus|Ahasuerus]] 10:40, 3 May 2022 (EDT)
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Wondering my submission seems stuck?
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https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/view_submission.cgi?5773933
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Thanks. [[User:Gzuckier|gzuckier]] ([[User talk:Gzuckier|talk]]) 00:50, 14 October 2023 (EDT)
  
::Although it's Scholastic-specific, what do you (or does everyone) think about also including [http://www.tunneltwo.com/secrets/secrets06.html this] in that list? --[[User:MartyD|MartyD]] 09:42, 4 May 2022 (EDT)
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: I suspect that the moderators who reviewed the submission were not sure whether this "future history" book was a work of fiction. I have confirmed that it is indeed fiction, approved the submission and updated the [https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?369536 author record]. Thanks! [[User:Ahasuerus|Ahasuerus]] ([[User talk:Ahasuerus|talk]]) 10:38, 14 October 2023 (EDT)
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::Thank you. [[User:Gzuckier|gzuckier]] ([[User talk:Gzuckier|talk]]) 12:19, 14 October 2023 (EDT)
  
::: Given the growing number of links to third party Web pages, we may want to create a new Help template for "Number Line/Printer's Key". It would include a more in-depth explanation of the concept as well as a list of external links. [[User:Ahasuerus|Ahasuerus]] 12:46, 4 May 2022 (EDT)
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== Adding "Pages to Fill: A Legends & Lattes Short Story" ==
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Greetings and felicitations.  I'd like to add (or have someone else add) [https://www.travisbaldree.com/pages-to-fill "Pages to Fill: A Legends & Lattes Short Story"], a prequel to [https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?2995100 the novel].  Besides the author's Web site, it is also available in the back of Tor's [https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/61457585-legends-lattes American hardcover edition] (though I don't have proof of that) and [https://books.apple.com/dk/audiobook/legends-lattes/id1629678565 apparently at the end of the audiobook] (see the full Publisher Description).
  
== The Book of the SubGenius ==
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Unfortunately, I can't find instructions on how to do that (for SHORTFICTION), though other comments on this page hint at it.  Help, please? —[[User:DocWatson42|DocWatson42]] ([[User talk:DocWatson42|talk]]) 00:15, 18 October 2023 (EDT)
  
If I were to add it, what would it be? I want to call it nonfiction. If you don't know what it is, you can check it out [https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/174479.The_Book_of_the_SubGenius here]. --[[User:Rosab618|Rosab618]] 21:42, 5 May 2022 (EDT)
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: Amazon's Look Inside let me confirm that [https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?3236839 "Pages to Fill"] indeed appears at the end of the hardcover edition published by Tor. The table of contents of their ebook edition mentions an "excerpt" from "Pages to Fill", but Look Inside doesn't display it. I have updated the [https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pl.cgi?919465 hardcover pub] -- all I had to do was use "Edit This Pub" and add a SHORTFICTION title to the Content section. The version posted on the author's Web site has 9491 words, which makes it a novelette. Thanks! [[User:Ahasuerus|Ahasuerus]] ([[User talk:Ahasuerus|talk]]) 11:46, 20 October 2023 (EDT)
:I would enter it as fiction. It's fictional non-fiction, which is entered as fiction. ···[[User:Nihonjoe|<font color="darkgreen">日本穣</font>]] · <small>[[Special:Contributions/Nihonjoe|<font color="blue">投稿</font>]] · [[User talk:Nihonjoe|Talk to Nihonjoe]]</small> 13:12, 6 May 2022 (EDT)
 
  
== Archiving ==
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:: Thank you, and I'm sorry about the deletion of discussions here—it was not only unintentional, I did not realize that I was doing it. —[[User:DocWatson42|DocWatson42]] ([[User talk:DocWatson42|talk]]) 03:28, 26 October 2023 (EDT)
  
Is there an optimum page size for talk page archives? I planned to move approximately 220,000. After seeing the warning, I cut that in half to 108,000. That seems small. I want to get the sizing correct and stay consistent as I add pages.[[User:Scifibones|<b>John</b> <small>Scifibones</small>]] 20:13, 7 May 2022 (EDT)
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== Awards ==
  
:It is usually most convenient to go by some easy-to-understand/easy-to-remember period size, rather than worrying about page size.  This MediaWiki software edition is very old, and some of its concepts of what might result in poor performance are no longer quite in tune with the state of modern hardware and browsers. Something like annual is a good place to start.  If that looks way too big, then semiannual. Or if it looks very small, then biennial might be better. --[[User:MartyD|MartyD]] 11:01, 8 May 2022 (EDT)
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I can't find where to add an award that is not part of the awards list. I appreciate help. Thanks. {{unsigned|Antunes}}
  
::Thanks for the clarification, [[User:Scifibones|<b>John</b> <small>Scifibones</small>]] 12:18, 8 May 2022 (EDT)
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: [[Help:Screen:AwardType]] says:
:::Yeah, just ignore that warning. It's from a decade-old version of the software. ···[[User:Nihonjoe|<font color="darkgreen">日本穣</font>]] · <small>[[Special:Contributions/Nihonjoe|<font color="blue">投稿</font>]] · [[User talk:Nihonjoe|Talk to Nihonjoe]]</small> 13:02, 9 May 2022 (EDT)
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:* Award Types define the types of awards (like the Hugo award) that ISFDB currently supports. Only ISFDB bureaucrats can create new award types. Only ISFDB moderators can edit existing award types. If you would like to have a new award type added or an existing award type modified, feel free to post your request on the [[Community Portal]].
:::: The warning is somewhat valid only for very old browsers which had issues with long POSTs. As most people do not use them anymore and most edits are in a thread and not using a full page edit, the warning is really superfluous but is still there for the unlikely case when you somehow have a functioning browser which has the issue and you are doing a full edit. As long as you can see all of the moved ones into the archive, you are fine - warnings or not. [[User:Anniemod|Annie]] 13:18, 9 May 2022 (EDT)
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: Once a request has been posted in the Community Portal, it usually takes a few days to discuss it. If consensus is reached, then an ISFDB bureaucrat will add a new Award Type. HTH! [[User:Ahasuerus|Ahasuerus]] ([[User talk:Ahasuerus|talk]]) 11:22, 20 October 2023 (EDT)
  
== Changing Author/artist name ==
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== Author Directory ==
  
Artist Libby Vanderploeg https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?295299 should actually be VanderPloeg I have become convinced; the two NYTimes credits were in uppercase, and I don't know where "These Witches Don't Burn" credit came from, but https://www.isabelsterling.com/press-kit> says VanderPloeg. However when I try to change the name in the publication pages,it defaults back to saving it as Vanderploeg. I think somebody needs to change the name on the author page. Thanks. [[User:Gzuckier|gzuckier]] 00:51, 10 May 2022 (EDT)
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I've logged in, yet selecting any letter in the author directory returns that advanced search is restricted? {{Unsigned2|08:59, October 29, 2023‎|Acb13adm}}
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: Are you sure you are logged into the ISFDB as well as this wiki? [[User:Scifibones|<b>John</b> <small>Scifibones</small>]] 09:24, 29 October 2023 (EDT)
  
:Agreed & changed (indeed, on the author page). Also added a link to her [https://www.libbyvanderploeg.com/about website]. Thanks, --[[User:Willem H.|Willem]] 03:54, 10 May 2022 (EDT)
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:: Because the search function is not dependent on being logged in, the problem you are facing must be caused by something else.
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:: I do suppose you get the response 'Regular search doesn't support single character searches for names' using the regular search: that answer is intentional, because you wouldn't get the authors whose name begins with this letter but all authors whose name ''contain'' this letter at any position in their spelling (and this can easily lead to more than 100,000 authors to be displayed).
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:: If this ain't the problem you're facing: could you please describe more specifically what you're doing (and where), and what the exact wording of the response is? [[User:Stonecreek|Stonecreek]] ([[User talk:Stonecreek|talk]]) 06:24, 30 October 2023 (EDT)
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::: Advanced Search requires you to be logged in. That was changed awhile back because of bots causing DB issues. So what is happening is expected behaviour if someone is not logged in. [[User:Anniemod|Annie]] ([[User talk:Anniemod|talk]]) 12:42, 30 October 2023 (EDT)
  
== How do chapbooks work? ==
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:::: That's right. Let me add a warning to the "Author Directory" page. [[User:Ahasuerus|Ahasuerus]] ([[User talk:Ahasuerus|talk]]) 13:48, 30 October 2023 (EDT)
  
After creating a chapbook, do I turn the contents into SHORTFICTION? How do I get it to show up as both a chapbook and shortfiction, like ''You Better Come Home with Me'' by [https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?232258 John Lawson (I)]?--[[User:Rosab618|Rosab618]] 06:49, 15 May 2022 (EDT)
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::::: Done. [[User:Ahasuerus|Ahasuerus]] ([[User talk:Ahasuerus|talk]]) 14:46, 30 October 2023 (EDT)
  
: Think of chapbooks as collections limited to one work of <b>fiction</b> (shortfiction, poem, or serial). The content title record should have the same name as the chapbook container and publication title. [https://www.isfdb.org/wiki/index.php/Help:Screen:NewPub#Publication_Type Here] is the relevant help section. Related information (length, series, reviews, awards, etc) are entered in or attached to the content title record, not the chapbook container.
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== S. R. Cronin not on ISFDB ==
: A couple comments re: [https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pl.cgi?898669 Derek the Dust Particle].
 
:* Since the short story 'Derek the Dust Particle' does not exist, enter it using edit publication.
 
:* The juvenile flag should be set for both the [https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?3033913 container] title and the new short story title.
 
:* Worldcat claims this is #1 in the publication series
 
:* Double check the format of your price
 
: Hope this help. [[User:Scifibones|<b>John</b> <small>Scifibones</small>]] 08:46, 15 May 2022 (EDT)
 
::I'm still confused. I tried changing it into short fiction before, but then it didn't show up as a chapbook on the author's page. ''Should'' it show up as a chapbook, as well as short fiction? Is creating chapbooks a two-step process (creating it, then turning the contents into short fiction)?
 
::And what do you mean about the format of the price? —[[User:Rosab618|Rosab618]] 13:06, 15 May 2022 (EDT)
 
  
::: I did the first two steps on the list for you. I created the content title [https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/view_submission.cgi?5317667 step 1]. Then I set the juvenile flags [https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/view_submission.cgi?5317665 step 2a] & [https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/view_submission.cgi?5317669 step 2b]. All could have been done in your original submission except setting the flag on the content title. It's not visible in the new pub screen. It is a two step process if you are importing an existing content title. Is it clearer after seeing what I did? [[User:Scifibones|<b>John</b> <small>Scifibones</small>]] 14:22, 15 May 2022 (EDT)
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Locus just announced the passing of this author.
::::Yes. Your actions showed me, not your words. --[[User:Rosab618|Rosab618]] 15:40, 15 May 2022 (EDT)
 
  
== How to add entries for short stories that are part of a magazine issue ==
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https://locusmag.com/2023/10/sherrie-cronin-1954-2023/
  
I am completely stumped, so any help/pointers would be appreciated.
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As far as I can tell, this author only appears on ISFDB in this record, under a different version of her name:
  
I noticed that Charles S. Wolfe has a number of short stories published in Electrical Experimenter (and Science and Invention) which are missing from the database, so I wanted to add them. After some digging around, it looks like the magazine issues are missing, so I think I need to start there, but how?
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https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?43591
  
One specific example:
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She self-published several fantasy novels in two series w/ Amazon.com Kindle delivery:
Electrical Experimenter exists - check
 
Issue from October 1920 does not - need to add it, but I cannot figure out how to do this
 
Story "Loaded Line" by Charles S. Wolfe (and Electric Shoes by J. Mac-Richard) need to be added to that issue - again,I can't figure out how. {{Unsigned2| 22:07, 15 May 2022 |Kkz}}
 
  
EDIT:
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https://www.amazon.com/s?k=s.+r.+cronin&i=stripbooks&crid=ZBEVKG7XIXYN&sprefix=s.+r.+cronin%2Cstripbooks%2C126&ref=nb_sb_noss
OK, further digging and I see I can "Add New Magazine", and the stories as part of that. But how do I connect it to the over-arching "Electrical Experimenter 1920" group? Or is that automatic when I do Add from that page? {{Unsigned2|22:14, 15 May 2022|Kkz}}
 
  
:Hi, and welcome.  To do that, you would enter the October 1920 issue first, using Add New Magazine as you discovered. Note that this is a non-genre magazine, so there are some special standards for how it should be entered.  See [[Help:Entering_non-genre_periodicals]] for how to do that.  Once that submission has been accepted, a second submission is needed to merge the October 1920 EDITOR record that will be created into the existing Electrical Experimenter - 1920 "group" (which is really just a single EDITOR record used to represent 1920). Feel free to try -- submissions are moderated, so you cannot do any harm.  The moderator processing the submission will help address anything that is not as it should be. --[[User:MartyD|MartyD]] 07:27, 16 May 2022 (EDT)
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Should we index them? [[User:Hifrommike65|Mike]] ([[User talk:Hifrommike65|talk]]) 13:13, 31 October 2023 (EDT)
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:https://archive.org/details/Asimovs_v03n11_1979-11/page/n119/mode/2up?view=theater; I saw that link in a StackExchange discussion where someone couldn't remember the title of this story. --[[User:Username|Username]] ([[User talk:Username|talk]]) 13:36, 31 October 2023 (EDT)
  
== Rotating Covers ==
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:: We definitely want her self-published books. I plan to add them tomorrow morning. [[User:Ahasuerus|Ahasuerus]] ([[User talk:Ahasuerus|talk]]) 22:45, 2 November 2023 (EDT)
  
So somehow I never noticed when editing an image to be uploaded to the Wiki that you can rotate it in addition to shrinking dimensions to 600 or less. I made an initial try with a cover I added from Amazon some time ago, https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/view_submission.cgi?5321346, and while it's nice that the cover is now easy to see while still showing info on the spine it's clearly smaller. So is it common practice to add imperfect images from other sites because they're bigger, or rotate them to face forward but make them smaller and necessitate uploading to the Wiki? --[[User:Username|Username]] 11:44, 19 May 2022 (EDT)
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::: All of her books [https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?370261 have been entered] and an alternate name has been set up. Thanks for finding the obituary! [[User:Ahasuerus|Ahasuerus]] ([[User talk:Ahasuerus|talk]]) 14:04, 3 November 2023 (EDT)
:Rotating (and skewing) covers can be a pain if you don't have the right tools. I approved your change, but then fixed the perspective of the cover so it was straight on. You may have to force a refresh to see the updated cover image. ···[[User:Nihonjoe|<font color="darkgreen">日本穣</font>]] · <small>[[Special:Contributions/Nihonjoe|<font color="blue">投稿</font>]] · [[User talk:Nihonjoe|Talk to Nihonjoe]]</small> 12:35, 19 May 2022 (EDT)
 
  
:: https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/view_submission.cgi?5325072; I made an edit adding page #'s from FantLab and replaced the cover, but Amazon's cover, which doesn't seem to exist on current Amazon anymore except as a tiny measured photo incorrectly added to the 2017 Shadow edition, is bigger and framed better. While trying to find a bigger one to upload to head off the usual grousing about unnecessarily replacing a cover image I tried the shadowpublishing.net page but just got a Wix message, and the archived page has a broken image, although with a little searching you can get the 2017 Shadow cover, which is totally different (and not on ISFDB). I finally found what I think is the only photo online that shows the spine clearly, but the photo is badly done, as can be seen at the link above. So my question is, can you zoom it up so cover is clear while still showing the full spine? --[[User:Username|Username]] 13:55, 23 May 2022 (EDT)
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:::: Thanks for handling this. Cheers. [[User:Hifrommike65|Mike]] ([[User talk:Hifrommike65|talk]]) 17:39, 3 November 2023 (EDT)
:::We generally only include the spine (and the back cover) if it includes part of the front cover image. In this case, it's just a plain color, so there's really no reason to include it. It would violate fair use. ···[[User:Nihonjoe|<font color="darkgreen">日本穣</font>]] · <small>[[Special:Contributions/Nihonjoe|<font color="blue">投稿</font>]] · [[User talk:Nihonjoe|Talk to Nihonjoe]]</small> 13:59, 23 May 2022 (EDT)
 
  
:::: Boy, in that case I hope nobody ever notices the MANY cover images I've entered which show the spine. When this edit is finally approved I'll restore the Amazon image, although it's still weird that the only place it seems to exist now is as a tiny photo incorrectly on the 2017 edition's Amazon page. --[[User:Username|Username]] 19:20, 23 May 2022 (EDT)
+
== Mafagafo Revista/Monthly issues inside a yearly folder ==
:::::Well, now you know, and knowing is half the battle (as they say). In the future, unless the cover image wraps around onto the spine or the spine and the back cover, please avoid adding images with the spine. ···[[User:Nihonjoe|<font color="darkgreen">日本穣</font>]] · <small>[[Special:Contributions/Nihonjoe|<font color="blue">投稿</font>]] · [[User talk:Nihonjoe|Talk to Nihonjoe]]</small> 21:13, 23 May 2022 (EDT)
 
  
:::::: Did some work on this a while back, https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pl.cgi?34769, and today discovered the title, publisher and cover artist were wrong! I fixed those (cover artist as "Wayne Miller" needs to be merged after approval so it's as by M. Wayne Miller, I suppose) but this, [https://www.picclickimg.com/images/g/BNcAAOSwgOphN8j5/s-l1600.jpg], is the only online photo I can find that shows the full cover art. Too small now, but is there a way to crop out the book itself and enlarge the dustjacket so it can be uploaded? --[[User:Username|Username]] 14:02, 27 May 2022 (EDT)
+
I hope this doesn't sounds confusing: I'm slowly adding issues of this [https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pe.cgi?69927 Brazilian magazine], but how do I neatly tuck [https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?3242052 these] and [https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?3242049 two] (and other editions I still need to add manually)  issues inside a neat early "folder" like [https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?3185445 this] (i.e.: put them inside a Mafagafo - 2022 "folder")? Thanks in advance! [[User:Alittlebook|Alittlebook]] ([[User talk:Alittlebook|talk]]) 16:46, 2 November 2023 (EDT)
  
== Foreign language serialized webnovel, published for the first time in book form as English translation? ==
+
: There is a Help page, [[Help:How to link a magazine to its wiki page and add it to a magazine series]], that discusses this topic. The top half is actually obsolete now that the ISFDB software builds issue grids automatically; the ISFDB Wiki is no longer used for this purpose. We'll need to remove the section.
  
I've been running into this situation more often with English translations of Japanese and Korean webnovels, and I'm not sure how to handle it on ISFDB.  
+
: The bottom half, however, is still mostly accurate. Here are the relevant steps, edited to reflect the current state of the software:
 +
:* The EDITOR records of a magazine must first be merged by year using the steps listed below.
 +
:* Use Advanced Title Search to find the EDITOR records for issues published in a given year. The Title Search screen will list candidates for merging.
 +
:* Select the titles to be merged being careful not to select any titles that should not be merged. '''Only titles with the same editor(s) and year should be merged'''. See {{series|20701|this example}} where the editor credit changed in the middle of 1953.
 +
:* Review the displayed titles, then click Complete Merge. On the next Web page, select the title record with the earliest date. Note that the spelling of the title doesn't matter because it will be modified in the next step. The Moderator will review and approve the submission.
 +
:* Bring up the merged title record for editing. For example, "Strange Stories, April 1939" should be changed to "Strange Stories - 1939" and "Strange Stories" entered in the Series field. A moderator will review and approve the submission.
 +
:* Putting EDITOR records in the same series will result in "(View All Issues)" and "(View Issue Grid)" links appearing on all Web pages displaying individual issues.
  
So here's one example: the Japanese webnovel [https://www.mangaupdates.com/series/bkwoehv/ryuu-no-ban-no-kinoko-hime-unmeita-dato-konyaku-hakisaretara-kinoko-no-hentai-ga-yattekimashita-novel 竜の番のキノコ姫 ~運命だと婚約破棄されたら、キノコの変態がやってきました~ / Ryuu no Ban no Kinoko Hime - Unmeita Dato Konyaku Hakisaretara, Kinoko no Hentai ga Yattekimashita] was first published/serialized in 2020 on the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shōsetsuka_ni_Narō prominent] free Japanese webnovel site [https://ncode.syosetu.com/n5733gg/ Syosetu]. The original webnovel has NOT been published/collected into book form yet in Japanese. Now in 2022, the webnovel is being translated into English and published in multi-volume book form, with the first English volume released as [https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?3036496 The Dragon's Soulmate is a Mushroom Princess! Vol.1] (unknown number of the Japanese serial chapters that are being collected in each English book).
+
: Please note the bolded statement above, i.e. "Only titles with the same editor(s) should be merged". In the case of [https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pe.cgi?69927 ''Mafagafo''], the two 2022 issues that we currently have on file have different editors, so they shouldn't be merged. HTH! [[User:Ahasuerus|Ahasuerus]] ([[User talk:Ahasuerus|talk]]) 22:29, 2 November 2023 (EDT)
  
So how does this need to be added/indicated/varianted on ISFDB? Are the English volumes a series or a split novel? The [https://www.isfdb.org/wiki/index.php/Help:How_to_connect_serials_to_titles Help:How to connect serials to titles] page seems to suggest making the serialized work a variant of the novel title, but how can that be done while also making the English novel title a variant as a translation? Can the Japanese serial novel even be added as a publication since Syosetu is a free website? And other such questions, etc. [[User:Morebooks|Morebooks]] 11:34, 21 May 2022 (EDT)
+
:: Hm! This answers my question but raises another: Mafagafo always had the same editor-in-chief, which is Jana Bianchi (the one listed in the yearly merged links from 2018 and 2019). I think this is a lost-in-translation kind of situation, because the I've been crediting the other editions (from issue 2020 onwards) as "edited by [new person]", the "editor" in this case being the person who did the developmental edits/copyedits (the word "editor" means the both things in Portuguese), but Jana Bianchi was still the editor-in-chief. Considering how Strange Horizons is credited here (with the credited editor being only the editor-in-chief and not the fiction/developmental editors), should I go back and change all the issues to credit Jana Bianchi? [[User:Alittlebook|Alittlebook]] ([[User talk:Alittlebook|talk]]) 23:11, 2 November 2023 (EDT)
  
:Off the top of my head, other foreign-language serial webnovels that were published in translated English book form before being published in book form in their original languages: [https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pe.cgi?58722 The Werewolf Count and the Trickster Tailor], [https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pe.cgi?66656 Under the Oak Tree], and [https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pe.cgi?60891 Beast Blood]. Under the Oak Tree is also being serialized in English translation chapters on [https://m.webnovel.com/book/under-the-oak-tree_21949582605391005 Webnovel.com], but I've no idea if that counts as a SFWA-qualifying market for ISFDB publication purposes. [[User:Morebooks|Morebooks]] 11:56, 21 May 2022 (EDT)
+
::: Generally, we only enter the name(s) of the Editor-in-Chief in the Author/Editor field. For example, consider the Wiki page [[Series:Air Wonder Stories]], which says (under "Staff"):
 +
:::* Hugo Gernsback, editor-in-chief.
 +
:::* David Lasser, Literary editor, July 1929-February 1930, Managing editor, March-Mary 1930. Despite his title Lasser was in effect managing editor for all issues.
 +
:::* M. E. Dame, Associate editor, April-May 1930.
 +
:::* A. L. Fierst, Associate editor, February-May 1930.
 +
:::* C. P. Mason, Associate editor, February-May 1930.
 +
::: When you check the [https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pe.cgi?19341 corresponding "Series" page] in the database, you'll note that only Gernsback is credited.
 +
::: In this case I would enter "{{A|Jana Bianchi}}" in the Author/Editor field and document "guest editors", "fiction editors", "developmental editors", etc in Notes. [[User:Ahasuerus|Ahasuerus]] ([[User talk:Ahasuerus|talk]]) 19:06, 3 November 2023 (EDT)
  
:: As per [[ISFDB:Policy#Rules_of_Acquisition]], online serializations do not count as "being published" for ISFDB purposes unless they have been shortlisted for a major award or published by a SFWA-eligible market.
+
:::: Ok, thanks! I'm gonna go back to those and credit Jana as the main editor, then. [[User:Alittlebook|Alittlebook]] ([[User talk:Alittlebook|talk]]) 20:11, 3 November 2023 (EDT)
  
:: I have repeatedly run into this issue while working on [https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/publisher.cgi?61427 Cross Infinite World]. Apparently, the way they run their business is that they contact Japanese authors of online serials which haven't been published as a book, buy translation rights and publish the work in the US.
+
::::: Approved and ready for two "Title Merge" submissions, one for 2012 and the other one for 2022. You can either use Advanced Title Search or pull up {{A|Jana Bianchi}}'s Summary page, then click "Show All Titles" under "Editing Tools" and select titles to merge from the displayed list. [[User:Ahasuerus|Ahasuerus]] ([[User talk:Ahasuerus|talk]]) 20:44, 3 November 2023 (EDT)
  
:: As far as I can tell the rules-compliant way to enter these kinds of books is to do what we did with [https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?338326 this author]: Enter the translated book as we would enter any other book, then turn it into a variant title of an "8888-00-00" (i.e. unpublished) Japanese novel. Any information about online serialization can be added to the parent title record as a note.
+
== 'Star Wars Universe' vs 'Star Wars Universe/Star Wars' series ==
  
:: Personally, I am not thrilled about this approach, but that's what the rules appear to require at this time. [[User:Ahasuerus|Ahasuerus]] 21:51, 22 May 2022 (EDT)
+
Can anyone explain the rationale for choosing which series to place 'independent' novels into? --[[User:GlennMcG|Glenn]] ([[User talk:GlennMcG|talk]]) 16:39, 6 November 2023 (EST)
  
== Currency--Iranian Rial ==
+
== How to find magazine issue when story title is known ==
  
On this [https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pl.cgi?899675 entry] I couldn't enter the actual symbol for Iranian Rial--﷼--because, Persian being a right-to-left language, the software won't let it be entered before the figures. I kept getting ﷼185,000. So I used "IRs 185,000", with the English translation of the symbol, since we don't use the currency codes (in this case IRR). I explained it in the Pub Note. The Iranian Rial isn't on the List of Currency Symbols help page. Is this the way to go with it, or is there a correction? When that's sorted out, the rial can be included on that list. (I see another book on the publisher's website that I want to enter.) [[User:MOHearn|MOHearn]] 09:23, 22 May 2022 (EDT)
+
I am looking for the issue of the Analog or Fantasy & Science Fiction magazine containing a story titled "Gotlos".
 +
Thanks <small>—The preceding unsigned comment was added by [[User:Dulinje|Dulinje]] ([[User talk:Dulinje|talk]] • [[Special:Contributions/Dulinje|contribs]]) .</small>
 +
:Colin Kapp's {{T|51513|Gottlos}} appeared in {{P|57184|Analog Science Fiction/Science Fact, November 1969}}. --&nbsp;[[User:JLaTondre|JLaTondre]] ([[User talk:JLaTondre#top|talk]]) 19:04, 21 November 2023 (EST)
 +
:And for future reference, you can find what JLaTondre found by searching for the author listing (in this case, [https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?1169 here]) using the search box at the top left side of the [https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/index.cgi main site] and find the story in their list of works. Clicking on the story title will take you to the {{T|51513|entry}} JLaTondre provided, where you'll be able to see where that story's been published. You can also search for the story title using that same search box. ···[[User:Nihonjoe|<font color="darkgreen">日本穣</font>]] · <small>[[Special:Contributions/Nihonjoe|<font color="blue">投稿</font>]] · [[User talk:Nihonjoe|Talk to Nihonjoe]]</small> 13:16, 22 November 2023 (EST)
 +
::However, you need to know the correct spelling for ISFDB search to work. To find this story, I searched "Gotlos Analog or Fantasy & Science Fiction magazine" in Google and the first hit lead me to "Gottlos" and that it was in "Analog Science Fiction/Science Fact, November 1969". --&nbsp;[[User:JLaTondre|JLaTondre]] ([[User talk:JLaTondre#top|talk]]) 07:15, 23 November 2023 (EST)
  
: Curious. Let me see what I can do at the software level. [[User:Ahasuerus|Ahasuerus]] 21:56, 22 May 2022 (EDT)
+
== Synopsis can't be edited  ==
  
:: I have tried a few things, but nothing seemed to work to get "﷼" to display to the left of the numeric value. It looks like we'll have to use "IRs" for now. We'll need to keep this in mind when implementing {{FR|1158}}, "Allow multiple prices per publication". [[User:Ahasuerus|Ahasuerus]] 22:21, 22 May 2022 (EDT)
+
I can't find the information on why a synopsis can't always be edited. Example: https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?3086815 [[User:LiseAndreasen|LiseAndreasen]] ([[User talk:LiseAndreasen|talk]]) 16:57, 23 November 2023 (EST)
 +
:I'd say it is because the title is for a Chapbook which is a special type of container. Instead, edit the Shortfiction title of the same name that is included in the Chapbook. For your example: [https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?3086816 here]. [[User:Philfreund|Phil]] ([[User talk:Philfreund|talk]]) 20:07, 23 November 2023 (EST)
  
Thanks for looking into it. I'll stick with "IRs," then. [[User:MOHearn|MOHearn]] 07:19, 23 May 2022 (EDT)
+
:: That's right: we wouldn't want to add a synopsis to a CHAPBOOK: the enclosed piece of shortfiction may also be published in a COLLECTION or an ANTHOLOGY, and so it's more meaningful to add this information to the fiction title (and it's in the fiction where the plot unfolds). [[User:Stonecreek|Stonecreek]] ([[User talk:Stonecreek|talk]]) 01:55, 24 November 2023 (EST)
 +
::Okaaay. Is it by design, that it's not obvious, that the text exists in 2 versions? With different nomination data? [[User:LiseAndreasen|LiseAndreasen]] ([[User talk:LiseAndreasen|talk]]) 03:19, 24 November 2023 (EST)
 +
:::Chapbooks are a special case. The chapbook record is for the publication, not the text within the publication. The short fiction record is for the actual contents. Think of a chapbook as a single story collection if that helps. The award nomination should have been on the novella record and not on the chapbook record. I have fixed that. --&nbsp;[[User:JLaTondre|JLaTondre]] ([[User talk:JLaTondre#top|talk]]) 07:18, 24 November 2023 (EST)
 +
:::: And we do need a special container title type, even for a single piece of shortfiction: though that is the criterion that makes out a CHAPBOOK, there can be other title types that are published along the shortfiction, essays, for example, or pieces of interior art. [[User:Stonecreek|Stonecreek]] ([[User talk:Stonecreek|talk]]) 09:58, 24 November 2023 (EST)
 +
: Thanks for all answers! [[User:LiseAndreasen|LiseAndreasen]] ([[User talk:LiseAndreasen|talk]]) 13:29, 24 November 2023 (EST)
 +
::(This just to clarify content. [[User:LiseAndreasen|LiseAndreasen]] ([[User talk:LiseAndreasen|talk]]) 22:48, 1 December 2023 (EST))
 +
:Oh. One more question. It's possible to attach different tags to a chapbook and the story in it? There's a reason for handling tags this way and synopsis another way? [[User:LiseAndreasen|LiseAndreasen]] ([[User talk:LiseAndreasen|talk]]) 14:56, 24 November 2023 (EST)
  
== A Sending of Dragons ==
+
== Same story, different synopsis  ==
  
For [https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pl.cgi?1107 this] edition of this Jane Yolen book, secondary sources disagree about the number of pages. WorldCat and Reginald3 say 184 p.; Locus and Amazon say 256. What should be done? --[[User:Rosab618|Rosab618]] 23:35, 23 May 2022 (EDT)
+
This story has its own synopsis, so does the "original". The reason for this? https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?64178 [[User:LiseAndreasen|LiseAndreasen]] ([[User talk:LiseAndreasen|talk]]) 14:59, 24 November 2023 (EST)
:It looks like it's done correctly. It has notes that explain the discrepancy. Until someone gets a copy of that specific edition, we don't have a way to check to make sure. ···[[User:Nihonjoe|<font color="darkgreen">日本穣</font>]] · <small>[[Special:Contributions/Nihonjoe|<font color="blue">投稿</font>]] · [[User talk:Nihonjoe|Talk to Nihonjoe]]</small> 15:12, 24 May 2022 (EDT)
 
::Should it be marked "verified" by any of those sources? --[[User:Rosab618|Rosab618]] 14:50, 25 May 2022 (EDT)
 
:::As Secondary verifications: yes. ···[[User:Nihonjoe|<font color="darkgreen">日本穣</font>]] · <small>[[Special:Contributions/Nihonjoe|<font color="blue">投稿</font>]] · [[User talk:Nihonjoe|Talk to Nihonjoe]]</small> 18:27, 25 May 2022 (EDT)
 
:::: And even after we have a copy, a note explaining the page numbers discrepancy should stay. It happens a lot :) [[User:Anniemod|Annie]] 15:18, 27 May 2022 (EDT)
 
  
== Stories by John Wyndham, adapted for younger readers ==
+
: Checking [https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/view_submission.cgi?5786537 Edit History], I see that you added a synopsis to the Variant Title on 2023-10-09. I will ping [[User:Rtrace]], who approved the submission on 2023-10-17. [[User:Ahasuerus|Ahasuerus]] ([[User talk:Ahasuerus|talk]]) 21:30, 28 November 2023 (EST)
  
How should "Meteor: Short Stories" be entered? It's a collection of short stories by Wyndham, adapted by [https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?169826 Patrick Nobes] for children. How should the stories be entered? As by both? --[[User:Rosab618|Rosab618]] 14:55, 25 May 2022 (EDT)
+
::When I review an edit adding a synopsis, I generally approve those without much investigation. Unless one is familiar with the title, there's no way to verify that the synopsis is correct, so this is a type of edit where I tend to trust that the submitter knows what they're doing. That being said, I don't recall that I've ever drilled down into the existing title record to see if it is a variant.  If having synopses on both parent and variant title is a concern I can try to do so, but we may want to add a warning that the title being edited is a variant with a link to the parent title.  The converse relationship (i.e. when editing the parent) is clear when reviewing the edit, but there's nothing on the review screen showing the parent title. --Ron ~ [[User:Rtrace|Rtrace]]<sup>[[User talk:Rtrace|Talk]]</sup> 21:41, 28 November 2023 (EST)
:Yes, they should be entered as by both. Make sure each story has a note on it explaining it's an edited version of the original story, for children. That way, people won't mistakenly try to variant them since they are different versions (and likely different lengths) than the originals. ···[[User:Nihonjoe|<font color="darkgreen">日本穣</font>]] · <small>[[Special:Contributions/Nihonjoe|<font color="blue">投稿</font>]] · [[User talk:Nihonjoe|Talk to Nihonjoe]]</small> 18:26, 25 May 2022 (EDT)
 
::Thank you. --[[User:Rosab618|<font color="pink">Rosab618</font>]] 12:06, 26 May 2022 (EDT)
 
  
== Turning a novel into a collection ==
+
::: Checking our archives, I see the following [https://isfdb.org/wiki/index.php/ISFDB:Community_Portal/Archive/Archive52#Make_Variant_and_Synopsis_data 2022-04-30 announcement]:
 +
:::* "Make Variant" has been updated to move "synopsis" data from the child title to the parent title. [This was {{FR|743}}, "Make This a Variant Title should move synopsis".]
 +
:::* Which reminds me. Are there scenarios where a VT with a synopsis makes sense? We have 1,636 of them, but I suspect that the vast majority are titles whose synopses were not moved to the parent record when they were varianted. I guess I should create a cleanup report for "VTs with synopsis data" and then we'll see if any are legitimate. [[User:Ahasuerus|Ahasuerus]] 17:41, 30 April 2022 (EDT)
 +
:::** The cleanup report has been coded and deployed [this was {{FR|1501}}, "Create a cleanup report to find VTs with synopsis data."] The data will become available tomorrow morning. [[User:Ahasuerus|Ahasuerus]] 19:57, 30 April 2022 (EDT)
  
I'm trying to turn [https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pl.cgi?334637 The Monster of the Lagoon] into a collection, with a novella and a novelette. How do I do this? --[[User:Rosab618|<font color="aqua">Rosab618</font>]] 03:55, 27 May 2022 (EDT)
+
::: As of this morning, [https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/edit/cleanup_report.cgi?328 the cleanup report had 1546 VTs with synopsis data]. If we can get a cleanup effort going, it should be possible to get all of them moved to the parent titles within a few days/weeks. If we don't come across any scenarios requiring that VTs have synopses, I could then change the software to make the Synopsis field not editable for VTs. It would be similar to the way CHAPBOOKs work. [[User:Ahasuerus|Ahasuerus]] ([[User talk:Ahasuerus|talk]]) 13:21, 29 November 2023 (EST)
: Edit the publication. Change the type to collection and then add a new title record from the type collection in the contents section - this will become the reference title of the book (this title is created automatically when you create a new collection but NOT on a conversion/edit as at this point we assume the reference title is there - so you need to make it yourself). Let me know if you want me to do it so you can look at my update or if you want to try yourself. [[User:Anniemod|Annie]] 15:17, 27 May 2022 (EDT)
 
::Thanks! I thought I tried that yesterday and it didn't work, but today it did. ----[[User:Rosab618|<font color="gold">Rosab618</font>]] 17:17, 27 May 2022 (EDT)
 
::: You probably forgot to change the pub type or picked chapbook by mistake or something like tat - the changes need to go together - the publication won't save otherwise. It is one of the checks that make sure that the publication looks ok. :) [[User:Anniemod|Annie]] 18:13, 27 May 2022 (EDT)
 
::::I don't think so, but you never know. --[[User:Rosab618|<font color="violet">Rosab618</font>]] 12:29, 28 May 2022 (EDT)
 
  
== Adding a cover image ==
+
:::: I have cleaned up a bunch and the report is now down to 1,500 titles. It is as I suspected: most just needed the synopsis data to be moved to the parent titles; some needed two synopsis entries reconciled; a few were in error, e.g. Notes data in the Synopsis field or vice versa or non-English synopses which are explicitly not allowed in Help.
  
I'm trying to upload an image. It's within the size limit and it's a jpeg, but every time I try to upload it, I'm told that it's too big. Can anyone explain the problem? --[[User:Rosab618|<font color="lightgreen">Rosab618</font>]] 03:16, 31 May 2022 (EDT)
+
:::: I plan to post my findings on the Community Portal tomorrow morning. I will also propose a software change to disallow entering Synopsis data for VTs. [[User:Ahasuerus|Ahasuerus]] ([[User talk:Ahasuerus|talk]]) 18:04, 29 November 2023 (EST)
  
: On the [https://www.isfdb.org/wiki/index.php/Image:BLNKCRDJML1977.jpg image page] I get "BLNKCRDJML1977.jpg‎ (file size: 90 KB, MIME type: image/jp2)" at the top, followed by a warning "This file may contain malicious code, by executing it your system may be compromised".
+
::::: I spotted a couple of titles on the cleanup report with which I am familiar so have submitted edits to clean them up: [https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/view_submission.cgi?5823387 The Engineer ReConditioned] and [https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/view_submission.cgi?5823388 The Long Afternoon of Earth]. [[User:Teallach|Teallach]] ([[User talk:Teallach|talk]]) 17:50, 30 November 2023 (EST)
: Even though the extension is .jpg, the file seems to be .jp2  I guess the software can't handle this. --[[User:Willem H.|Willem]] 06:10, 31 May 2022 (EDT)
 
  
::There were definitely some errors in the file. I've fixed them and uploaded the fixed version: [https://www.isfdb.org/wiki/index.php/Image:BLNKCRDJML1977.jpg here]. ···[[User:Nihonjoe|<font color="darkgreen">日本穣</font>]] · <small>[[Special:Contributions/Nihonjoe|<font color="blue">投稿</font>]] · [[User talk:Nihonjoe|Talk to Nihonjoe]]</small> 11:05, 31 May 2022 (EDT)
+
:::::: Approved, thanks. [[User:Ahasuerus|Ahasuerus]] ([[User talk:Ahasuerus|talk]]) 18:13, 30 November 2023 (EST)
:::Thank you, but that's not the image I was trying to upload. I have a much bigger, clearer one. I can't figure it out. --[[User:Rosab618|<font color="purple">Rosab618</font>]] 00:07, 1 June 2022 (EDT)
 
::::There are two size limits:
 
::::#Diminsions - 600px max is an ISFDB convention and is not enforced by the software.
 
::::#File Size - there is also a maximum file size, this is enforced by the software.
 
::::It sounds like you are hitting the second one. You will need to edit the picture to reduce the resolution. Images should be only of sufficient resolution to identify the cover. They should not be high-res or otherwise allow a nice printing to made of them. ISFDB uses cover images under US copyright's "fair use" doctrine and anything too large violates that. --&nbsp;[[User:JLaTondre|JLaTondre]] ([[User talk:JLaTondre#top|talk]]) 07:39, 1 June 2022 (EDT)
 
:::::It's not too large—361 x 598 pixels. How do I reduce the resolution/file size? --[[User:Rosab618|Rosab618]] 10:16, 1 June 2022 (EDT)
 
::::::As I said, there are two sizes. You are over the second. How to reduce it depends on your image editing software. You will need to check the help or Google instructions for whatever program you use. --&nbsp;[[User:JLaTondre|JLaTondre]] ([[User talk:JLaTondre#top|talk]]) 11:13, 1 June 2022 (EDT)
 
::::::Where did you get the image? If you can point me to it, I'll be happy to make it the right size (file and dimensions) and upload it. ···[[User:Nihonjoe|<font color="darkgreen">日本穣</font>]] · <small>[[Special:Contributions/Nihonjoe|<font color="blue">投稿</font>]] · [[User talk:Nihonjoe|Talk to Nihonjoe]]</small> 12:35, 1 June 2022 (EDT)
 
:::::::Thank you! I think it's [https://pictures.abebooks.com/inventory/30889449922.jpg this one], but I had cropped it nicely. Oh well. Thanks for your help! --[[User:Rosab618|Rosab618]] 20:21, 4 June 2022 (EDT)
 
::::::::It looks like that's the same as the one I added, but cropped slightly. You can see the same scuffing and reflections on it. ···[[User:Nihonjoe|<font color="darkgreen">日本穣</font>]] · <small>[[Special:Contributions/Nihonjoe|<font color="blue">投稿</font>]] · [[User talk:Nihonjoe|Talk to Nihonjoe]]</small> 13:35, 7 June 2022 (EDT)
 
:::::::::Thank you!--[[User:Rosab618|Rosab618]] 22:00, 11 June 2022 (EDT)
 
  
== Hardwired: The Sourcebook ==
+
== OLiver Whimsey ==
  
Can I add [https://www.amazon.com/Hardwired-Sourcebook-Walter-Jon-Williams/dp/0937279072/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2DD0YB7DNF4WE&keywords=0937279072&qid=1654568220&s=books&sprefix=0937279072%2Cstripbooks%2C156&sr=1-1 this book], by Walter Jon Williams? It's a supplement to a role-playing game, apparently. --[[User:Rosab618|Rosab618]] 22:27, 6 June 2022 (EDT)
+
I don't know if this subject has ever come up, but I would like to add a few coloring books, like [https://www.amazon.com/Dark-Beauty-Horror-Coloring-Adults/dp/B0CK3VFXFB/ref=sr_1_13?crid=1PMUI19A1YSMT&keywords=Oliver+Whimsy&qid=1701223836&s=books&sprefix=oliver+whimsy%2Cstripbooks%2C308&sr=1-13 Dark Beauty Horror Coloring Book for Adults] by Oliver Whimsey. I would think these books could qualify as art books. "He" has a number of fantasy oriented coloring/art books. Still, there might be rule against these, I'm good either way. [[User:MLB|MLB]] ([[User talk:MLB|talk]]) 21:21, 28 November 2023 (EST)
:Despite what the cover says, it's likely not written by Williams. There's likely a team of people who wrote the content in the book. Unless it has short fiction parts in it (like [https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pl.cgi?613811 this one], for example), it shouldn't be added. ···[[User:Nihonjoe|<font color="darkgreen">日本穣</font>]] · <small>[[Special:Contributions/Nihonjoe|<font color="blue">投稿</font>]] · [[User talk:Nihonjoe|Talk to Nihonjoe]]</small> 13:38, 7 June 2022 (EDT)
 
:: I found a downloadable PDF of this sourcebook. Credits page state the author is Walter Jon Williams "with supplimental material by Mike Pondsmith" and "Netrunning suppliment by Pati Nagle" the copyright to R. Talsorian Games, Inc. is dated 1989. --[[User:Mavmaramis|Mavmaramis]] 02:04, 19 June 2022 (EDT)
 
:::What does it say on the title page? ···[[User:Nihonjoe|<font color="darkgreen">日本穣</font>]] · <small>[[Special:Contributions/Nihonjoe|<font color="blue">投稿</font>]] · [[User talk:Nihonjoe|Talk to Nihonjoe]]</small> 15:38, 20 June 2022 (EDT)
 
:::: There is no title page - the copyright page is basically the title page, copyright and credits rolled into one - it's the first page after the cover and states "by Walter John Williams" --[[User:Mavmaramis|Mavmaramis]] 14:54, 21 June 2022 (EDT)
 
  
== Strike Fighters, by Tom Willard ==
+
: Well, coloring books do contain art and we have a [https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/se.cgi?arg=coloring+book&type=All+Titles number of them on file]. However, the ones that are currently in the database are generally covered by the following Rule of Acquisition:
 +
:* ''Included'': Published non-fiction works about speculative fiction which can be plausibly linked to published (as defined above) speculative fiction.
 +
: Examples include "Terry Pratchett's Discworld Coloring Book" and "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz Coloring Book".
 +
: Can Oliver Whimsey's ''Dark Beauty Horror Coloring Book for Adults'' be plausibly linked to published (as defined above) speculative fiction? Or it is standalone horror art? [[User:Ahasuerus|Ahasuerus]] ([[User talk:Ahasuerus|talk]]) 21:43, 28 November 2023 (EST)
 +
::They seem to be stand-alones.  Nice art, but again, I'll go with the majority here. [[User:MLB|MLB]] ([[User talk:MLB|talk]]) 05:02, 1 December 2023 (EST)
  
Yea or nay: do you think [https://www.goodreads.com/series/344951-strike-fighters this series] belongs on the db? It's in Reginald3.--[[User:Rosab618|Rosab618]] 23:06, 11 June 2022 (EDT)
+
== Crown of Starlight ==
:Does anyone have an opinion? --[[User:Rosab618|Rosab618]] 16:58, 15 June 2022 (EDT)
 
::The ninth book in the series, ''Death Squad'', apparently has at least one airship in it, which would possibly make it science fiction. Not sure about any of the others. ···[[User:Nihonjoe|<font color="darkgreen">日本穣</font>]] · <small>[[Special:Contributions/Nihonjoe|<font color="blue">投稿</font>]] · [[User talk:Nihonjoe|Talk to Nihonjoe]]</small> 17:23, 15 June 2022 (EDT)
 
:::"It is not a balloon! It is an air ship! Balloons are for kiddiewinks!"
 
:::But what ''is'' the difference between an airship and a zeppelin?--[[User:Rosab618|Rosab618]] 21:08, 15 June 2022 (EDT)
 
::::Depends on how it's defined in the book. A zeppelin is a type of airship. ···[[User:Nihonjoe|<font color="darkgreen">日本穣</font>]] · <small>[[Special:Contributions/Nihonjoe|<font color="blue">投稿</font>]] · [[User talk:Nihonjoe|Talk to Nihonjoe]]</small> 12:38, 16 June 2022 (EDT)
 
  
== Adding Open Library cover ==
+
Recently watched a YouTube video about [https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?3260929 this fantasy] and I have added it to this website.  But, I'm not sure if I did it correctly.  Could somebody in the know check out my listing and let me know if it was done correctly.  The YouTube video on this book and it's author is attached to my listing. [[User:MLB|MLB]] ([[User talk:MLB|talk]]) 20:29, 26 December 2023 (EST)
  
I'm trying to add the cover [https://openlibrary.org/books/OL4733462M/The_magic_grandfather here] to the book's page, but how do I do it? --[[User:Rosab618|Rosab618]] 04:43, 12 June 2022 (EDT)
+
== TOXIN - By Robin Cook ==
  
: I'd do it by (right-)clicking on the image, save it somewhere and then upload it. Christian [[User:Stonecreek|Stonecreek]] 08:52, 12 June 2022 (EDT)
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In the book jacket it says, “Determined to be a good father to his only son, newly divorced surgeon Dr. Kim Regis takes Selden to his favorite fast food restaurant…”  In the book itself, the child is a girl (daughter) named Becky. Also, the doctor’s name is spelled REGGIS- not REGIS.  In the book jacket it says “…the boy dies within hours…” whereas in the text the (girl) dies in 5 days.
::But there's a way to just use the url. It has to be the right url, though. Which? --[[User:Rosab618|Rosab618]] 12:00, 12 June 2022 (EDT)
+
How does this type of error happen?  I’m sure thousands of copies of this book were printed. I’m just curious.
:::Not for this OL record. OL is linking to an image from archive.org which is not on our [[ISFDB:Image linking permissions|permitted list]]. --&nbsp;[[User:JLaTondre|JLaTondre]] ([[User talk:JLaTondre#top|talk]]) 12:10, 12 June 2022 (EDT)
 
  
== Page count rules: The Autumn Castle ==
+
Please reply to ronlibutti@gmail.com
  
While PVing [https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pl.cgi?74247 The Autumn Castle] I came across notes that seem to imply the rules for entering the page count is different than how I read the rules. The book has numbered pages up to 552, and does indeed include an excerpt. Has this changed over time? Should I submit an edit? (I haven't had much luck getting responses from Chavey recently). --[[User:GlennMcG|Glenn]] 01:29, 13 June 2022 (EDT)
+
Thank you. <small>—The preceding unsigned comment was added by [[User:RONLIBUTTI|RONLIBUTTI]] ([[User talk:RONLIBUTTI|talk]] • [[Special:Contributions/RONLIBUTTI|contribs]]) .</small> 22:53, 6 January 2024‎ (EST)
 +
:We apologize for any confusion. We are not the author or the publisher, so we don't have an answer for your question. If we were to venture a guess, it's likely the story was modified slightly between the time the back cover copy was written and the book contents were finalized, and no one noticed the discrepancies. It happens here and there in the publishing world. You're welcome to contact the publisher or the author through their respective websites if you wish. This would allow them to correct it for future printings. ···[[User:Nihonjoe|<font color="darkgreen">日本穣</font>]] · <small>[[Special:Contributions/Nihonjoe|<font color="blue">投稿</font>]] · [[User talk:Nihonjoe|Talk to Nihonjoe]]</small> 12:11, 8 January 2024 (EST)
  
: If I remember correctly the rules were just interpreted differently: in 2010 it was not usual to include excerpts (but allowed), today excerpts are included almost every time. Christian [[User:Stonecreek|Stonecreek]] 02:07, 13 June 2022 (EDT)
+
== Excerpted only in translation ==
  
:: The last numbered page should be used. See the first row in the table [[Help:How_to_determine_the_value_for_the_%22Pages%22_field_in_a_book#Counting_additional_content|here]]. As a nice compromise to capture the spirit of what the other PVer wanted, if you add the excerpt as content, with the page number where it starts, the page count for the novel will be implied quite clearly. --[[User:MartyD|MartyD]] 10:45, 13 June 2022 (EDT)
+
I believe that the convention for entering an excerpt is that it takes the date of excerpt publication and stands alone, not being made a variant of the work excerpted from. That's the way I've been doing them. However, I've just come up against this question: what about a translated excerpt when only the excerpt has been translated, not the entire original? Looking for the first foreign titles listed with "(excerpt)" I find [https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?2870369 Джанга с тенями (excerpt)], which is dated the same as the English translation, and [https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?2611693 Мы (excerpt)], which is dated 8888-00-00, or unpublished. The latter makes a lot more sense to me. I would even add a note confirming that the full original work was not translated. Possibly someone can direct me to a Rules page that clarifies this; otherwise, is there a consensus? -- Martin [[User:MOHearn|MOHearn]] ([[User talk:MOHearn|talk]]) 10:21, 10 January 2024 (EST)
  
== Alternate versions - forking series ==
+
: I don't know if there's a consensus, but I do think that from the rules your assumption is more meaningful: we have the rule that titles have to bear the date of their first publication, and thus a title where we know (or can safely assume) that it was not published should be marked as such ('8888-00-00'). Christian [[User:Stonecreek|Stonecreek]] ([[User talk:Stonecreek|talk]]) 01:39, 11 January 2024 (EST)
  
Tamara Siler Jones (https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?28698) published three novels in a series.
+
:: I think I'll go ahead that way on the relevant entries in an anthology I listed a few days ago, so the story and essay excerpts in Italian show at least some sort of source. Martin [[User:MOHearn|MOHearn]] ([[User talk:MOHearn|talk]]) 09:43, 11 January 2024 (EST)
  
Years later, as Tambo Jones, she published versions of the same books, but broken into installments and forked. The first two books were broken into a total of 11 installments - one common installment to launch the series, and then five more installments in each branch of the series. The 'Red' Series is the original first two novels broken into installments. The 'Blue' series is a new, alternate branch. The Blue series continues into a third book (three more installments), while the Red series forks again, for two versions of the original third book (a Red version and an Orange version). A graphic that's much easier to follow is here:
+
== LInda Barrett ==
http://www.tambojones.com/2020/12/19/publishing-update/
 
  
The original novels are in ISFDB. The branched installments are not. My question: how should they be entered?
+
Well, I've done it again.  Somehow I messed up the serial that can be found [https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?270222 here], and I don't how to fix it. Can I get any help? [[User:MLB|MLB]] ([[User talk:MLB|talk]]) 01:15, 19 January 2024 (EST)
1. I've see an FAQ that for a novel broken into pieces, each piece should be entered as a novel.
+
:It looks like you made part 1 a variant of part 2. Instead, both should have been made a variant of a new title. You should be able to fix this by making part 2 a variant of a new title (use Option 2 of the Make Variant Title screen). Since the software doesn't allow variants of variants, it will automatically move part 1 to be a variant of the new title also. --&nbsp;[[User:JLaTondre|JLaTondre]] ([[User talk:JLaTondre#top|talk]]) 08:47, 19 January 2024 (EST)
2. I've seen info on how to handle alternate author names or book titles.
 
3. I have not see how to handle fully alternate versions (not just minor changes, but a new branch entirely). This is somewhat similar to Orson Scott Card's Ender/Bean (Shadow) split, but there the split storylines are consistent. Here, I believe they are mutually exclusive. Jones has provided different series names, but there's still the problem that, for example, the first installment is part one of two different series (three, if you count in the second fork).
 
  
I'm not sure I'm the person to enter all this, but I thought I'd get the ball rolling, since I think the writing in the books (original novels, at least) is excellent. <small>—The preceding unsigned comment was added by [[User:Evil Overlord|Evil Overlord]] ([[User talk:Evil Overlord|talk]] • [[Special:Contributions/Evil Overlord|contribs]]) .</small> 09:21, 19 June 2022 (EDT)
+
== Carnegie Medal  ==
  
: Apologies for the delay in getting you feedback. The problem is complicated, and any organization attempt is going to be hampered by ISFDB's current limitations. Titles cannot be in more than one series, so you ultimately have to pick one (or none) and note the othersSeries, however, can have sub-series. So one idea I have for you is that you could have the shared first installment in a higher-level/parent series, and then the subsequent installments could be in branch-specific sub-series.  For the jumping-off point, you might need to invent a series.  For example, using her terminology and organization, you might have something like:
+
sorry if this is the wrong place for this question.
:: Series: '''Dubric Multi-Timeline'''
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The carnegies have only had a list of nominees since 2003, prior to that in many years they had two other awards as well as the winner namely "Commended" and "Highly Commended"Is It possible to have these categories added to the list of options? if not then how should they be categorised? nominee with a note to say what they actually are?
::: 1 Title: ''Weight of the Castellan's Curse''
+
cheers from Gaz [[User:Faustus|Faustus]] ([[User talk:Faustus|talk]]) 15:22, 19 January 2024 (EST)
::: 2a Series: '''Winter of Ghosts'''
 
:::: 2 Title: ''Protection of the Holy Knights''
 
:::: 3 Title: ''The Seer of Truth''
 
:::: ...
 
:::: 6 Title: ''A Film of Blindness''
 
:::: 7 Series: '''The Stone Spies''' (1)
 
::::: 1 Title: ''The Well Diggers Son''
 
::::: ...
 
::: 2b Series: '''Ghosts in the Snow'''
 
:::: 2 Title: ''The Lord's Apparent Razor''
 
:::: 3 Title: ''The Linen Maid's Choice''
 
:::: 4: Series: '''Threads of Malice''' (1)
 
::::: 1 Title: ''Rabbits & Wasps''
 
::::: ...
 
::::: 4 Series: '''''The Valley''''' (2)
 
:::::: 1 Title: ''A Tale of Two Boys''
 
:::::: 2a Series: '''Pieces of the Valley'''
 
::::::: 2 Title: ''The Secret of Cyprus Farms''
 
::::::: ...
 
:::::: 2b Series: '''Valley of the Soul'''
 
::::::: 2 Title: ''What the Camera Sees''
 
::::::: ...
 
  
: (1) I can't tell from the diagram how these second series on the blue/red paths relate to the prior series on the same path. If they are not sub-series, then I think the best thing to do would be to make up parent series for the blue path and the red path, and then put the relevant series into them, in order. So something like:
+
: Let me first clarify that "award categories" are for different types of awards given by the same award committee/body. For example, consider the list of categories for [https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/awardtype.cgi?26 the International Horror Guild Award]: Best Novel, Best First Novel, Best Short Story, Best Non-Fiction, Best Artist, Best Periodical, Best TV, etc.
  
:: Series: '''Dubric Multi-Timeline'''
+
: On the other hand, what you are describing is non-standard "award levels", which are different animals. At this time, we do not have support for them. You could enter their Award Levels either:
::: 1 Title: ''Weight of the Castellan's Curse''
+
:* as "Nomination", or
::: 2a Series: '''''Blue Path''''' (but with a better name)
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:* as "Special" followed by selecting "Honorable Mentions" from the drop-down list
:::: 1 Series: '''Winter of Ghosts'''
+
: Either way, please explain the details in the Notes field. Award Notes appear in hover-over "informational" bubbles displayed on Award pages, e.g. if you display the [https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/award_category.cgi?618+1 main page for the Carnegie Medal category], you will notice a little "i" next to the word "Win" for 1947. If you hover your cursor over it, it will display the associated award record's Note, in this case "First collection to win the award, and first time previously published works were considered." Hope this helps! [[User:Ahasuerus|Ahasuerus]] ([[User talk:Ahasuerus|talk]]) 21:29, 19 January 2024 (EST)
::::: <titles 2 - 6>
 
:::: 2 Series: '''The Stone Spies'''
 
::::: <titles 1 - 3>
 
::: 2b Series: '''''Red Path''''' (but with a better name)
 
:::: 1 Series '''Ghosts in the Snow'''
 
::::: <titles 2 - 3>
 
:::: 2 Series: '''Thread of Malice'''
 
::::: <titles 1 - 3>
 
:::: 3 Series: '''''The Valley''''' (2)
 
::::: 1 Title: ''A Tale of Two Boys''
 
::::: 2a Series: '''Pieces of the Valley'''
 
:::::: <titles 2 - 4>
 
::::: 2b Series: '''Valley of the Soul'''
 
:::::: <titles 2 - 3>
 
  
: (2) Here you would make up a name/series to hold that first title plus the sub-seriesIn my first example, the number on that made-up series is a proxy for that first title's position in the ongoing series, while the number on the title shows us it's the first at the branch point.
+
::cheers mate it was award levels i meant. Just done one using honourable mentions and note with the note saying: Received the designation "Commended"I'll stick with that if youre happy. {{unsigned|Faustus}}
  
: I hope that helps a little. Others may have some better ideas for you. --[[User:MartyD|MartyD]] 12:52, 26 June 2022 (EDT)
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::: Thanks, I have approved the submission -- [https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/award_details.cgi?79774 here is the result]. I also updated the Note field to indicate where the data came from. [[User:Ahasuerus|Ahasuerus]] ([[User talk:Ahasuerus|talk]]) 07:59, 21 January 2024 (EST)
  
== Illustrator name misspelled ==
+
:::: Got it- i'll follow that format for the others.  cheers - Gaz [[User:Faustus|Faustus]] ([[User talk:Faustus|talk]]) 08:40, 21 January 2024 (EST)
  
The [https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?267003 author record] for illustrator Emanuel Schongut has his last name misspelled as "Shongut". Could a moderator please correct the spelling to the correct "Schongut"? I noticed this while doing a pub update for [https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pl.cgi?39329 The Exile of Ellendon]. The Flickr link in the [https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pl.cgi?564089 The Shepherd Is My Lord] record confirms this spelling as well. Thanks! [[User:Philfreund|Phil]] 22:27, 20 June 2022 (EDT)
+
== 1 Novel + 1 Short fiction = Omnibus/Collection/Novel? ==
:In the future, you can change these by editing the cover art title page and correcting the spelling. I've done these two. ···[[User:Nihonjoe|<font color="darkgreen">日本穣</font>]] · <small>[[Special:Contributions/Nihonjoe|<font color="blue">投稿</font>]] · [[User talk:Nihonjoe|Talk to Nihonjoe]]</small> 14:33, 21 June 2022 (EDT)
 
::Thank you. I had the impression that author name changes required mod powers. Now I know. [[User:Philfreund|Phil]] 17:37, 21 June 2022 (EDT)
 
:::Changing the name on an author record requires a moderator. Changing the name of an author on a title record or publication record can be done by anyone. In this case, there was already a correct entry for {{A|Emanuel Schongut}}. The two wrong titles just needed to be edited to change them to the correct spelling. The only time an author record is changed is if 1) all titles under that author record need to be changed and 2) there isn't already a correct entry for the author. That is not the typical case. --&nbsp;[[User:JLaTondre|JLaTondre]] ([[User talk:JLaTondre#top|talk]]) 18:37, 21 June 2022 (EDT)
 
  
== Varianting/organizing translated collections of The Murderbot Diaries series ==
+
If a book consists of a novel and a shorter work both of which have previously been published seperately then what type is it?
  
Hi! I want to revive [https://www.isfdb.org/wiki/index.php/ISFDB:Help_desk#Varianting_split_Japanese_Murderbot_Diaries_back_to_the_English_titles this discussion about organizing collections of the Murderbot Diaries], because it's gotten more complicated since then. Please let me know if I should've just replied to the original section instead of creating a new thread like this. Anyway, [https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pe.cgi?44835 The Murderbot Diaries series] currently has eight "main" titles in it: five novellas (1, 2, 3, 4, 6); two short stories (0, 4.1); and one novel (5). Because they're short fiction, international publishers translating the series often choose to publish the novellas and short stories collected together in various combinations. [https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?2847037 This blank title has collections containing 1-2] but that's it. It would be helpful to organize the collections together somehow by content so the series page isn't so confusingly cluttered. The current recommendation on the thread is to variant the novella/short story collections to [https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?2764245 this English collection with 1-4] (Title Record 2764245). That's not going to work forever as the series adds new novellas/short stories that are published in new collection combinations. Unless the plan is to make Title 2764245 the grab-all title for "everything in the Murderbot Diaries except for the full novels." Examples: the most expansive English collection under 2764245 right now is [https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pl.cgi?829116 829116] (1-4, 4.1). There have been translated collections that go beyond 829116, like [https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pl.cgi?897039 897039] (0-4, 4.1) and [https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pl.cgi?891486 891486] (0, 4.1, 6). If we variant those collections to 2764245, when Tor/Subterranean inevitably publish future new collection(s) containing 0 & 6+ of the ongoing series, we're going to have to move the variants to the new collection, or make the new collection a variant of 2764245, or give up and unvariant everything, etc. It feels like a ship of Theseus problem in terms of collection contents. [[User:Morebooks|Morebooks]] 14:58, 25 June 2022 (EDT)
+
This one is an {{P|544825|OMNIBUS}}
  
:The original discussion got moved to [https://www.isfdb.org/wiki/index.php/ISFDB:Help_desk/archives/archive_35#Varianting_split_Japanese_Murderbot_Diaries_back_to_the_English_titles here].
+
This one is a {{P|360668|COLLECTION}}
  
:The practice of making the pieces of a multi-part publication variants of the complete title is used for novels (I suppose it could be applied to other single works of shorter length) that are re-published as "split" publications in multiple volumes.  It is somewhat akin to making serial installments variants of a single "complete novel" title.  As far as I know, we do not apply that treatment to any sort of publication of collected works ("container" types: ANTHOLOGY, COLLECTION, OMNIBUS).  The sort of cross-product examples you provide illustrate why: Any sort of compilation is not an atomic entity, but rather is a composite of other entities, and another compiler may choose to make another compilation using an orthogonal set of entities.  I suppose an exception might be if the partial compilations were explicitly assembled/packaged as subsets of some complete compilation, with the content of those subsets combining to be the complete compilation.  What you have here is not that case, however. We also do abuse anthology/collection variants a bit, where we make re-issues with slightly different contents (e.g., a story or two added or removed) variants of the original.  It's usually done to try to indicate it's an alteration of the original compilation, as opposed to a newly-assembled compilation. --[[User:MartyD|MartyD]] 08:48, 1 July 2022 (EDT)
+
This one's a {{P|51365|NOVEL}}
  
:Others will probably not like this idea (to put it mildly), but one thought I have is that OMNIBUS might work a little better here than COLLECTION.  The benefit would be that each OMNIBUS record could indicate which pieces of the series it includes.  Technically, an OMNIBUS should always contain at least one novel-length work previously published separately.  Using it here would be a small abuse, since although the works were published as standalone, most of them are shortfiction and you will have compilations that do not include the novel-length ones. --[[User:MartyD|MartyD]] 08:48, 1 July 2022 (EDT)
+
The Benford novelette is set in the same universe as the novel - does that have any bearing on Pub Type?
:: There are a lot of series like that - especially amongst the juvenile series but lately with novellas for adults as well. Awhile back we discussed allowing collections and anthologies to have the Contents field allowed to accommodate these cases (where we cannot use omnibus because there are only shorter forms). It did not get much support but that’s exactly where that would have come useful. If we allow this one to be omnibus, all the rest can be as well - and that opens the floodgates. If that’s what everyone wants, sure, let’s change the rules. But I am against breaking the rules for just one series  - DB inconsistencies make the DB search harder to use as you will never know what to look for (and in which section on an author page).  :)  [[User:Anniemod|Annie]] 00:47, 4 August 2022 (EDT)
 
  
::: I would stick to using the dummy title in order to tie together the non-English publications, even if there doesn't exist an English original. That would mean there would have to be created a new dummy English title to collect, say, the first three novellas, and for any other combination that non-English publishers will publish - that way of working doesn't seem to be against the rules as far as I can tell (after all, it says 'only published as'). Yes, that would result in several collection titles, but that seems to be preferrable than trying to link all combinations to a single top-level English collection. To clean up the clutter, I suggest to create a title subseries like 'Murderbot Collections' or some such. Regards, [[User:MagicUnk|MagicUnk]] 08:58, 4 August 2022 (EDT)
+
from Gaz [[User:Faustus|Faustus]] ([[User talk:Faustus|talk]]) 09:24, 25 January 2024 (EST)
::: AND for this situation it would be REALLY GOOD (TM) if we could enter Content in the title record - to discriminate, we could retitle to 'The Murderbot Diaries (1,2)' or something similar... [[User:MagicUnk|MagicUnk]] 09:05, 4 August 2022 (EDT)
 
  
== The National Pastime: The Future According to Baseball ==
+
:It can be classified as a NOVEL or a COLLECTION. From the [https://isfdb.org/wiki/index.php/Help:Screen:NewPub#Publication_Type Publication Type] help section
 +
:: "NOVEL. Used when the book is devoted to a single work of fiction. The addition of multiple short stories makes the book a collection, not a novel (A single story is a judgment call, see below). However, sample chapters placed at the end of a book for advertising reasons do not make a novel into a collection. If a book is packaged as a single volume work, and then republished as a multi-volume work, all the publications are novels; there is no need to classify the single volume work as an omnibus. Conversely, if a book is originally published as multiple volumes, and republished as a single volume, the latter is a novel unless the presentation within the single volume makes it clear that the works are presented as separate novels. Sometimes a novel is bound with a single short work of fiction by the same author (an example is [https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pl.cgi?THMSNCHNTD2000 this edition of The Misenchanted Sword]). In such a case it is often preferred to class the publication as a novel with a "Bonus story" rather than a 2-item collection or omnibus. This is particularly true if the publication has the same title as the novel. It is a judgment call, however." [[User:Scifibones|<b>John</b> <small>Scifibones</small>]] 10:00, 25 January 2024 (EST)
  
● I recently added [https://www.amazon.com/National-Pastime-Future-According-Baseball-ebook/dp/B09BZBGLM3/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1AGLGUW25L9DQ&keywords=The+National+Pastime%3A+The+Future+According+to+Baseball&qid=1657349765&s=digital-text&sprefix=the+national+pastime+the+future+according+to+baseball%2Cdigital-text%2C184&sr=1-1 The National Pastime: The Future According to Baseball] to the books reviewed by Peter Heck in the July/August issue of [https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pl.cgi?905329 Asimov’s].  Should I list this publication on this site as a periodical, as an anthology, or should I just list the review as an essay, and not put this issue on the site at all? [[User:MLB|MLB]] 03:29, 9 July 2022 (EDT)
+
:::Thanks, i'd read the collection and omnibus bits of that help page but somehow didnt look at NOVEL.  Gaz [[User:Faustus|Faustus]] ([[User talk:Faustus|talk]]) 10:23, 25 January 2024 (EST)
: The latter. A book being reviewed in one of our magazines does not make it eligible to be added to the DB if it is not genre on its own. So you add the review in the magazine as an essay and not as a review. [[User:Anniemod|Annie]] 12:25, 4 August 2022 (EDT)
 
  
== Consolidate or create? ==
+
== My typo in a canonical name ==
  
I was hoping to verify an Ace edition of [https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?2493 This Immortal] by Roger Zelazny. There are two matches, based on ISBN and price. My copy has no date and a printer's key of simply "0". [https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pl.cgi?384789 One edition] is dated 1982-11-00 and the notes have ''Stated "Tenth Ace printing: November 1982" ''. The [https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pl.cgi?51080 other edition] is dated 1982-03 with no additional notes. The only primary verifier involved is no longer active. All edits are 10+ years old. Ace was not in a habit of re-using ISBNs, but it did happen. The [https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pl.cgi?326145 previous edition] (by ISBN) has the same publisher key of "0", but states ''"This Ace printing: October 1981"''. The [https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pl.cgi?299251 next earlier] (by ISBN) notes ''"This Ace printing: September 1980" Eighth printing by number line 8 0 9 but should only be the seventh by catalog # progression''. The [https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pl.cgi?269456 subsequent edition] (by ISBN) simply notes 11th edition. Should I a) choose the earlier 1982-03-00 edition and add my notes or b) create another entry (undated) and note it as a variation of the 10th edition? ../[[User:Holmesd|Doug H]] 14:23, 9 July 2022 (EDT)
+
I mistyped Linda Burroughs as LInda Burroughs and now that it's been entered as a canonical name I can't correct it. I tried doing so on the title page for her one essay so far, but the software matched Linda with LInda and that edit went through without the change. Could a moderator fix that typo on the [https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?374390 Author Record] page? Thanks. [[User:MOHearn|MOHearn]] ([[User talk:MOHearn|talk]]) 15:52, 26 January 2024 (EST)
 +
:As requested. [[User:Scifibones|<b>John</b> <small>Scifibones</small>]] 16:25, 26 January 2024 (EST)
 +
::Thank you, John.--Martin [[User:MOHearn|MOHearn]] ([[User talk:MOHearn|talk]]) 17:19, 26 January 2024 (EST)
  
== Capitol Cat & Watch Dog Unite Lady Freedoms ==
+
== A question about variants with pseudonyms ==
  
I just added [https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pl.cgi?906177 Capitol Cat & Watch Dog Unite Lady Freedoms] to the databank, but, I don’t know if it is a chapterbook, or a picture book. Does anybody know before I add the rest, there are four of them, of them. Oh, and this is a different Janice Law than the mystery author. [[User:MLB|MLB]] 03:02, 14 July 2022 (EDT)
+
I'm generally fine with creating variants but need some clarification for this situation. The publication is written under a pseudonym. The title page shows the author as another pseudonym "writing as". Fine so far but the existing canonical author record has the author's canonical name plus an additional author. Example: [https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?22551 Satellite B.C.] which has the canonical authors as John S. Glasby and Arthur Roberts. I added the [https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pl.cgi?992906 ebook edition] whose title page shows "John Glasby writing as Rand Le Page" using the Rand Le Page pseudonym. I feel like there should be a variant created but am not sure if that's true. What should I do? Thanks! [[User:Philfreund|Phil]] ([[User talk:Philfreund|talk]]) 10:07, 3 February 2024 (EST)
  
== "Story by" author credits ==
+
:The author field help attempts to cover this:
 +
::Alternate Names. ''If you know that a particular author's name is an alternate name, enter that alternate name rather than changing it to the canonical name. If the title page shows both an original and a subsequent name, use the original name. For example, Isaac Asimov's "Lucky Starr" books were originally published under the pseudonym of Paul French, but later reprints were given both names: '''"by Isaac Asimov, writing as Paul French". In these cases you should still enter Paul French as the author and record the dual credit in the notes.''' If the cover shows both names but the title page shows only one name, use the name from the title page -- no matter which it is -- and record the discrepancy with the cover credit in the notes. When a book is known to be ghost-written, this should be treated as an alternate name; the ghost-writer will eventually show up as having an alternate name of the well-known author, but that data is not entered via this field.'' (my emphasis)
 +
:The credit should be to Rand Le Page.  The variant would go to the canonical name, which is John S. Glasby.  The software does not permit a variant of a variant, so there would be no intermediate record with the John Glasby credit. If we believe the work is by both Glasby and Roberts, then the variant would go to a record using two author credits for John S. Glasby and Arthur Roberts -- always to the canonical.  Unless it were ever published as credited solely to "John Glasby", there will be no variant with that credit.  --[[User:MartyD|MartyD]] ([[User talk:MartyD|talk]]) 15:56, 4 February 2024 (EST)
 +
:::Thanks. That's how I did it but somehow didn't see the guidance in the Help to reassure me that I had done it correctly. [[User:Philfreund|Phil]] ([[User talk:Philfreund|talk]]) 16:53, 4 February 2024 (EST)
  
The tp and ebook of [https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?3055729 Alien: Inferno's Fall] were released yesterday, and I've just checked the Amazon preview to see if I can tidy up the title note w.r.t. author(s).
+
== Restoring cancelled submission==
 +
Is there any way to easily restore/resubmit a submission I accidentally cancelled (other than reenter everything)? 5883840 if it can be done. Thanks. [[User:Gzuckier|gzuckier]] ([[User talk:Gzuckier|talk]]) 22:27, 8 February 2024 (EST)
 +
: A moderator can unreject. Which I had done. It is back to being active and in the queue. [[User:Anniemod|Annie]] ([[User talk:Anniemod|talk]]) 00:53, 9 February 2024 (EST)
 +
::10000 thank yous. [[User:Gzuckier|gzuckier]] ([[User talk:Gzuckier|talk]]) 23:47, 10 February 2024 (EST)
 +
== interviews jump to continuation page==
 +
When entering an interview with multiple authors interviewed in a publication, when the article starts on say page 1 and the first author is interviewed there, and the continuation of the article jumps to say page 10 and interviews more authors, is it better to just add additional authors to the interview listing with the first page
 +
number, or to add them as another interview with the second page number and the same title? I can't decide which is more logical. Thanks. [[User:Gzuckier|gzuckier]] ([[User talk:Gzuckier|talk]]) 15:12, 18 February 2024 (EST)
  
The title page of the ebook states "A novel by Philippa Ballantine / Story by Philippa Ballantine and Clara Carija".  As such, I suspect this title and pubs should stay with Ballantine as the sole author entry (but with the notes updated appropriately) but I don't see this sort of thing explicitly referenced in [[Template:PublicationFields:Author]].  That page does mention cases like "Author A with Author B", saying that both should be credited, but I don't think that covers this particular case where story credits are separate from authorship.
+
== Adding alternate name ==
  
(I imagine there are similar issues for novelizations that have a "Based on a screenplay by ..." credit?)
+
Colombian author Rodrigo Bastidas Pérez [https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?329980]  [https://latinamericanliteraturetoday.org/lal_author/rodrigo-bastidas-perez/] also appears to use the nameRodrigo Bastidas [https://co.linkedin.com/in/rodrigo-bastidas-9aab39191] [https://latinamericanliteraturetoday.org/lal_author/rodrigo-bastidas-perez/] so if anybody could add it, please? Thanks. [[User:Gzuckier|gzuckier]] ([[User talk:Gzuckier|talk]]) 15:30, 18 February 2024 (EST)
 +
:The ISFDB is a publication driven database. An author record will be created the first time "Rodrigo Bastidas" is credited to a title. After creation, go to the newly created author record. Select 'Make/Remove Alternate Name' from the Editing Tools menu. Put 'Rodrigo Bastidas Pérez' in the Parent name field or 329980 in the Parent Record # field. [[User:Scifibones|<b>John</b> <small>Scifibones</small>]] 15:42, 18 February 2024 (EST)
 +
::thanks. [[User:Gzuckier|gzuckier]] ([[User talk:Gzuckier|talk]]) 15:56, 18 February 2024 (EST)
  
Thoughts? [[User:ErsatzCulture|ErsatzCulture]] 13:38, 27 July 2022 (EDT)
+
== Adding web-published short fiction? ==
  
:I would treat it the same way we treat novelizations and book adaptations of other material. E.g., we credit the adaptation of the original Star Trek installments exclusively to James Blish, without regard for who came up with the actual storiesSo your idea of sole Ballentine credit + recording Carija's contribution in the notes seems both appropriate and consistent with what we have done before. --[[User:MartyD|MartyD]] 14:32, 27 July 2022 (EDT)
+
General question: https://isfdb.org/wiki/index.php/Help:Screen:NewPub seems to list everything ''except'' a new piece of short fiction (New Anthology, New Chapbook, New Collection, New Fanzine, New Magazine, New Nonfiction, New Novel, and New Omnibus)How does one add one? 
  
: (after edit conflict) Novelizations frequently mention the authors/creators of the novelized work. When they do, the wording that they use is typically "Based on a story by X and Y" or simply "Story by X and Y". Sometimes it's more involved, e.g. the cover of the [https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pl.cgi?52046 1990 Avon edition of Piers Anthony's novelization of the movie ''Total Recall''] says "Based on a Screenplay by Ronald Shusett & Dan O'Bannon and Gary Goldman" and then "Screen Story by Ronald Shusett & Dan O'Bannon and Jon Povill". On the other hand, the [https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pl.cgi?311887 William Morrow edition] doesn't mention these people on the cover, but the title page says "Inspired by the works of Philip K. Dick and Ronald Shusett, Dan O'Bannon, Steven Pressfield" -- note that the credited people are different.
+
More specifically, how would one add Andy Weir’s latest short story, “The Martian: Lost Sols” (https://galactanet.com/lostsols.pdf)?
  
: Sometimes we record this information in Notes, but we don't credit them in the "Author" field. [[User:Ahasuerus|Ahasuerus]] 14:40, 27 July 2022 (EDT)
+
(A more complicated issue might be whether to count it as either part of a new ''The Martian'' series, or as just a missing part of the novel.)
  
:: Thanks both; I've updated the title and pub notes accordingly.  I was going to update the help page I linked to earlier in this item as well, but it seems to be (mostly) composed of template strings, which I've not used before, so I've left as-is. {{unsigned|ErsatzCulture|15:15 27 July 2022}}
 
  
:::Templates are just text/code inserted into the pages embedding the template.  A good spot to add it might be in the bullet about "with other writers" [https://www.isfdb.org/wiki/index.php?title=Template:AllFields:WithOtherWriters here]. --[[User:MartyD|MartyD]] 15:15, 28 July 2022 (EDT)
+
— [[User:FlaSheridn|FlaSheridn]] ([[User talk:FlaSheridn|talk]]) 19:42, 18 February 2024 (EST)
  
== Artist records for Heffernan/David Heffernan -- same individual? ==
+
:A publication of a single work of short fiction is handled in the ISFDB as a CHAPBOOK, which you should think of as a one-story COLLECTION.  So you use Add New Chapbook.  We would consider a PDF an "ebook".  It will seem redundant, but within that new record, you would add one entry in the "Regular Titles" (content) section for the short story.  See some details in the CHAPBOOK sub-bullet of [[Help:Screen:NewPub#Publication_Type]]. It is normal for both the CHAPBOOK and the SHORTFICTION records to have the same title text, but that is not required.  If the story belongs in the series, add the series to the SHORTFICTION record (which will only be available after the initial submission is accepted), not to the CHAPBOOK. --[[User:MartyD|MartyD]] ([[User talk:MartyD|talk]]) 21:31, 18 February 2024 (EST)
  
It appears that [https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?106181 Heffernan] is an alternate record for [https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?25927 David Heffernan].  (It appears that he signed his work as "Heffernan" (no first name), so books without an explicit artist credit, such as [https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pl.cgi?8901 Dark of the Moon], are credited simply to "Heffernan", while books with a stated artist credit, such as [https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pl.cgi?6437 Caught in Crystal] had his first & last name listed.  The block-lettering Heffernan signatures are very consistent between the two artist records; and the cover art for Yngwie Malmsteen's album Trilogy ([https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71-bKDA3YzL._SL1395_.jpg front] [https://albumartexchange.com/covers/536219-trilogy-back back]) has a signature on the front that matches Dark of the Moon even more closely, and has an explicit David Heffernan credit on the back.
+
== Financial contributions ==
  
Assuming this is correct, what would be the best way to create some kind of link between the two artist records?
+
Is there a way to make a monthly financial contribution to your site? {{Unsigned2|16:35, February 21, 2024‎| Jeradcentipedepress.com}}
  
Thanks!
+
: Not at the moment, but let me check with Al von Ruff who currently handles server issues. Thanks for the thought! [[User:Ahasuerus|Ahasuerus]] ([[User talk:Ahasuerus|talk]]) 17:36, 21 February 2024 (EST)
  
[[User:Joe H.|Joe H.]] 10:35, 28 July 2022 (EDT)
+
:: ++
:I made {{A|Heffernan}} an alternate name of {{A|David Heffernan}}. Thanks for finding this. --&nbsp;[[User:JLaTondre|JLaTondre]] ([[User talk:JLaTondre#top|talk]]) 09:18, 31 July 2022 (EDT)
+
[[User:FlaSheridn|FlaSheridn]] ([[User talk:FlaSheridn|talk]]) 21:07, 22 February 2024 (EST)
  
:: Thank you!  [[User:Joe H.|Joe H.]] 13:50, 3 August 2022 (EDT)
+
:: Not at the moment. but the site isn't particularly expensive to operate. I'll be looking into creating a 501c later this year, mostly to ensure the longevity of the site, but that would also allow for official financial contributions. [[User:Alvonruff|Alvonruff]] ([[User talk:Alvonruff|talk]]) 16:43, 11 March 2024 (EDT)
  
== Math input question ==
+
== (in error) credit to cover artist / Beloved Exile ==
  
(This is really meta for the real question I need to ask)
+
What steps should I take to fix up the cover artist for [https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?643609 Beloved Exile]?
 +
My 2nd printing has a copyright page credit and signature on the artwork crediting 'Heide Oberheide'.
  
Are the <math></math> tags for LaTex as produced by the sqrt(n) button in the comment editor suppose to work?
+
It seems I should edit the 'Author 1' name in the record, but am unsure how to create the 'Tom Canty (in error)' record linkage. --[[User:GlennMcG|Glenn]] ([[User talk:GlennMcG|talk]]) 17:13, 14 March 2024 (EDT)
I'm having problems with their use just generating literal output.
 
  
--[[User:GlennMcG|Glenn]] 18:36, 30 July 2022 (EDT)
+
:It's unfortunately complicated.  What you'd need to do is separate the publications so that the AvoNova pub has a COVERART record of its own that is not shared with the two Bantam pubs.  Then make the AvoNova's credit be "Tom Canty (in error)" instead of "Tom Canty", and make the title the two Bantam pubs share be credited to "Heide Oberheide" instead of "Tom Canty".  Then both the fixed "Heide Oberheide" one and the "Tom Canty (in error)" one would need to be made variants of one credited to "Heidi Oberheide" (her canonical name), "Tom Canty (in error)" would need to be made an alternate name for Heidi Oberheide, and the lingering old parent title credited to Thomas Canty would need to be deleted. It would take quite a few submissions and a few wait-for-approval pauses. I'd be happy to do this for you, if you want, or you're welcome to try it yourself. --[[User:MartyD|MartyD]] ([[User talk:MartyD|talk]]) 18:38, 14 March 2024 (EDT)
:No, it does not work. The ISFDB uses a really old version of Wikipedia and it also doesn't have all the necessary dependencies installed. I doubt anyone was expected to need the match function. --&nbsp;[[User:JLaTondre|JLaTondre]] ([[User talk:JLaTondre#top|talk]]) 09:14, 31 July 2022 (EDT)
 
  
== Savage Realms Monthly ==
+
Please do. --[[User:GlennMcG|Glenn]] ([[User talk:GlennMcG|talk]]) 20:16, 14 March 2024 (EDT)
  
● Well, I did something wrongWhy can’t I get [https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?3062828 the May issue] of Savage Realms Monthly to get into [https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?2983776 this series]? [[User:MLB|MLB]] 00:30, 31 July 2022 (EDT)
+
:The two Bantam editions have different credits (one "Heidi", the other "Heide") and also needed to be separatedFinal result is [https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?3292598 here]. --[[User:MartyD|MartyD]] ([[User talk:MartyD|talk]]) 07:19, 15 March 2024 (EDT)
  
: Just merge the two titles. Two additional points; Magazines are dated by the cover date, not the date they become available. Always include the ASIN when publications have a '979' ISBN. [[User:Scifibones|<b>John</b> <small>Scifibones</small>]] 08:08, 31 July 2022 (EDT)
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== [https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?3292602 Хищник]==
  
== Boxed set format ==
+
I need some help from anybody who knows Russian.  I just listed [https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?3292602 Хищник].  I did the best I could, but I <b>know</b> I must of gotten something wrong.  I had to spell out the authors' names from by "Symbol" program on my word program and I'm sure I did something wrong.  Could somebody check this out and let me know what I did wrong? [[User:MLB|MLB]] ([[User talk:MLB|talk]]) 23:09, 14 March 2024 (EDT)
 +
: All fixed :) [[User:Anniemod|Annie]] ([[User talk:Anniemod|talk]]) 13:54, 15 March 2024 (EDT)
 +
:: Thank you very much. [[User:MLB|MLB]] ([[User talk:MLB|talk]]) 14:57, 15 March 2024 (EDT)
 +
::: Anytime - the two author names needed fixing - Morris looked ok but the k in his first name was in Latin; Golden's first name contained characters that looked like the actual letters if you squint :) I also added more details (including the translator)from Fantlab and other Russian sources, got the publisher sorted out and got a month of publication (Goodreads can be really bad for this on Russian books). Thanks for adding it. Feel free to drop me a note when you get one of these - either after you add it as you did now or just with a link to the Goodreads book and I will be happy to fix/add it. [[User:Anniemod|Annie]] ([[User talk:Anniemod|talk]]) 15:06, 15 March 2024 (EDT)
 +
::::@MLB, when I am not on my tablet or phone with convenient virtual keyboards and am stuck on my computer's US-standard QWERTY keyboard, I often find it easier to Google for names/titles with diacriticals or in non-Latin alphabets and copy + paste.  WAY faster than trying to enter one symbol at a time.... --[[User:MartyD|MartyD]] ([[User talk:MartyD|talk]]) 08:22, 16 March 2024 (EDT)
  
When you're entering a boxed set as an omnibus, what should the format be? --[[User:Rosab618|Rosab618]] 13:51, 31 July 2022 (EDT)
+
== Baen vs Baen Books publishers redux ==
: Whatever is the format of the books inside of the boxed set. So a boxes set of 3 mass market paperbacks will be mass market paperback; a boxed set of hardcovers will be hardcover and so on. In case of a mix and match (2 hardcovers, 2 paperbacks for example), use "other" and add a note explaining the situation. :) [[User:Anniemod|Annie]] 14:22, 1 August 2022 (EDT)
 
::Thanks, Annie! --[[User:Rosab618|Rosab618]] 17:21, 3 August 2022 (EDT)
 
  
== {Now + n, Now - n} title formatting ==
+
I'm reopening the [https://www.isfdb.org/wiki/index.php/ISFDB:Help_desk/archives/archive_34#Baen_vs_Baen_Books_publishers Baen vs Baen Books publishers] discussion as I currently have some edits on pause [https://www.isfdb.org/wiki/index.php/User_talk:GlennMcG#Baen_Science_Fantasy_Books] that attempted to add the "Baen Science Fantasy Books".
  
The title of this story in [https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pl.cgi?4394 Beyond the Safe Zone] is given as "{NOW + n, NOW - n}" in the TOC, but on the actual story page it's rendered as (here's where <math> would have been handy):
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The last time this was discussed, it kind of fizzled out, and so when PVing my Baen books I ended up just following the existing patterns for which Baen publisher variant to use. (I've currently have PVed 1077 Baen publications). The addition of the little used variant would follow existing patterns, but much lower usage.
  
"{" (two lines tall), "NOW + n" (on line 1), "NOW - n" (on line 2, directly below NOW + n), and finally "}" (two lines tall).
+
Is this the time to get this straightened out? --[[User:GlennMcG|Glenn]] ([[User talk:GlennMcG|talk]]) 16:14, 18 March 2024 (EDT)
  
Is this different enough to drive an edit? If so, how should it be formatted. Or just note it (which I'm having troubles coming up with clear short description). --[[User:GlennMcG|Glenn]] 22:50, 31 July 2022 (EDT)
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== Conceptual clarification for alternate names and “as by”? ==
: Just add a note. We do not support html and other scripting in titles and you will need it to show something like that. You can note it exactly as you did here if you prefer.  [[User:Anniemod|Annie]] 14:20, 1 August 2022 (EDT)
 
  
== Two-part Cover term ==
+
I’m seeing some works that have a non-canonical name for their byline but that aren’t showing up on the page for the canonical name. I think I now understand that to make them show up on the page for the canonical name, I need to follow the instructions under [[Help:How_to_record_a_variant_title]], but I feel like it might be useful to add a conceptual clarification in the introduction to that page, saying something like “There are various reasons to create a variant title record; for example, to get a work that was published under a non-canonical name to appear under the author’s canonical name, you need to create a variant title record that gives the author’s canonical name.”
  
Can someone please tell me what is the correct term for a two-part paperback cover where the top cover is about 85-90% the width of a full page and the inner cover is full sized? My Google-fu has failed me. Thanks! [[User:Philfreund|Phil]] 07:37, 8 August 2022 (EDT)
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I’m saying this because I recently linked a non-canonical name to a canonical name, and I expected that ISFDB would automatically create an “as by” line on the canonical-name page. When that didn’t happen, I went and searched in the wiki to try to find out more; I eventually found that how-to page, and that page gives useful instructions on what to do, and after reading a few different bits of it a few times I think I understand what to do. But I feel like that page could use a high-level conceptual description of what you’re doing, because the phrase “record a variant title” didn’t initially sound like what I wanted to do.
  
: It's a stepback cover, and I don't know if that originated as a publishers' term or a collectors'/booksellers' one. I was only able to find the term stepback online because I dimly recalled it; at first I was recalling it as a gatefold, but I see that that's a cover folded back like a dust-cover flap, used on some upscale trade paperbacks (also a two-part LP cover/sleeve opening like a book). [[User:MOHearn|MOHearn]] 17:09, 10 August 2022 (EDT)
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The wiki page for [[Help:How to enter works published under an alternate name]] also seems relevant, and I feel like that one could also use a similar high-level conceptual description. In particular, that page says to clone the existing page, but it doesn’t say what to change in the cloned version; I think it should say to change the name in the cloned version to the canonical name. --[[User:Elysdir|Elysdir]] ([[User talk:Elysdir|talk]]) 16:22, 18 March 2024 (EDT)
  
::Thanks! Now that I know the term, I have been able to search out more info about it. It turns out that there is also a variation called a keyhole stepback cover where there is a die-cut/keyhole opening in the outer cover displaying a portion of the inner artwork. Overall, the stepback cover seems to be most heavily used for Romance novels. Here's a [https://jacquelinediazromance.wpcomstaging.com/stepback-covers-are-back/ link] to an interesting discussion of the history of the stepback cover. [[User:Philfreund|Phil]] 06:59, 11 August 2022 (EDT)
+
:When you say ''... I recently linked a non-canonical name to a canonical name, ...'' what was the situation you were trying to deal with, and what did you do at first? --[[User:MartyD|MartyD]] ([[User talk:MartyD|talk]]) 17:47, 18 March 2024 (EDT)
  
== Deleting a bad cover upload ==
+
::Oops, didn’t see this response ’til now, sorry. There were two situations: (1) My story “[https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?3292273 All Through the Night]” was listed as being by Jedediah Elysdir Hartman, so it wasn’t showing up on the [https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?50481 Summary Bibliography page for Jed Hartman]. I [https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/view_submission.cgi?5901587 made Jedediah Elysdir Hartman an alternate name for Jed Hartman], but the story still didn’t show up on the Summary Bibliography page for Jed Hartman. (Now it does.) (2) Thomas M. Disch’s poem [https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?2987737 Learning to Cross the Street] was published under three different versions of the author’s name (Tom Disch, Thomas Disch, Thomas M. Disch), and I wanted those all to appear on the [https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?821 Summary Bibliography page for Disch]. (Now they do.) …In both cases, I had initially assumed that if a non-canonical author name was listed for a work, and the non-canonical name was listed as an alternate name, that that work would automatically show up with an “as by” on the Summary Bibliography page for the canonical author name. But it didn’t seem to work automatically, so I went and did some digging through the help pages, and eventually found useful information but without a conceptual overview about circumstances when you might want/need to make a variant title. So, really what I’m saying is that I would like it to be clearer in the documentation what to do if you want an “as by” to show up on the Summary Bibliography page for the canonical name. —[[User:Elysdir|Elysdir]] ([[User talk:Elysdir|talk]]) 17:51, 7 April 2024 (EDT)
  
I messed up and uploaded a cover for the wrong publication. Here is the entry for the [https://www.isfdb.org/wiki/index.php/Image:BKTG03053.jpg bad cover]. How do I delete this incorrect upload? It isn't used anywhere. [[User:Philfreund|Phil]] 07:50, 8 August 2022 (EDT)
+
::: You seem to have made a point: while it does seem a natural move for the ones used to ISFDB to do both moves (that is, establish the alternate name relation ''and'' to variant the title as by the alternate name to the title as by the canonical name), there likely should be a hint given within the [https://www.isfdb.org/wiki/index.php/Help:Screen:MakeAlternateName Make Alternate Name] help page. Christian [[User:Stonecreek|Stonecreek]] ([[User talk:Stonecreek|talk]]) 02:08, 8 April 2024 (EDT)
: It's a moderator only function, I deleted it for you. [[User:Scifibones|<b>John</b> <small>Scifibones</small>]] 09:37, 8 August 2022 (EDT)
 
:: I guessed that would be the case! Thanks! [[User:Philfreund|Phil]] 15:26, 8 August 2022 (EDT)
 
  
== Isaac Asimov's OPUS books. ==
+
== Linking books as translation ==
  
The current entries for Asimov's Opus books ([https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?38033 Opus 100], [https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?39451 Opus 200] and [https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?2905552 Opus 300]) all list them as COLLECTIONS. Each book is a set of selections and excerpts from 100 of his books, most of which are non-fiction and, in many cases non-genre. According to the [https://www.isfdb.org/wiki/index.php/Help:Screen:NewPub#Publication_Type HELP entry] for NONFICTION - "A publication that contains both non-fiction and fiction should be typed by that which is predominant." The entry does not say whether this is by number of entries or by pages, but I believe it qualifies under both. I plan to convert these but would like to offer a chance for differing opinions before doing so. ../[[User:Holmesd|Doug H]] 12:57, 10 August 2022 (EDT)
+
I have submitted tickets for this for several books in the Eragon series through 'Make This Title a Variant' butt nothing changed after it got approved.
  
: Sounds like a good plan. [[User:Ahasuerus|Ahasuerus]] 14:30, 11 August 2022 (EDT)
+
See the novel section for the not linked Swedish and Italian ones https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?28380
  
Secondarily, there is one publication [https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pl.cgi?854394 Opus: A Selection from the First 200 Books] which is an omnibus of the first two titles. The definition indicates this is correct, whether these be COLLECTIONs or NONFICTIONs. However, the contents include not only the two COLLECTIONs, but also repeats their contents. I believe that this is incorrect and the latter should be removed. Again - any concerns? ../[[User:Holmesd|Doug H]] 12:57, 10 August 2022 (EDT)
+
The West-Frisian translation of The two towers is also not linked 'De twa tuorren' https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?302
  
: [[Help:Screen:NewPub]] says:
+
Also this author translated his own book that needs to belinked to the original English one https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?376722
:* When recording an omnibus publication, please record all of its contents. If it contains one or more collections, please record both the collection titles and the individual short fiction or essay titles as part of the omnibus's contents.
 
: so we should keep the individual stories. Note that this is done for two reasons:
 
:* It lets users looking at a SHORTFICTON work's Title page see the omnibus publications which include the story.
 
:* It lets us capture minor differences between the OMNIBUS pub and the COLLECTION pubs whose contents it reprints, e.g. added/removed ESSAYs.
 
: [[User:Ahasuerus|Ahasuerus]] 14:30, 11 August 2022 (EDT)
 
:: Sorry, failed to look past the TYPE to CONTENTS. ../[[User:Holmesd|Doug H]] 23:57, 11 August 2022 (EDT)
 
  
== Amaranth, magazine ==
+
::: Noticed that now it's just the other way around. 'Het zwaard van het licht' is the translation of 'The Lady's Gift', right? If you could confirm here, I'll switch it around for you (or someone else will) :) [[User:MagicUnk|MagicUnk]] ([[User talk:MagicUnk|talk]]) 16:17, 21 March 2024 (EDT)
  
{{P|437475|Amaranth}} was supposed to be the first of a magazine series, but folded after one issue... shouldn't it still be a MAGAZINE, and not an ANTHOLOGY? [[User:Ofearna|Susan O&#39;Fearna]] 00:54, 20 August 2022 (EDT)
+
[[User:Flapco|Flapco]] ([[User talk:Flapco|talk]]) 14:06, 20 March 2024 (EDT)
 +
:The best way to do this is to follow these steps:
 +
:*Create the translated title as normal.
 +
:*View the new title record you made (make sure it's the title record and not the publication record).
 +
:*Open a separate window or tab with the original title to which you want to variant the translation.
 +
:*Copy the '''Title Record #''' (at the top right of the entry).
 +
:*Go back to the tab or window with the translated title record and click the '''Make this title a variant''' link in the toolbar on the left.
 +
:*Under '''Option 1''' (don't use Option 2), paste the copied '''Title Record #''' into the '''Parent #''' field.
 +
:*Click the '''Link to Existing Parent''' button to submit the varianting for review.
  
:If it was an issue of a magazine, then, yes. In a situation like this, if you have a source of information (be it the publication or something else) that documents this was an issue of a magazine, I encourage you to capture that information in the pub or title (or series) notes, just to help avoid future confusion. --[[User:MartyD|MartyD]] 16:45, 24 August 2022 (EDT)
+
:Once you've done that, a moderator can review the submission and approve it. ···[[User:Nihonjoe|<font color="darkgreen">日本穣</font>]] · <small>[[Special:Contributions/Nihonjoe|<font color="blue">投稿</font>]] · [[User talk:Nihonjoe|Talk to Nihonjoe]]</small> 14:16, 20 March 2024 (EDT)
 +
:: Just a small clarification - "Create the translated title as normal." above means "Add the book. Forget that it is a translation and just add it - add the translator in the Title note but other from that, just add the book as you would add any other book".
 +
:: If you start by creating the variant and not by adding the book, the variant may be deleted overnight (we have a report looking for orphan titles). :) [[User:Anniemod|Annie]] ([[User talk:Anniemod|talk]]) 18:39, 20 March 2024 (EDT)
 +
:::Good clarification. ···[[User:Nihonjoe|<font color="darkgreen">日本穣</font>]] · <small>[[Special:Contributions/Nihonjoe|<font color="blue">投稿</font>]] · [[User talk:Nihonjoe|Talk to Nihonjoe]]</small> 19:13, 20 March 2024 (EDT)
  
== Battlestations / Battle Stations ==
+
== J. T. Brewer ==
  
{{P|901215|Battlestations}} is how the cover, title and copyright page of my e-book copy has this book... can it be corrected? [[User:Ofearna|Susan O&#39;Fearna]] 02:37, 20 August 2022 (EDT)
+
I am entering the spiritual fantasies of [https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?377040 J. T. Brewer], but the author is actually two people, Judeen Brewer and Terry Brewer.  How do I enter the two author's real names when the field will only accept one? [[User:MLB|MLB]] ([[User talk:MLB|talk]]) 23:07, 25 March 2024 (EDT)
 +
:You'd need to add both as using that name as a pseudonym. Similar to [https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?155601 James S. A. Corey] and ''[https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pe.cgi?29331 The Expanse]'' series. See point #4 [[Help:How to record an alternate name#Recording a New Alternate Name Relation|here]] for more details. ···[[User:Nihonjoe|<font color="darkgreen">日本穣</font>]] · <small>[[Special:Contributions/Nihonjoe|<font color="blue">投稿</font>]] · [[User talk:Nihonjoe|Talk to Nihonjoe]]</small> 01:23, 28 March 2024 (EDT)
  
:You are the only primary verifier, so if your copy has it as one word and you're verifying that, change it.  It looks most likely to be a typo/spell-o vs. another form. If someone ever comes up with a copy having it as two words, that person can make a variant. --[[User:MartyD|MartyD]] 16:41, 24 August 2022 (EDT)
+
== Rejected attempt to enter ISBN ==
  
== Info about submitting info for a magazine series. ==
+
I tried to enter the ISBN for Publication Record # 39933: ''The Flight of the Horse'', Ballantine Books, 1973-09-00.
  
Hello. I am co-editor of a Brazilian magazine that pays homage to pulp magazines ("Histórias Extraordinárias" - [https://www.editoramundo.com.br/he/] ). It publishes previously unreleased short stories in the Science Fiction, Supernatural and Cosmic Horror genres.
+
My attempt to save this data was rejected with the error message "Info already on file", or words to that effect.
  
I have some questions that could be obvious for more experienced isfdb editors, but please bear with me :)
+
There is an ISBN listed in your records for later printings of that book, but not for this first printing.  Not in PR# 39933. That record does show an SBN, and the ISBN can be derived from that, which is how I got the valid ISBN for this book, using the SBN printed in my copy of the first printing.  That ISBN was confirmed by an ISBN lookup, which shows the book with the same cover I have. <small>—The preceding unsigned comment was added by [[User:Lensman03|Lensman03]] ([[User talk:Lensman03|talk]] • [[Special:Contributions/Lensman03|contribs]]) .</small>
 +
: We would need more information for us to be able to help. For example, do you have the submission record that got rejected? That would tell us whether it's a mistake and your submission should not have been rejected, or conversely, that there's indeed data that shouldn't be overwritten. Oh, and always sign your posts with four '~'. [[User:MagicUnk|MagicUnk]] ([[User talk:MagicUnk|talk]]) 12:00, 26 March 2024 (EDT)
  
I want to submit the info about this magazine (5 issues published so far).
+
:: Checking the submission queue, I see that the [https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/view_submission.cgi?5925442 submission in question is currently pending]. The "Warnings" column says "ISBN already on file", but it's just a warning that tells the reviewing moderator that we already have a publication with this ISBN on file. It doesn't mean that the submission was automatically rejected. It should appear on [[User:Lensman03]]'s
Other than the short stories, it contains regular sections as:
+
[https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/myrecent.cgi?0+N My Pending Edits] page. [[User:Ahasuerus|Ahasuerus]] ([[User talk:Ahasuerus|talk]]) 12:25, 26 March 2024 (EDT)
  
(1) "'''Science Department'''" - essays about real-world scientific matters (actual robots, Mars probes, etc.). Should I include info about this section even if it "not speculative" in essence?
+
:::I've approved this submission and added part of your moderator note to the notes for the [https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pl.cgi?39933 publication]. ···[[User:Nihonjoe|<font color="darkgreen">日本穣</font>]] · <small>[[Special:Contributions/Nihonjoe|<font color="blue">投稿</font>]] · [[User talk:Nihonjoe|Talk to Nihonjoe]]</small> 12:33, 26 March 2024 (EDT)
: As it is in a genre magazine, EVERYTHING is eligible. So yes. This is similar to the science articles in Analog for example.  [[User:Anniemod|Annie]] 11:51, 25 August 2022 (EDT)
 
  
(2) "'''Interviews'''" - interviews with people whose work may be related to the subject of one of the stories or with the author of one of the stories or someone who's in some way related to speculative fiction. Should I include this info when the interviewed person is not directly involved in speculative fiction? For example, in issue #1 a short story dealt with HAM radio, and the "Interview" section featured an experienced HAM radio user. It seems to me that this interview should not be included, but I could be wrong. Please advise.
+
::::Thank you, everyone, for your help in holding this newbie's hand! [[User:Lensman03|Lensman03]] ([[User talk:Lensman03|talk]]) 23:46, 27 March 2024 (EDT)
: See above :) You can add it just as a note in the notes of the publication but... technically it is eligible. [[User:Anniemod|Annie]] 11:51, 25 August 2022 (EDT)
 
  
(3) "'''HE Recommends'''" - Reviews and recommendations about speculative fiction in books, movies or TV series. Should I include the info about this section if they are not about literature (e.g. TV series or movies)? For example, In one issue we had a review about the works of Ted Chiang, in another about the "Severance" TV series. While the Ted Chiang one is a no-brainer, what about the later?
+
== Alternate name linkage / Return to Mayberry ==
: Genre Books reviews get added as reviews. Non-book and non-genre books get added as essays. See [https://www.isfdb.org/wiki/index.php/Help:Screen:NewPub the help page] and especially [https://www.isfdb.org/wiki/index.php/Help:Screen:NewPub#Reviews what is a review] (aka books just being mentioned is NOT a review) and [https://www.isfdb.org/wiki/index.php/Template:PublicationInfo:WhatToInclude naming reviews as essays]. [[User:Anniemod|Annie]] 11:51, 25 August 2022 (EDT)
 
  
I have the cover arts for all issues; is it possible to insert the cover art along with the data submission?
+
I linked Rob Hampson to Robert E. Hampson, but the story [https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?2522376 Return to Mayberry] isn't shown under the full name. What did I miss? --[[User:GlennMcG|Glenn]] ([[User talk:GlennMcG|talk]]) 01:27, 28 March 2024 (EDT)
: Not at the start unless it is in one of the places we can link to. Once the publication is approved , there will be a button to allow you to upload the cover to our DB and link it there (always a second step when adding books/magazines). [[User:Anniemod|Annie]] 11:51, 25 August 2022 (EDT)
+
: You need to create a parent for it -- just go to "Make This Title a Variant", Option 2 and replace the pseudonym author name with the canonical name one. If the story is already on the canonical author page, you can use Option 1 with the ID of course. That does not happen automatically when you make a pseudonym - partially because we do not want to create duplicates if the titles already exist on the other page. [[User:Anniemod|Annie]] ([[User talk:Anniemod|talk]]) 14:58, 28 March 2024 (EDT)
  
Thank you for your help.
+
== Doubles - Omnibus versus Anthology ==
--[[User:Pugno|Pugno]] 11:41, 25 August 2022 (EDT)
 
: Answers inline :) Let me know if any other clarifications are needed. Welcome to ISFDB! [[User:Anniemod|Annie]] 11:51, 25 August 2022 (EDT)
 
  
::Thanks for your patience and help! I have one more question: In one case, the magazine index indicates that a short story is at page 20; however, page 20 is a full-page artwork (related to the story) and the text effectively starts at page 21. Should I indicate page 20 for both or 20 and 21 respectively? [[User:Pugno|Pugno]] 17:03, 25 August 2022 (EDT)
+
I just ran across two titles in the DB that are currently set as Anthologies. [https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?2244250 The Time-Raider / The Whisper of Death] and [https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?1836498 Last Call For Doomsday / The Huntress of Akkan]. These are both Doubles in the Armchair Sci-Fi & Horror Double Novels publication series. Shouldn't these be Omnibus titles instead of Anthology? Almost all of the Ace Doubles are considered Omnibus titles. What's the difference? [[User:Philfreund|Phil]] ([[User talk:Philfreund|talk]]) 12:46, 5 April 2024 (EDT)
::: It will be 20|20.1 for the art and 20|20.2 for the story (so they stay in order). [https://www.isfdb.org/wiki/index.php?title=Template:PubContentFields:Page Help page]: "If a magazine presents artwork for a story or essay preceding the piece's title page, and it is apparent that the art accompanies the text, the starting page of the story or essay should be the page number of the artwork which illustrates it. If you're creating content records for both the work and its illustration, they would have the same starting page.". See also the whole sorting section in that same link - it explains the usage of the | I used above. If you want, you can add a note in the publication note explaining where the text actually starts but it is not mandatory.
+
:The first one is a novel & a novella. The second one is two novellas. Per [[:Template:PublicationFields:PubType]], the second one is definitely properly entered as an anthology as both works are short fiction. For the first case, the OMNIBUS definition states "A publication may be classified as an omnibus if it contains multiple works that have previously been published independently, and at least one of them is a NOVEL, ANTHOLOGY, COLLECTION, or NONFICTION. However, generally this category should not be used unless the other categories do not seem appropriate.". The novella in this book was never published independently (see {{T|85513|Whisper of Death}}) so anthology seems appropriate. But as the page says, "The distinction between 'Omnibus' and the other types is somewhat subjective and may require discussion on ISFDB:Help desk or the Community Portal." --&nbsp;[[User:JLaTondre|JLaTondre]] ([[User talk:JLaTondre#top|talk]]) 16:02, 5 April 2024 (EDT)
::: When you start adding the first issue, click on these question marks next to each field - these help pages have a lot of small tips like this one and will help you figure out how to do some things. Magazines are... complicated in the DB so if you need any more assistance, just ask :) [[User:Anniemod|Annie]] 17:56, 25 August 2022 (EDT)
+
::Thanks for the clarification. [[User:Philfreund|Phil]] ([[User talk:Philfreund|talk]]) 16:44, 5 April 2024 (EDT)
  
== Stack dump when displaying verifier activity timestamps ==
+
== Uncertainty about “Email this user” ==
  
In case you haven't seen these yet...
+
The only remaining verifier for a particular work says to contact them via wiki email instead of by adding to their Talk page. So I followed that user’s link to the [[Special:EmailUser|Email this user]] page, and wrote an email, and clicked Send. But instead of giving me some kind of your-message-has-been-sent confirmation, the page just reloaded, with my text still in the text box. So I can’t tell whether the message got sent or not. When it sends successfully, does it give a confirmation message, or does it just reload the text that it just sent? …Also, I have the “Email me a copy of my message” checkbox checked, but I haven’t received a copy of the message, which makes me think it probably didn’t send. But I’m not sure. Any thoughts about how to find out whether it sent? (I did try clicking Send again, but the same thing happened.) —[[User:Elysdir|Elysdir]] ([[User talk:Elysdir|talk]]) 17:31, 7 April 2024 (EDT)
  
 +
: I am afraid the ISFDB email server hasn't been kept in sync with evolving email delivery standards, so our email functionality can be spotty. Sometimes ISFDB email is delivered properly and other times it isn't. The [[ISFDB:FAQ#What_if_I_don.27t_receive_the_confirmation_email.3F|ISFDB FAQ]] mentions it in passing:
 +
:* Different email servers have different automated rules which may block email coming from certain Web sites, which makes it hard to tell what's preventing ISFDB confirmation email from being delivered to your mailbox.
 +
: Unfortunately, I know little about email servers. At one point Al mentioned that he was going to investigate, but his availability has been sporadic since the last server upgrade in late 2022. [[User:Ahasuerus|Ahasuerus]] ([[User talk:Ahasuerus|talk]]) 20:22, 7 April 2024 (EDT)
  
/var/www/cgi-bin/SQLparsing.py in GetLastWiki(user_id=14492L)
+
:: OK, thanks—that makes sense in terms of whether mail that gets sent will be delivered. Followup question: Looking at it from the user-of-the-wiki-email-page side of things, can you tell me whether I should expect there to be some kind of confirmation message displayed in the browser after I click Send? Or when I click Send, should I expect it to reload the page, and still show the text boxes containing the message? (In other words, setting aside the question of whether the mail will be delivered after it’s sent, I’m not sure whether it’s being sent at all, so I’d like to find out what it’s supposed to look like from the user’s point of view when it does send the mail.) —[[User:Elysdir|Elysdir]] ([[User talk:Elysdir|talk]]) 13:43, 8 April 2024 (EDT)
3083                        minutes = timestamp[10:12]
+
::: If you use the Email User functionality, if the mail is sent, you should get a "Your email message has been sent." with a link to return to the user's page. If it does something else for you (just reloads?), chances are that there is a browser dependency somewhere - what browser are you using? And if you know how to look, do the Developer tools in the browser give you any clues on errors? [[User:Anniemod|Annie]] ([[User talk:Anniemod|talk]]) 14:01, 8 April 2024 (EDT)
3084                        seconds = timestamp[12:14]
+
:::: Thanks! I’ve now tried a different browser (Chrome/Mac), and it correctly gave me the “Your email message has been sent” message. Whew. (Weirdly, I then switched back to my first browser (Safari/Mac) and tried sending mail to myself, in order to follow your suggestion and check Developer Tools—but the message to myself *also* worked correctly. So I don’t know what was going on before; maybe some kind of transient glitch. But everything seems to be working correctly now.) —[[User:Elysdir|Elysdir]] ([[User talk:Elysdir|talk]]) 15:22, 9 April 2024 (EDT)
3085                        wiki_utc = datetime.strptime('%s-%s-%s %s:%s:%s' % (year, month, day, hours, minutes, seconds), '%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S')
 
3086                        timestamp = timegm(wiki_utc.timetuple())
 
3087                        last_wiki = datetime.fromtimestamp(timestamp)
 
wiki_utc undefined, datetime undefined, year = '2022', month = '08', day = '02', hours = '14', minutes = '19', seconds = '40'
 
<type 'exceptions.NameError'>: global name 'datetime' is not defined
 
  
when showing the verifiers on a publication page. --[[User:GlennMcG|Glenn]] 16:10, 31 August 2022 (EDT)
+
== New mag entry vanished? ==
  
: It was a bug introduced in an earlier patch to support the server upgrade project. It should be fixed now. [[User:Ahasuerus|Ahasuerus]] 17:19, 31 August 2022 (EDT)
+
Hi. I submitted a new magazine entry for the New Times Book Review, April 7, 2024, yesterday. It was in my pending edits yesterday, but now it's not in my pending, recent, or rejected? Thanks. [[User:Gzuckier|gzuckier]] ([[User talk:Gzuckier|talk]]) 23:33, 13 April 2024 (EDT)
 +
:It is showing up in the [https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/mod/recent.cgi?0+P In Progress or Errored Out New Publication Submission] report (I'm not sure that is visible by non-mods). It did create the publication. It can be found {{P|1003347|here}}. Comparing [https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/view_submission.cgi?5938651 the submission] to the pub, it looks like everything after "The Essentials / Stephen King" failed to be created. --&nbsp;[[User:JLaTondre|JLaTondre]] ([[User talk:JLaTondre#top|talk]]) 07:06, 14 April 2024 (EDT)
 +
::"Moderator privileges are required for this option". --[[User:Username|Username]] ([[User talk:Username|talk]]) 10:15, 14 April 2024 (EDT)
  
:: Is there a place I can read about the planned upgrades? --[[User:GlennMcG|Glenn]] 18:45, 31 August 2022 (EDT)
+
::: A [https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/myrecent.cgi?0+P list of your errored out submissions] should be accessible from the navigation bar on the left. It is called "My Errored Out Edits". [[User:Ahasuerus|Ahasuerus]] ([[User talk:Ahasuerus|talk]]) 12:27, 15 April 2024 (EDT)
  
::: Al has an overview of what's going on on his User page, [[User:Alvonruff]]. The details can be found over on [[User:Alvonruff/ISFDB_Move]]. [[User:Ahasuerus|Ahasuerus]] 20:45, 31 August 2022 (EDT)
+
== Using your software for an italian version ==
  
==Information for different printings==
+
Hallo
 +
I am a fan of ISFDB.org
 +
I currently cooperate with the italian website Uraniamania, and I would like to use their database and giving an output similar to yours.
 +
Actually, I do not have any oinfo about the acritecture of their database, so I do not know if it will be possible to translate it into an "isfdb.it".
 +
Of course there would be differences, because in an hipotetic italian db i would like to include Science fiction,horror, and fantasy fiction, but also crime fiction.
  
I was looking up Robert Heinlein's ''The Past Through Tomorrow'' (https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?32045) and found two listings for the same ISBN (978-0-425-03178-0)- one for the '''seventh''' printing (https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pl.cgi?308039) and one for the '''eighth''' printing (https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pl.cgi?377711). The bulk of the information is naturally the same. Neither lists a print date.
+
So, let's come to the questions.
 +
Can I use your software...? Is it under license...?
  
My copy, as it turns out, is from the '''sixth''' printing, and lists a print date of "January, 1975". I'd like to add this information to the record, but found it confusing to have two entries for different printings of the same book, so I'm not eager to add a third. I didn't see a way to provide the 6th printing date in a comment on the others, so not sure what to do with this.
+
Cristiano Zecchin
 +
Tel. 00 39 331 98 26 228.
  
Evil Overlord
+
: It's certainly possible, although there are a few caveats. All of our bibliographic pages -- like [https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/index.cgi the ISFDB home page] --have a "License" section in the navigation bar on the left. It says:
:We add separate publication records for each printing. As there can be difference between printings, they are treated separately. You can clone one of the existing printings to make record for the sixth. --&nbsp;[[User:JLaTondre|JLaTondre]] ([[User talk:JLaTondre#top|talk]]) 13:00, 4 September 2022 (EDT)
+
:* This work is licensed under a [https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License].
 
+
: If you follow the link to https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ , you will see the following summary:
== Stephen King "The Shining"  Book Club Edition ==
+
:* You are free to:
 
+
:** Share — copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format for any purpose, even commercially.
Hi, I have a copy of Stephen King's "The Shining" which is a book club edition with the gutter code MP3DD.  According to your posting, Doubleday discontinued the gutter code mid-1987 with CC.  I don't see anywhere in the coding series where this code is identified.  Any idea of when it was used?  Thanks, Danelle
+
:** Adapt — remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose, even commercially.
 
+
:** The licensor cannot revoke these freedoms as long as you follow the license terms.
== Sword of Ice and Other Tales of Valdemar ==
+
:* Under the following terms:
 
+
:** Attribution You must give appropriate credit , provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made . You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.
When entering a different printing for Sword of Ice and Other Tales of Valdemar, I noticed that the oldest pub record [https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pl.cgi?34065 here] is really for the 7th printing and should have a 0000-00-00 date. Changing it would leave us without a first printing record. Should I clone this pub and add the appropriate notes to make it the true 1997-01-00 first printing pub with the source being Locus1 and then update the existing pub to have the 0000-00-00 date and corrected notes? That would preserve the history of this record. The other choice would be to clone this pub with corrected notes to be the true 7th printing record and then update the original record to have the correct first printing data and notes. Thanks! [[User:Philfreund|Phil]] ([[User talk:Philfreund|talk]]) 08:00, 12 September 2022 (EDT)
+
:** No additional restrictions — You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits.
: The OCLC does not say anything about this being a 7th printing and looking at the history, it was made a 7th printing later. So I'd clean up this record and make it the real first and not bother with a 7th printing - when/if someone can verify, they can add it. We have no source for this 7th printing besides the record unless you are verifying a later one and you want to add it because it must exist after all. You may want to ping the editor who added the note about the 7th ([https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/view_submission.cgi?3578520 here] and see if they have the book and can verify eventually so we have a source...  [[User:Anniemod|Annie]] ([[User talk:Anniemod|talk]]) 17:33, 12 September 2022 (EDT)
+
: Please note that it's just a high level summary. You can find the legal details on [https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode.en this page], which is linked from the summary page.
::I'll cleanup the existing record. I don't think I can ping the editor who added the 7th printing note since his last post was in 2017. :) [[User:Philfreund|Phil]] ([[User talk:Philfreund|talk]]) 22:02, 12 September 2022 (EDT)
+
: Please see the [[ISFDB_Downloads#Installation_and_Setup|Installation and Setup]] section of the [[ISFDB Downloads]] page. It has links to Wiki pages explaining how to install the ISFDB software and database under different operating systems. [[User:Ahasuerus|Ahasuerus]] ([[User talk:Ahasuerus|talk]]) 12:25, 15 April 2024 (EDT)
 
 
== Biographies? ==
 
 
 
Just wondering about entry of book length biographies of significant authors. Mary Shelly or Poe, for instance. I assume this is includable? Is this considered genre or non-genre? [[User:Gzuckier|gzuckier]] ([[User talk:Gzuckier|talk]]) 00:50, 16 September 2022 (EDT)
 
 
 
: As per [[ISFDB:Policy]], we include:
 
:* Published non-fiction works about speculative fiction which can be plausibly linked to published (as defined above) speculative fiction
 
: so books about speculative fiction authors can be included. It can get fuzzy if the author in question is only marginally related to speculative fiction. For example, a biography of {{A|Robert Conquest}} that concentrated on his work as a historian would be borderline at best even though he wrote and edited a fair amount of SF. [[User:Ahasuerus|Ahasuerus]] ([[User talk:Ahasuerus|talk]]) 06:52, 16 September 2022 (EDT)
 
:: Just to add a note and answer part of the question here: a biography will be considered genre - it is in as a book linked to speculative fiction. Non-genre will be a book from an above the treshold author about science for example. [[User:Anniemod|Annie]] ([[User talk:Anniemod|talk]]) 15:34, 16 September 2022 (EDT)
 
 
 
On a related point, there doesn't seem to be any way to link the biography to the author, or vice versa. If the title of the bio included the author's name, it could be searched that way, but if it doesn't it would kind of be an orphan; that would seem to be a glitch?
 
 
 
Thanks. [[User:Gzuckier|gzuckier]] ([[User talk:Gzuckier|talk]]) 00:50, 16 September 2022 (EDT)
 
 
 
: As per [[Help:Screen:AuthorData]]:
 
:* Note - This field is for bibliographic notes about the author. It can be used to document the sources that were used to compile author-specific information. It can also be used to enter brief '''biographical''' data, especially for authors who do not have other biographical pages on the Internet.
 
: For longer biographical articles, you can use <nowiki>{{BREAK}}</nowiki> -- see [[Help:Using Templates and HTML in Note Fields]].
 
: We used to create biographical Wiki pages, but they were deprecated a few years ago. There are [https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/edit/cleanup.cgi#Wiki_Cleanup_(weekly) a dozen cleanup reports] to help move remaining Wiki pages to the database proper. [[User:Ahasuerus|Ahasuerus]] ([[User talk:Ahasuerus|talk]]) 06:52, 16 September 2022 (EDT)
 
 
 
== How to/should I enter a collection with genre and non-genre stories? ==
 
 
 
[https://www.amazon.com/Cats-Triumphant-Jody-Lynn-Nye/dp/1952825717 ''Cats Triumphant!''] includes [https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?473311 "Well Worth the Money"], which has been getting some interest due to [https://gritsinmisery.tumblr.com/post/616619774659756032/i-have-a-book-that-story-is-in-the-story this Tumblr post about it]. It includes 8 genre stories and 3 non-genre stories.
 
 
 
I've got information on [https://web.archive.org/web/20130124151153/http://www.amazon.com/Cats-Triumphant-ebook/dp/B00AJIWOU2 the 2012 Kindle ebook] and [https://web.archive.org/web/20170323143138/http://brittonknowles.com/ProductInformation/ProductID/159 generic ebook], plus the 2022 reprints (including, at last, [https://www.amazon.com/Cats-Triumphant-Jody-Lynn-Nye/dp/1952825717 a print edition] that will have page numbers).
 
 
 
# Should I enter this collection even though it includes non-genre stories?
 
# Should I enter the non-genre stories or pretend they don't exist?
 
# Is it okay to enter the list of stories in the 2012 ebook editions based on the ToC for the 2022 reprints? (I originally said 'omitting the new introduction by Carole Nelson Douglas', but [https://www.baen.com/Chapters/1230000311335/1230000311335.htm it appears she wrote one for the 2012 version as well.])
 
 
 
Thanks! [[User:Sylvar|Sylvar]] ([[User talk:Sylvar|talk]]) 10:15, 20 September 2022 (EDT)
 
:# Yes - A predominately genre publication by a genre author.
 
:# Yes - All titles are included. After creation, set the non-genre flag for the three non-genre stories.
 
:# Yes - Note that your source is the 2022 publication and state that the 2012 order could differ. Edit: The two introductions look identical. [[User:Scifibones|<b>John</b> <small>Scifibones</small>]] 11:43, 20 September 2022 (EDT)
 
 
 
Thanks again! [[User:Sylvar|Sylvar]] ([[User talk:Sylvar|talk]]) 12:23, 20 September 2022 (EDT)
 
 
 
Oh no... I forgot to include the introductions on my first two. Oh well, I'll add those in an edit after they're created. [[User:Sylvar|Sylvar]] ([[User talk:Sylvar|talk]]) 12:38, 20 September 2022 (EDT)
 
 
 
== Cover art links to ISFDB site -- include https in URL? ==
 
 
 
When I 'Upload new cover scan', the links available on the page now include the https protocol marker. Are the references from the publication supposed to be changed to match? Will there be some batched fixup applied someday? --[[User:GlennMcG|Glenn]] ([[User talk:GlennMcG|talk]]) 16:04, 24 September 2022 (EDT)
 
 
 
: ISFDB-hosted URLs can be entered using either "http" or "https". When our software builds Web pages to display, it checks whether the site is currently running HTTP or HTTPS. It then adjusts the displayed images automatically. This setup makes it easy to go back and forth between HTTP and HTTPS, e.g. when setting up a test version of the ISFDB database [https://isfdb.org/wiki/index.php/ISFDB_Downloads#Installation_and_Setup on your home computer]. [[User:Ahasuerus|Ahasuerus]] ([[User talk:Ahasuerus|talk]]) 17:48, 24 September 2022 (EDT)
 
 
 
In addition, what should one do when the links "Cover art supplied by ISFDB on this Web page" and "Upload new cover scan" don't match? E.g. [https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pl.cgi?9975  Invader on My Back / Destination: Saturn] --[[User:GlennMcG|Glenn]] ([[User talk:GlennMcG|talk]]) 17:08, 24 September 2022 (EDT)
 
 
 
== Would like to create an author ==
 
 
 
I have a variant of an author not yet created<br>
 
I believe [https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?351742 F. G. B.] should be a variant of an author named Frans G. Bengtsson, but I am not sure I can create that author by myself. At least, I have not found a way yet. --[[User:Spacecow|Spacecow]] ([[User talk:Spacecow|talk]]) 19:04, 24 September 2022 (EDT)
 
 
 
: [[Help:How to enter an author into the database]] discusses related issues, but not this particular scenario. To do what you are trying to so, pull up [https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?3084608 the title in question], then click "Make This Title a Variant" in the navigation bar on the left. Scroll down to "Option 2". Change "F. G. B." to "Frans G. Bengtsson" in "Author 1", then click "Create New Parent Title". [[User:Ahasuerus|Ahasuerus]] ([[User talk:Ahasuerus|talk]]) 21:52, 24 September 2022 (EDT)
 
:: Done! Thank you. Appreciate the help! --[[User:Spacecow|Spacecow]] ([[User talk:Spacecow|talk]]) 18:07, 25 September 2022 (EDT)
 
 
 
== Star Trek series vs publication series ==
 
 
 
I've started PVing my Star Trek books, and have tripped over what seems to be inconsistencies in whether whether a numbered sequence should be entered as a (sub)series, or a publication series. E.g., [https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pubseries.cgi?2425 Star Trek Pocket Books] vs [https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pe.cgi?305 Star Trek: The Next Generation Numbered], [https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pe.cgi?2026 Star Trek: Voyager], etc.
 
 
 
It seems like it might be safer to not poke the bear, but I'd interested in what folks think. --[[User:GlennMcG|Glenn]] ([[User talk:GlennMcG|talk]]) 20:47, 3 October 2022 (EDT)
 
 
 
:The way I think about distinguishing between publication and title series is to ask: If the same book were published by a completely different publisher, would (could) they do so under the same series?  If the answer is "no", it's a publication series; if the answer is "yes", it's a title series.  For your examples, anyone could publish a "Star Trek: Voyager" book, but no one else could publish a "Star Trek Pocket Book" book. --[[User:MartyD|MartyD]] ([[User talk:MartyD|talk]]) 09:59, 4 October 2022 (EDT)
 
 
 
== Is there a master list of spec fiction sub-genres? ==
 
 
 
Apologies in advance for being new and not knowing my way around, but if there is such a list, I couldn't find it. Can someone please direct me? Thanks. <small>—The preceding unsigned comment was added by [[User:VShannon|VShannon]] ([[User talk:VShannon|talk]] • [[Special:Contributions/VShannon|contribs]]) .</small>
 
:Our inclusion policy defines speculative fiction [[ISFDB:Policy#Contents.2FProject_Scope_Policy|here]]. Not quite the same thing as a master list of all sub-genres (which I think I credible argument could be made against the feasibility of accomplishing such a list), but the closest we have. --&nbsp;[[User:JLaTondre|JLaTondre]] ([[User talk:JLaTondre#top|talk]]) 19:46, 8 October 2022 (EDT)
 
:The [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Speculative_fiction Speculative fiction template] over on Wikipedia has a pretty good list. ···[[User:Nihonjoe|<font color="darkgreen">日本穣</font>]] · <small>[[Special:Contributions/Nihonjoe|<font color="blue">投稿</font>]] · [[User talk:Nihonjoe|Talk to Nihonjoe]]</small> 14:45, 11 October 2022 (EDT)
 
 
 
== Login Issue ==
 
I have been a member for several years, but suddenly my login is rejected.  I assume I need to update my password, but can't find anything on the Wiki page about that.
 
Wcornette
 
 
 
: Have you had a chance to check [[ISFDB:FAQ#What_do_I_do_if_I_have_problems_logging_in.3F]]? I have added a clarification re: the 2022-09-06 server move, specifically:
 
:* If you were able to log in before September 6, 2022 (which is when the ISFDB site was upgraded to HTTPS) and have been unable to log in since, you need to log in to the ISFDB Wiki first. Once you do that, you should be able to log in on the ISFDB side as well.
 
: [[User:Ahasuerus|Ahasuerus]] ([[User talk:Ahasuerus|talk]]) 18:26, 9 October 2022 (EDT)
 
:: I had to change my password because my old one somehow didn't comply with PW complexity rules anymore. Somehow the system didn't accept my old PW anymore... So, you may have to change your password anyway, making sure it complies with current PW rules. [[User:MagicUnk|MagicUnk]] ([[User talk:MagicUnk|talk]]) 06:26, 13 October 2022 (EDT)
 
 
 
== Can we split an author, please? ==
 
 
 
[https://isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?22465 Author record 22465] contains information about two distinct authors:
 
 
 
* Hyacinthe Hill was born Virginia Rose Cronin in Manhattan on 24 May 1920. [https://web.archive.org/web/20150919044241/https://library.brooklyn.cuny.edu/pages/archives/findaid/Hill/BioHill.html She married John L. Anderson] and wrote as Hyacinthe Hill. She died on 25 March 1989 in Marin County, California.
 
* Virginia 'Nanek' Anderson was born Virginia Hadie Combs in Elizabeth City, Virginia on 20 March 1920. She married Carl W. K. Anderson and wrote as Nanek as well as her own name. She died on 25 May 1987 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
 
 
 
Could we please break this up into two author entries? [[User:Sylvar|Sylvar]] ([[User talk:Sylvar|talk]]) 13:05, 13 October 2022 (EDT)
 
: I think I got them untangled. Look at [https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?22060 Hyacinthe Hill] and the old record and let me know if I got something wrong. [[User:Anniemod|Annie]] ([[User talk:Anniemod|talk]]) 13:25, 13 October 2022 (EDT)
 
:: That looks right to me. Thank you very much! [[User:Sylvar|Sylvar]] ([[User talk:Sylvar|talk]]) 11:32, 18 October 2022 (EDT)
 
 
 
== Le Guin Award "finalists" not looking quite right ==
 
 
 
A few days ago, the new Le Guin award [https://twitter.com/ursulakleguin/status/1583627414990917632 announced] a winner and two "finalists" from [https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ay.cgi?99+2022 the previously announced 9 nominees].  I've just updated 3 records, but - as can be seen from the linked page - the 2 "finalists" appear below the nominees, which doesn't really reflect that those 2 books were recognized.  Is there anything that can be tweaked to make them appear in the order winner>finalists>nominees, or is that just how it works with the data model?
 
 
 
(FWIW I don't know that there was any indication prior to the winner announcement that there'd be a "finalist" category...) [[User:ErsatzCulture|ErsatzCulture]] ([[User talk:ErsatzCulture|talk]]) 17:27, 23 October 2022 (EDT)
 
 
 
: In our data model, "winners" correspond to Award Level 1, "nominees" correspond to Award Level 9 and "finalists" correspond to Award Level 90. This is due to the fact that we assume that a "finalist" is a work which made it to the final round of jury/voter selection, but didn't become an official "nominee".
 
 
 
: Also, as [[Help:Screen:EditAward]] says:
 
:* ISFDB supports two varieties of award types: poll-based and non-poll-based. For poll-based award types, you will see a "Poll place" radio button; enter the numeric award ranking between 1 and 70. For non-poll-based award types, you will see a "Win" radio button and a "Nomination" radio button; check the appropriate button.
 
: Up until now, it was our understanding that The Ursula K. Le Guin Prize for Fiction didn't rank nominees beyond announcing the winner. Now that we know that they do rank them, we should probably change the Award Type definition from "Not Poll" to "Poll". Once we do that, we should be able to make the "finalists" Award Level 2 and the rest of the nominees Award level 3. [[User:Ahasuerus|Ahasuerus]] ([[User talk:Ahasuerus|talk]]) 22:30, 23 October 2022 (EDT)
 
:: That will be even more confusing than what we have now and a bad idea IMO. We need the ability to order the categories of nominees on the page (for things like short and ling lists for example or fir Finalists). A few of the Russian aware have the same issue. Just adding an explanation in the description on what Finalist means keeps the things a bit cleaner, order on the page notwithstanding. [[User:Anniemod|Annie]] ([[User talk:Anniemod|talk]]) 23:34, 23 October 2022 (EDT)
 
 
 
::: Back when the current version of the award model was implemented, we identified a few areas where it didn't adequately reflect the variety of scenarios that existed in the real world. After a discussion of possible permutations, {{FR|656}}, "Add support for Displayed Award Levels", was created. A few years later {{FR|1086}}, "Change the award year field to a drop-down list", was created to support certain other scenarios. (We also have {{FR|583}} and {{FR|269}} to support linking awards to authors and publishers, but that's a different can of worms.)
 
 
 
::: For now, we handle awards which use the terms "nominee" and "finalist" interchangeably in a number of ways. Hugo, Campbell/Astounding and Lodestar are currently set up as "Polls" with voting details given in Notes, e.g. see [https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/award_details.cgi?73862 this 2022 award record]. In certain cases, we use "Finalists" in the database sense of the world (Award Level 90), which can be confusing, e.g. see [https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ay.cgi?27+1977 the 1977 Campbell/Astounding list], where "Finalists" are listed below "Withdrawn -- Ineligible". (We may want to review the internal Award Level values and swap some of them in order to sort more logically.)
 
 
 
::: Another possible way to handle the Le Guin situation would be to keep the "Poll" flag for this Award Type set to "No". We would then turn all 2022 nominees back to "Nominee", then add notes explaining that 2 of them were singled out as "finalists". [[User:Ahasuerus|Ahasuerus]] ([[User talk:Ahasuerus|talk]]) 10:42, 24 October 2022 (EDT)
 
 
 
:::: Does the following workaround yield your desired result? Select the 'Special' radio button rather than the 'Nomination' radio button. Then choose 'Preliminary Nominees' from the dropdown list. [[User:Scifibones|<b>John</b> <small>Scifibones</small>]] 11:24, 24 October 2022 (EDT)
 
::::: It may work for this year but whoever adds them next year may not realize how to enter them (or someone may decide to 'fix' this year's nominations because they are not really preliminary nominations). As a stop-gap, it can work and we can keep an eye on it (and add a note at the award Note explaining the naming). [[User:Anniemod|Annie]] ([[User talk:Anniemod|talk]]) 11:41, 24 October 2022 (EDT)
 
:::: And then if we are not careful, different years in the same award may also use a different mechanism. In a perfect world, we should be able to set the precedence of the level inside of the category - so if one day an award does something like semi-finalists for example, we do not need to twist the UI yet again :) [[User:Anniemod|Annie]] ([[User talk:Anniemod|talk]]) 11:41, 24 October 2022 (EDT)
 
 
 
== Help Desk history missing content ==
 
 
 
Viewing the Help Desk history, e.g. Revision as of 14:04, 15 November 2019 by Ahasuerus (https://isfdb.org/wiki/index.php?title=ISFDB:Help_desk&oldid=565502) seems to show empty content.
 
 
 
[[User:FlaSheridn|FlaSheridn]] ([[User talk:FlaSheridn|talk]]) 21:57, 23 October 2022 (EDT)
 
 
 
: We only keep the last 50 versions of Wiki pages due to limited disk space. However, old sections are periodically archive, so they are not lost. In this case November 2019 sections can be found in Archive 31, specifically [[ISFDB:Help_desk/archives/archive_31#My_Votes_in_.28Internal_and.2For_External.29_Chronological_Order]]. [[User:Ahasuerus|Ahasuerus]] ([[User talk:Ahasuerus|talk]]) 22:12, 23 October 2022 (EDT)
 
 
 
== Problem finding license types for uploaded image files ==
 
 
 
When uploading files (eg. an author image) to the wiki, shouldn't there be a drop down box in File Description that allows you to select the license? The only option I see is "None selected". Ultimately I'm looking for the area where I can specify the license type, image creator, source, etc. Thanks. [[User:PeteYoung|PeteYoung]] ([[User talk:PeteYoung|talk]]) 13:21, 24 October 2022 (EDT)
 
:Hmm, the [[Special:Upload|Upload file]] page has a link (at least for moderators?) for editing [[MediaWiki:Licenses]] which controls the pull down. Looking at the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MediaWiki:Licenses Wikipedia version], it looks like it only allows for simply static licenses. So we could make use of it, but people would still need to add information to allow linking back to the database (author id, etc.). If people think it would useful for having at least partial templates, I would be willing to enter them. --&nbsp;[[User:JLaTondre|JLaTondre]] ([[User talk:JLaTondre#top|talk]]) 13:41, 24 October 2022 (EDT)
 
:Right now, [[:Category:Image License Tags]] is linked from the image upload page. Instead of selecting a license from the list (which isn't populated right now), you should use one of the templates listed in that category. The correct template will include the correct license. ···[[User:Nihonjoe|<font color="darkgreen">日本穣</font>]] · <small>[[Special:Contributions/Nihonjoe|<font color="blue">投稿</font>]] · [[User talk:Nihonjoe|Talk to Nihonjoe]]</small> 15:16, 24 October 2022 (EDT)
 
::I've updated the list based on the list of templates in [[:Category:Image License Tags]]. Let us know if that works for you. ···[[User:Nihonjoe|<font color="darkgreen">日本穣</font>]] · <small>[[Special:Contributions/Nihonjoe|<font color="blue">投稿</font>]] · [[User talk:Nihonjoe|Talk to Nihonjoe]]</small> 16:23, 24 October 2022 (EDT)
 
:::That looks ideal, thanks. Will use this list tomorrow and report back on any problems. Cheers. [[User:PeteYoung|PeteYoung]] ([[User talk:PeteYoung|talk]]) 16:27, 24 October 2022 (EDT)
 
::::You will need to edit the image page afterward in order to fill in the appropriate information. You'll also have to copy the parameters from the template page so you know what you need to fill in for the template. ···[[User:Nihonjoe|<font color="darkgreen">日本穣</font>]] · <small>[[Special:Contributions/Nihonjoe|<font color="blue">投稿</font>]] · [[User talk:Nihonjoe|Talk to Nihonjoe]]</small> 16:30, 24 October 2022 (EDT)
 
 
 
== Two authors same name, needs (I)? ==
 
 
 
These https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/se.cgi?arg=ogunyemi&type=Name do appear to be two different authors, but then shouldn't one of them be (I)? Thanks. [[User:Gzuckier|gzuckier]] ([[User talk:Gzuckier|talk]]) 00:56, 31 October 2022 (EDT)
 
: The only difference in the two names is the use, or lack, of a diacritic dot under the e in the last name. The first step is to confirm that we didn't make a data entry error. A check of the attribution in issue 1 of [https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pl.cgi?846349 34 Orchard] confirms the name was entered correctly. Based on the available bios, it appears this is just one author.
 
: The proper way to handle is to make [https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?328010 Ernest O. Ògúnyemí] and alternate name of [https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?344390 Ernest O. Ògúnyẹmí]. Then make [https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?2880603 Christmas Chicken] a variant title. Sumit these two edits and I will approve them. Thanks for finding this, [[User:Scifibones|<b>John</b> <small>Scifibones</small>]] 09:28, 31 October 2022 (EDT)
 
 
 
== Narrator template and multiple narrators ==
 
 
 
I've recently started adding audiobooks, and a few of them have more than one narrator.  In those cases I've just added multiple separate narrator templates, but I've just seen [https://isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pl.cgi?819107 this omnibus pub] where 5 narrators are listed in one template, separated by " and ".  Is one or both of these correct usage?  Neither [[Template:PublicationFields:PubNote]] nor [[Help:Using_Templates_and_HTML_in_Note_Fields]] have anything to say on this particular use case (which may well be equally applicable to other templates like A.
 
 
 
My guess is that right now, it doesn't make much difference, but if/when the current use of templates is superseded by having some sort of "role" functionality for contributors to pubs, then having something that can be easily and unambiguously parsed would be preferable.  From a quick SQL query of the database, I note that there are 87 author records that contain the text ' and '.  Granted, most of those are unlikely to ever be narrators, but could easily be referenced in A templates, and it might be preferable to have some consistent handling across template types, rather than special casing Narrator? [[User:ErsatzCulture|ErsatzCulture]] ([[User talk:ErsatzCulture|talk]]) 16:18, 7 November 2022 (EST)
 
: It is the same issue as with the translator template - we can deal with all possibilities when we are ready to convert one day. I use "and" and "," as separators between the names and rarely use the A (author) template inside of the Translator/Narrator. And when working internationally, we have an extra challenge of adding the transliterations inside of the template (as there is no space for them elsewhere as it will be if they become proper author records). So pick up a way to record and when it comes to parsing, there won't be that many options to cover anyway. If and when the special characters become an issue, we can revisit but for now as long as the data is there, I am not too worried about converting later. [[User:Anniemod|Annie]] ([[User talk:Anniemod|talk]]) 16:23, 7 November 2022 (EST)
 
 
 
== Name of the artist misspelled ==
 
 
 
.
 
Good day,
 
 
 
The name of an illusterator in the recent issue of GHOSTS & SCHOLARS (no.43) is misspelled.
 
 
 
https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pl.cgi?922187
 
 
 
Instead of 'Carl Lavoir', it should be: Carl Lavoie.
 
 
 
There's already a page for him:
 
 
 
https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?269730
 
 
 
Could the name please be corrected and the illustration credit linked to the illustrator's profile?
 
 
 
Thank you, and have a wonderful day!
 
 
 
Sincerely,
 
 
 
-Carl Lavoie <small>—The preceding unsigned comment was added by [[User:Jahrel|Jahrel]] ([[User talk:Jahrel|talk]] • [[Special:Contributions/Jahrel|contribs]]) .</small> 07:57, 17 November 2022‎ (EST)
 
.
 
:Thanks for letting us know. I've asked the person who verified that issue to come comment here. ···[[User:Nihonjoe|<font color="darkgreen">日本穣</font>]] · <small>[[Special:Contributions/Nihonjoe|<font color="blue">投稿</font>]] · [[User talk:Nihonjoe|Talk to Nihonjoe]]</small> 16:00, 17 November 2022 (EST)
 
:Looking at the issue, it appears that was already corrected. It's current showing as "Carl Lavoie". ···[[User:Nihonjoe|<font color="darkgreen">日本穣</font>]] · <small>[[Special:Contributions/Nihonjoe|<font color="blue">投稿</font>]] · [[User talk:Nihonjoe|Talk to Nihonjoe]]</small> 16:06, 17 November 2022 (EST)
 
 
 
== Capitalization/varianting of David D. Levine's Tk'tk'tk aka Tk'Tk'Tk ==
 
 
 
At least some pubs of [https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?194675 this story] use the form "Tk'Tk'Tk", rather than the currently recorded "Tk'tk'tk".  Examples of the former are the 21st Century SF anthology (*), the Space Magic anthology, and the derived chapbook that includes just that story; examples that use the latter are [https://escapepod.org/2006/05/18/ep054-tktktk/ Escape Pod 54].  Is this something that we should try to record the particular pub's usage exactly as far as possible using variant titles, or are there perhaps R&S capitalization rules that override things?  I would have assumed the former, but given that this is a reasonably high-profile short story - albeit with an annoyingly-hard-to-get-right title - I'd have thought this one might have been caught before now?
 
 
 
(* - at least per the contents listing of the ebook, the title on the story itself appears in all caps) [[User:ErsatzCulture|ErsatzCulture]] ([[User talk:ErsatzCulture|talk]]) 16:30, 17 November 2022 (EST)
 
 
 
== Sarah Monette's "Letter from a Teddy Bear on Veterans Day" ==
 
 
 
I stumbled across a duplicate and have a couple of questions about making a variant. From the web page, I can see that the original publication, "[https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?2450357 Letter from a Teddy Bear on Veteran's Day]," is correctly listed but I don't have access to the anthologies which print it as "[https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?1325592 Letter from a Teddy Bear on Veterans' Day]" (I didn't see it immediately but the difference is the plural possessive apostrophe vs. the singular) so I'm not sure if that's correctly listed or not. Both titles are actually wrong in terms of the name of the holiday which is "Veterans Day" (no apostrophe at all) so I don't know which should be canonical (presumably the first publication). And, while I doubt it, should there be a sort of redirect alternate title with the correct punctuation because, when you search for "Veterans Day," only "Veterans Day" by Cat Sparks shows up and this one doesn't. --[[User:J-Sun|J-Sun]] ([[User talk:J-Sun|talk]]) 15:14, 18 November 2022 (EST)
 
: Wow, this is so complicated it almost seems like one of mine, but I'll try to sort it out. I (Username) added both Archive.org links, 1 for each variant of the title, and when the 1 that was accepted recently was approved I think I'd completely forgotten that I added the other one late last year until I just looked at them now. The one spelled "Veteran's" is a 2006 page but the Archive link was in 2015 for some reason, while the one spelled "Veterans'" doesn't have a date on it but the Archive link is from 2007. Monette's Prime Books collection with this story is on Archive.org and I checked it; it's "Veterans'". The Prime Books anthology it appeared in, which was apparently one of many they did which got cancelled before making it to the shelves, also, according to the linked blog post in the record, has "Veterans'". So here's what I say; she corrected the title in later appearances, so that should be the parent and "Veteran's" should be the variant. --[[User:Username|Username]] ([[User talk:Username|talk]]) 15:35, 18 November 2022 (EST)
 
 
 
== Dating variants  ==
 
 
 
I am unclear what to do in case we have a title by a variant author name that's dated earlier than the same title but published by the canonical author name.  [https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?1060152 this one], for example, confuses me. The story [https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?1060152 'Party Favors'] has been published under the variant author name Alex Nathan Shumate in 1994. Only later was this title published under the author's canonical name Nathan Shumate in 2015. Currently, the parent title (by Nathan Shumate) is dated 1994, whereas it actually got published only in 2015 under the author's canonical name. I know we've been discussing this on and off, but to my knowledge we never got a clear set of rules for these, or do we?
 
 
 
Should we re-date the parent title to 2015? But if we do, we will have a parent title that's published later than its variant title by Alex Nathan Shumate of 1994. And the author's bibliography will show the title as published in 2015, not in 1994 as it should.
 
 
 
Conversely, should we date the parent title to the date of the first appearance of said title, whether it's the variant date or not? That will result in correct date in author's bibliography, but will result in wrong date of when the title actually appeared. (probably need to move to r&s, but hey, I'm confused...) [[User:MagicUnk|MagicUnk]] ([[User talk:MagicUnk|talk]]) 07:23, 19 November 2022 (EST)
 
:Parents are dated based on the first appearance of the story (excluding translations) under any title or author credit. The only exception is if a translation was published first. In that case, we still use the first date published in the author's canonical language. --&nbsp;[[User:JLaTondre|JLaTondre]] ([[User talk:JLaTondre#top|talk]]) 08:24, 19 November 2022 (EST)
 
:: Yes, I agree - that is the only case where a title is not dated based on its own publications but based on all publications in the title’s original language. That way it stays where it belongs in the publication order. The parent serves a double function for us - it is one of the titles (as any variant it carries) but it is also the main record for a text/book. As such, it is not treated as a regular variant (that’s why we can also have empty parents but not empty variants for example). Some DBs and sites solve that by having a “canonical” record which never belongs into a work. In ours we just use a record using the canonical name of the author when one with the correct title exists. [[User:Anniemod|Annie]] ([[User talk:Anniemod|talk]]) 12:18, 19 November 2022 (EST)
 
::: OK, that's clear, thanks. Shouldn't we add this rule explicitly into the rules somewhere for future reference? [[User:MagicUnk|MagicUnk]] ([[User talk:MagicUnk|talk]]) 16:05, 22 November 2022 (EST)
 
 
 
== Can't log in and nothing works ==
 
 
 
Trying to add a new collection to my page. My old login is being rejected.  All the notices tell me what to do, but not how to do it.  Why is it so hard to log in? <small>—The preceding unsigned comment was added by [[User:Lwoolley|Lwoolley]] ([[User talk:Lwoolley|talk]] • [[Special:Contributions/Lwoolley|contribs]]) .</small> 15:49, 22 November 2022‎ (EST)
 
:Which page? Please share the URL. Also, what is your old username (since you said you're having trouble logging in)?
 
:To login, you should login here on the wiki first. That should log you into the database side of ISFDB.  ···[[User:Nihonjoe|<font color="darkgreen">日本穣</font>]] · <small>[[Special:Contributions/Nihonjoe|<font color="blue">投稿</font>]] · [[User talk:Nihonjoe|Talk to Nihonjoe]]</small> 17:54, 22 November 2022 (EST)
 
 
 
== Harlequin Pub Series with sub-series?==
 
The [https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/publisher.cgi?1155 Harlequin] Publication Series [https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/publisher.cgi?1155 Harlequin American Romance] has a paranormal romance-themed miniseries/sub-series, [https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/38969.More_Than_Men_Harlequin_American_Romance More Than Men] (here's [https://www.goodreads.com/series/211731-more-than-men another Goodreads list]). The books in More Than Men all have pub series numbers listed for the Harlequin American Romance pub series (for instance, [https://openlibrary.org/books/OL9441981M/Neptune%27s_Bride Neptune's Bride is HAR 509], but they don't appear to have pub series numbers listed for the More Than Men miniseries. Is it preferable to list the More Than Men books in the Harlequin American Romance pub series with their pub series numbers included? Or should I list them in a new More Than Men pub series without any pub series numbers? Or do something else?
 
 
 
(Several of the More Than Men books are also in different Harlequin pub series, e.g. a [https://openlibrary.org/books/OL7417371M/Dreamscapes Neptune's Bride reprint] is in [https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/publisher.cgi?191 Silhouette] pub series [https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pubseries.cgi?1553 Dreamscapes: Whispers of Love].) [[User:Morebooks|Morebooks]] ([[User talk:Morebooks|talk]]) 23:40, 30 November 2022 (EST)
 
 
 
: Is it correct to assume that 'Harlequin American Romance' is devoted not only to speculative titles? Than, in my view, the case is similar to [https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pubseries.cgi?432 Phantastische Bibliothek] and [https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pubseries.cgi?2217 Suhrkamp Taschenbuch], with the books published in 'Phantastische Bibliothek' all also having a publication series no. within (and being part of) 'Suhrkamp Taschenbuch'. We decided to do it this way because the first series is devoted to speculative fiction titles and we are a site devoted to the same area. So, yes, under the above assumption I'd think the books within the 'More Than Men' should be indexed here with their own pub. series (and accompanying no.). Hope that helps, Christian [[User:Stonecreek|Stonecreek]] ([[User talk:Stonecreek|talk]]) 04:27, 1 December 2022 (EST)
 
:: Yes, Harlequin American Romance contains both specfic and non-specfic titles, while More Than Men is only specfic. More Than Men doesn’t have corresponding pub series numbers like Harlequin American Romance does. Should I put the books in a new More Than Men pub series while giving them the pub series numbers from Harlequin American Romance? Or should I put the books in More Than Men pub series and leave the pub series numbers blank? [[User:Morebooks|Morebooks]] ([[User talk:Morebooks|talk]]) 06:01, 1 December 2022 (EST)
 
::: Or what if I name the new pub series "Harlequin American Romance: More Than Men" and then include the HAR pub series numbers? [[User:Morebooks|Morebooks]] ([[User talk:Morebooks|talk]]) 16:34, 1 December 2022 (EST)
 
:::: Either works but make sure the decision is documented in the notes of the series so people can understand what we are naming and numbering :) [[User:Anniemod|Annie]] ([[User talk:Anniemod|talk]]) 17:05, 1 December 2022 (EST)
 
 
 
== The Eye of the Lens ==
 
The novelette "The Eye of the Lens" is a concatenation of three short stories, "The Hall of Machines", "The Coming of the Sun", and "The Eye of the Lens," apparently with no changes to the stories. We don't have a listing for the short story "The Eye of the Lens" yet, I'm about to add one. I've separated out the three pubs of the short story from the pubs of the novelette. Where the three short stories are published, they are all three together, so it's  as if the novelette was published, but the subsections listed. None of the short stories appear anywhere on their own without the other two.
 
 
 
My question is do I make the three separate short stories a variant of the novelette in some way? Or just have a note to relate them?
 
 
 
Thanks. [[User:Gzuckier|gzuckier]] ([[User talk:Gzuckier|talk]]) 00:31, 1 December 2022 (EST)
 
: No, they won't be variants unless they were serialized (aka - it was always one story, just published in pieces - in which case the smaller pieces become serials instead of stories). There are 2 ways to record that if we do not go the serials route:
 
::* Always include the 3 stories where the new bigger story is published. That works if the split is obvious in the big story.
 
::* Use notes to connect the fix-up story to its stories. We do that usually for fix-up novels which do not get treated as collections but it can work here as well.
 
: However if the 3 short stories never appear on their own after their initial publication and always appear as part of the novelette, then they sound more like chapters/serialization than separate stories. If so, we may actually be better off making the initial ones SERIAL and connecting them to their parent. Intent matters here - it is important to know if they were planned to be one story or if they were 3 separate stories that then got fixed-up into a single entity. [[User:Anniemod|Annie]] ([[User talk:Anniemod|talk]]) 17:13, 1 December 2022 (EST)
 

Latest revision as of 12:27, 15 April 2024


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Expanded archive listing

"Top Science Fiction" -- adding author intros

Hi. I have a copy of this to hand Top Science Fiction: The Authors' Choice and I note that the ISFDB entry does not list the authors' intros. It seems like it ought to, although they're just a few paragraphs before the story starts. Could-should I add them? Frink (talk) 19:05, 3 October 2023 (EDT)

Yes, that would be great! I assume they are by Josh Pachter? ···日本穣 · 投稿 · Talk to Nihonjoe 14:36, 4 October 2023 (EDT)
They're actually by the authors and aren't separated explicitly from the stories, which is why I was unsure about this. I'll go ahead and do it, and if it's undesirable it's easily reverted. Frink (talk) 21:26, 4 October 2023 (EDT)
Yes, just enter them as essays by the authors then. If they don't have explicit titles, give them the name of the story with "(introduction)" at the end. ···日本穣 · 投稿 · Talk to Nihonjoe 13:46, 5 October 2023 (EDT)
Done. Thank you for the help! Frink (talk) 09:48, 7 October 2023 (EDT)

Messy situation with a translated essay and author credit

I'm in the process of adding a Chinese fanzine that is mostly translated articles, and I've encountered a case that I'm not sure I've handled optimally, but I'm not sure what the correct way to go is.

This essay is credited to "洛朗蒂乌·尼斯托雷斯库 等", where the body of it is a Sinocization of Laurențiu Nistorescu with the trailing "等" indicating "et al". As such, I've credited the essay to 洛朗蒂乌·尼斯托雷斯库, added a note for the "et al", and made that author an alternate for Laurențiu Nistorescu.

The problem comes in because the original online publication doesn't clearly indicate the author(s). A footnote states "This article was a co-operative venture. Much is owed to Laurentiu Nistorescu (SF writer and journalist), Antuza Genescu and Dorin Davideanu (editor of the H. G. Wells Society zine Paradox).", but that feels like some unnamed editor assembled an English-language essay from articles by those authors, quite possibly in Romanian. As such I've added that English essay as by "uncredited", with the footnote copypasted into the note.

The problem comes in that the essay doesn't show up on the Nistorescu author page (which is understandable), nor the alternate Chinese author page. The latter seems bad for discoverability and understanding why that author record even exists.

Any thoughts on whether I should change how these essays have been recorded? A technical fix might be to not "hide" titles on the alternate author's page, if the parent title is logged against unknown/uncredited/etc, but I dunno how much work that would be, or even if it's desirable.

Thanks ErsatzCulture (talk) 12:25, 7 October 2023 (EDT)

One option:
  • Credit the Chinese title to 洛朗蒂乌·尼斯托雷斯库 and uncredited
  • Credit the English title to Laurentiu Nistorescu, Antuza Genescu, Dorin Davideanu, Silviu Genescu, and uncredited
A simpler option: Delete the English essay record. As entered, it does not appear in an eligible publication. We only enter webzines, not any web essay. Everything entered in that record can be moved to the Chinese title record. -- JLaTondre (talk) 13:05, 7 October 2023 (EDT)
I would also use the "A" template for Antuza Genescu, Dorin Davideanu, and Silviu Genescu since we have author records for them. Ahasuerus (talk) 13:08, 7 October 2023 (EDT)
Thanks both. I'll update the author names to use the template.
Re. the original "publication" - I appreciate the original isn't really eligible for inclusion in ISFDB, but I'm more interested in capturing the fact that the Chinese publication is a translation of an older essay, and I don't think there's any other way of recording that than creating an English (or whatever) title record to variant to? (Same as how translated webnovels get a parent title record, even though the original webnovel "publication" isn't really ISFDB-eligible.) ErsatzCulture (talk) 19:40, 8 October 2023 (EDT)
The point about "translated webnovels get[ting] a parent title record" is an interesting one. I maintain a few publishers who do exactly that, e.g.:
Some of these translated novels were originally published in book form, but many original versions are Web novels and have not been published as books. I don't think we have a standard for these types of scenarios, which results in inconsistent dating: some parent titles are enter as "8888-00-00" while others use the date of the online publication. We probably need to discuss these issues on the Rules and Standards page. Ahasuerus (talk) 13:51, 9 October 2023 (EDT)

Stuck submission?

Wondering my submission seems stuck? https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/view_submission.cgi?5773933 Thanks. gzuckier (talk) 00:50, 14 October 2023 (EDT)

I suspect that the moderators who reviewed the submission were not sure whether this "future history" book was a work of fiction. I have confirmed that it is indeed fiction, approved the submission and updated the author record. Thanks! Ahasuerus (talk) 10:38, 14 October 2023 (EDT)
Thank you. gzuckier (talk) 12:19, 14 October 2023 (EDT)

Adding "Pages to Fill: A Legends & Lattes Short Story"

Greetings and felicitations. I'd like to add (or have someone else add) "Pages to Fill: A Legends & Lattes Short Story", a prequel to the novel. Besides the author's Web site, it is also available in the back of Tor's American hardcover edition (though I don't have proof of that) and apparently at the end of the audiobook (see the full Publisher Description).

Unfortunately, I can't find instructions on how to do that (for SHORTFICTION), though other comments on this page hint at it. Help, please? —DocWatson42 (talk) 00:15, 18 October 2023 (EDT)

Amazon's Look Inside let me confirm that "Pages to Fill" indeed appears at the end of the hardcover edition published by Tor. The table of contents of their ebook edition mentions an "excerpt" from "Pages to Fill", but Look Inside doesn't display it. I have updated the hardcover pub -- all I had to do was use "Edit This Pub" and add a SHORTFICTION title to the Content section. The version posted on the author's Web site has 9491 words, which makes it a novelette. Thanks! Ahasuerus (talk) 11:46, 20 October 2023 (EDT)
Thank you, and I'm sorry about the deletion of discussions here—it was not only unintentional, I did not realize that I was doing it. —DocWatson42 (talk) 03:28, 26 October 2023 (EDT)

Awards

I can't find where to add an award that is not part of the awards list. I appreciate help. Thanks. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Antunes (talkcontribs) .

Help:Screen:AwardType says:
  • Award Types define the types of awards (like the Hugo award) that ISFDB currently supports. Only ISFDB bureaucrats can create new award types. Only ISFDB moderators can edit existing award types. If you would like to have a new award type added or an existing award type modified, feel free to post your request on the Community Portal.
Once a request has been posted in the Community Portal, it usually takes a few days to discuss it. If consensus is reached, then an ISFDB bureaucrat will add a new Award Type. HTH! Ahasuerus (talk) 11:22, 20 October 2023 (EDT)

Author Directory

I've logged in, yet selecting any letter in the author directory returns that advanced search is restricted? —The preceding unsigned comment added by Acb13adm (talkcontribs) 08:59, October 29, 2023‎

Are you sure you are logged into the ISFDB as well as this wiki? John Scifibones 09:24, 29 October 2023 (EDT)
Because the search function is not dependent on being logged in, the problem you are facing must be caused by something else.
I do suppose you get the response 'Regular search doesn't support single character searches for names' using the regular search: that answer is intentional, because you wouldn't get the authors whose name begins with this letter but all authors whose name contain this letter at any position in their spelling (and this can easily lead to more than 100,000 authors to be displayed).
If this ain't the problem you're facing: could you please describe more specifically what you're doing (and where), and what the exact wording of the response is? Stonecreek (talk) 06:24, 30 October 2023 (EDT)
Advanced Search requires you to be logged in. That was changed awhile back because of bots causing DB issues. So what is happening is expected behaviour if someone is not logged in. Annie (talk) 12:42, 30 October 2023 (EDT)
That's right. Let me add a warning to the "Author Directory" page. Ahasuerus (talk) 13:48, 30 October 2023 (EDT)
Done. Ahasuerus (talk) 14:46, 30 October 2023 (EDT)

S. R. Cronin not on ISFDB

Locus just announced the passing of this author.

https://locusmag.com/2023/10/sherrie-cronin-1954-2023/

As far as I can tell, this author only appears on ISFDB in this record, under a different version of her name:

https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?43591

She self-published several fantasy novels in two series w/ Amazon.com Kindle delivery:

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=s.+r.+cronin&i=stripbooks&crid=ZBEVKG7XIXYN&sprefix=s.+r.+cronin%2Cstripbooks%2C126&ref=nb_sb_noss

Should we index them? Mike (talk) 13:13, 31 October 2023 (EDT)

https://archive.org/details/Asimovs_v03n11_1979-11/page/n119/mode/2up?view=theater; I saw that link in a StackExchange discussion where someone couldn't remember the title of this story. --Username (talk) 13:36, 31 October 2023 (EDT)
We definitely want her self-published books. I plan to add them tomorrow morning. Ahasuerus (talk) 22:45, 2 November 2023 (EDT)
All of her books have been entered and an alternate name has been set up. Thanks for finding the obituary! Ahasuerus (talk) 14:04, 3 November 2023 (EDT)
Thanks for handling this. Cheers. Mike (talk) 17:39, 3 November 2023 (EDT)

Mafagafo Revista/Monthly issues inside a yearly folder

I hope this doesn't sounds confusing: I'm slowly adding issues of this Brazilian magazine, but how do I neatly tuck these and two (and other editions I still need to add manually) issues inside a neat early "folder" like this (i.e.: put them inside a Mafagafo - 2022 "folder")? Thanks in advance! Alittlebook (talk) 16:46, 2 November 2023 (EDT)

There is a Help page, Help:How to link a magazine to its wiki page and add it to a magazine series, that discusses this topic. The top half is actually obsolete now that the ISFDB software builds issue grids automatically; the ISFDB Wiki is no longer used for this purpose. We'll need to remove the section.
The bottom half, however, is still mostly accurate. Here are the relevant steps, edited to reflect the current state of the software:
  • The EDITOR records of a magazine must first be merged by year using the steps listed below.
  • Use Advanced Title Search to find the EDITOR records for issues published in a given year. The Title Search screen will list candidates for merging.
  • Select the titles to be merged being careful not to select any titles that should not be merged. Only titles with the same editor(s) and year should be merged. See this example where the editor credit changed in the middle of 1953.
  • Review the displayed titles, then click Complete Merge. On the next Web page, select the title record with the earliest date. Note that the spelling of the title doesn't matter because it will be modified in the next step. The Moderator will review and approve the submission.
  • Bring up the merged title record for editing. For example, "Strange Stories, April 1939" should be changed to "Strange Stories - 1939" and "Strange Stories" entered in the Series field. A moderator will review and approve the submission.
  • Putting EDITOR records in the same series will result in "(View All Issues)" and "(View Issue Grid)" links appearing on all Web pages displaying individual issues.
Please note the bolded statement above, i.e. "Only titles with the same editor(s) should be merged". In the case of Mafagafo, the two 2022 issues that we currently have on file have different editors, so they shouldn't be merged. HTH! Ahasuerus (talk) 22:29, 2 November 2023 (EDT)
Hm! This answers my question but raises another: Mafagafo always had the same editor-in-chief, which is Jana Bianchi (the one listed in the yearly merged links from 2018 and 2019). I think this is a lost-in-translation kind of situation, because the I've been crediting the other editions (from issue 2020 onwards) as "edited by [new person]", the "editor" in this case being the person who did the developmental edits/copyedits (the word "editor" means the both things in Portuguese), but Jana Bianchi was still the editor-in-chief. Considering how Strange Horizons is credited here (with the credited editor being only the editor-in-chief and not the fiction/developmental editors), should I go back and change all the issues to credit Jana Bianchi? Alittlebook (talk) 23:11, 2 November 2023 (EDT)
Generally, we only enter the name(s) of the Editor-in-Chief in the Author/Editor field. For example, consider the Wiki page Series:Air Wonder Stories, which says (under "Staff"):
  • Hugo Gernsback, editor-in-chief.
  • David Lasser, Literary editor, July 1929-February 1930, Managing editor, March-Mary 1930. Despite his title Lasser was in effect managing editor for all issues.
  • M. E. Dame, Associate editor, April-May 1930.
  • A. L. Fierst, Associate editor, February-May 1930.
  • C. P. Mason, Associate editor, February-May 1930.
When you check the corresponding "Series" page in the database, you'll note that only Gernsback is credited.
In this case I would enter "Jana Bianchi" in the Author/Editor field and document "guest editors", "fiction editors", "developmental editors", etc in Notes. Ahasuerus (talk) 19:06, 3 November 2023 (EDT)
Ok, thanks! I'm gonna go back to those and credit Jana as the main editor, then. Alittlebook (talk) 20:11, 3 November 2023 (EDT)
Approved and ready for two "Title Merge" submissions, one for 2012 and the other one for 2022. You can either use Advanced Title Search or pull up Jana Bianchi's Summary page, then click "Show All Titles" under "Editing Tools" and select titles to merge from the displayed list. Ahasuerus (talk) 20:44, 3 November 2023 (EDT)

'Star Wars Universe' vs 'Star Wars Universe/Star Wars' series

Can anyone explain the rationale for choosing which series to place 'independent' novels into? --Glenn (talk) 16:39, 6 November 2023 (EST)

How to find magazine issue when story title is known

I am looking for the issue of the Analog or Fantasy & Science Fiction magazine containing a story titled "Gotlos". Thanks —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Dulinje (talkcontribs) .

Colin Kapp's Gottlos appeared in Analog Science Fiction/Science Fact, November 1969. -- JLaTondre (talk) 19:04, 21 November 2023 (EST)
And for future reference, you can find what JLaTondre found by searching for the author listing (in this case, here) using the search box at the top left side of the main site and find the story in their list of works. Clicking on the story title will take you to the entry JLaTondre provided, where you'll be able to see where that story's been published. You can also search for the story title using that same search box. ···日本穣 · 投稿 · Talk to Nihonjoe 13:16, 22 November 2023 (EST)
However, you need to know the correct spelling for ISFDB search to work. To find this story, I searched "Gotlos Analog or Fantasy & Science Fiction magazine" in Google and the first hit lead me to "Gottlos" and that it was in "Analog Science Fiction/Science Fact, November 1969". -- JLaTondre (talk) 07:15, 23 November 2023 (EST)

Synopsis can't be edited

I can't find the information on why a synopsis can't always be edited. Example: https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?3086815 LiseAndreasen (talk) 16:57, 23 November 2023 (EST)

I'd say it is because the title is for a Chapbook which is a special type of container. Instead, edit the Shortfiction title of the same name that is included in the Chapbook. For your example: here. Phil (talk) 20:07, 23 November 2023 (EST)
That's right: we wouldn't want to add a synopsis to a CHAPBOOK: the enclosed piece of shortfiction may also be published in a COLLECTION or an ANTHOLOGY, and so it's more meaningful to add this information to the fiction title (and it's in the fiction where the plot unfolds). Stonecreek (talk) 01:55, 24 November 2023 (EST)
Okaaay. Is it by design, that it's not obvious, that the text exists in 2 versions? With different nomination data? LiseAndreasen (talk) 03:19, 24 November 2023 (EST)
Chapbooks are a special case. The chapbook record is for the publication, not the text within the publication. The short fiction record is for the actual contents. Think of a chapbook as a single story collection if that helps. The award nomination should have been on the novella record and not on the chapbook record. I have fixed that. -- JLaTondre (talk) 07:18, 24 November 2023 (EST)
And we do need a special container title type, even for a single piece of shortfiction: though that is the criterion that makes out a CHAPBOOK, there can be other title types that are published along the shortfiction, essays, for example, or pieces of interior art. Stonecreek (talk) 09:58, 24 November 2023 (EST)
Thanks for all answers! LiseAndreasen (talk) 13:29, 24 November 2023 (EST)
(This just to clarify content. LiseAndreasen (talk) 22:48, 1 December 2023 (EST))
Oh. One more question. It's possible to attach different tags to a chapbook and the story in it? There's a reason for handling tags this way and synopsis another way? LiseAndreasen (talk) 14:56, 24 November 2023 (EST)

Same story, different synopsis

This story has its own synopsis, so does the "original". The reason for this? https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?64178 LiseAndreasen (talk) 14:59, 24 November 2023 (EST)

Checking Edit History, I see that you added a synopsis to the Variant Title on 2023-10-09. I will ping User:Rtrace, who approved the submission on 2023-10-17. Ahasuerus (talk) 21:30, 28 November 2023 (EST)
When I review an edit adding a synopsis, I generally approve those without much investigation. Unless one is familiar with the title, there's no way to verify that the synopsis is correct, so this is a type of edit where I tend to trust that the submitter knows what they're doing. That being said, I don't recall that I've ever drilled down into the existing title record to see if it is a variant. If having synopses on both parent and variant title is a concern I can try to do so, but we may want to add a warning that the title being edited is a variant with a link to the parent title. The converse relationship (i.e. when editing the parent) is clear when reviewing the edit, but there's nothing on the review screen showing the parent title. --Ron ~ RtraceTalk 21:41, 28 November 2023 (EST)
Checking our archives, I see the following 2022-04-30 announcement:
  • "Make Variant" has been updated to move "synopsis" data from the child title to the parent title. [This was FR 743, "Make This a Variant Title should move synopsis".]
  • Which reminds me. Are there scenarios where a VT with a synopsis makes sense? We have 1,636 of them, but I suspect that the vast majority are titles whose synopses were not moved to the parent record when they were varianted. I guess I should create a cleanup report for "VTs with synopsis data" and then we'll see if any are legitimate. Ahasuerus 17:41, 30 April 2022 (EDT)
    • The cleanup report has been coded and deployed [this was FR 1501, "Create a cleanup report to find VTs with synopsis data."] The data will become available tomorrow morning. Ahasuerus 19:57, 30 April 2022 (EDT)
As of this morning, the cleanup report had 1546 VTs with synopsis data. If we can get a cleanup effort going, it should be possible to get all of them moved to the parent titles within a few days/weeks. If we don't come across any scenarios requiring that VTs have synopses, I could then change the software to make the Synopsis field not editable for VTs. It would be similar to the way CHAPBOOKs work. Ahasuerus (talk) 13:21, 29 November 2023 (EST)
I have cleaned up a bunch and the report is now down to 1,500 titles. It is as I suspected: most just needed the synopsis data to be moved to the parent titles; some needed two synopsis entries reconciled; a few were in error, e.g. Notes data in the Synopsis field or vice versa or non-English synopses which are explicitly not allowed in Help.
I plan to post my findings on the Community Portal tomorrow morning. I will also propose a software change to disallow entering Synopsis data for VTs. Ahasuerus (talk) 18:04, 29 November 2023 (EST)
I spotted a couple of titles on the cleanup report with which I am familiar so have submitted edits to clean them up: The Engineer ReConditioned and The Long Afternoon of Earth. Teallach (talk) 17:50, 30 November 2023 (EST)
Approved, thanks. Ahasuerus (talk) 18:13, 30 November 2023 (EST)

OLiver Whimsey

● I don't know if this subject has ever come up, but I would like to add a few coloring books, like Dark Beauty Horror Coloring Book for Adults by Oliver Whimsey. I would think these books could qualify as art books. "He" has a number of fantasy oriented coloring/art books. Still, there might be rule against these, I'm good either way. MLB (talk) 21:21, 28 November 2023 (EST)

Well, coloring books do contain art and we have a number of them on file. However, the ones that are currently in the database are generally covered by the following Rule of Acquisition:
  • Included: Published non-fiction works about speculative fiction which can be plausibly linked to published (as defined above) speculative fiction.
Examples include "Terry Pratchett's Discworld Coloring Book" and "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz Coloring Book".
Can Oliver Whimsey's Dark Beauty Horror Coloring Book for Adults be plausibly linked to published (as defined above) speculative fiction? Or it is standalone horror art? Ahasuerus (talk) 21:43, 28 November 2023 (EST)
They seem to be stand-alones. Nice art, but again, I'll go with the majority here. MLB (talk) 05:02, 1 December 2023 (EST)

Crown of Starlight

Recently watched a YouTube video about this fantasy and I have added it to this website. But, I'm not sure if I did it correctly. Could somebody in the know check out my listing and let me know if it was done correctly. The YouTube video on this book and it's author is attached to my listing. MLB (talk) 20:29, 26 December 2023 (EST)

TOXIN - By Robin Cook

In the book jacket it says, “Determined to be a good father to his only son, newly divorced surgeon Dr. Kim Regis takes Selden to his favorite fast food restaurant…” In the book itself, the child is a girl (daughter) named Becky. Also, the doctor’s name is spelled REGGIS- not REGIS. In the book jacket it says “…the boy dies within hours…” whereas in the text the (girl) dies in 5 days. How does this type of error happen? I’m sure thousands of copies of this book were printed. I’m just curious.

Please reply to ronlibutti@gmail.com

Thank you. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by RONLIBUTTI (talkcontribs) . 22:53, 6 January 2024‎ (EST)

We apologize for any confusion. We are not the author or the publisher, so we don't have an answer for your question. If we were to venture a guess, it's likely the story was modified slightly between the time the back cover copy was written and the book contents were finalized, and no one noticed the discrepancies. It happens here and there in the publishing world. You're welcome to contact the publisher or the author through their respective websites if you wish. This would allow them to correct it for future printings. ···日本穣 · 投稿 · Talk to Nihonjoe 12:11, 8 January 2024 (EST)

Excerpted only in translation

I believe that the convention for entering an excerpt is that it takes the date of excerpt publication and stands alone, not being made a variant of the work excerpted from. That's the way I've been doing them. However, I've just come up against this question: what about a translated excerpt when only the excerpt has been translated, not the entire original? Looking for the first foreign titles listed with "(excerpt)" I find Джанга с тенями (excerpt), which is dated the same as the English translation, and Мы (excerpt), which is dated 8888-00-00, or unpublished. The latter makes a lot more sense to me. I would even add a note confirming that the full original work was not translated. Possibly someone can direct me to a Rules page that clarifies this; otherwise, is there a consensus? -- Martin MOHearn (talk) 10:21, 10 January 2024 (EST)

I don't know if there's a consensus, but I do think that from the rules your assumption is more meaningful: we have the rule that titles have to bear the date of their first publication, and thus a title where we know (or can safely assume) that it was not published should be marked as such ('8888-00-00'). Christian Stonecreek (talk) 01:39, 11 January 2024 (EST)
I think I'll go ahead that way on the relevant entries in an anthology I listed a few days ago, so the story and essay excerpts in Italian show at least some sort of source. Martin MOHearn (talk) 09:43, 11 January 2024 (EST)

LInda Barrett

Well, I've done it again. Somehow I messed up the serial that can be found here, and I don't how to fix it. Can I get any help? MLB (talk) 01:15, 19 January 2024 (EST)

It looks like you made part 1 a variant of part 2. Instead, both should have been made a variant of a new title. You should be able to fix this by making part 2 a variant of a new title (use Option 2 of the Make Variant Title screen). Since the software doesn't allow variants of variants, it will automatically move part 1 to be a variant of the new title also. -- JLaTondre (talk) 08:47, 19 January 2024 (EST)

Carnegie Medal

sorry if this is the wrong place for this question. The carnegies have only had a list of nominees since 2003, prior to that in many years they had two other awards as well as the winner namely "Commended" and "Highly Commended". Is It possible to have these categories added to the list of options? if not then how should they be categorised? nominee with a note to say what they actually are? cheers from Gaz Faustus (talk) 15:22, 19 January 2024 (EST)

Let me first clarify that "award categories" are for different types of awards given by the same award committee/body. For example, consider the list of categories for the International Horror Guild Award: Best Novel, Best First Novel, Best Short Story, Best Non-Fiction, Best Artist, Best Periodical, Best TV, etc.
On the other hand, what you are describing is non-standard "award levels", which are different animals. At this time, we do not have support for them. You could enter their Award Levels either:
  • as "Nomination", or
  • as "Special" followed by selecting "Honorable Mentions" from the drop-down list
Either way, please explain the details in the Notes field. Award Notes appear in hover-over "informational" bubbles displayed on Award pages, e.g. if you display the main page for the Carnegie Medal category, you will notice a little "i" next to the word "Win" for 1947. If you hover your cursor over it, it will display the associated award record's Note, in this case "First collection to win the award, and first time previously published works were considered." Hope this helps! Ahasuerus (talk) 21:29, 19 January 2024 (EST)
cheers mate it was award levels i meant. Just done one using honourable mentions and note with the note saying: Received the designation "Commended". I'll stick with that if youre happy. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Faustus (talkcontribs) .
Thanks, I have approved the submission -- here is the result. I also updated the Note field to indicate where the data came from. Ahasuerus (talk) 07:59, 21 January 2024 (EST)
Got it- i'll follow that format for the others. cheers - Gaz Faustus (talk) 08:40, 21 January 2024 (EST)

1 Novel + 1 Short fiction = Omnibus/Collection/Novel?

If a book consists of a novel and a shorter work both of which have previously been published seperately then what type is it?

This one is an OMNIBUS

This one is a COLLECTION

This one's a NOVEL

The Benford novelette is set in the same universe as the novel - does that have any bearing on Pub Type?

from Gaz Faustus (talk) 09:24, 25 January 2024 (EST)

It can be classified as a NOVEL or a COLLECTION. From the Publication Type help section
"NOVEL. Used when the book is devoted to a single work of fiction. The addition of multiple short stories makes the book a collection, not a novel (A single story is a judgment call, see below). However, sample chapters placed at the end of a book for advertising reasons do not make a novel into a collection. If a book is packaged as a single volume work, and then republished as a multi-volume work, all the publications are novels; there is no need to classify the single volume work as an omnibus. Conversely, if a book is originally published as multiple volumes, and republished as a single volume, the latter is a novel unless the presentation within the single volume makes it clear that the works are presented as separate novels. Sometimes a novel is bound with a single short work of fiction by the same author (an example is this edition of The Misenchanted Sword). In such a case it is often preferred to class the publication as a novel with a "Bonus story" rather than a 2-item collection or omnibus. This is particularly true if the publication has the same title as the novel. It is a judgment call, however." John Scifibones 10:00, 25 January 2024 (EST)
Thanks, i'd read the collection and omnibus bits of that help page but somehow didnt look at NOVEL. Gaz Faustus (talk) 10:23, 25 January 2024 (EST)

My typo in a canonical name

I mistyped Linda Burroughs as LInda Burroughs and now that it's been entered as a canonical name I can't correct it. I tried doing so on the title page for her one essay so far, but the software matched Linda with LInda and that edit went through without the change. Could a moderator fix that typo on the Author Record page? Thanks. MOHearn (talk) 15:52, 26 January 2024 (EST)

As requested. John Scifibones 16:25, 26 January 2024 (EST)
Thank you, John.--Martin MOHearn (talk) 17:19, 26 January 2024 (EST)

A question about variants with pseudonyms

I'm generally fine with creating variants but need some clarification for this situation. The publication is written under a pseudonym. The title page shows the author as another pseudonym "writing as". Fine so far but the existing canonical author record has the author's canonical name plus an additional author. Example: Satellite B.C. which has the canonical authors as John S. Glasby and Arthur Roberts. I added the ebook edition whose title page shows "John Glasby writing as Rand Le Page" using the Rand Le Page pseudonym. I feel like there should be a variant created but am not sure if that's true. What should I do? Thanks! Phil (talk) 10:07, 3 February 2024 (EST)

The author field help attempts to cover this:
Alternate Names. If you know that a particular author's name is an alternate name, enter that alternate name rather than changing it to the canonical name. If the title page shows both an original and a subsequent name, use the original name. For example, Isaac Asimov's "Lucky Starr" books were originally published under the pseudonym of Paul French, but later reprints were given both names: "by Isaac Asimov, writing as Paul French". In these cases you should still enter Paul French as the author and record the dual credit in the notes. If the cover shows both names but the title page shows only one name, use the name from the title page -- no matter which it is -- and record the discrepancy with the cover credit in the notes. When a book is known to be ghost-written, this should be treated as an alternate name; the ghost-writer will eventually show up as having an alternate name of the well-known author, but that data is not entered via this field. (my emphasis)
The credit should be to Rand Le Page. The variant would go to the canonical name, which is John S. Glasby. The software does not permit a variant of a variant, so there would be no intermediate record with the John Glasby credit. If we believe the work is by both Glasby and Roberts, then the variant would go to a record using two author credits for John S. Glasby and Arthur Roberts -- always to the canonical. Unless it were ever published as credited solely to "John Glasby", there will be no variant with that credit. --MartyD (talk) 15:56, 4 February 2024 (EST)
Thanks. That's how I did it but somehow didn't see the guidance in the Help to reassure me that I had done it correctly. Phil (talk) 16:53, 4 February 2024 (EST)

Restoring cancelled submission

Is there any way to easily restore/resubmit a submission I accidentally cancelled (other than reenter everything)? 5883840 if it can be done. Thanks. gzuckier (talk) 22:27, 8 February 2024 (EST)

A moderator can unreject. Which I had done. It is back to being active and in the queue. Annie (talk) 00:53, 9 February 2024 (EST)
10000 thank yous. gzuckier (talk) 23:47, 10 February 2024 (EST)

interviews jump to continuation page

When entering an interview with multiple authors interviewed in a publication, when the article starts on say page 1 and the first author is interviewed there, and the continuation of the article jumps to say page 10 and interviews more authors, is it better to just add additional authors to the interview listing with the first page number, or to add them as another interview with the second page number and the same title? I can't decide which is more logical. Thanks. gzuckier (talk) 15:12, 18 February 2024 (EST)

Adding alternate name

Colombian author Rodrigo Bastidas Pérez [1] [2] also appears to use the nameRodrigo Bastidas [3] [4] so if anybody could add it, please? Thanks. gzuckier (talk) 15:30, 18 February 2024 (EST)

The ISFDB is a publication driven database. An author record will be created the first time "Rodrigo Bastidas" is credited to a title. After creation, go to the newly created author record. Select 'Make/Remove Alternate Name' from the Editing Tools menu. Put 'Rodrigo Bastidas Pérez' in the Parent name field or 329980 in the Parent Record # field. John Scifibones 15:42, 18 February 2024 (EST)
thanks. gzuckier (talk) 15:56, 18 February 2024 (EST)

Adding web-published short fiction?

General question: https://isfdb.org/wiki/index.php/Help:Screen:NewPub seems to list everything except a new piece of short fiction (New Anthology, New Chapbook, New Collection, New Fanzine, New Magazine, New Nonfiction, New Novel, and New Omnibus). How does one add one?

More specifically, how would one add Andy Weir’s latest short story, “The Martian: Lost Sols” (https://galactanet.com/lostsols.pdf)?

(A more complicated issue might be whether to count it as either part of a new The Martian series, or as just a missing part of the novel.)


FlaSheridn (talk) 19:42, 18 February 2024 (EST)

A publication of a single work of short fiction is handled in the ISFDB as a CHAPBOOK, which you should think of as a one-story COLLECTION. So you use Add New Chapbook. We would consider a PDF an "ebook". It will seem redundant, but within that new record, you would add one entry in the "Regular Titles" (content) section for the short story. See some details in the CHAPBOOK sub-bullet of Help:Screen:NewPub#Publication_Type. It is normal for both the CHAPBOOK and the SHORTFICTION records to have the same title text, but that is not required. If the story belongs in the series, add the series to the SHORTFICTION record (which will only be available after the initial submission is accepted), not to the CHAPBOOK. --MartyD (talk) 21:31, 18 February 2024 (EST)

Financial contributions

Is there a way to make a monthly financial contribution to your site? —The preceding unsigned comment added by Jeradcentipedepress.com (talkcontribs) 16:35, February 21, 2024‎

Not at the moment, but let me check with Al von Ruff who currently handles server issues. Thanks for the thought! Ahasuerus (talk) 17:36, 21 February 2024 (EST)
++

FlaSheridn (talk) 21:07, 22 February 2024 (EST)

Not at the moment. but the site isn't particularly expensive to operate. I'll be looking into creating a 501c later this year, mostly to ensure the longevity of the site, but that would also allow for official financial contributions. Alvonruff (talk) 16:43, 11 March 2024 (EDT)

(in error) credit to cover artist / Beloved Exile

What steps should I take to fix up the cover artist for Beloved Exile? My 2nd printing has a copyright page credit and signature on the artwork crediting 'Heide Oberheide'.

It seems I should edit the 'Author 1' name in the record, but am unsure how to create the 'Tom Canty (in error)' record linkage. --Glenn (talk) 17:13, 14 March 2024 (EDT)

It's unfortunately complicated. What you'd need to do is separate the publications so that the AvoNova pub has a COVERART record of its own that is not shared with the two Bantam pubs. Then make the AvoNova's credit be "Tom Canty (in error)" instead of "Tom Canty", and make the title the two Bantam pubs share be credited to "Heide Oberheide" instead of "Tom Canty". Then both the fixed "Heide Oberheide" one and the "Tom Canty (in error)" one would need to be made variants of one credited to "Heidi Oberheide" (her canonical name), "Tom Canty (in error)" would need to be made an alternate name for Heidi Oberheide, and the lingering old parent title credited to Thomas Canty would need to be deleted. It would take quite a few submissions and a few wait-for-approval pauses. I'd be happy to do this for you, if you want, or you're welcome to try it yourself. --MartyD (talk) 18:38, 14 March 2024 (EDT)

Please do. --Glenn (talk) 20:16, 14 March 2024 (EDT)

The two Bantam editions have different credits (one "Heidi", the other "Heide") and also needed to be separated. Final result is here. --MartyD (talk) 07:19, 15 March 2024 (EDT)

Хищник

I need some help from anybody who knows Russian. I just listed Хищник. I did the best I could, but I know I must of gotten something wrong. I had to spell out the authors' names from by "Symbol" program on my word program and I'm sure I did something wrong. Could somebody check this out and let me know what I did wrong? MLB (talk) 23:09, 14 March 2024 (EDT)

All fixed :) Annie (talk) 13:54, 15 March 2024 (EDT)
Thank you very much. MLB (talk) 14:57, 15 March 2024 (EDT)
Anytime - the two author names needed fixing - Morris looked ok but the k in his first name was in Latin; Golden's first name contained characters that looked like the actual letters if you squint :) I also added more details (including the translator)from Fantlab and other Russian sources, got the publisher sorted out and got a month of publication (Goodreads can be really bad for this on Russian books). Thanks for adding it. Feel free to drop me a note when you get one of these - either after you add it as you did now or just with a link to the Goodreads book and I will be happy to fix/add it. Annie (talk) 15:06, 15 March 2024 (EDT)
@MLB, when I am not on my tablet or phone with convenient virtual keyboards and am stuck on my computer's US-standard QWERTY keyboard, I often find it easier to Google for names/titles with diacriticals or in non-Latin alphabets and copy + paste. WAY faster than trying to enter one symbol at a time.... --MartyD (talk) 08:22, 16 March 2024 (EDT)

Baen vs Baen Books publishers redux

I'm reopening the Baen vs Baen Books publishers discussion as I currently have some edits on pause [5] that attempted to add the "Baen Science Fantasy Books".

The last time this was discussed, it kind of fizzled out, and so when PVing my Baen books I ended up just following the existing patterns for which Baen publisher variant to use. (I've currently have PVed 1077 Baen publications). The addition of the little used variant would follow existing patterns, but much lower usage.

Is this the time to get this straightened out? --Glenn (talk) 16:14, 18 March 2024 (EDT)

Conceptual clarification for alternate names and “as by”?

I’m seeing some works that have a non-canonical name for their byline but that aren’t showing up on the page for the canonical name. I think I now understand that to make them show up on the page for the canonical name, I need to follow the instructions under Help:How_to_record_a_variant_title, but I feel like it might be useful to add a conceptual clarification in the introduction to that page, saying something like “There are various reasons to create a variant title record; for example, to get a work that was published under a non-canonical name to appear under the author’s canonical name, you need to create a variant title record that gives the author’s canonical name.”

I’m saying this because I recently linked a non-canonical name to a canonical name, and I expected that ISFDB would automatically create an “as by” line on the canonical-name page. When that didn’t happen, I went and searched in the wiki to try to find out more; I eventually found that how-to page, and that page gives useful instructions on what to do, and after reading a few different bits of it a few times I think I understand what to do. But I feel like that page could use a high-level conceptual description of what you’re doing, because the phrase “record a variant title” didn’t initially sound like what I wanted to do.

The wiki page for Help:How to enter works published under an alternate name also seems relevant, and I feel like that one could also use a similar high-level conceptual description. In particular, that page says to clone the existing page, but it doesn’t say what to change in the cloned version; I think it should say to change the name in the cloned version to the canonical name. --Elysdir (talk) 16:22, 18 March 2024 (EDT)

When you say ... I recently linked a non-canonical name to a canonical name, ... what was the situation you were trying to deal with, and what did you do at first? --MartyD (talk) 17:47, 18 March 2024 (EDT)
Oops, didn’t see this response ’til now, sorry. There were two situations: (1) My story “All Through the Night” was listed as being by Jedediah Elysdir Hartman, so it wasn’t showing up on the Summary Bibliography page for Jed Hartman. I made Jedediah Elysdir Hartman an alternate name for Jed Hartman, but the story still didn’t show up on the Summary Bibliography page for Jed Hartman. (Now it does.) (2) Thomas M. Disch’s poem Learning to Cross the Street was published under three different versions of the author’s name (Tom Disch, Thomas Disch, Thomas M. Disch), and I wanted those all to appear on the Summary Bibliography page for Disch. (Now they do.) …In both cases, I had initially assumed that if a non-canonical author name was listed for a work, and the non-canonical name was listed as an alternate name, that that work would automatically show up with an “as by” on the Summary Bibliography page for the canonical author name. But it didn’t seem to work automatically, so I went and did some digging through the help pages, and eventually found useful information but without a conceptual overview about circumstances when you might want/need to make a variant title. So, really what I’m saying is that I would like it to be clearer in the documentation what to do if you want an “as by” to show up on the Summary Bibliography page for the canonical name. —Elysdir (talk) 17:51, 7 April 2024 (EDT)
You seem to have made a point: while it does seem a natural move for the ones used to ISFDB to do both moves (that is, establish the alternate name relation and to variant the title as by the alternate name to the title as by the canonical name), there likely should be a hint given within the Make Alternate Name help page. Christian Stonecreek (talk) 02:08, 8 April 2024 (EDT)

Linking books as translation

I have submitted tickets for this for several books in the Eragon series through 'Make This Title a Variant' butt nothing changed after it got approved.

See the novel section for the not linked Swedish and Italian ones https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?28380

The West-Frisian translation of The two towers is also not linked 'De twa tuorren' https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?302

Also this author translated his own book that needs to belinked to the original English one https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?376722

Noticed that now it's just the other way around. 'Het zwaard van het licht' is the translation of 'The Lady's Gift', right? If you could confirm here, I'll switch it around for you (or someone else will) :) MagicUnk (talk) 16:17, 21 March 2024 (EDT)

Flapco (talk) 14:06, 20 March 2024 (EDT)

The best way to do this is to follow these steps:
  • Create the translated title as normal.
  • View the new title record you made (make sure it's the title record and not the publication record).
  • Open a separate window or tab with the original title to which you want to variant the translation.
  • Copy the Title Record # (at the top right of the entry).
  • Go back to the tab or window with the translated title record and click the Make this title a variant link in the toolbar on the left.
  • Under Option 1 (don't use Option 2), paste the copied Title Record # into the Parent # field.
  • Click the Link to Existing Parent button to submit the varianting for review.
Once you've done that, a moderator can review the submission and approve it. ···日本穣 · 投稿 · Talk to Nihonjoe 14:16, 20 March 2024 (EDT)
Just a small clarification - "Create the translated title as normal." above means "Add the book. Forget that it is a translation and just add it - add the translator in the Title note but other from that, just add the book as you would add any other book".
If you start by creating the variant and not by adding the book, the variant may be deleted overnight (we have a report looking for orphan titles). :) Annie (talk) 18:39, 20 March 2024 (EDT)
Good clarification. ···日本穣 · 投稿 · Talk to Nihonjoe 19:13, 20 March 2024 (EDT)

J. T. Brewer

I am entering the spiritual fantasies of J. T. Brewer, but the author is actually two people, Judeen Brewer and Terry Brewer. How do I enter the two author's real names when the field will only accept one? MLB (talk) 23:07, 25 March 2024 (EDT)

You'd need to add both as using that name as a pseudonym. Similar to James S. A. Corey and The Expanse series. See point #4 here for more details. ···日本穣 · 投稿 · Talk to Nihonjoe 01:23, 28 March 2024 (EDT)

Rejected attempt to enter ISBN

I tried to enter the ISBN for Publication Record # 39933: The Flight of the Horse, Ballantine Books, 1973-09-00.

My attempt to save this data was rejected with the error message "Info already on file", or words to that effect.

There is an ISBN listed in your records for later printings of that book, but not for this first printing. Not in PR# 39933. That record does show an SBN, and the ISBN can be derived from that, which is how I got the valid ISBN for this book, using the SBN printed in my copy of the first printing. That ISBN was confirmed by an ISBN lookup, which shows the book with the same cover I have. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Lensman03 (talkcontribs) .

We would need more information for us to be able to help. For example, do you have the submission record that got rejected? That would tell us whether it's a mistake and your submission should not have been rejected, or conversely, that there's indeed data that shouldn't be overwritten. Oh, and always sign your posts with four '~'. MagicUnk (talk) 12:00, 26 March 2024 (EDT)
Checking the submission queue, I see that the submission in question is currently pending. The "Warnings" column says "ISBN already on file", but it's just a warning that tells the reviewing moderator that we already have a publication with this ISBN on file. It doesn't mean that the submission was automatically rejected. It should appear on User:Lensman03's

My Pending Edits page. Ahasuerus (talk) 12:25, 26 March 2024 (EDT)

I've approved this submission and added part of your moderator note to the notes for the publication. ···日本穣 · 投稿 · Talk to Nihonjoe 12:33, 26 March 2024 (EDT)
Thank you, everyone, for your help in holding this newbie's hand! Lensman03 (talk) 23:46, 27 March 2024 (EDT)

Alternate name linkage / Return to Mayberry

I linked Rob Hampson to Robert E. Hampson, but the story Return to Mayberry isn't shown under the full name. What did I miss? --Glenn (talk) 01:27, 28 March 2024 (EDT)

You need to create a parent for it -- just go to "Make This Title a Variant", Option 2 and replace the pseudonym author name with the canonical name one. If the story is already on the canonical author page, you can use Option 1 with the ID of course. That does not happen automatically when you make a pseudonym - partially because we do not want to create duplicates if the titles already exist on the other page. Annie (talk) 14:58, 28 March 2024 (EDT)

Doubles - Omnibus versus Anthology

I just ran across two titles in the DB that are currently set as Anthologies. The Time-Raider / The Whisper of Death and Last Call For Doomsday / The Huntress of Akkan. These are both Doubles in the Armchair Sci-Fi & Horror Double Novels publication series. Shouldn't these be Omnibus titles instead of Anthology? Almost all of the Ace Doubles are considered Omnibus titles. What's the difference? Phil (talk) 12:46, 5 April 2024 (EDT)

The first one is a novel & a novella. The second one is two novellas. Per Template:PublicationFields:PubType, the second one is definitely properly entered as an anthology as both works are short fiction. For the first case, the OMNIBUS definition states "A publication may be classified as an omnibus if it contains multiple works that have previously been published independently, and at least one of them is a NOVEL, ANTHOLOGY, COLLECTION, or NONFICTION. However, generally this category should not be used unless the other categories do not seem appropriate.". The novella in this book was never published independently (see Whisper of Death) so anthology seems appropriate. But as the page says, "The distinction between 'Omnibus' and the other types is somewhat subjective and may require discussion on ISFDB:Help desk or the Community Portal." -- JLaTondre (talk) 16:02, 5 April 2024 (EDT)
Thanks for the clarification. Phil (talk) 16:44, 5 April 2024 (EDT)

Uncertainty about “Email this user”

The only remaining verifier for a particular work says to contact them via wiki email instead of by adding to their Talk page. So I followed that user’s link to the Email this user page, and wrote an email, and clicked Send. But instead of giving me some kind of your-message-has-been-sent confirmation, the page just reloaded, with my text still in the text box. So I can’t tell whether the message got sent or not. When it sends successfully, does it give a confirmation message, or does it just reload the text that it just sent? …Also, I have the “Email me a copy of my message” checkbox checked, but I haven’t received a copy of the message, which makes me think it probably didn’t send. But I’m not sure. Any thoughts about how to find out whether it sent? (I did try clicking Send again, but the same thing happened.) —Elysdir (talk) 17:31, 7 April 2024 (EDT)

I am afraid the ISFDB email server hasn't been kept in sync with evolving email delivery standards, so our email functionality can be spotty. Sometimes ISFDB email is delivered properly and other times it isn't. The ISFDB FAQ mentions it in passing:
  • Different email servers have different automated rules which may block email coming from certain Web sites, which makes it hard to tell what's preventing ISFDB confirmation email from being delivered to your mailbox.
Unfortunately, I know little about email servers. At one point Al mentioned that he was going to investigate, but his availability has been sporadic since the last server upgrade in late 2022. Ahasuerus (talk) 20:22, 7 April 2024 (EDT)
OK, thanks—that makes sense in terms of whether mail that gets sent will be delivered. Followup question: Looking at it from the user-of-the-wiki-email-page side of things, can you tell me whether I should expect there to be some kind of confirmation message displayed in the browser after I click Send? Or when I click Send, should I expect it to reload the page, and still show the text boxes containing the message? (In other words, setting aside the question of whether the mail will be delivered after it’s sent, I’m not sure whether it’s being sent at all, so I’d like to find out what it’s supposed to look like from the user’s point of view when it does send the mail.) —Elysdir (talk) 13:43, 8 April 2024 (EDT)
If you use the Email User functionality, if the mail is sent, you should get a "Your email message has been sent." with a link to return to the user's page. If it does something else for you (just reloads?), chances are that there is a browser dependency somewhere - what browser are you using? And if you know how to look, do the Developer tools in the browser give you any clues on errors? Annie (talk) 14:01, 8 April 2024 (EDT)
Thanks! I’ve now tried a different browser (Chrome/Mac), and it correctly gave me the “Your email message has been sent” message. Whew. (Weirdly, I then switched back to my first browser (Safari/Mac) and tried sending mail to myself, in order to follow your suggestion and check Developer Tools—but the message to myself *also* worked correctly. So I don’t know what was going on before; maybe some kind of transient glitch. But everything seems to be working correctly now.) —Elysdir (talk) 15:22, 9 April 2024 (EDT)

New mag entry vanished?

Hi. I submitted a new magazine entry for the New Times Book Review, April 7, 2024, yesterday. It was in my pending edits yesterday, but now it's not in my pending, recent, or rejected? Thanks. gzuckier (talk) 23:33, 13 April 2024 (EDT)

It is showing up in the In Progress or Errored Out New Publication Submission report (I'm not sure that is visible by non-mods). It did create the publication. It can be found here. Comparing the submission to the pub, it looks like everything after "The Essentials / Stephen King" failed to be created. -- JLaTondre (talk) 07:06, 14 April 2024 (EDT)
"Moderator privileges are required for this option". --Username (talk) 10:15, 14 April 2024 (EDT)
A list of your errored out submissions should be accessible from the navigation bar on the left. It is called "My Errored Out Edits". Ahasuerus (talk) 12:27, 15 April 2024 (EDT)

Using your software for an italian version

Hallo I am a fan of ISFDB.org I currently cooperate with the italian website Uraniamania, and I would like to use their database and giving an output similar to yours. Actually, I do not have any oinfo about the acritecture of their database, so I do not know if it will be possible to translate it into an "isfdb.it". Of course there would be differences, because in an hipotetic italian db i would like to include Science fiction,horror, and fantasy fiction, but also crime fiction.

So, let's come to the questions. Can I use your software...? Is it under license...?

Cristiano Zecchin Tel. 00 39 331 98 26 228.

It's certainly possible, although there are a few caveats. All of our bibliographic pages -- like the ISFDB home page --have a "License" section in the navigation bar on the left. It says:
If you follow the link to https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ , you will see the following summary:
  • You are free to:
    • Share — copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format for any purpose, even commercially.
    • Adapt — remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose, even commercially.
    • The licensor cannot revoke these freedoms as long as you follow the license terms.
  • Under the following terms:
    • Attribution — You must give appropriate credit , provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made . You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.
    • No additional restrictions — You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits.
Please note that it's just a high level summary. You can find the legal details on this page, which is linked from the summary page.
Please see the Installation and Setup section of the ISFDB Downloads page. It has links to Wiki pages explaining how to install the ISFDB software and database under different operating systems. Ahasuerus (talk) 12:25, 15 April 2024 (EDT)