User talk:RayDaleyWriterUK

Welcome!

Hello, RayDaleyWriterUK, and welcome to the ISFDB Wiki! I hope you like the place and decide to stay. Here are some pages that you might find helpful:

• Help pages
• Field-by-field guide to entering new publications into the database
• Help:Getting Started
• What the ISFDB Wiki is for
• FAQ
• Wiki editing help - Tips on how to use the wiki-specific features when editing wiki pages.
• Wiki Conventions - How things are usually done on this wiki.
• Help:How to upload images to the ISFDB wiki

Note: Image uploading isn't entirely automated. You're uploading the files to the wiki which will then have to be linked to the database by editing the publication record.

Please be careful in editing publications that have been primary verified by other editors. See Help:How to verify data#Making changes to verified pubs. But if you have a copy of an unverified publication, verifying it can be quite helpful. See Help:How to verify data for detailed information.

I hope you enjoy editing here! Please sign your name on talk pages using four tildes (~~~~); this will insert your name and the date. If you need help, check out the community portal, or ask me on my talk page. Again, welcome! Annie 02:42, 2 June 2020 (EDT)

Aphotic Realm Magazine, Issue 9, January-March 2020

I approved the issue and did a few small changes:

• Added cover from Amazon and used the US price (as it appears to be a US publication)
• Fixed the editors (one per line)
• Some cosmetic issues (capitalization and title)
• Adjusted the date to 2020-01-00 based on the dating rules for magazines.

I also created the early series so it shows up on the grid.

Thanks for adding it and welcome back :) Annie 02:45, 2 June 2020 (EDT)

Adding magazines

When adding a magazine, the title should be for the individual issue, the yearly record is done as a second step :) Fixed here. Thanks for adding the magazine. Annie 06:19, 13 September 2020 (EDT)

Kasma Magazine

Hello. I've accepted your submission for the September 2020 isssue of Kasma Magazine, but I had to make the following changes (so that it would be in line with the other issues already in the DB):

• Added currency symbol to the price
• Removed cover art URL, as there are two issues with it: first, it links to a site we have no permission from, second, we do not record the art as COVERART for these kinds of webzines, but rather as INTERIORART. See other records in the series.
• Consequently added art credits as INTERIORART
• Moved the web page URL from the notes to its designated field.
• Added date of retrieval of the data to the notes - it is good practice to identify when exactly data from secondary sources (that can be transient in nature) had been retrieved

I also merged the resulting EDITOR record with the already-existing Kasma Magazine - 2020 EDITOR record. FYI, this is done so that all issues of the year will appear under one single EDITOR record - see here.
As you may have guessed, editing the ISFDB needs some learning. The links in the Welcome message above are a great starting point. If you consider to continue to contribute (we can always use new editors), do check them out. Also, do not hesitate to ask questions over at the Help Desk or Community Portal. There are always friendly moderators around that are more than happy to answer any question you may have. Regards, MagicUnk 13:21, 23 September 2020 (EDT)

The Colored Lens, Autumn 2020

Approved the magazine but it needed pretty much every single field fixed so please read through at least some of he feedback the moderators are leaving you before adding the next magazine :)

• The title of the magazine should be the issue title, not the yearly record
• The transliteration field is for titles not written in the Latin alphabet so for English magazines it needs to stay empty.
• The names of the editors should be added one per line and without "ed.". I suspect you just copied it like that from Amazon - please clear it up next time.
• The ASIN is not an ISBN and goes into the External ID and not into the ISBN field.
• Magazines are not dated based on Amazon availability but based on the date printed in them.
• We regularize the titles' case
• For magazines the issue number does not go into the series number.

The result is here. Let me know if you have any questions. Annie 12:16, 29 October 2020 (EDT)

RayDaleyWriterUK 17:56, 29 October 2020 (EDT) It's literally impossible to add a new magazine for a new year if one doesn't already exist. There are no instructions anywhere at all. Please simplify this, or at least add a button to make some sort of semi-idiot proof layout we can fill in. Trying to do this is INCREDIBLY un-user friendly. I apologise for making so many mistakes but I'm doing my best with no instructions. I don't do this often enough to be able to remember how to do it.

Ah, I see. You were trying to replicate what is in the DB - while it is done in two separate steps and you were trying to do it in one.

The yearly title is getting adjusted as a second step. So in this case, just add it as "The Colored Lens, Autumn 2020". The instructions on how to add magazines are here - as with all other types and each field also has its own help page. Just start with "New Magazine" and do not worry about the yearly record - it will get created later. In a way you had been overthinking it in an attempt to duplicate what is inside of the DB. Hope this makes sense -- if you have any questions, just let me know.

PS: Magazines are one of the more complicated types to enter - novels are a lot easier. So when you start with the magazines, it is a lot more complicated than if you know some of the DB. Annie 18:10, 29 October 2020 (EDT)

Is October printed inside of the magazine? If so, the note should specify that -- I can update the note but I need details. Thanks! Annie 18:17, 29 October 2020 (EDT)

RayDaleyWriterUK 18:50, 8 November 2020 (EST) The cover just says Autumn, the inside only says 2020. I only wanted to revise the date so it listed the story in correct date order. Is the Amazon publication date not used if the magazine doesn't have a date listed in it?

Only for books - magazines are recorded differently. We note the Amazon date in notes in these cases but for magazines, the date comes from the cover or inside of the magazine (or any other official statement from the publisher or something like that which can be documented). I understand that it is annoying in the stories list (and I wish we could have a way to reorder them properly in such cases) but at least for now, this is the current rule for magazines. Annie 19:48, 8 November 2020 (EST)

Psychopomp, Issue 7.2, Summer/Fall 2020

I accepted your addition of Psychopomp, Issue 7.2, Summer/Fall 2020, but had to make two changes:

• The magazine title should include the issue & date (where available). I changed it from "Psychopomp" to "Psychopomp, Issue 7.2, Summer/Fall 2020"
• This is not the same Psychopomp magazine that was already in the database. I separated them out into two different magazines.

Thanks. -- JLaTondre (talk) 08:23, 28 November 2020 (EST)

Daily Science Fiction, January 2021

Thanks for adding this one. A few notes:

• The format is webzine :)
• For this one we use the Pages field creatively - to show the date.
• The Title record of a magazine becomes a yearly record so adding all the links to all the stories there is not a good idea. I removed them and I will add them to the individual stories instead where they belong in the next day or two.
• When a magazine has two editors, do not use a comma but put them one per line.

The result is here. Let me know if you have any questions/concerns. Annie 13:09, 4 February 2021 (EST)

Bards and Sages Quarterly, April 2021

I accepted your addition of Bards and Sages Quarterly, April 2021, but had to make some changes to match our standards:

• Editor: Only person's name should be entered as the author / editor (the software will automatically show Editor in the publication record for magazines & anthologies). Adding roles should be done.
• Date: The date should match the magazine issue date.
• Format: Based on Amazon's description, we categorize this as a trade paperback (tp) and not a mass market paperback (pb).
• Image URL: When using Amazon images, please remove the underscores & everything in-between from the URL.
• Page Numbers: Since you are entering the paper version and verifying that you have a copy, please add the page numbers for the stories.

Thanks. -- JLaTondre (talk) 18:13, 13 April 2021 (EDT)

On Time

I accepted your addition of On Time, but please remember that author names:

• are entered as FIRST LAST and not LAST, FIRST
• should have a space after any periods

Thanks. -- JLaTondre (talk) 09:19, 9 May 2021 (EDT)

Hovering over the instructions clearly states to enter names "as they appear in the contents".

I was merely following instructions. I would have put them the right way otherwise. If this is the case, please change that pop-up/hover over help message.

Also, my credit for this book is not displaying on my author page at all for some reason. Having checked, this doesn't appear on any of the author pages for those credited.

RayDaleyWriterUK 09:57, 12 May 2021 (EDT)

We credit per the story title page & not the ToC. Per the Amazon Look Inside, the story title pages have them as FIRST LAST so the issue is mute, but good point on the help. I will start a discussion on that. As for not displaying on the author page, I'm not sure what you mean. Your story in that pub, "Detecting Rogue Time Travellers (Practical Exam)", is showing on Ray Daley (currently fourth from the bottom). If you are expecting the anthology to show, that is not how it works. The anthology will only show on the editors' pages. They are the ones responsible for the anthology. The individual story authors are only responsible for their stories. If you click on the story record, it will show the pub(s) it is in. -- JLaTondre (talk) 18:16, 12 May 2021 (EDT)

The Lorelei Signal

I approved your submission for The Lorelei Signal, but you need to make some changes in addition to the note about the source of the information. Since it's a magazine, the date should be in the title. The ISSN is not the series, it should be in the notes. The cost is zero, and that cost should be shown. You might note that the magazine asks for donations to offset the editor's costs. Bob 20:34, 16 July 2021 (EDT)

RayDaleyWriterUK 19:13, 21 July 2021 (EDT) I've done all those updates, if anything else needs changing or moving, let me know. There will probably be other people adding older issues of this magazine in the near future.

Sanitarium Magazine, Issue No. 4

A few things with this one:

• The issue identifier needs to be part of the title
• pb is an American sized mass market paperback/UK A-format size. This magazine is definitely not that small.
• We need the cover, not the link to Amazon's product page
• Magazines are not based on Amazon but based on cover date. When it cannot be determined, we date with just the year.
• We regularize the title capitalizations.
• The publisher is clearly credited inside of the magazine.

The result is here. One more thing to be careful with horror magazines - we only allow speculative horror to be added; the other type (the man with the ax and all these) are not eligible. So keep that in mind. Let me know if you have any questions/concerns. Annie 14:39, 8 October 2021 (EDT)

RayDaleyWriterUK 10:34, 9 October 2021 (EDT) I'm almost never sure where to put an issue number, so thanks for solving that. The listing on Amazon said paperback. It's not a hardback, hence using that. Previous people on here have told me you go by the date on Amazon if one is listed. It was, so I used it. Please try to offer us consistant information? Any other issues, apologies, it was incredibly late when I added the info. Sorry.

We go by date (from Amazon or elsewhere) for books. We go by cover date only (or just year if the month is not known) for magazines. :) If it is a paperback, it is tp - that’s the type for the paperbacks. Pb is mass market paperback (based on size).

The rule for the naming: if there is a month, the magazine is named “Magazine, January 2021” for example. If not, the issue number is used so “Magazine, Issue 3” or however the issue is credited.

Thanks for adding it. Annie 14:25, 9 October 2021 (EDT)

US/THEM

Thanks for adding this one. A few changes were needed:

• We add a space between the initials of authors even if they are not used in a magazine.
• Links to Amazon are never added to the Web Pages - instead the ASIN they hold is added as an external ID.
• A minor capitalization issue (we -> We)
• We cannot use Smashword covers directly - we have a somewhat special format when we link to them (that's how we are allowed to use their images) so it had to be "https://dwtr67e3ikfml.cloudfront.net/bookCovers/b9104ddb26a5047f8f8ff8ae511892b3eaf7955b%7Chttps://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1112780". I fixed that. Using Amazon's images may be easier :)
• The ebook actually has an ISBN (on the copyright page) so I added that to the book.
• Used piped numbers to keep the order of the stories.
• We always need a note on the source from where the book is added (if you are verifying, the source is the book. If you are not - we need to know where the book data came from).
• Changed to the US prices as the publisher is in Colorado, USA (that you may not have been able to find because Amazon insists on helping you if you are in UK and shows weird US based data).

Thanks for adding it! I also added the paperback while I was there. I will see if I can track down these three 2016 stories and add their first appearances - the copyright page has some notes so I will add thee for now and then chase the stories. Let me know if you have any questions and/or concerns. Annie 20:35, 2 November 2021 (EDT)

Shelter of Daylight, Autumn 2021

We cannot use the cover you added here - we have no permissions to deep link into this site. You can upload it here in our DB or find it on one of our authorized sites. I also fixed a few small issues on the record (missing comma in the title, capitalization issue and moved the link to the magazine itself). Thanks for adding it! Annie 15:08, 4 November 2021 (EDT)

34 Orchard, Autumn 2022

Even if it feels like it must be 2025 by now, we are still in 2021 :) Plus just a reminder that we date magazines based on cover dates, not based on when they actually come out (unlike books where we date based on any information we can find to pin down the date). I fixed both the title and the dates here plus added a link to the site. Annie 05:41, 12 November 2021 (EST)

RayDaleyWriterUK 18:45, 12 November 2021 (EST) Sorry, Annie. Having serious trouble humaning here at the moment. Tough time of year as a veteran. Thanks for understanding.

Take care of yourself - the rest will be fine! Annie 23:35, 12 November 2021 (EST)

Executive Dread: Tales of Office Horror

Adding a cover image to Executive Dread: Tales of Office Horror. Then I’ll clone this anthology. MLB 00:56, 28 December 2021 (EST)

Lightning Strikes Twice

Thank you for adding the missing content to Lightning Strikes Twice; A Flash Fiction Collection. I case regularized the titles to comply with our standards. John Scifibones 16:52, 29 June 2022 (EDT)

The Lorelei Signal, July-September 2022

I approved your submission, but made a few changes.

• Always include the series, this is what puts the publication in the issue grid.
• I replaced all the individual story links with just the publication link. Links to an individual story would go in the story title record. A Fine Body
• The ISSN belongs to the Magazine not an individual publication, it is here
• There is no cover, the artwork is interior art, not cover art. Take a look at how you show the interior art credits.
• I added the lengths using a word counter

Thanks for adding the issue, John Scifibones 18:37, 7 July 2022 (EDT)

Never Cheat a Witch

Thanks for entering the ebook edition of Never Cheat a Witch. You'll notice I had to make a few changes.

• We have specific rules for case. See the 5th bullet point, Case here.
• I added 'pipes' to maintain the sort order. Explained in the 4th bullet point, Sorting here.
• Linked a cover image.
• Changed 'T.W. Kirchner' to 'T. W. Kirchner'. See the 4th bullet point, Initials here.

Ask if anything isn't clear, John Scifibones 09:43, 28 October 2022 (EDT)