Troubleshooting the Wiki (all new editors read this first please)

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RazzaTazz

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#1  Edited By RazzaTazz

This thread is not meant to supplant the wiki style guide, instead it should supplement it. For anyone starting out in the wiki, they should start there. This is meant to address the finer points of adding new material to the wiki and editing what is there already.

For this I will draw on my own experience as well as that of what is has been written by others, to which I have too many to credit here, but the main ones would be JLoneBlackheart, IrishX, HalfShellHero, X35 and Pikahyper. Seeing as I can’t create a proper flow diagram here I will add in the headings as appropriate and put the content in a spoiler below, thus making it easier to navigate the whole page.

Adding New Releases

This was written by JLoneBlackheart a while back and all the information still stands. Check out the original thread for the discussion on this topic if you are interested.

Preview Image w/ watermark
Preview Image w/ watermark
Watermarked Cover
Watermarked Cover
Preview Image of Birds of Prey #1
Preview Image of Birds of Prey #1
Print over UPC, website address printed on cover
Print over UPC, website address printed on cover
Indicia Example
Indicia Example

Who doesn't love Wednesday - new comic book day! Want to add the new releases yourself? Here's how to do it.

New release issues are not to be added to the database until the day before they are released. This means Tuesday (12:01 AM, PST). No exceptions.

Cover Images

Preview images are not acceptable. A preview image is a clean cover that includes no title, issue number, publisher, etc. It's just a plain image. We do not want that.

Watermarked images are not acceptable. This includes print where the UPC should be, website addresses and logos.

Basically, if the cover doesn't look like the one you picked up from the comic shop, we don't want it. (This also applies to ALL issues, not just new releases).

Examples of what is not acceptable:

PLEASE SEARCH FIRST

For first issues, please search to see if the volume is already in the database. Actually hit the search key, do not rely on the top ten search results.

Which volume is this?

To make sure what volume you should add the issue to, check the indicia. The indicia is the fine print usually located in the very front or very back of your comic. It will include the volume name, volume number, date and year published and the publisher name, among many other legal mumbo jumbo.

Release Date

Another thing that seems to confuse a lot of people is the release date, so no it is not the Wednesday the comic was released, every publisher does it differently but the release date can be found on the indicia and in many cases on the cover as well. As a general rule, the "day" space in the release date is unneeded unless it's a weekly book. Below is a list of the general release dates for different publishers:

  • DC/Marvel: Two months in advance. So, say a comic came out May 19, 2010...the release date would be July 2010. Look at DC covers if you don't believe me.
  • Dynamite: Doesn't actually have a month in the indicia, just a year, so go with the month it was released as a general rule.
  • Most other publishers go by the month the comic was actually released but there are some exceptions where a cover date may be a few months earlier then the comic came out, etc. If you don't know the date and it's not on the cover, just try and follow the pattern of the previous issues or go with the month it came out.

How can I help?

First of all, by following these rules. Besides that, anywhere from 70 - 110 new issues are added each week, not including trades and mangas. There are no shortage of people who will rush to add a Spider-Man, Batman or Deadpool issue but very few who will add the less popular or indy titles. Just adding a few would help the site a lot, as very few of us add new issues.

Adding Solicitation Information (Solicits)

The solicit is an official advertisement text blurb of some sort either from the publisher or a prominent retailer i.e. not your own original writing and on ComicVine they are to be put in italics to denote that they are indeed a solicit. The main sources for solicits are from the publishers official web site such as marvel.com, dccomics.com, imagecomics.com, etc. or a prominent retailer such as Comixology or MyComicShop , solicits from the main North American distributor of comicsDiamond are also acceptable from their web site or from Previews their monthly print catalog.

There are only a few rules to remember when adding solicits:

  1. Do not add links in the solicit text (add them to the associations sections where they belong)
  2. If the solicit includes bullets please delete them and replace them with ComicVine's own bullets (it just looks better)
  3. Solicits for print releases are preferred over the solicits for digital releases (this does not apply to digital exclusives of course)
  4. and finally do not include a solicit as both a volume description and an issue description (point whoring is frowned upon)

If you are unsure if your solicitation source is reputable/should be used please ask a wiki mod or post in this thread.

Adding/Editing Individual Issues

HalfShellHero wrote up this detailed explanation of adding individual issues. This also interfaces well with some comic book cataloguing software. Check out the original thread here.

I’ve started editing information for a lot of comics that I have access to recently and I’ve noticed some things that I have questions about. I’ve seen some style guides and the videos on Comic Vine about style, but I haven’t seen any that talk about all the details of editing the information in an issue so I’m attempting to write a style guide and ask questions as well. A lot of this is probably self explanatory, but I was hoping to find some consensus on entering some kinds of information. The bolded parts staring with ?s below are questions or suggestions that I have for Comic Vine. I was hoping to get some feedback before I submit something to the “Ways and Ideas to improve Comicvine” Thread

I’m also writing this because I use the software ComicRack to catalog my collection and the Comic Vine Scraper plugin to automatically populate the metadata by pulling information from Comic Vine. By using this software, I can easily find issues that are missing information and add it to Comic Vine. So far, there is a lot of information that is styled differently and it would be nice to have a guide for style conformation

Issue Information

Issue Number

  • Number of the issue
  • If the issue is a one-shot, or a trade paperback with a unique volume and title, then it should be marked as #1 instead of being left blank
  • The indica for the book usually has the most accurate information

Issue Title

  • The title of the issue
  • This is usually found on the inside of the of the book near where the credits are, or the title page
  • Sometimes it can be found on the front cover
  • Books with multiple titles should have titles separated by semicolons
  • [Major Arc](, Part #): Title(, Part #)
    -- e.g. --
    The Hit List, Part 1: The Domino Effect
    The Secrets of the Blood Dynasty, Part 1
  • If an issue does not have a title at all, Untitled is an acceptable tile.
  • I've always been a fan of putting words like “of”, “in”, “the” (in the middle of a title), etc in lowercase, but this is up to editor preference
  • For miniseries with a subtitle, it is acceptable to add the sub-title as the title of the issue. (e.g. The title of issue 1 ofAvengers: Prime could be Prime, Issue 1). This is up to the editor's discretion
  • For trade paperbacks the name of the story arc of the trade paperback could be used as a title, but just by itself and not with a volume number. (e.g. The first Ultimate Spider-Man's trade paperback would be titled "Power and Responsibility" and not "Volume 1, Power and Responsibility")

Release Date

  • This is the the release date on the indica of the book. The indica is usually located on the bottom or side of the credits/title page near the beginning or end of the book
  • For some companies like Marvel and DC, this date will not reflect the actual release date
  • For the majority of American comics, there is no day specified on the indica and one should not be entered

Plot Summary

  • User written summary of what happens in the book
  • If the summary is a copied solicitation from an official website, the entirety of the copied text should be in italics and void of extra formatting like bullets, bolds, etc
  • Do not add a link to a solicitation. Copy the text over and italicize it
  • Do not add links to items that can be added to the Creators, Story Arcs, etc, sections

Covers

  • Covers should be of the highest quality/size attainable and should look the same as the cover on an issue picked up from a store
  • Preview images, Cover art (not the actual cover itself), and any other kind of watermarked Cover are not valid.
  • The default cover for an issue should the regular non-variant cover, or "Cover A" for comics that come with multiple covers. Newer covers that don't display which cover they are usually tell you with a code right over the barcode. (eg. 02913 means issue 29, Cover 1, 3rd Printing. You'll want to find one that has "XXX11")
  • Unless you have 5000 Wiki Points, setting the default cover requires a request, which can be handled here
  • Wraparound covers are valid, however, if a wraparound is also the regular cover, it is best to crop the cover to normal size and set that as the default image and also upload the full wraparound under it
  • Digital covers are valid. However digital covers should never be the default cover for an issue unless they look exactly the same as the cover to a physical issue

Creators

? For some of these fields, if the creator’s studio is listed with the creator, the creator and not the studio should be listed right? I think most people enter it like this, but I wanted to be sure

Writer

  • Writer(s) of the comic. Sometimes listed as Story or Plot
  • Sometimes listed together with the penciler/artist as “Storytellers: [Writer] and [Aritst]”
  • This creator should be the person(s) that actually wrote the book itself, and not just a part of the plot creation

Editor

  • Editor of the comic. There can be multiple editors
  • Includes Editor, Associate Editor, Editorial Assistant, Assistant Editor, Editor in Chief, etc.

Artist

  • Artist of the issue. Sometimes referred to as Illustrator
  • On ComicRack, an artist is listed as Penciler and Inker

? If the person listed as the artist only did pencils (there are no inks), wouldn’t it be more accurate to list the creator as just a Penciler?

Penciler

  • Penciler(s) of the comic. Sometimes referred to as Breakdowns or Layouts

Letterer

  • Letterer(s) of the comic.

Inker

  • Inker(s) of the comic. Sometimes referred to as Finishes or Finished Work

Cover

  • A creator that worked on the cover, from Penciler to Colorist
  • Creators that worked on a cover should not have Artist, Penciler, Inker, or Colorist marked in addition unless they also worked on the interior art

Other

  • Creators that are not defined by any of the other category
  • e.g. Character Creators. Designers, Logo, Chief Creative Officer, Publisher, etc.

Journalist

  • Not exactly sure what this is. I think I saw someone put a publisher in here once

Production

  • Producer(s) of the comic, Producer, Production, Executive Producer, etc.

Colorist

  • Colorist(s) of the Comic

Adding/Editing Individual Issues Common Problems

These instruction are less specific and are drawn from discussions with editors doing this work, so the format is less flowing but please read all the points before submitting work. This is taken in part from this thread.

1. At the top of each issue there is a place where it says "issue released on..". This does not mean put the day the issue came out. On the inside of every comic is an indicia that gives you the date we put. So just because Wolverine #20 for instance says February 2012 it doesn't mean change it to Dec. 21st, 2011

2. W hen you add the solicitation for an issue put it in italics .

3. TPB's and HC's are to be the same volume page unless they include new comic material i.e. re-releases with added issues, new printings still count as the original volume just add the new cover (unless it has new comic material).

4. If you copy/paste in a solicit remove any additional formatting that gets copied over like bullets.

5. Do not add covers with watermarks.

6. Do not add story arcs to TPB's, Hardcovers or foreign comics, instead add them to the appropriate section on the story arcs page.

7. The day Do not add links to solicitations indicator can be used for TPBs, Manga or weekly comics.

8. Spread covers are ok, but they should never be the main picture for an issue. Also if the cover is sideways submit it sideways, we want to see the cover bottom justified to the interior of the issue. If you want to submit a sideways one below it for clarity that is all right though too.

9. If an issue has both a digital cover and a retail cover the retail cover should be the default image, I'm finding a lot that have the digital as the default.

10. Do not add links to the plot summaries area if a link is added or can be added to the associations area (creator, character, team, story arc, location, etc.)

11. Issue Numbers - For one shots it seems to be the standard to add it as #1 but a lot of editors will just leave it blank which is annoying. If a TPB's volume title is unique and its own volume it is added as a #1 even if it is like vol. 5, normally editors just add Vol. 5 to the issue's title to denote this, if the issue number was 5 instead of 1 a wiki editor that didn't know better would assume that #1-4 are missing and would add them creating dupes so it is just easier to mark it as #1 to minimize duplicate confusion.

12. Title - Your example is the proper modern layout ([Major Arc](, Part #): Title(, Part #)) but there are still a lot of wiki pages that need updating. Lowercasing of, in & the has always been the editors personal preference. For mini-series without titles most editors do add the part but again it is personal preference to which format they use. As for trade arc's being used as the issue title most people do that but only by itself, you won't see like "Vol. 3; Story Arc". Your never going to be able to standardize this though as there is just too much of it that depends on personal preference.

13. Plot Summary - don't use spoiler blocks, it was decided upon a while ago not to use them as someone visiting the page is likely to have already read the issue and nothing can be spoiled, plus it looks ugly as hell.

14. In certain cases issue titles can be taken off of the cover, but these are special cases, and if you don’t know ask someone that does. And the same goes for creators being co credited with publishers.

15. In the case of a character or location appearance on the cover only it is good to indicate in the description that this is the case (as applies to alternate covers as well). Additionally in certain cases explain concepts as well. For instance, if you believe a cover is an homage cover and should thus be referenced, then explain in the description what it is in homage to (this might be the only time that you should link in the description text of the issue.) It is probably never really relevant to tag an object if it only appears on the cover.

16. Related to point 15 is that if you see something that doesn't seem like it belongs in a particular issue, then check for a note before deleting it. Usually a wiki editor had put something in the wiki for a reason. An example that I can think of is that one time when Betty and Veronica were at the town fair, there was a Captain's America's shield drawn into one of the background panels. In this case the wiki editor before hopefully left a note, and if not they should have.

Adding Characters

There are a lot of obscure characters that are added to the wiki, some that likely will never be looked up. That is ok though, this is a comic book database and it should include the obscure along with the well-known. Roughly speaking a character can be added if they have one significant role in one single story, or if they have a recurring but less important role over several.

Please note that alternate versions of characters do not get their own pages. Any information about an alternate version of a character should be placed in a subsection on the main version's page. This said, there are times when an alternate has earned the right to have its own page. If you think that an alternate version has earned such right then post your reasons why in the Editing & Tools Forum for community and mod feedback before creating a new page.

Naming Characters

Giving the right name to the right characters is a constant problem that we have on this site. If you are having a real dilemma about what to call a specific character, post in the name changing thread and receive some helpful advice. One thing which I see people do occasionally which is wrong, is to add in aliases which are not relevant. If for instance Spider-Man is yelling at Doctor Octopus and says "I am over here you big turkey" do not add that one of Doc Ock's aliases is the Big Turkey. Add in only names that people might reasonably search for and anything generic like that should be left out.

Adding and Editing Real Life Characters and Characters from Other Media

Read this especially if you are going to edit video game players.

Assuming that there is character that has appeared in comics because they are popular enough to have crossed over media, then by all means it is fine to add them in as characters. On the other hand the site needs information that mostly pertains to comics. This is not designed as an all around database, so while it might be relevant to have the details of musicians, politicians, movie characters, video game characters and the like on other sites, what we are concerned with here is mostly the stuff that applies to comics. Therefore with certain characters that have shown up in comics a lot, they can have fairly detailed histories of their appearances, but if a character shows up once or twice, it is not needed to have a detailed history of the character when none of that occurred in comics. A good balance would be no more than 75%-25% comic to non-comic material, but that is to the discretion of the user. Also in terms of video game characters what we do not need is a detailed listing of the moves the character can do in games. For the "Power and Abilities" section it is enough to say for instance "They are skilled at hand-to-hand combat" as opposed to listing every type of kick and punch they know. That information might belong at Giant Bomb (though I am not a mod there, so don't take that as any kind of approval to edit anything there by this site' standards.)

Adding and Editing Characters From the Public Domain

The Public Domain can be tricky subject area. Essentially as soon as any company creates their own version of a character, they can get their own character page. However, really in terms of the content for the site there should be something really different about the character to distinguish them. One of the easiest examples of this are the characters from either Fables or Grimm Fairy Tales. These characters deviate so far from the original material that they almost always deserve their own page. If you are going to create a new page for one of them, then please reference the new character on the "In the Public Domain" page so that people searching the wiki can find them easily enough.

Adding Teams

Teams are one of the most infrequently added pages to the wiki, as generally speaking they show up in comics the least frequently. Teams don’t have to be formally named teams exactly, just they evidently do have to be working together by something more than just chance. So therefore a group being funded by a supervillain can be added, even if it does not have a name. In this case try to name the team as accurately as possible, but think about using words like operatives, followers or something to that degree.

Exception to the Team Format - Mythical Teams

These teams are those which are not a team exactly but are instead a collection of mythical creatures. It is ok to tag these as a team whenever they show up in comics, though this is only for the generic version. So if Andrew Bennett or Mary, Queen of Blood show up in an issue, tag them and not vampires. If it is just random vampires then tag them as a team.

The format for these teams is different as well. In this case there are only two headings - Overview and Portrayals. Overview is a combination of description combined with historical portrayals of the entry. Portrayals on the other hand is the portrayal of these by comic book company. At the end of this section there can be a line for notable examples. If there are no notable examples just leave it blank.

Adding Story Arcs

Just how important does a story arc have to be in order to be relevant to be added? Well story arcs have to be at a minimum two issues otherwise they are just self-contained stories, but there are a lot of story arcs which are not included on the site. This comes down to two factors – an indifference to adding older story arcs and the fact that story arcs are not particularly relevant to the character. Essentially if a story arc will teach you more about the character then do so. If there was some other really noteworthy event that occurred then add it. If it is just a sort of regular story, it is not necessarily needed. This one comes down to personal taste as well of course. A lot of people will think that one story arc is particularly important to the series that it is related to, but if you justify it in the description portion of the story arc page, then it should be all right.

"Do not add foreign comics, reprints, sourcebooks, guides, spotlights, director's cuts, TPB's, hardcovers, etc. to story arcs. Those types of items are to be added to the story arcs page under the headers established in the style guide; Collected Editions, Non-U.S. Editions and Related Items in alphabetical order. An example can be found here .

Adding Creators, Volumes, Publishers

These are the ones based on real life. Add them as they become new (or rediscovered)

Adding Comic Objects

Comic objects can be grouped into two general groups of objects. The specific (Captain America’s shield) or the general (jet packs). This holds the same general standard of importance as a character. If the object is a prominent item then it can be added, even in the general sense. It is important to note here though that the point of this entry is to highlight key moments for the object and are not like a character. That is to say, an object does not have to be listed every time it is in a comic book, rather the more interesting times that it is used. So for instance Wonder Woman’s bracelets could be added if they are talked about or used in an interesting way, but don’t need to be listed every time that Wonder Woman shows up in a comic, even if they are there. With the general headings for objects though it is important to not get too general. We do not want heading like “guns” or “swords” in the wiki as those are too general. If something is a general object it should still be something which is abnormal enough to deserve entry.

An exception to the "objects shouldn't always be tagged" are objects that double as locations. So if there is for instance an aircraft carrier that some characters are based off of and it shows them interacting on it, then tag it every time.

Adding Concepts

Concepts are just about the most frustrating thing for the wiki moderators (and the diehard wiki editors). Concepts are either created on a whim and forgotten almost immediately, or they are over utilized as they are too generic, or they are far too obscure concepts which are hard to grasp. Every wiki editor can name a concept or three in the wiki that does not need to be there, so the key is to consider the three reasons for why a concept becomes useless. Add only the concepts that are both relevant and specific enough, and keep them updated and tagged whenever you can.

Adding Locations

Locations are the free-for-all of wiki categories. If a location shows up once in one panel, feel free to add it to an issue page, and add it to the wiki if it is not there already. The only caveat with locations is to avoid redundancy. It is not necessary for instance to add Manhattan, New York City and New York State to an issue page. One of the first two will do.

In the case of locations the best thing to do is to be the most specific. If there is a space war in a particular issue and it only shows Earth versus Mars, then feel free to tag Earth. Do not tag Earth for every comic based on Earth though as this will be regarding as point spamming. However, in the case where a city and a state appears it is acceptable to add them both. For instance, if the action follows from for instance Los Angeles to rural California, then both can be added. Be careful though, any additions of undue associations can be construed to be point spamming.

In the case of adding locations which are real life places or supposed to be real life places, then you could also update the Comic Geography of Earth.

Locations Exception - New York City Neighbourhoods

When it comes to certain large cities, it is ok to identify neighbourhoods within those cities so long as they play a prominent role within the story themselves. However, keep it in the context of what the story is meant to convey. This case happens the most with New York City and therefore it is important to note exactly where in the city the action is taking place. Often times writers use Manhattan synonymous with New York City, but if the action happens generically in New York City then tag that. Equally if the action occurs within a neighbourhood on Manhattan, then add in the neighbourhoods (or specific locations in terms of Times Square.) Reference the New York City page and see what areas are already covered there before adding anything in, and in many cases the locations in NYC can get pretty specific. When it comes to certain large cities, it is ok to identify neighbourhoods within those cities so long as they play a prominent role within the story themselves. However, keep it in the context of what the story is meant to convey. This case happens the most with New York City and therefore it is important to note exactly where in the city the action is taking place. Often times writers use Manhattan synonymous with New York City, but if the action happens generically in New York City then tag that. Equally if the action occurs within a neighbourhood on Manhattan, then add in the neighbourhoods (or specific locations in terms of Times Square.) Reference the New York City page and see what areas are already covered there before adding anything in, and in many cases the locations in NYC can get pretty specific.

Adding Movies

Movies are the only category which cannot be added from the site FAQ page and can only be added by browsing the movies categories. Which movies to add? That can be a tricky subject. Generally speaking if a comic character appears in the movie then they can be added. There is a bit of a loophole here, and that is that a lot of characters from movies end up showing up in comics. So while Transformers does not have a lot to do with comics, we still include the movies in the wiki, same with James Bond. Also movies with a superhero theme can also be included even if they do not have the comic characters in them.

Adding pictures onto pages

First of all, never add a picture onto an issue page. Secondly add pictures as you think is warranted, but try to not overdo. Thirdly, pictures should be right justified (on the right side of the page) 99.99% of the time. I know the 0.01% but I am not telling anyone what it is.

Also, images should not be watermarked or contain random crap. "Random crap" typically deals with screen shots where we can see your taskbar, browser, youtube controls, etc. We want quality images, not just any random crap image that you think needs to be there because there is nothing there yet.

Not Using the Regular Format Headings

Obviously use the format whenever possible (the formats for each kind of page is laid out in the FAQ.) However, we have a wide range of interest on this site and people with diverse backgrounds. Generally most information will fit into the standard categories, but in certain cases they won't. For instance, I am interested in the depiction of female characters, so quite often at the end of a page I will include a short section on the artistic depiction of the character. This is all right as long as the information is relevant to the page. Use discretion in this case, and run your ideas past a wiki moderator before doing too much work.

American Comics Translated Into Other Languages

This foreign language section drafted by CV user Cloudguy.

All of the basic guidelines are covered in earlier sections of this guide. This section only applies to American comics that are translated to another language.

Adding creators can be tricky as not all of the originals should be added. The ones that are best to leave out are:

  • Letterers
  • Editors
  • Others
  • Production
  • Journalist

They should be replaced with that countries letterer's, editor, etc.

The reason why is that most foreign comics have their own editors and letterers as they need to translate the text, and some countries censor things that wouldn't normally be censored in the U.S.

As ComicVine is a English only site the official solicits have to be in English, they cannot be translated via a website or addon. The exception is issue titles, chapter names and story titles which can stay in the original language but if possible should include an English translation as well. The official solicits are only allowed on the site in English only if they have been translated by someone who fluently speaks the issue's language and English.

Do not add story arcs to foreign comics. Those types of items are to be added to the story arcs page under the header Non-U.S. Editions in alphabetical order. An example can be found here.

Make sure that the main image cover is of that countries version of the issue, some covers only have slight differences from their U.S. counterparts. Scanlation covers should not be added to the wiki as they are not official covers.

The volume description must state what language the volume is translated to and should link back to its U.S. counterpart. If the volume translates more than one American volume it should list the volumes translated. The issue's descriptions should also state what issue's that it reprints but unlike the volume description linking back to the U.S. version is not needed. The US volume should also link back to the translated version here's an example. (Ignore the fact that's it's a Japanese manga.)

Another thing to note is that some European countries have their dates reversed. In the UK 08/09/2015 would be September the Eighth, 2015 but in the U.S. it would be August Ninth 2015.

Foreign publishers do not always have a 1:1 conversion of U.S. comics, sometimes they split them into chapters and pages can be omitted so at no time is it ok to just copy associations from the US editions, they need to be seen in the actual foreign comic or on the cover.

Conclusion

As a final point of advice I will say this, if you do not know what to do when editing anything in the wiki then please ask. Either post in the Editing and Tools forum, contact a wiki mod, or simply scroll through the top users page and ask anyone that is relatively active. In terms of comments left for moderators the same applies, except in this case it is more important. If you are just starting out here, the mods need to know what you are doing, and it makes our jobs a lot easier if we do. It might be an inconvenience, but a bigger inconvenience would be your work getting rejected because we do not know what has been edited. If you want feedback on a submission for a critique (or a congratulation) we have a thread for that too - the Submission Feedback Corner.

Further Reading

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RazzaTazz

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#2  Edited By RazzaTazz

Anyone feel free to suggest additions and corrections to the above.  I don't know everything (yet)

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Billy Batson

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#3  Edited By Billy Batson
New release issues are not to be added to the database until the day before they are released. This means Tuesday (12:01 AM, PST). No exceptions.

So many break this rule...
BB

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X35

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#4  Edited By X35

Wow... i got a name-check O_o

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The Poet

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#5  Edited By The Poet  Moderator

@Billy Batson said:

New release issues are not to be added to the database until the day before they are released. This means Tuesday (12:01 AM, PST). No exceptions.

So many break this rule...
BB

*chuckles*

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Billy Batson

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#6  Edited By Billy Batson

@The Poet said:

@Billy Batson said:

New release issues are not to be added to the database until the day before they are released. This means Tuesday (12:01 AM, PST). No exceptions.

So many break this rule...
BB

*chuckles*

It ain't no laughing matter.
BB

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The Poet

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#7  Edited By The Poet  Moderator

@Billy Batson: I realize that...but I was thinking of the number of users who have been warned about doing that and the number who still continue to add stuff early. I've had at least two discussions with two different users about the competitive nature of the addition of New Releases

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#8  Edited By Billy Batson

@The Poet:

Damn that fhi...wait, never mind :p
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#9  Edited By X35

@The Poet said:

@Billy Batson: I realize that...but I was thinking of the number of users who have been warned about doing that and the number who still continue to add stuff early. I've had at least two discussions with two different users about the competitive nature of the addition of New Releases

THEY GOTTA HAVE THE POINTS, BRO!! THEY JUST GOTTA!!

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#10  Edited By Billy Batson

@X35:

Meh, they just want to be the first ones :p
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#11  Edited By X35

@Billy Batson: The first ones with the most points!!

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#12  Edited By pikahyper  Moderator

@RazzaTazz: For your story arc section please include a blurb on not adding foreign comics, reprints, sourcebooks, guides, spotlights, director's cuts, TPB's, hardcovers, etc. to story arcs. Those types of issues are to be added to the headers established in the style guide. I still find users that add them...

Also not sure which section it would go under and its not a rule but I think it should be encouraged that new editors with less then 5000 points should not add new releases that are less then two weeks old, this will cut back on new release dupes a great deal.

Oh and one last thing in the new releases section a section should be added for solicitations explaining what they are, where they must come from, that they should be in italics and that links are not allowed in them. It would be good to include cause I've been explaining this to people a lot lately.

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#13  Edited By RazzaTazz
@pikahyper: I have actually never sourced out a solicitation.  Could you write that part up?
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#14  Edited By pikahyper  Moderator

@RazzaTazz: Here's a tweaked version of what I wrote recently for another user, if you need to reword it to fit your OP style go ahead :D

Solicitations

The solicit is an official advertisement text blurb of some sort either from the publisher or a prominent retailer i.e. not your own original writing and on ComicVine they are to be put in italics to denote that they are indeed a solicit. The main sources for solicits are from the publishers official web site such as marvel.com, dccomics.com, imagecomics.com, etc. or a prominent retailer such as Comixology or MyComicShop , solicits from the main North American distributor of comics Diamond are also acceptable from their web site or from Previews their monthly print catalog.

There are only a few rules to remember when adding solicits:

  1. Do not add links in the solicit text (add them to the associations sections where they belong)
  2. If the solicit includes bullets please delete them and replace them with ComicVine's own bullets (it just looks better)
  3. Solicits for print releases are preferred over the solicits for digital releases (this does not apply to digital exclusives of course)
  4. and finally do not include a solicit as both a volume description and an issue description (point whoring is frowned upon)

If you are unsure if your solicitation source is reputable/should be used please ask a wiki mod or post in this thread.

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#15  Edited By RazzaTazz
@pikahyper: Ok added that all in.  I added a fifth point for the solicits
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#16  Edited By pikahyper  Moderator

@RazzaTazz: o.o #5 isn't allowed madam.

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#17  Edited By RazzaTazz
@pikahyper: I was under the impression that if a solicit is only in a foreign language then it is added as such, just that we don't take solicits that have been otherwise translated.  Like an Italian comic would not ever have an English solicit so it is ok in that sense?
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#18  Edited By pikahyper  Moderator

@RazzaTazz: Nope, CV is English only except in three instances: volume titles, issue titles and chapter/story titles. Of those three instances only chapter/story titles are allowed to include foreign characters that do not use standard alphabetical characters and that is only allowed if accompanied by the English translation (most commonly seen for Asian manga). Break the English only rule and aztek comes down pretty damn hard, I'm against the rule but it is an original staff rule, CV is English only, we are lucky we get the few loopholes we do get.

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#19  Edited By RazzaTazz
@pikahyper: OK that has been removed.  
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#20  Edited By pikahyper  Moderator

@RazzaTazz: Where did you get your info from? was there a thread in the mod hangout that said it was ok???

Next time you talk to aztek confirm it with him, he and I got into a huge fight over it at the beginning of the year when I added like 40 French solicits to one of my fav manga's, I was surprised it didn't end our friendship cause it got so bad. It is my belief that the the original language solicit should be used because 99% of the people looking for that comic would obviously understand the text in their native language and if the data is available it is of historical value to use it otherwise it will be lost forever eventually.

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#21  Edited By RazzaTazz
@pikahyper: I thought I saw it some place ... not sure where though.  I will try and track it down.   
 
And Az doesn't start fights, he finishes them!
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#22  Edited By pikahyper  Moderator

@RazzaTazz: I don't think he finished that one, it went on for like a week then something else came up wiki related that was more important and the fight was forgotten lol :P

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#23  Edited By RazzaTazz
@pikahyper: Fair enough, just if Az were around he would want to say something like that, so I did it in his place.  
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#24  Edited By pikahyper  Moderator

@RazzaTazz: oh can you change the following sentence in the story arc section "Do not add foreign comics, reprints, sourcebooks, guides, spotlights, director's cuts, TPB's, hardcovers, etc. to story arcs. Those types of issues are to be added to the headers established in the style guide." to this "Do not add foreign comics, reprints, sourcebooks, guides, spotlights, director's cuts, TPB's, hardcovers, etc. to story arcs. Those types of items are to be added to the story arcs page under the headers established in the style guide; Collected Editions, Non-U.S. Editions and Related Items in alphabetical order. An example can be found here." I don't think I was clear enough in the first draft :P

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#25  Edited By Billy Batson
It is not necessary for instance to add Manhattan, New York City, New York State and USA to an issue page.

But there isn't an USA page :o
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#26  Edited By pikahyper  Moderator

@Billy Batson: which is fairly shocking, probably not one cause everybody just subconsciously assumes everything happens in the US :P

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#27  Edited By RazzaTazz
@Billy Batson: Someone should make one?
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#28  Edited By RazzaTazz
@pikahyper said:

@RazzaTazz: oh can you change the following sentence in the story arc section "Do not add foreign comics, reprints, sourcebooks, guides, spotlights, director's cuts, TPB's, hardcovers, etc. to story arcs. Those types of issues are to be added to the headers established in the style guide." to this "Do not add foreign comics, reprints, sourcebooks, guides, spotlights, director's cuts, TPB's, hardcovers, etc. to story arcs. Those types of items are to be added to the story arcs page under the headers established in the style guide; Collected Editions, Non-U.S. Editions and Related Items in alphabetical order. An example can be found here." I don't think I was clear enough in the first draft :P

OK changed
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#29  Edited By Billy Batson

@pikahyper said:

@Billy Batson: which is fairly shocking, probably not one cause everybody just subconsciously assumes everything happens in the US :P

and now that it's mentioned in the spoilers, a new editor will probably make one :p

@RazzaTazz said:

@Billy Batson: Someone should make one?

Why? o_O
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#30  Edited By RazzaTazz
@Billy Batson: From my point of view I read old space anthologies, and quite often there is an example where it says "Somewhere in the USA" and then cuts to there without explaining where that is.  Also the USA is not so special, there is a Canada page and then separate pages for provinces that have shown up in comics that have been referenced as such.  Like I indicated there, if editors want to go with as much detail down to city (or even neighbourhoods) for appearances of locations then it is ok.  
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#31  Edited By Billy Batson

@RazzaTazz said:

@Billy Batson: From my point of view I read old space anthologies, and quite often there is an example where it says "Somewhere in the USA" and then cuts to there without explaining where that is. Also the USA is not so special, there is a Canada page and then separate pages for provinces that have shown up in comics that have been referenced as such. Like I indicated there, if editors want to go with as much detail down to city (or even neighbourhoods) for appearances of locations then it is ok.

That would just cause a massive point whoring...
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#32  Edited By RazzaTazz
@Billy Batson: It could, but we can't make decisions in regard to the wiki that it will be abused, we have to assume it will not be.  The mods think the best of the users, not the worst (until proven otherwise that is)
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#33  Edited By jinxuandi

@Billy Batson said:

It is not necessary for instance to add Manhattan, New York City, New York State and USA to an issue page.

But there isn't an USA page :o
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You forgot Earth (seriously I've seen it used in the same way)

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#34  Edited By Billy Batson

@jinxuandi said:

@Billy Batson said:

It is not necessary for instance to add Manhattan, New York City, New York State and USA to an issue page.

But there isn't an USA page :o
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You forgot Earth (seriously I've seen it used in the same way)

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#35  Edited By Billy Batson

Get yer ass in here and say no to a possible USA page :p
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#36  Edited By fesak  Moderator

No

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#37  Edited By RazzaTazz

@jinxuandi: If you see people using Earth like that, let the mods know.

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#38  Edited By jinxuandi

@RazzaTazz: Ok. It's been a while since I've seen it but next time I'll let someone know.

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#39  Edited By RazzaTazz
@jinxuandi: I added a blurb about the use of Earth anyway to the guide.  
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#40  Edited By kuonphobos

Thank you for this.

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#41  Edited By xxxddd

@RazzaTazz said:

Anyone feel free to suggest additions and corrections to the above. I don't know everything (yet)

What about adding plot summaries for comicbook issues?

I just learned they have to be in one's own words, or, if copied from another source, provide an external link that shows that source gave permission for its information to be used by comicvine.

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#42  Edited By MajinBlackheart  Moderator

@xxxddd: Your own words only, even with permission. We want CV to be completely original content.

No permissions. No content from other sites. No external linking.

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#43  Edited By pikahyper  Moderator

@xxxddd: I didn't say copied from external sources with links to the source was ok, I said original words or official solicits were ok.

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#44  Edited By Xanni15

Is there a way for me to add a first appearance to someone's enemies page without deleting all the text that is already there for the other enemies? At least it looks like when I hit the edit button all the text disappears, I haven't tried to see if it actually does for fear that it will.

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#45  Edited By RazzaTazz
@Xanni15: I think it only look like that, it should be ok to go ahead and edit, but maybe do a screenshot of the data first
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#46  Edited By Xanni15

@RazzaTazz: Will do, thank you. :]

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#47  Edited By xxxddd

@jloneblackheart said:

@xxxddd: Your own words only, even with permission. We want CV to be completely original content.

No permissions. No content from other sites. No external linking.

Okay.

@pikahyper said:

I said official solicits were ok.

What does that mean?

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#48  Edited By Billy Batson

@xxxddd:

Comic book solicits tell you some insight what's going to happen in the issue. Publishers post them on their issues, websites and other official sites. Just go to a new issue page and you'll see it written in italic.
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#49  Edited By xxxddd
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#50  Edited By Billy Batson

@xxxddd said:

@Billy Batson:

I just went to Absolute Sinestro Corps War #1, is the solicit the italic plot summary?

Yup yup. You can just google it and find it on various sites.
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