Submission form improvement suggestions + images

[foxhack]

Sorry to be that guy, but could I request that the following things in the submission form be changed?

One: The box text textbox is one long line. Could that be changed to something two or three lines tall so we can read the text as we add it?

Two: Would it be possible to add a submission source box? So we could say "I scanned this myself, the barcode is from X, the image is from Y" and so on. It would make approving stuff much easier for you guys, since you could check things faster.

And about images... is it okay if I submit images that I submitted somewhere else? I'm cleaning up my old hard drive and found a small cache of scans from my time at MobyGames. The scans are -mine-, they have no watermarks, and they're not perfect, but they're serviceable.

Thanks!

[matt]

No need to apologize for being "that" guy. I love feedback and constantly use it to improve things.

One: Good point. I'll push out an update later today to address these.

Two: Some of this info is already being stored just not publicly visible. It also isn't down to the field level that you suggest. It wouldn't really speed up our approvals but I do understand people want credit for their work and submissions (we are working on badges to help with this). I'll think about this a bit more and would like to hear some other thoughts about it.

Three: As long as the images don't have watermarks they are fair game.

Thanks for the feedback. I'll update you when I fix the text boxes.

[matt]

@foxhack

Number one has been addressed on both the submit and edit pages.

[foxhack]

Two: Some of this info is already being stored just not publicly visible. It also isn't down to the field level that you suggest. It wouldn't really speed up our approvals but I do understand people want credit for their work and submissions (we are working on badges to help with this). I'll think about this a bit more and would like to hear some other thoughts about it.

You misunderstood; I don't really care about being credited (I'm here to list my collection, not be credited!), but it would help you verify that the submitted information is accurate. I recently corrected a bunch of games and wanted to add their JAN barcodes, but not having a way to prove that they were correct was uh, kind of bugging me. And stuff.

[tpugmire]

I thought that I was "that guy"...

I think this was brought up a long time ago, but what about the possibility of locking an item listing once it is complete and accurate?  It would involve a lot of fact checking, but it would ensure everything is accurate.

[matt]

haha I really hope no one worries about making suggestions/comments. I really love hearing it.

I do have a "verified" field in the database that isn't being used for anything just yet. I could make it so that us editors could set this flag when all data is filled in. I wouldn't want this to actually lock an entry from being edited, but maybe we could add those edits to a different list on our backend. That way if someone submits an edit to a verified game we would spend a bit more time to fact check it before approving the edit.

[amauriel]

Speaking of images, is there an issue with uploading .png files? I've tried two and gotten "No Box Art" both times. The first one, I tried renaming a few times, so I apologize if it gave you like 4 or 5 to approve.

[robbiedigital]

I think in an effort to improve the site (which I think is great) giving credit for contributions would help. I remember a site with box art and cd covers used to credit people for uploading and adding covers, and it eventually became about who could add the most, and was about status and accumulating the largest collection of additions. This could really help the site, and promote it as well.

[tpugmire]

Speaking of images, is there an issue with uploading .png files? I've tried two and gotten "No Box Art" both times. The first one, I tried renaming a few times, so I apologize if it gave you like 4 or 5 to approve.

Yeah, .png files won't work.  They need to be in .jpg format to work.

[tpugmire]

I think in an effort to improve the site (which I think is great) giving credit for contributions would help. I remember a site with box art and cd covers used to credit people for uploading and adding covers, and it eventually became about who could add the most, and was about status and accumulating the largest collection of additions. This could really help the site, and promote it as well.

This is being worked on in the form of badges.  There will be an update when it goes live.

[amauriel]

Yeah, .png files won't work.  They need to be in .jpg format to work.

Ok, I'll convert them and submit edits to those then. Thanks!

[scott]

Ya, unfortunately the image upload only supports jpg files. Makes me happy that I have Photoshop to do batch saves for converting pngs over.

[matt]

PNG support is on the to-do list. Submission badges are also coming soon...I swear.

[scott]

Submission badges are also coming soon...I swear.

I can confirm this. As they have been designed since 1985.

[foxhack]

Speaking of badges, why do people have so many "Games owned" badges? Like you, Scott. Why do you have the 100, 200, 300, 400, 500 and 600 badges? Wouldn't one badge be enough? :p