» What are the maximum sizes for pictures?
| The maximum sizes for pictures are:
- Character Guides = 180x405
- Episode screencaps = 250x188
- Merchandise = 200X240
- People Profiles, Show Main Image = 320x320
- Season guides = 250x300
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| » What's the difference between guest star and co-guest star?
| Basically a guest star plays a more important role than a co-guest star. The people mentioned in the beginning of the episode (after the opening theme) are normal guest stars, the ones in the credits at the end of the episode are co-guest stars. Not all shows make this difference. If you're unsure, just add everyone as regular guest star.
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| » Writer, story, screenplay... what's all that?
| First comes the people behind the story. They basically do exactly what you'd expect: write out the storylines and dialogue. Most of the time a story is written exclusively for the episode, but when an episode is based on a previous work (a novel, for example), the author of that work will also be credited as story for the episode.
Then we have screenplay - sometimes referred to as teleplay. The art of screenplay is basically turning a story into a "fully functional script". The people behind the teleplay make very few, if any changes to the actual story; it's about the way it is put. Small things like facial expressions, camera movements, and also formatting the result into a proper script.
Story, teleplay and screenplay credits need to be added to guides as they appear on screen. If an individual is credited, for example, as both story and teleplay for an episode, both credits need to be added to the episode page. Also, when a story credit or teleplay credit are provided for an episode, it is rare that a writer is credited.
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| » Can I use TVRage as source for my bot/script?
| Sure, but please use the special pages created for it and don't feed off the frontpage / show main page. Using those will save you a lot of coding work, and will also keep working when the TVRage layout changes. For us, it saves a lot of bandwidth and allows us to keep track of the number of visitors more accurately. You can find the script for previous/next episode here, and the "raw" schedule can be found here. The layout of the latter should be pretty self explanatory, but feel free to ask if you run into any problems.
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| » What can I take from other sites?
| Besides your own material, only the content found in Press Releases and similar sites are allowed from now on. If you want to copy episode synopses from official sites, you have to contact the site and ask them for explicit permission! This means, you have to e-mail them and say "May I use your synopsis for such and such guide?". And they have to say "Yes, you may." Don’t assume they’re OK with it. If they don’t answer back or say no – don't use their content! However, this is only valid for as long as the episodes in question haven't aired yet. Afterwards, we strongly encourage you to rewrite the copied synopses in your own words.
Every time you are given permission, we recommend that you keep the e-mail in case we want to verify your permission. With copyrighting issues, we cannot simply rely on your word.
If you find a site of which you are not sure whether it's a press release or not, post a link here and let a staff member decide.
Information such as airdates, episode titles and guest stars are not under copyright, so you can (provided you double check the information first) take those from other sites. If you take a lot of information from one site, it's considered "good manner" to credit them for it - for example by adding them in the links section.
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| » What are the references and analysis sections for?
| To know what to put under each section of the guides, please check the Section Definitions.
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| » I submitted a new picture for a show/person/my avatar, but I'm still seeing the old one.
| This is just a caching thing. Depending on your browser, hit refresh or shift+refresh and the new one should appear.
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| » Can you people add "random feature" to the site?
| Suggestions for new features or updates can be given by posting a message in the Suggestions forum. All suggestions are read daily by staff.
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| » How long will it take before my contributions are approved?
| The amount of time depends on the contribution. There are two kinds of people who can approve your submissions: Global Editors (as well as Site Administrators) and the specific show's editor. If the show you submitted to has an editor, there is a 36-hour window in which only the editor can review your submission. Normally the submission is reviewed within 24 hours, but once the 36 hour window has passed, staff will moderate the submissions as soon as possible. When there is no editor for a show, the submission will be left for the Global Editors and Site Moderators -- in which case it is typically moderated within a few hours.
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| » How do I become a Crazed Contributor?
| Crazed Contributors are an invitation only group. Users chosen to be Crazed Contributors have contributed to a variety of shows and people, and/or have been noticed by the staff as a trustworthy individual. New Crazed Contributors are chosen by the site's Global Editors and Site Administrators. Information on Crazed Contributor access and a list of current Crazed Contributors can be found here.
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| » Why can't I see the Wipe link for my messages anymore?
| The "wipe" link (to completely erase the message) only appears the first hour after you've posted the message. After that, you can click "remove"; this will remove the message's contents, but leave a note along the lines of "this message was deleted on the request of the poster".
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| » Assistant Editors
| In order for an Assistant Editor position to be approved, the Lead Editor must meet requirements #1-3, or the Assistant Editor must meet requirement #4.
- The editor who wishes to appoint an Assistant Editor must have a certain amount of points ^ - but this depends on each guide; small guides, in the range of 1-3 seasons, might not earn the editor a great amount of points... then again, small guides don't need Assistant Editors, period;
- The editor must give a good reason of why he/she needs an Assistant Editor ^^;
- The prospective Assistant Editor must be in the top 3 contributors list, or prove by other means how he/she can contribute to the guide and improve it on a big scale.
- The Assistant Editor must be someone trustworthy who submits a lot of accurate contributions to a guide on a daily basis, and therefore doesn't need to have his submissions handled by the editor. This position would merely serve as a means to relieve the LE from having to accept 100 subs for that one guide per day -- even though that guide may be complete.
Also be attentive to the following:
- If at any point a Lead Editor becomes AWOL or resigns from the guide, the Assistant Editor becomes Lead Editor by default. Former Editors cannot come back and reclaim the lead position by default. However, this will only happen in those cases in which an Assistant Editor was given full access to the guide.
- Lead Editors reserve the right to ask for an Assistant Editor to be removed at any point, but must provide a valid reason for removal.
- If it becomes apparent that the Assistant Editor is doing more work than the Lead Editor, the Assistant can apply to become Lead. A Mod will be given the application and will determine whether or not the two Editors should switch positions.
Warning: When picking an AE, we strongly advise that you pick someone whom you trust. Look for someone that you know will do the work and do it right. (A Robin to your Batman, if you will.) We say this based out of prior experience that some people may be tempted to make you look bad in order to take over, or possibly sabotage the guide itself for one reason or another. If this does happen, we will remove the AE (following the guidelines of course). But if we have to remove an AE under bad circumstances, it will be noted both on the show (for our preferences) and on you as the Editor. After that , it will become more difficult for us to allow you to find a replacement, seeing as how we would not want a repeat offense. So, before you submit a name: choose wisely!!!
To AE's. If we must remove you, we will not only note it in your profile, but you will also face the possibility of being penalized anywhere from being denied ever becoming an AE again, to being removed from your own guides, to being suspended or banned. (Depending on the circumstances)
^Someone who has 100 pts then probably is not doing his job in the first place, so he doesn't need an Assistant Editor, he needs to be retired.
^^E.g., the guide has dozens of contributions per day and needs help handling them, so for this the Assistant Editor will be given limited access only.
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| » What is a "Complete" guide?
| The term "Complete" means that a guide contains certain components, such as episode lists, summaries, screencaps or character guides. There are five Phases of completion and each one of them entails specific requirements that need to be meet in order for every Phase to be complete.
You can put in the Phase requests by going to the link "Completion" provided on the Admin Menu of the guide you wish to mark complete.
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| » Phases of Completion (In-depth)
| Phase One
- The guide must be free of newlines, spelling, grammatical and formatting errors ― for this you should copy/paste each episode guide in a Word Processor and look for typos;
- Main Summary (must be original work; not copied even from official sites);
- Main Image;
- Guest Star list is completed;
- For Shows that ended: all episodes must have synopses;
- For Shows on the air: all episodes that aired must have synopses
(you can use official synopses only before the episode airs, after that you must rewrite them);
- Cast / Crew is complete;
- Episode List is complete.
Phase Two
- The guide must include Show Tidbits and Merchandise;
- Each episode page must have (if available) as many Extras as possible
(Featured Songs, Episode Notes, Episode Quotes, Full Episode Crew, Episode References and Goofs);
- The Extras of every page must be in conformity with TVRage's formatting standards;
- Each episode page should be proofread and thoroughly checked for newlines, spelling, grammatical and formatting errors ― for this you should copy/paste each page in a Word Processor before putting in a completion request.
Phase Three
- Character guides must be completed for each show star and major recurring characters, each guide containing photos (if available) and a character story;
- Seasonal guides must be completed for each completed season and include major plot points, events, love triangles, etc.;
- Show Slang must be completed if available for your guide. Show Slang varies from show to show and may not be used in your particular guide;
- All components must be proofread and thoroughly checked for newlines, spelling, grammatical and formatting errors ― for this you should copy/paste each page in a Word Processor before putting in a completion request.
Phase Four
- Half of the episodes need to have either a recap, an analysis or both;
- Screencaps need to be added if available ― this will depend on the availability of screencaps and copyright issues with each screencap. Because of this, this requirement will be evaluated per series and exceptions to this requirement can be granted if needed;
- All recaps and analyses should be proofread and thoroughly checked for newlines, spelling, grammatical and formatting errors ― for this you should copy/paste each page in a Word Processor before putting in a completion request.
Phase Five
- The guide must contain all its English content in at least one foreign language.
- All the rules of the other Phases apply in here.
**NOTE: For newly airing shows, a minimum of half of the planned episodes, as determined by the episode order, must air before the guide is eligible for any level of completion. For example, if 22 episodes have been ordered, a minimum of 11 episodes must air before the guide is eligible. If the episode order is unknown, a minimum of 5 episodes must air in order for the guide to be eligible. Any other currently airing non-new series can be submitted for level 2 completion or higher at any time. However, once the guide is submitted and approved, it must continue to be updated on a regular basis. Guides will be routinely checked by the staff -- any guides that have been approved but neglected thereafter will be automatically lowered in completion level.
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| » What is Stock Footage? How do I credit a person credited as Stock Footage?
| Stock Footage (a.k.a. archive footage) is previously recorded material by a source not related to the source using it, or previously aired material by the source using it. For example, if E.T. does a story on Britney Spears, and you see her walking down the red carpet at the Grammys in 2004, that's Stock Footage. In this situation, Britney Spears is billed on E.T. as 'Stock Footage' -- not as 'Guest' not as 'Uncredited Guest Star', because she didn't actual appear on to E.T., but E.T. used footage from another source (the Grammys) to make up a show clip.
This also applies to shows. If a certain series makes a recap episode (Episode X) to sum up what happened throughout the past season, the actors appearing on those clips should not be credited as 'Guest Stars'. For example, if a certain actor appeared once on Episode Y, naturally being credited as a 'Guest Star', and a clip of that episode where he appears is used in the recap Episode X then he cannot be billed as 'Guest Star' in this episode. Why? Because Episode X is using Stock Footage of Episode Y -- the actor did not do any new footage for Episode X, therefore he can't be given 'Guest' nor as 'Uncredited Guest Star' credit. Unless he is credited as such on screen. However, if he's given Stock Footage (on the show) then you should leave him out entirely. We do not list Stock Footage credits simply because Stock Footage is used on various shows, which would create endless lists of credits for certain individuals, and obfuscate the actual appearances that warrant credits.
If you persist in crediting Stock Footage as 'Guest' or as 'Uncredited Guest Stars' after being told otherwise, that might be viewed as gaming the system and result in appropriate punishment.
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| » How Do I Raise My Level?
| The level system is based on overall activity on the site, from contributing to show and people guides, posting, writing reviews, posting blogs, taking quizzes, etc. Any site activity will raise your level.
Your level is displayed both in your profile and under your avatar in the forums, and is displayed as your level and the percent of that level you have achieved in parenthesis next to the level number.
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| » What is a "PM"?
| PM stands for Private Message, and is TVRage's own personal way of connecting with your fellow members. There are many different ways of sending a PM. One way is to find a post in the forum by the person you want to send the PM too, and then click "Send Message" which is down below their avatar. Another way is to go to the main page, click "Inbox", then "Compose". From this screen you can manually type in the username of the person you want to send your message to, or if they are on your friends list, you can choose their name from a pull down taskbar. The final way is to visit the member's profile, and then click "Send Message" from the navigation bar on the left side.
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| » How Do I Become an Editor?
| In order to be eligible to apply for an editorship for both series guides and people guides, you need 40 total contribution points. After the 40 points is reached, you will need 40 more points for each additional series guide you wish to be editor for. For example, if you wish to be editor for 3 series, you are required to have a minimum of 120 contribution points. However, for people guides only 40 total points is required for 1 guide or more than 1 guide.
For every 4 series that you are editor for, at least 2 of those series need to be marked to a Level 1 completion level or higher. For example, if you are the editor for 8 series, 4 need to be Level 1 complete or higher in order to apply for a 9th guide. Further info on phases of completion of a guide can be found here.
Lastly, shows yet to premiere cannot be applied for until the show has premiered.
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| » How Do I Report An MIA Editor? (updated 2/1/14)
| If you suspect that the editor is MIA, you can PM your concern to any Site Moderator or Global Editor. Each report will be investigated and dealt with appropriately as soon as possible.
Signs that an Editor may be Missing In Action include lack of updates to the guide and/or consistently not moderating submissions within the alloted 36 hour time frame.
Any editors who take a unexplained leave of absence for a period of 100 days or over without informing staff of their absence using the Editors on Vacation or Editors Resignation forum threads will automatically forfeit their position as editor of their guides.
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| » Where do I report shows or people that needs to be renamed or removed?
| To report a show or person that either needs to be removed or renamed please post in the Bug Reports forum. Link found below:
Bug Reporting
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| » An episode is stuck in the "Unknown Season", what do I do?
| If you are not the editor: Please use this thread to notify a staff member and it will be taken care of. If you are unable to post in the forum, send a PM to a Global Editor/Site Moderator
If you are the editor:
1. In the shows admin menu, go to Main Settings
2. At the top of the page Unknown Season is set to Hide It, change the value to Show It.
3. Press Update Settings at the bottom of the page.
Now the episode in the unknown season can be removed/moved to another season. When you are done, just go back and Hide the Unknown Season again if you have no more use for it.
To avoid creating episodes in the unknown season always input the number of seasons the show has when submitting a new show.
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| » How do I submit a news article to a show?
| We have revamped the news system and no longer accept user submissions. We now rely on a group of writers who write articles for TVRage.
If you are interested in writing articles for TVRage you can apply here.
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| » What to do if my question is not answered here?
| If you can't find the answer to your question here you can do one of two things:
- Make a post about it in the Help & Support forum.
- Contact one of our staff members.
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