Goodreads Librarians Group discussion
Book Cover Help
>
Deleting book cover image (and other issues relating to edits and librarian logs)
date
newest »
newest »
message 1:
by
Lobstergirl
(new)
Mar 21, 2013 12:35AM
When you delete a book cover, the librarian log says "image uploaded." Perhaps this language should change to indicate a deletion happened.
reply
|
flag
+1. Change log not always the easiest thng to read.The bookcover deleting/changing is getting out of hand. Some wording changes in log and on the edit page over by cover menu actions might help.
I suspect "image_uploaded_at" is the database variable that holds the image information. I don't think it's as easy as it might seem to replace. Perhaps, though, an emphasis on "to" in the logs would go someway towards making it less confusing?
Something like
image_uploaded_at: '' to 'Mon Nov 12 01:06:28 -0800 2012'
image_uploaded_at: 'Thu Jun 21 19:45:07 -0700 2012' to ''
image_uploaded_at: 'Thu Jun 21 19:45:07 -0700 2012' to 'Mon Nov 12 01:06:28 -0800 2012'
would at least make it easier to see at a glance whether the cover was added, deleted or both.
It would also help for finding the "to" connector between changed descriptions, I always hate looking for that one in the logs.
Mod
Correct.
There are no current plans to change how the logs work (they were substantially upgraded in January 2012, which took days and days of developer time). But I'll keep these suggestions in mind for the next time we review their function.
And display the 'before' and 'after' images.
Is it difficult for the developers to maybe generate a list of cover deletions? Maybe a weekly or monthly checklist with line numbers so librarians could post on the list thread that they are doublechecking lines1-25, 26-36 or whatever until someone has volunteered to check every line item.
Debbie wrote: "Is it difficult for the developers to maybe generate a list of cover deletions? Maybe a weekly or monthly checklist with line numbers so librarians could post on the list thread that they are doub..."I think that would be a very long list. Besides, Rivka has said they are not planning log tweaks so new facilities are even more unlikely.
Mod
Definitely already on my list.
Good! This has been a constructive discussion.
rivka wrote: "Banjomike wrote: "And display the 'before' and 'after' images."Definitely already on my list."
Hurray! That will be a big help. Will be lovely to see at a glance that a cover change was to a better image versus incorrectly updating instead of creating ace.
Mod
rivka wrote: "Banjomike wrote: "And display the 'before' and 'after' images."Definitely already on my list."
Since you have a list... ;)
I'm currently removing a lot of descriptions that are reviews and leaving comments to that effect but I'm noticing that the comments are not at all noticeable.
Right now I see something like this:
Vicky Northwood updated the book booktitle by authorname
Vicky said: Description was a review or whatever other comment someone writes title: 'old title' to 'new title'
The first field changed is not even on a new line after the comment. Ideally, I think there should be a double return after the comment so it stands out:
Vicky Northwood updated the book booktitle by authorname
Vicky said: Description was a review or whatever other comment someone writes
title: 'old title' to 'new title'
Do the librarian comments show up in the log? (as opposed to librarian notes...)
They're there, just not noticeable.Here's a link to one of the log pages for one of the books I edited: http://www.goodreads.com/book/edits/1...
The change comment is attached the first change I made, #51772468.
Thanks for that Vicky, it's nice to see how the librarian comments work. I used them faithfully when I first started doing edits, but I couldn't see how they were really useful to anyone compared to the notes.I'll start using them again now. It makes the logs a tiny bit clearer.
I use comments if correcting something odd that the next person editing might not understand or if correcting something against policy so next editor doesn't put back the problem. I don't usually comment for changes that are clear like adding an image or other info where none existed before, just changing a typo like "teh" in title to "the"...I try to stick on a librarian note if something (like a bookcover) was repeatedly changed back and forth against policy.
The comments I leave don't always show in the logs. I'm not sure why (usually when revoking cover changes or fixing broken thumbnails I will comment but something about the cover feature does not always keep the comment). I think it may be the order I comment in between the changes?
I use them too for things like "Removed whitespace from image" or "Replaced obvious Amazon image"...
There are some changes that use different processes, I think. If you look at the example I provided you'll see four changes under my name. I did all of this in one click of save, so there are definitely some things that register differently.
Not to get too far afield here, but yes. I recently made one edit on a book and when I went back and looked at it, I had become the source of the description, which I had not touched. (It used to be that the user who created the book record was named in the record, but now that same spot seems to be reserved for the creator of the book description. Not really sure why that is.)
Lobstergirl wrote: "Not to get too far afield here, but yes. I recently made one edit on a book and when I went back and looked at it, I had become the source of the description, which I had not touched. (It used to ..."Me, too. Some of my edits that do not touch the description show me as originating or changing a description.
Another logging change I would like to see would be to add a record of the person who originally added the book/quote/series or whatever. It can be difficult to see who added a book especially after a few edits.
Debbie wrote: "The comments I leave don't always show in the logs. I'm not sure why (usually when revoking cover changes or fixing broken thumbnails I will comment but something about the cover feature does not always keep the comment). I think it may be the order I comment in between the changes?"I played around with this a bit today. It seems that if you add a comment and then click "delete image" the comment does not attach.
I added a comment when the only edit I made was to upload an image and the comment attached, see here:
http://www.goodreads.com/book/edits/1... Edit #51791262
I also added a comment when I made a test change in addition to the image change and the comment attached:
http://www.goodreads.com/book/edits/1... Edit #51791328
So I think so long as you're saving (whether through the Upload Image or Save Changes button) the comment will attach.
Okay I have a question....The author got a hold of me and asked if I could upload the new covers for her book the old ones she asked to be deleted. She is in the process of changing the old covers to the new ones with amazon as well.
I was able to delete the old one on the first book in the series but the second book (link below) wont delete the other edition that was added that she no longer wants on there since when the book comes out it will not have that cover. ANY help is greatly appreciated!
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17...
My suspicious nature always makes me wonder why an author pm's me for 'simple' jobs. When it happens the best thing to do is repost the request in the librarians group (where the request should have been made in the first place) giving all the details from the pm and it will be seen to.
Why is it that people still want to "update" a book's cover? Authors may not be aware of the policy not to change the covers of existing editions, but librarians should be!I'm so tired of undoing updated covers, as well as people asking for this...
Isn't there a way to make sure that every new librarian knows the manual? For example, on another reader's site I used to be a member of, you as well had to apply to be a librarian, but then you had to pass some tests, like creating a new edition of a given book and correcting and completing another. Experienced librarians were supervising this process, there was a special group where the tests were held and the candidates could ask questions, and only after they did everything right, they were granted full librarian status.
Wouldn't that be possible here? It might sound like a lot of work, but it will save us loads of work.
Authors are certainly aware of the policy. Why else would they PM new librarians to make these illegal changes?
You do realise that "authors may not be aware..." was not the crucial point of my comment, hm? ;-)
Martini wrote: "You do realise that "authors may not be aware..." was not the crucial point of my comment, hm? ;-)"OK
Oh. Sorry. I didn't know. So when she changes the cover with amazon can it be changed here on Goodreads? The thing is the second book hasn't been published yet. That one can't be changed either?? She had one cover done and it was put up then she changed her mind about it and went with a different person to do her cover. That one isn't published yet.
The first one is though so I can understand that. She doesnt know much about computer stuff. So that was why she had asked. So I thought it was okay since she is getting it changed with Amazon also.
Mod
We do expect all active librarians to be familiar with the Manual.
♡ Mommas♡ Books♡ wrote: "So when she changes the cover with amazon can it be changed here on Goodreads?"
No. Please see http://www.goodreads.com/help/show/85...
For a book that was NEVER published, the cover can be changed. If that cover was published, but a new edition with a new cover is or will be available, a new edition is added. the old one is not changed.
Being a new librarian myself, I found this a very helpful discussion. Thank you all :)
rivka wrote: For a book that was NEVER published, the cover can be changed. If that cover was published, but a new edition with a new cover is or will be available, a new edition is added. the old one is not changed.Thank you!
I find the examples in librarian manual very helpful. And I realize all librarians are required to know the manual. Maybe as a mini-little yes/no test before getting librarian status (or in with the manual and/or the notice granting librarian or author status) we could come up with a brief FAQ list of top 5-10 "Wish I Had Known"/"Top Do/Don't/Make-sure-you-know-policy" items.
Definitely never changing published covers (other than image correction/improvement ) and understanding alternate cover editions at top of the FAQ list for me.
No lbrarian has to respond to help requests for stuff still not comfortable with after reading manual. Always welcome to post here asking for clarification.
Plenty of work fixing typos, missing covers, resolving unknown books, etc. without working on confusing things or tasks you don't lookup in manual.
[I have encountered cover-changing authors who became librarians just to edit their own books versus maintaining database. Then later realized they just needed to claim author profile or to also claim the pen name or are all fired up in group discussions because eventually their cover changes got reversed.
And as a newbie, I certainly made my own mistakes; not claiming perfection even though I truly did read manual, look things up in manual, and asked questions of other librarians. But the bookcovers and alternate editions in particular are really bad about having to change back and forth...ugh...even ran across someone deleting librarian note then re-replacing original covers...]
I'm not sure manual is clear that "published book cover" includes Advanced Reading Copies sent out in advance of publication date to reviewers, bloggers, contest winners, etc.A book in any form that a goodreads member may have or have read — that cover stays even if not what goes out mass market publication. Many members want to shelve books with the cover they read.
