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Frances  Wren
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Issues with Quotes > author name precludes discovery in quote function (but not other search functions)

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message 1: by Frances (new)

Frances Wren (franceswren) | 25 comments Hopefully this is the right place, as opposed to a bug log - an ARC reader kindly brought the following issue to my attention:

Summary: it's currently impossible for anyone to add new quotes attributed to my book because, unless they magically know to insert two spaces between "frances" and "wren", the only result the quote page offers is another Frances Wren (who is the author of Indian Slippers, and not me).

Details + Trouble Shooting to date:

A. I understand that because there are more than one author with my name, in the 'backend', my name has two spaces between the first and second words. This is not an issue in the general search bar at the top of the website -- typing in 'Frances Wren' (without two spaces) will turn up all the different books / authors by the same name. The kind librarians who helped create my book profiles etc at the time reassured me that the double space would not inhibit the general goodreads user.

B. *However*, when one goes to https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/new and types in "Frances Wr", the autocomplete (being "Frances Wren" without double spaces) only shows the work of the other author -- aka Indian Slippers.

This is not how the new-quote-author-autocomplete function works with other authors who share common names in the goodreads system. For example, there are multiple 'Frances White's. But when you type 'Frances Whi" and select "Frances White" from the autocomplete, it will display a full list of *all* the books by *all* the frances whites in the system. AKA: one is not required to type in 'Frances White" (with double space) in order to select Voyage of the Damned.

Solution: Is there a way to fix things so that my name behaves like the other repeat-name authors in goodreads system?

Thank you in advance for your help / advice!


message 2: by gem (new)

gem | 2620 comments I would recommend contacting Goodreads Support for help with issues related to site functionality.

https://www.goodreads.com/about/conta...


message 3: by Arenda (new)

Arenda | 26448 comments Frances wrote: "This is not how the new-quote-author-autocomplete function works with other authors who share common names in the goodreads system. For example, there are multiple 'Frances White's. But when you type 'Frances Whi" and select "Frances White" from the autocomplete, it will display a full list of *all* the books by *all* the frances whites in the system. AKA: one is not required to type in 'Frances White" (with double space) in order to select Voyage of the Damned."

That's because there were three editions of Voyage of the Damned attached to the wrong (1-space) author profile. I've moved those to the correct (3-space) Frances White.

Note: if you try it now, you might still see Voyage of the Damned, but that section needs time to update after changes are made.


message 4: by Arenda (new)

Arenda | 26448 comments Frances wrote: "Summary: it's currently impossible for anyone to add new quotes attributed to my book because, unless they magically know to insert two spaces between "frances" and "wren", the only result the quote page offers is another Frances Wren (who is the author of Indian Slippers, and not me)."

You are right that the number of spaces is relevant for adding quotes. And unfortunately, that is not mentioned anywhere, as far as I know.

They can use this page: https://www.goodreads.com/author/quot...
and use the "Add a Quote" link at the top right of the page. Using this link will automatically select the correct number of spaces.


message 5: by Frances (last edited Apr 23, 2024 02:09AM) (new)

Frances Wren (franceswren) | 25 comments Arenda wrote: "Frances wrote: "Summary: it's currently impossible for anyone to add new quotes attributed to my book because, unless they magically know to insert two spaces between "frances" and "wren", the only..."

Hi Arenda, I can also see that this spacing mechanism results in erroneous assignments that other librarians have also noted in relation to Frances White. For example, my ebook was added by someone and wrongly attributed to the author of Indian Slippers: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...
Can we delete this erroneous record please?

The correct (and longer standing) record is here: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...

EDIT: I just realised maybe i need to post this request separately in another thread...


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