Encyclopaedia Metallum HELP - How it works

This page explains the purpose and function of the Encyclopaedia Metallum. If, as a member, you are ever unsure about how to proceed, or if you have any question, please read this first. We also strongly suggest you browse the news archives in case the issue has already been addressed. If you have any further questions, then you can ask us directly at webmaster AT metal-archives DOT com or other users at the message board.

General

The purpose of this site is to grow the largest and most complete database regarding heavy metal bands as possible. Since we cannot possibly know all the bands ourselves, especially the really obscure ones, we figured we should let the visitors contribute.

Of course, letting users enter information involves taking a certain risk; anyone who has ever used a service such as a message board knows that there are often users that have nothing better to do than troll and/or spam. So because of this, we took certain precautions, limiting the access to the site's database to registered users only. And even those do not have the same access as the more advanced users.

So we built interfaces for the users to be able to enter the information we wanted to have on the Encyclopaedia, while still having full control of the data. We realize that some parts of the interfaces may be more ambiguous, especially for non-experienced Web users, so we wrote this help file, hoping to clear some questions some of you might have.

Anyone can browse through the site's content as they please. You must be a registered member only if you wish to contribute to something. All contributions are totally optional if you do register.

You can browse the Encyclopaedia by alphabetical order (by choosing a letter), by country or by genre lists. You can also browse through reviews, grouped by month and sorted by date (newest reviews first) or grouped by ratings. You can also see the newest additions and newest updates on the main page. More options might be added later.

You can search for bands in several different ways. You can search by keyword(s) on the following: band name, lyrical themes, genres/subgenres, album title, song title, label or lineup. Partial matches work, so if you type "Demon" for band name, you can find results from "Demon" to "Demonic" or "Pandemonium".
You can also search for certain albums in other users's collections, or type in a member's username to find his profile page. Partial matches now work, so if you search for "Morri", you will be taken to Morrigan's profile, or if you search for "Hell", you will find a list of members with that word in their username.

You can also perform an "advanced" search, by combining several available filters. For example, you can view a list of all the thrash metal bands from Norway, or all the pagan black metal bands in Germany, or all the disbanded satanic power metal bands from Gothenburg, Sweden ;) You can also search by album in your search, with the title, release year or label.

If you stumble upon a band page that contains mistakes that you cannot correct yourself (either because you are not a registered member, or because you don't have a high enough rank if you are), you can report the band via the relevant link on the band's page. You don't have to be a registered member to report a band, however if you are, you may get extra points if your report is considered helpful by the moderator.
You must enter the specific reasons for reporting the band (because if the moderator does not know the band, s/he may not see what's wrong with the data). The band will then be flagged and reviewed by a moderator as soon as possible, who may then perform the necessary updates. More than one user can report the same band, and you can report the same band more than once so long as the reason is different each time.

You must also select a "priority level" for your report. You must be reasonable: constantly using the High priority for errors that are frankly unimportant is considered abuse and will not be tolerated.
Here are some examples of what kind of errors fit what kind of priority, for accepted bands:

• Low - Most "nitpicky" corrections fall under this:
  MemberX also played in BandY and BandZ;
  Minor typos (e.g. "Bassist is called John Smith, not Jon Smith")
  Prettier picture/logo
  Bad formatting of data (if it's truly a complete mess, selecting a higher priority is acceptable)
• Normal - Most errors fall under this:
  Tracklisting errors;
  Truly bad typos or Engrish;
  General info (label/status/lineup update);
  Broken pictures or links
  Etc.
• High - Use this for bigger problems that should be fixed/removed ASAP:
  Sabotaged information;
  Non-respect of guidelines (info not in English, non-neutral, etc);
  Invalid albums (bootlegs, invalid re-issues, duplicates);
  Band listed twice in database;
  Band does not belong on the site (be SURE of this!)
  

Examples of priority reasons for pending bands:

• Low - Providing additional, but non-essential or otherwise unimportant information
• Normal - Providing an otherwise missing link, additional helpful information, band already in queue
• High - The band should be nuked immediately (+ PROOF, unless it's obvious, e.g. Slipknot submission)

Note that these are examples only - there are more reasons which are not listed above, so use common sense. Being reasonable is all we ask.

If you ever stumble upon a persistent bug, by all means report it to us at webmaster AT metal-archives DOT com. to us and we will do our best to fix it. PLEASE be specific; tell us where and how it happened (tell us anything that you might have done which could have triggered it); it'll help us greatly for fixing it, if possible. If it's an "internal server error", I'm afraid there is nothing we can do about it.

To be able to access and manipulate the site's database in any way other than a reading/viewing mode, you must be a registered user. To register, click here.

If you decide to register as a member of the Encyclopaedia Metallum, make sure you read the guidelines at least once. As a member, you agree to follow the guidelines, or get your submissions rejected and possibly get banned from registering again if you choose to be a troll. You also agree to take responsibility for every submission under your name. If someone else uses your computer, it may not be a good idea to make the Encyclopaedia remember your login information. Use your own judgment regarding your login preferences.

Except for your user name, you can change all the information in your profile whenever you wish. We will not validate your email address every time you update your profile; however, if you enter an invalid email address and forget your password, we will not be able to help you.

The personal information you submit to the Encyclopaedia Metallum is kept safely in our database and is NOT given to any other parties. You can choose to keep your email address private from the other users if you prefer. You can also decide to receive (or not) any email whenever a moderator approves or rejects your submission.
However your email address must be valid, to prevent trolls from registering multiple accounts with false email addresses: when you register, you will receive an automatic email that will allow you to activate your account. You will not be able to use your privileges as a member if your account is not activated. This confirmation email is the only email that you are forced to receive as a member. We are absolutely against spamming and we will not send you any email you do not want in your mailbox. This email is also the only place your password will be visible. The only exceptions are : a) if you forget your password, you can choose to retrieve it with our automatic password retrieval system (your password will be emailed to you), or b) if you report a band but do not give sufficient information, or if the moderator would like to ask you a question, s/he may ask you via email. But know that at least, the former is a genuine communication and not an automatic email, or something like spam.

• submit new bands to the Encyclopaedia
• add new data for already existing bands (includes albums and links)
• write album reviews (you are limited to one review per album)
• update your own reviews
• edit your profile
• add items to your metal collection
• edit your collection
• report a band

• update existing bands
• update data for existing bands (including albums and links)

As you participate as a member by submitting or updating data, you can earn points. Similar to many message boards where the member changes his "rank" by posting a certain number of messages, an Encyclopaedia member can eventually change ranking by reaching a certain number of points. Only certain ranks can really make a difference.

Here's a brief explanation of how ranks work:

• All members can add new data, regardless of rank.
• All ranks below Veteran have no significance and serve only for amusement, or monitoring each member's activity.
• Only members with a rank of Veteran or higher can update existing data, and with limits (see updates section).
• Only members with a rank of Metal lord or higher can act as a moderator (accept or reject submissions, near-total data control).
• Only the webmasters (Metal Goddess/Metal God) have complete control over the site's content.
• Earning or losing points will not change a member's rank if it's Metal lord or above.
• You cannot reach the rank of Metal lord or higher by simply earning points (the maximum is Metal demon).
• Only the webmasters can promote a user to a rank of Metal lord.
• Do NOT ask us to become a moderator/Metal lord, especially if we don't know you.

All registered members can add a band to the database. However, all band entries are moderated. So unless the member has a rank of Metal lord or above, the newly entered band will not yet appear on the website. Allow some time for a moderator to review the submission. The required information is shown in italic, so make sure those fields have complete and exact data.
If you are not sure as to what we mean for each field, here's a brief explanation (though most of them are self-explanatory, but this is just in case it may be ambiguous):

Once you have entered a band, you don't necessarily have to wait until it is approved to add more data! You can still add as many releases or links as necessary and/or as you want (if you choose to do that, make sure the band follows the guidelines or doesn't already exist, or else you will just have wasted your time!). Of course, you don't have to enter all the discography at once, since the band will probably release more albums eventually anyway. When you're done, click "End submission" in the band submission menu. Once you do that, you will not be able to access the information you entered until your submission is approved.

Be warned: the moderator may feel the need to change some of the data. It could be to simply fill in a blank, or to correct a mistake.

All registered members can add a release to an existing band. A release can, well, be any work the band has released: demo, EP, single, full-length album, live album, DVD, VHS, boxed set or a split album with other band(s).
For the tracklisting (optional for DVDs/VHS), only the song title for each song is required, but if you know the song length, or if you can get the lyrics, then by all means add them (after all, we strive to be as complete as possible). If you don't want to enter the tracklisting for a DVD/VHS, just leave the "number of tracks" field blank. For boxed sets, you will not have to enter the tracklisting, but rather, the name of each CD, and their total playing time (optional as always).

Be warned: you will not be able to add tracks to an existing release: so it's best if you enter them all at once.
Here's a brief explanation for each field:

Title	If you can't figure that one out, you may shoot yourself now.
Release date	Only the year is required, the rest are optional. If you know the exact date though, please enter it; it will make the chronological sorting even more accurate.
Release type	See the list mentioned earlier.
Length	00:00:00 format. If you know the total playing time of the release, you can add it here. If you don't, but added the length for all the songs, it will be automatically calculated. Sometimes they differ, because of hidden tracks, so that's why we offer to directly enter it here.
Label	The label which published this release (you can write "self-released" or "independant" otherwise). If it's been re-released by another label, you can write both labels if there's enough space (otherwise just choose one, and you can specify the other in the additional notes).
Additional notes	Guest musicians, technical specifications, bonus tracks, cover artist, etc.; anything relevant to the album that's not specified in the other fields can be added here.
Song titles	if you can't figure that one out...
Song lengths	00:00 format. If you know the length for each song, you can add them. Try to be consistent; if you specify the length for a song, do it for all the others.
Song lyrics	You can click the link "add lyrics" to open a text box and write/paste the lyrics for the song there. If you made a mistake, you can reopen the text box and edit what you wrote. Be warned: if you refresh the page, all the lyrics you have entered in the text box will be lost just like for the other fields of the form!
Cover art	Max of 50 kb, 70 kb for boxed set pictures. You can upload the release's cover art. Same restrictions as band photo/logo. Be warned: if the image is too large, an automatic error message will appear and you may lose all the previously entered songs, including the lyrics. The reason why you must enter the cover art at the end of the submission rather than at the beginning is purely technical, i.e. so that the file gets uploaded only when the release submission is completed.

Adding a split album for more than one band is a little more complicated. You will have to first enter the data above like an ordinary release, but you will have to enter the number of additional bands (meaning, if 2 bands participate for the album, enter "1") first. Then you will have to find the unique #ID for the additional band(s). It would have been easier for you to enter the band's name, but since some bands might have the same name it is simpler to go with the band's unique identification number.
You have several ways to find a band's ID number; it's not difficult if you're somewhat observant. You can browse the Encyclopaedia's lists and point the mouse over the band's name, and look down in the STATUS bar at the bottom of your browser (if you don't see it, open the band page in a new window and watch the URL in the Address bar of your browser): you will see the URL for the band's page, which has an ID parameter after the ? mark. You can also go to the band's page and find the ID by checking the URL for pages such as the Update or Add new data links.

When you have found the IDs you need, the application will find the corresponding band(s) for you. Make sure the ID is valid or you will get an error message and will have to try again. But you only need to enter the split album once, and it will be listed for all the participating bands.

This section should be self-explanatory. All registered members can add related links for each band. Just enter the page's name, its URL and specify the type of site (fan site, official website, etc). You can enter as many links as you want.

Note: in the band fields "line-up" and "additional notes", you can enter links for pages on this site to similar or related artists. For example, if you write "See also Band X" in the notes or line-up field for Band Y, and if Band X is present on the site, you should include a direct link to Band X's page. Use the {\link Band X} syntax.
Example:
In the notes for Mercyful Fate, write See also: {\link King Diamond}
It will appear as: See also King Diamond.
Note that if you make an error in the syntax, it will not work. Make sure it's really {\link artist} (note the space between link and artist, and close the {} properly). Also, when more than one band have the same name, we usually append a country abbreviation, like Ragnarok (Nor) and Ragnarok (UK) (you must include that abbreviation for your link or it won't link at all). However, some bands have the same name AND the same country, so you can't use this syntax to link to them; just use a simple HTML tag to link to the page's URL (usually just "band.php?id=ID") where ID is the band's ID #. Don't use HTML to link to an external page, though: use the "add a link" section described a bit earlier for that.
If you use the syntax for such a band, or for a band that doesn't exist yet in the database, the band's name will appear but it won't be a link. If you plan on adding the currently non-existant band, the link will automatically appear when the band in question is approved.

All registered members can write one review per release. You don't have to have contributed band data to be able to write a review, though. You can register only for writing reviews if you want. Just enter a title for your review, a rating on a 0-100 scale (no decimals, shouldn't be necessary with that kind of scale), and the text for your review. All reviews are moderated, just like for adding a band.

If your member rank is Veteran or higher, you can modify all the fields except the band's name and its genre. You can change the pictures as well, but you cannot delete them.
Please don't be an asshole; don't delete or tear apart huge chunks of texts (for example, the bios Ultra Boris wrote for Overkill, Metallica, etc.) for whatever reason. Ignore this warning and you might very well get banned! Be reasonable in your editing - you CAN edit out useless information IF (and only IF) you are sure that the text breaks the rules (self-promotion, just enumerates the discography, is just pasted from the official website...). Thanks.
If your rank is lower than Veteran, you can only write in the optional missing fields. For example, if the band does not have a logo, you can upload it; if the lineup is missing, you can add it; but you cannot change the actual logo or edit the lineup if they have already been entered.

If your member rank is Veteran or higher, you can modify all the fields except the release's title. You can change the cover art but not delete it.
If your rank is lower than Veteran, the same restrictions for updating the bands apply: you can fill in missing data, but not change the current data.

If your member rank is Veteran or higher, you can modify or even delete any link. This is of course in case the link doesn't point to a page that's still active anymore; if the page's new URL cannot be found, you can simply delete it.
Members with a rank lower than Veteran cannot modify any link and can only add them.

Regardless of rank, members can edit their own reviews whenever they want. However, since the reviews are moderated, updates to existing reviews must be approved before they appear. So if you change anything in your own review, it will become temporarily invisible to the visitors until a moderator re-approves it, regardless of the nature of the change! So it would be best if you proof-read your review *before* it is approved or else it will have to be re-approved again. It may be irritating if you just want to change your rating, but it's a precaution we have to take.
Members can also delete their own review as they see fit, but it shouldn't be necessary since you can always just modify it. To update your review, go to the band's page and scroll down to the album, and click "add review", as if you wanted to write a new one. It'll take you to your own review, which you can edit.

Very simple: to add items to your collections, you just have to go to the band's page, find the release you want to add to your collection, and click the "add to your collection" button. If you don't have the album, you can add it to your wishlist by clicking the "add to your wanted list" link. You can add as many albums as you want.

You can further customize your collection by clicking the "edit your collection" link in the left menu (if you're logged in). You can add special notes for each albums, or add them to your trade list by ticking the checkbox. Notes can be anything regarding the CD's version or its condition (important if you want to trade), or something else you wish to mention.
To move an album from your wanted list to your collection, just go to the album and click "add to your collection". The album will be moved from your wanted list to your collection.

If you want to trade with other users, please take note of the following:

• You should make your email address public in your profile, or else no one will be able to contact you!
• The Encyclopaedia Metallum takes NO responsability for the members' actions or trading activities. Which means, we offer the possibility for people to search for traders, but the rest is up to the members. The member's business is his/her own!

We hope this file was helpful. Enjoy the Encyclopaedia Metallum! If you have questions or suggestions that were not covered in this page, you can contact us at webmaster AT metal-archives DOT com, or post a query in the forum.