Category:Series

From TvDBwiki

[edit] Adding A Series

1. Before adding a new series please search carefully to make sure it does not exist.
   1. If a series has a simple name like "Heroes" or "Jericho" the search will return it simply
   2. If a series has a more complex name with odd punctuation like hyphens, colons or ampersands (&) try searching with just part of the name to ensure that there is not already an entry
   3. If a series exists with the same name as the one you would like to enter, separation is made by adding the year in brackets after the series name. Such is the case with Jericho where the three different series' are signified by the year the particular series started in brackets after the name.
2. When adding a series do not abbreviate the series name even if the abbreviation has become common for example Law & Order: Special Victims Unit shouldn't be shortened to Law & Order: SVU.
3. Once you have determined that the series doesn't exist adding a new series couldn't be simpler just go to the main page of site http://thetvdb.com. Scroll to the bottom and enter the series name in the Add A Show section then click Add Series

Some simple guidelines before entering Season and Episode information:

1. Check a reputable site for Episode ordering information. Such sites include: TV.com, IMDB, and TVRAGE
2. Episodes should be ordered/split in accordance with their country of origin. A good example would be FullMetal Alchemist. In America, this series was split into two seasons, while in Japan in was aired and sold as one, hence it is one season on the site.

Once a series has been created you have three options

• Edit the series to have detailed information see below
• Add Seasons
• Add series banners
  • General Banner Guidelines
  • Series Banner Specific Information

[edit] Editing A Series

The First Rule of Series Editing is Don't Change The Name Of A Series
If you truly believe that a name is wrong.

1. Confirm that you are not looking at a show with a similar name. Because we catalog series from all over the world shows with similar or identical names can and do occur.
2. Create a post in the forum asking if others agree with your conclusion. If there is a consensus that the name is incorrect then request an admin change it.

If you believe the series has incorrect information (i.e. episode names, order, etc.)

1. Research the information. Check official sites, IMDB, TV.com and the like.
2. Post on the forum citing your source with links and as much information as possible.
3. If your information proves true, you'll get the go-ahead to change.

Series editing is a rather straightforward affair as most of the field names are self explanatory although there are a few that need further explanation.

Series Name & Overview
Both of these fields have the additional option of specifying their contents in languages other than English. Simply change the dropdown menu beneath either option to the language of your choice and you will be able to enter data in that language which can then be retrieved by the plugin of your choice.

TV.com ID

1. This field is used to import data from the TV.com website and potentially other online sources of TV series information.
2. This is not the id from TheTVDB database but rather the series ID from the TV.com website (found in the URL for example for the series The Unit the URL is http://www.tv.com/the-unit/show/33480/summary.html therefore the TV.com ID is 33480)
3. Do not just invent an ID for this field if the show doesn't exist on TV.com don't fill this field in as it will just confuse the scraper and possibly import completely incorrect data if the invented ID matches an actual TV.com ID.

Status

• Continuing - Series currently still in production this is generally the status that should be set during the initial run of a season
• Ended - For a series which has finished it's run and is not producing any new episodes.
• On Hiatus - For series where the current season has ended and it's return status is unknown.
• Other - Not commonly used, potentially for series that are in production and have yet to air at all.

Genre & Actors Fields
These two fields have special requirements for multiple genre's or primary actors.

If there are multiple items for either field e.g. if a show is both and Action/Adventure type program as well as a Drama then the field needs to begin with a pipe ( | ) character plus have one between each item and then end with another so the example show would be entered as |Action/Adventure|Drama| the actors field would be populated similarly i.e. |Richard Dean Anderson|Don S. Davis|

Network

• This field should represent the TV network that aired the series first in it's original language.
• If a show changes networks during it's original episode run then the last network to air new, original episodes should be listed (Stargate SG-1 for example started on Showtime and then moved to the Sci Fi Channel so it is appropriately listed as SciFi)
• The Network should not represent a channel which has exclusive re-broadcast rights.
• If a show was syndicated right from the beginning then the network field should represent the studio/network that produced the series.

Runtime This field represents the original airing length including commercials so a show is 60 min long not 42 min because commercials have been removed.