Retromags 2014 Contest (Grand Prize $500)

[Phillyman]

Retromags 2014 Contest

52 Magazines / $500 Grand Prize

Retromags is coming back in 2014 with a brand new magazine database that is set to take over the world! Many hours were spent setting up this system, and now it is time to allow you guys access. Just like Wikipedia, our new system is a framework that everyone can add information into. Therefore I am running the biggest and longest Retromags Contest to date. Each week in 2014, when you add qualifying information into our Magazine Database, you will be entered into that weeks drawing to win (1) one of 52 random magazines from my personal collection. But it would not be quite as much fun if it ended there......so I have spiced things up. At the end of 2014, all winners of the 52 weekly contests will be entered into a Grand Prize drawing and one person will walk away with $500.00! So if you win just one of the weekly contests, you have a 1 in 52 chance of winning the $500 Grand Prize!

Read More Here!

[Areala]

Begun, the indexing wars have...

*huggles*
Areala

[Alien7]

I would love to help!

[jccalhoun]

Cool! This will help motivate me to scan some stuff I have.

[Terry93D]

Can't scan my stuff, all my stuff is too modern and labelled "Not Allowed" but I can certainly add information on what's in it. I shall index sypnosisses.

[Areala]

That's awesome, guys! We need information on the newer stuff just as much as we do the stuff we do have for download!

*huggles*
Areala

[RetroDefense]

That's awesome, guys! We need information on the newer stuff just as much as we do the stuff we do have for download!

Absolutely! In fact, it could be argued indexing unarchived magazines is actually more important than indexing what is archived. After all, your index is the only thing we have to determine what's inside!

[RetroDefense]

Okay, I just uploaded my first ever magazine cover to the gallery. I feel accomplished.

If any scan veterans here can take a look, I would appreciate it. I followed RetroMag's scanning and editing guides to a tee, as I have a similar printer and software, but if anyone should have any suggestions for improving my scans, I'm all ears! I'll admit, this is new territory for me.

I have a couple questions, though.

The contest asks for magazine covers to be named properly. This requirement is intended for gallery title purposes, correct - not the actual file name? If not, what are the guidelines for file names? I decided on MegaPlay_05_JulAug1991.jpg with this cover.

If I have a cover of better quality, do I just upload it to the gallery and update the magazine entry? Or is there a delete process involved with the old cover?

Thanks!

[Areala]

I'll be honest, I'm not exactly sure what the naming convention is. Most important is that it get properly linked to the right magazine, and since the DB identifies images by their file number, not their file name, the names can always be updated.

If you have a better quality cover, just upload it and update the image link number. I think you have to have moderator powers to delete an image, so don't worry about that.

Otherwise, image looks great to me!

*huggles*
Areala

[Terry93D]

Absolutely! In fact, it could be argued indexing unarchived magazines is actually more important than indexing what is archived. After all, your index is the only thing we have to determine what's inside!

I feel honored to be the one responsible for information on newer Nintendo Powers

[E-Day]

When you upload a cover to the gallery, it will by default take the file name and make it the title without the file extension. The file name itself isn't important, but it's less work if the file is named correctly so that it gets turned into the title.

The name convention is as follows: Magazine Name Issue # Month Year.

So, for example: GamePro Issue 43 Febtober 1993.

If the magazine uses volume and issue instead of just an issue number, that info can be included at the end of the title. For example, Gamefan Issue 16 March 1994 (Volume 2 Issue 4).

If it's a bi-monthly issue, you can now use a slash instead of a dash in the title between months (January/February, January-February).

[RetroDefense]

Thanks for the follow-ups, E-Day and Areala. I've been (fairly) close to this naming convention thus far. Will be sure to use it in the future!

[Terry93D]

I believe Week 3's over... when is the winner announced?

[RetroDefense]

Hi, everyone - I'm back with a couple more questions.

I'm exploring adding redundant links for magazines, and wanted to clarify some of the details, both in general and in the case of the contest.

The contest does not count Rapidshare and FileFactory links as qualifying redundant links, but do other file sharing websites qualify? I'm exploring a few options which allow both direct linking (well, as direct as a file share host will allow) and no expiration date on shared files, which I assume are the minimum requirements for file share redundant links.

I'm also considering storing files on my own server. However, I have bandwidth concerns, as I'm financially responsible for my bandwidth beyond a certain allocation per month. I should be able to enable a hard cap on bandwidth usage, however, which would temporarily disable any downloads until the following month once the cap has been reached. My question is, are hard bandwidth caps permissible for self-hosted files?

[RetroDefense]

Me again.

While updating the Game Players portion of the database recently, I noticed there are several covers in the gallery that look great & are titled properly but are not linked to their respective database entry. If the time stamps are correct, many of these covers have been sitting in the gallery for years.

What's acceptable wiki protocol with these cases? I was planning to update these entries with their gallery covers when I run across them, but thought I should mention it here first. I also want to be sure this won't cause any problems with the running contest. I obviously shouldn't be credited a contest entry for these kind of updates, as I'm not the archivist here - just the data entry guy.

So Phillyman, if this may cause a hiccup with your weekly tally system, just let me know and I'll concentrate on other stuff. Not a huge biggie - there's plenty more work to be done!

[Phillyman]

I will amend the rules of the contest later today, if anyone comes across an image in the gallery that has not been linked to its corresponding database record......and they link it.....I am willing to credit that as well for the contest.

[RetroDefense]

Okay, I just finished updating the Game Players section. For each - under Page Credits - I listed both myself and also the archivist responsible for the cover scan and gallery entry (if they were not listed already). Credit where credit is due, I always say.

Not sure how I feel about these updates counting toward the contest, though. I don't feel like I really did anything. :\

[Phillyman]

By linking the covers to the database, you improve our users experience while browsing the database......you also give me a way to mass fix the Gallery captions to more informational name.

[RetroDefense]

Well, if it improves the site enough to be considered contest-worthy, I'm certainly not going to argue.

I stumbled across this when I was considering scanning the June 1994 issue of Game Players. No cover was shown in the database entry, but as it turns out, it already existed in the gallery.

For anyone else participating in the contest, there may be other magazine sections with database/gallery discrepancies. Help improve the site by checking those cover galleries - good luck!