RetroDefense

Mega Man X is the cover story for Nintendo Power #56 (Jan 94). http://www.retromags.com/magazines/category/usa/nintendo-power/nintendo-power-issue-56

I've always loved trick perspective artwork like this. Thanks for sharing, Phillyman.

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!

Sounds promising.

I'm relatively new to RetroMags, so perhaps this has been discussed in the past, but has any thought ever been given to a collection/wishlist system for registered users? I can't help but think RetroMags could be a great way to actually track my collection, similar to other online databases. And I wonder if enabling collection tracking might also be a way to attract more users to the site? Especially users who have physical magazines in their possession, which would likely help the archive grow. Wish lists could be used to determine what magazines have the greatest demand. Collections could be used so users could sell/buy/trade through RetroMags. There would be many possibilities with the metadata involved.

I like the 3x4 idea the best - it would make better use of horizontal space, imo. It would also be nice if - along with preservation status - a magazine's synopsis and cover scan status were displayed as well. The cover thumbnail view you have planned would inherently answer the cover scan status, of course, but implementing this with the current browse layout would be very helpful as well.

Looking forward to seeing this implemented! Years ago - in a fit of stupidity - I bundled all my loose supplements together. Now - for most - I have no idea what supplement was originally included with what magazine. While organizing my collection recently, I was very much hoping Retromags could help with this, so this feature definitely has my vote!

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!

The randomness adds to the fun!

Oh, I don't think there's any one, right way of indexing this archive, to be honest. So I definitely wouldn't consider any of my indexing to be a high standard. There are certain guidelines & requirements for the archive & contest, of course, and I try to stick to a consistent format, but I've found it really varies from magazine to magazine. Definitely not a one-size-fits-all approach. I imagine this is why Phillyman designed the editor to be so "free form" to begin with. For example, I tried applying what I do with VG&CE issues to an issue of Mega Play, but it just didn't work. It was much more effective to go minimal in that case. And this is probably true with most system-specific or brand-specific magazines. VG&CE covers a wide swath of electronic gaming, so I spend more time there, trying to elaborate a bit. They also do a good job with the contents page, which helps. (Other magazines, not so much - I'm looking at you, EGM!) I've also taken Areala's comment to heart and try to err on the side of info. So when I'm putting an index together, I try to be sure to clarify anything important and leave notes when necessary, both for any site visitor reading the index, or for any search engine that may parse the index based on search criteria. I wish I had Areala's skill for making the index not only informative but also entertaining, but I'm not very good at that kind of thing, I'm afraid.

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 think a tagging system is a great idea! Any tool that will help a visitor find what they're looking for is heartily recommended.

This'd be fun in a nostalgic sort of way. "I remember when..."

This might get a little tricky. Sometimes mags include ad pages in their page count, sometimes they don't. And then there's the issue of any supplements, posters, half-pages, etc included with the mag. On the other hand, if you recorded actual content page count and total page count, you'd be able to calculate a content/advertisement ratio. So we'd finally see what we're getting with those mega-sized issues of EGM. Just some thinking-out-loud here, but yeah, if page counts are added, I would definitely have some guidelines in place ahead of time to define exactly what you're looking for.

Glad to hear this! I can definitely understand the existing consecutive numbering system, but it'll be nice to also have the magazine's actual numbering scheme reflected as well.