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Fanedits.com beta is live

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We're pleased to announce that the beta release of fanedits.com is now live.

Please read the whole post before you dive in. You may report bugs here and request upcoming features here.

In order to maximize community participation, it was decided early in the development process to make fanedits.com a wiki-style site. All information on the site related to fan projects, sources, contributors, and films can be edited directly by fanedits.com members.

As this is a beta release, full functionality is not yet enabled. However, the core functionality of the site--uploading fan project information--is ready to go. By creating an account, anyone can create new projects whether they're the creator or simply a fan.

The process of adding a project consists of:

1. Providing a title for the project
2. Selecting the appropriate categories (or creating a new category if it doesn't exist)
3. Selecting the project's current status
4. Providing a summary of the project
5. Providing an in-depth description of the project
6. Entering the project release date (if known)
7. Selecting and/or adding the names of project contributors--could be just one person or a team of contributors
8. Selecting and/or adding the titles of related films
9. Entering keywords/tags for linking related projects and other items together

Once you've created a project, you're presented with the results on the project details page. Need to change something? Click the "edit" link to the right of the project title and any info on the page can be changed. Clicking the "edit" link also reveals the powerful specifications creation box on the right-hand side of the page. Select values for all specs, hit save, and the specs table is populated. Don't see the specification you need? Create it and add the values yourself. When you're done editing, click "browse" to return to the normal view.

Those of you worried about all your hard work getting ruined by malicious users shouldn't worry. Every time someone clicks the "edit" link on a project page, a snapshot is taken of the entire project--all associated information, including specifications, is saved as a backup. We'll keep the backups on file for at least a month, so if something goes wrong, an administrator can roll back any changes and restore the project to what it was.

While you're busy uploading projects, we have the following features planned in the coming weeks:

Image gallery
Upload custom DVD covers and labels as well as other fan artwork and link them to one or more projects. Anyone viewing a project details page will see thumbnail previews and links to any artwork linked to the project.

Project subscriptions
Subscribe to specific projects and get an e-mail notification when someone makes edits. Great for monitoring the status of projects in-progress.

Source material details and specifications
The same powerful editor used to add info and specifications to fan projects will be applied to source materials as well. An awesome resource for fan editors looking for materials to create their edits.

Contributor profiles and blogs
Fan editors with a fanedits.com user account can start their own blog for posting their progress on projects. Users can subscribe to blogs and be notified via e-mail when a new post or reply is made.

User reviews and ratings system
Fanedits.com users will be able to post reviews of any fan project and rate the project. Top-rated projects and the latest user reviews appear on the fanedits.com home page.

Forums!
Yes, the much maligned and almost comical development of the new forum software is in alpha testing now, and fanedits.com will be the testing ground when the beta is approved for release. For now, our own fan editing forum will be the hub of fanedits.com discussions.


Even with all this planned, we naturally want your opinions, feedback, and feature suggestions. What do you feel we should tackle first? What features haven't been mentioned that need to be added? We need to know so fanedits.com can become what YOU want it to be.

So how do you get started? Visit fanedits.com, create an account, and start submitting projects.

Again, please report bugs here and feature requests here.
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Remember that when you write the project summary and description, try to keep the text neutral, objective and purely fact-based - avoid using "I" or "we".

Personal opinions should be limited to contributor blogs or user comments, both coming in the future.

Guidelines for post content and general behaviour: read announcement here

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Ideally, fan edit discussions will take place at fanedits.com once the forums are set up there. We'll probably transition all the existing topics there as well.

OT.com isn't going anywhere. Once the forums are tested at fanedits.com, the forum software here will be upgraded.
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Looks good. How's it differ from fanedit.org though?
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The main difference is that it's wiki-based, so any registered user can edit the contents of the database.

Guidelines for post content and general behaviour: read announcement here

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Originally posted by: Moth3r
The main difference is that it's wiki-based, so any registered user can edit the contents of the database.


Exactly. Anyone can upload new projects and contribute at any time. We're trying to encourage more community involvement and make information availability less dependent on site administrators.

I think the fan editor blogs will be a cool feature as well.
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FE.org recently started up fan editor blogs, too, I think. In any event, though, I think fanedits.com is a helluva lot easier to navigate.

I used to be very active on this forum. I’m not really anymore. Sometimes, people still want to get in touch with me about something, and that is great! If that describes you, please email me at [my username]ATgmailDOTcom.

Hi everybody. You’re all awesome. Keep up the good work.

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Navigation is key. Everything will be nicely integrated into one seamless site--projects, blogs, forums, image gallery, etc.--all under one user account. Login once and you have access to the entire site.

The other benefit to our setup is that it's built entirely in-house. We can customize it in any way we see fit. That's why we're so interested in getting feature requests from members. We want to build the site to the exact specifications set forth by the community.
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Of course, the problem with having a wiki-based system is that anyone can add in spoof projects. Luckily, it's much quicker to remove stuff than it is to add it.

Guidelines for post content and general behaviour: read announcement here

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and how exactly do you know what is spoof and what not?

Nothing about fanediting is easy.

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Originally posted by: boon23
and how exactly do you know what is spoof and what not?


It's up to the community to monitor their data. If a fan editor is given the ability to maintain their own listings, they have a vested interest in keeping an eye on them and updating them. That's the beauty of wiki-driven sites. They encourage participation, and users are much quicker to sniff out garbage than a handful of administrators who can't monitor the site 24/7.

It's also likely that we'll implement a stability rating system so that when a particular record is deemed "final" or "stable," it's locked to prevent further edits except by administrators and perhaps the original creator. On the other end of the spectrum, if a listing is rated as "questionable" because nobody can find a download anywhere, perhaps we mark the project for deletion unless the creator can prove its existence within a certain period of time. There are always checks you can put in place. We may not have thought of every single possibility up front, but there are always solutions. Building it ourselves lets us implement those solutions as we need them.

Wiki-style sites have their drawbacks, but the strengths far outweigh the weaknesses.
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