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Guidelines for voting on profiles

Accuracy over completeness

It doesn't matter if some parts of the profile are not filled in. People can always add things later, so if the information that has been included is correct, approve it. The only exception is if some but not all band members are listed. There's nothing wrong with encouraging more info, but you're only voting on the accuracy of the info presented.

[Artist-ID] links

Make sure that all Artist names in the Members, Related Artists, and Bio are clickable links (the kind made with [artistxxxx] that take you straight to the artist page in your browser rather than the underlined links that open a new browser). Obviously this doesn't apply to artists who aren't on RYM/don't have solo projects: they can be plain text.

• When the submitter is having trouble creating links, refer them to the (legacy wiki link to :Shortcuts) wiki, and alert them to the notepad.

Formatting

Make sure that everything is formatted correctly:

• Paragraphs in the Bios should have double spaces between them.


• Member lists should be horizontal with no line-breaks. Format exactly like this:
  

  Member 1 (instrument 1, instrument 2), Member 2 (instrument, 1991-94), Member 3 (instrument, 1994-2002), Member 4 (instrument, 2002-present)



• Related Artists should be separated by commas, (with a space after the comma) and there should be no extra explanatory text written there: have them incorporate that info into a Biography, or simply relocate it to Meta-Comments.


• Bands should not have anything entered in the Member of section. Some people try to use that section for bands who share members with the band in question: these shared bands should be in the Directly related section.

Location

Make sure that the source specifically states formation or birth information, and avoid accepting "Artist is from somewhere" as proof of their Place of Origin. When the profile is approved, RYM will go on record in stating that an artist was "born" somewhere or a band was "formed" somewhere, based on data which is listed in the Place of Origin fields. If an artist had a heavy presence in a place, that information is better written in a Biography if it cannot be proven that the artist was born/formed there.

Band members

Member links

If there's an [Artist-ID] for a band member, it should be placed here. Redundant point, but the submitters should be alerted to get into the habit of doing this, and as a music fan part of the fun of a finished profile is pursuing the linked connections of a band. With the 'Insert music link, picture or video' button, the task of collecting these IDs is quicker than ever, and if you have the time, do a quick search to see if the submitter neglected to add the links to the members' solo pages.

Current vs. past members

In a finished profile, line-breaks tend to be visually unattractive. Instead of creating "Current" or "Former/Past" Members sections, suggest that the submitter add the Members in the order in which they joined the band, the dates of membership in parentheses.

ex. Member 1 (instrument), Member 2 (instrument, 1971-76), Member 3 (instrument, 1976-present)

Bios

Make sure that Biographies are written reasonably well. They don't have to be brilliant prose, but they should be understandable and fairly objective. Look for long run-on sentences, or bios that are all one paragraph and really should be more. Check spelling, punctuation and grammar in all the sections.

As a general rule, if you see a bio that is very well-written (maybe even TOO well-written), copy a phrase from it that is fairly unique and google it (put it in quotes) to make sure it's not plagiarized. Especially keep in mind who the bios are coming from... if the person can barely write sentences on the board, or has submitted other bios that are badly written, odds are they didn't write something that sounds professional! If a profile has a plagiarized bio (or any other problems) but is otherwise OK, you can delete the offending portion and approve the rest.

Biographies will obviously be a major point of debate among voters, and will likely clog the process of Profile uploads. We should keep in mind and point to voters that the Biography section will be a work in progress, and without a single named author.

Directly related artist (DRA)

Take a quick look at the Related Artists and make sure nothing obviously falls outside of the criteria discussed here: Directly Related Artists (DRAs). The submitter should always write an explanation for each Directly Related Artist (DRA) within the Meta-Comments field.

Avoid redundancy

If the [Artist-ID] for a band member is in the Members field, it should not be added to any of the other fields in the Profile. The same holds true for DRAs and AKAs.

Sources and voter comments

Don't worry too much about verifying facts, unless you feel like doing the research, but the profile submitter should always leave a source for the information within the Meta-Comments. If the voting system will take care of anything it should take care of the factual stuff, 'cause obviously the people voting KNOW the info is supposed to be correct even if they don't know how things are supposed to be formatted etc. Do read the voter comments, look for unanswered comments questioning dates or members or anything to do with the facts presented really. if in doubt, just leave it. Make sure that every matter from the voter comments has been resolved before approving/denying.

Repairs

If someone's profile has very minor problems with formatting, spelling or grammar, don't vote no or disapprove them. Either fix it yourself (which should take all of 30 seconds) or leave a comment without voting. there is no reason to make it that much harder for a profile to get approved and discourage users who are submitting profiles that are otherwise good when the problem is something you could quickly and easily fix yourself, or instruct them how to do.

Changing your vote

Any vote that you cast cancels out any previous votes you make, whether they are the same or different. So you can't vote "no" or "yes" more than once on any single profile, but if you vote "no" and then appropriate changes are made you can vote "yes" and your "no" vote will disappear.