The Definitive Guide to Contributing

Profile Information

Background
Background submissions are designed to give a brief yet thorough overview of the story. They should be clear and informative and make up one of the several key information points on a book profile page.
DO: Include thorough details on what the book is about and what situation the protagonists finds himself/herself that starts the book.
DO: Use proper spelling, grammar, punctuation and paragraphs to make the information clear and easy to read.
DO: Copy official synopsis information from official book sites if the book is yet to be released and little is known.
DO: Read through your submission more than once to check it makes sense.
DO: Include basic information on a characters role and attitude.

DON'T: Reveal important information over plot developments or any information over a particular chapter.
DON'T: Include your own opinion and bias to the submission. We don't want to know if you believe the book is rubbish. Discussion over the book can take place within the forum.

Author
DO: Submit the main author of the book. If there is more than one, submit the first one listed only.
DO: Submit new Authors if the current information is wrong or there isn't any current Author.
DO: Spell the name of the Author correctly. Just in case, if the Author you submit isn't currently in the database, it will reload the page possibly listing any Authors in the database that are closely related to the one you submitted.

DON'T: Submit multiple Authors. Currently, Book Profiles can only have one Author, so just submit the first one listed.
DON'T: Submit an Author from an unreliable source or one that the user submits the information and it doesn't undergo any screening process before being added.



Publisher
DO: Submit a Publisher if the current information is wrong or if there currently isn't one.
DO: Make sure you get the whole Publisher's name right. If it isn't currently in the database it will reload the page telling you and possibly giving you related Publishers just in case you spelled anything wrong.

DON'T: Submit Publisher contributions if the current info is correct.
DON'T: Submit the Publisher from an unreliable source or one that the user submits the information and it doesn't undergo any screening process before being added.

ISBN
DO: Submit the ISBN if there currently isn't one or the current one is correct.

DON'T: Submit the ISBN 10 and ISBN 13. Only the 10, and if it isn't available, submit the 13.
DON'T: Submit the ISBN from an unreliable source or one that the user submits the information and it doesn't undergo any screening process before being added.



Release Dates
DO: Submit release dates from as many different regions as possible.
DO: Submit release dates to as much Media that you have the information available to.

DON'T: Submit a hardcover release date for a paperback release date and vise versa and the same goes for region specific release dates.
DON'T: Submit a Release Date from an unreliable source or one that the user submits the information and it doesn't undergo any screening process before being added.



Book Media
DO: Submit new media if the profile doesn't currently have it.
DO: Hold down the Shift/CTRL key when selecting the media if it is for both Hardcover and Paperback.

DON'T: Submit duplicate media. If the current media is fine then don't resubmit it.
DON'T: Submit media from any source that the information is user submitted that doesn't have to go through any screening process.

Profile Mini-Pics
DO: Make sure the images meet the 68 x 63 (width x height) pixel size requirements.
DO: Make sure the profile shot is something that you can instantly associate with the film.
DO: Submit images that show the book's logo.
DO: Replace current images if you feel they need to be changed.

DON'T: Exceed 7.5 KB of filesize. This is to ensure that visitors on slower connections (namely dial-up users) do not have too large page sizes to download.
DON'T: Submit images that show the Book's cover.
DON'T: Submit images that do not fit within the aspect ratio of the image, resulting in stretched content.
DON'T: Submit indistinct images.
DON'T: Add minipics that are animated images.
DON'T: Replace minipics that are already adequate.



Themes
DO: Submit a theme if it's constant throughout the book. Not if it's briefly touched upon in a few small scenes.
DO: Help change faulty information by submitting a new submission containing a more refined or adequate list pertaining to the book if you feel the current themes listed are not 100% accurate.

DON'T: Submit more than three themes (maximum, preferably two should be the logical limit for 99% of books produced.)
DON'T: Be leniant with selecting themes. Be strict in deciding.
DON'T: Submit a theme to a profile that is already under a genre that is the theme.

Boxshots
Boxshots are pictures of the Book's front and back covers, for both Paperback and Hardcover.

DO: Submit the largest cover size you can find (within reason). The system will resize the cover down for you, therefore retaining as much quality as possible.
DO: Submit high-quality covers you have scanned in yourself.
DO: Send front and back box shots as a pair if possible. This helps manage server load.
DO: Look for covers on official sites related to the book (including the publisher and author sites).
DO: Look for covers on online retailers of games. A good starting point would be at Amazon.

DON'T: Submit box shots from other book sites, especially where a watermark is present.
DON'T: Submit unclear images of general poor quality.
DON'T: Pair up seperate front and back covers from different regions. If you do not have a back cover for an American release, but do have one for a European release, contribute them separately.
DON'T: Submit box shots that have white or invisible borders around them. Anything that is not related to the cover itself needs to be cropped out where possible.

Screenshots
Screenshots are pictures of the book's pages. For the book's cover, see "Boxshots".

DO: Submit screenshots that you've taken yourself, through any means.
DO: Submit screenshots from the official book site.
DO: Submit screenshots from the publisher's and author's sites.
DO: Utilise Neoseeker's multiple screenshot submission form to send in more than one image at a time.
DO: Feel free to add a relatively brief comment that pertains to the image.

DON'T: Submit screenshots from other book sites (this is very important!) - especially if they have a "watermark" on them (ie. an icon showing that the screenshot came from that site).
DON'T: Edit out the watermark from another site!
DON'T: Make smaller images larger when resizing your images. You always want to shrink images when resizing, so the loss of quality is not as noticable. In other words, don't expand images.

Series

Complete Series
Complete Series submissions create series profiles so that members can later submit Fanart and Series Info to. Each Complete Series submission is worth 3 contribution points.
DO: Include EVERY profile on Neo that you find that needs to be in the series.
DO: Write up a small summary on the series, including details such as what the games are about, the characters involved in the series, etc.

DON'T: Attach profiles that aren't in the series.
DON'T: Leave the series description blank. Try to submit the best one you can based on your knowledge of the series.
DON'T: Submit a series with less than two different unique book profiles attached to it.

Series Info
Series Info can be submitted in three different forms of contributions: Profiles, Licensees, and Descriptions. Profiles is when you attach a profile to a series that it doesn't already belong to. Licensees is used to show that a character or concept from one series was used in another. Descriptions are new series descriptions. Each series info submission is worth 1 contribution point.
DO: Attach new profiles to the correct series.
DO: Attach a profile to as many series as it belongs to.
DO: Add a licensee to show viewers that a concept or character(s) was used in a series from another game/series.
DO: Update the description if it is incorrect or inadequate.

DON'T: Attach profiles to an incorrect series.
DON'T: Add a licensee that is false.
DON'T: Submit a new description if the current one is adequate to show viewers what the series is about.

FanArt
Fanart is user created imagery that belongs to a game or series. You can view Neoseeker's Fanart Submission Rules and Guidelines here

Similar Products
A similar product is a user recommended game/movie/book that is very similar to another game/movie/book, whether it is the plot, style, etc. Each similar product submission is worth 1 contribution point.

DO: Write up a good description showing why the products are similar.
DO: Submit products that are very similar, such as Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX and Matt Hoffman's Pro BMX

DON'T: Submit similar products of profiles that belong to the same series
DON'T: Submit a whole series as a similar product, such as submitting all of the Need for Speed profiles to a Burnout profile
DON'T: Submit a description that doesn't show why the two products are similar.

Videos
Videos are one of the newest types of contributions (announcement of them can be found here). Basically they are videos related to the profile they are attached to. NeoVideos should support all file types, but if you have one that isn't, send a PM to huntyr listing the file type. Each video submission is worth 1 contribution point.

DO: Submit your own videos you've made
DO: Submit Trailers and Teasers made by the developers
DO: Submit videos of good quality
DO: If it contains unsuitable (such as the manhunt video) material, put a warning in the description.
DO: Include a good title and description of your video.
DO: Submit videos with a file size up to 200 MB.

DON'T: Submit copyrighted videos
DON'T: Submit videos with inappropriate content such as porn.

Published Articles

DO: Submit links to online book review sites.
DO: Submit links to your own dedicated site featuring an article.
DO: Send in links for other online resources that provide coverage for the book.

DON'T: Submit links to other article indexing sites that serves the same purpose that Neoseeker does. It can becoming irritating for the visitor to be constantly redirected to different sites with more links on.
DON'T: Submit sites with content that could be deemed inappropriate.

Websites

DO: Submit links to dedicated fansites.
DO: Submit links to your own dedicated fansite.
DO: Send in links for other online resources that provide coverage for the book.

DON'T: Submit links to other review sites. If you want to submit a professional review for a product, do so under the "Articles" contribution section. You can find out more information about submitting articles in this contribution guide.
DON'T: Submit the link to a publisher's or developer's official product page (for example, www.vicecity.com) as a "Website"-type contribution. Submit product pages under the "Profile Information" section instead.
DON'T: Submit sites with inappropriate content.

Complete Book Submission
Know of a book that Neoseeker does not have a book profile for? Then you can get it added with a reward of 7 contribution points.

Book Profile Submission Queue
Once you've established that the book is not already in Neoseeker's database (by searching the site), the next port of call is the Book Profile Submission Queue. Check through this list to make sure the book you want to add has not already been submitted by someone else.

A tip to quickly search this list is to press CTRL+F (or the equivalent for your operating system and internet browser software) to open the "Find" dialog in your browser. If the book is not already there, then you can proceed to the next step.


Submitting Book Profiles
To start submitting you need to launch the Book Profile Submission Form. After reading the guidelines on the page you are set to start submitting a new profile. As a final checking procedure when you type in the name of the book you wish to add, Neoseeker will do a quick search of the database to find any similar worded books. If the book you wish to add is not in the search results then you can proceed to filling in the form.


Post-Submission
Once it has been submitted it will be placed in the queue and you can check the status of it whenever you wish. If in an unreviewed status it will show "Pending". If it meets all of the requirements it will be moved to an "Accepted" state and the book will be added. However, if it is "Rejected", you'll find that if your submission is will have "Editor's Notes" attached to it. This will explain why it was not added (be it whether more information is needed or if the book exists under a different name in the database). You will be notified of changes to a pending submission you submitted via NeoPM (Neoseeker's private messaging tool).

For more information regarding the submission of entire book profiles read the New Books Forums/Profile Page Requests thread within the ReQuests, Feedback and Suggestions forum.