Welcome to the TV.com Help Center

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Welcome to the best place to start looking for answers to commonly asked questions. The first place to look is the TV.com Help Center which links to the TV.com Knowledgebase, a comprehensive and searchable help system. We will update this help system as things change on the site, so consider this your most valuable resource for general information about TV.com!

Our forums are a great resource as well. If you are experiencing technical issues which are site-related and can not find the answer by using our Help Center, you can check the Technical Support forum for the most current discussions.

For more general issues and user submission concerns, check out the General User Support forum or the User Submission Support forum. If you are a new user, visit our Welcome New Users board to find answers to basic "how-to" questions provided by TV.com veterans. We also have a User to User Help: Hints & Tips forum for the best tips and tricks, also supplied by our very own TV.com users.

In order to make the forums a more enjoyable experience for all, please familiarize yourself with the TV.com Community Terms of Service. Please make sure to give the rules a quick look-over every so often, as they are updated as things change on the forums. General information regarding profiles, user levels/emblems, submissions, and editors is also available in there.

If you're looking for the latest guidelines for submitting and for editors, we have created the handy TV.com Guidelines Center for you. These guidelines are constantly being updated and modified so please check this post periodically to see the latest changes.

TV.com Help Center Link Location

TV.com Community Terms of Service

TV.com Forum Moderators

AngelandSpike
Danbambridge
Edward_Nigma
GeorgeFergus
Gislef
Grailwolf
More_Ncis_Now
Studog2961
VillaFan

TV.com Forum Terms

Acceptance of Terms
Account Responsibility
Content Notice
Privacy and Release of Information
Registration Requirements
Terms Violations

Member Conduct

Account Sharing
Bugs and Exploits
Censor Bypassing
Disruptive Posting
False Moderation Reports
Flaming (Insulting Other Users)
Flooding, Invading, and Board Wars
Harassment/Stalking/Privacy
Illegal Activities
Impersonation
Offensive Posting
Off-Topic Posting
Other
Plot Spoilers
Reviews
Signatures/Profile Banners/Avatars (Forum Icons)/Personal Images
Spam/Advertising
Trolling (Inciting Flames)
Usernames, Profiles, and Forms

TV.com Forum Terms

Acceptance of Terms

TV.com provides message board services to you, the visitor, based on its Terms of Service outlined here. When using the forums provided by TV.com, you are subject to these posted terms. Usage of the services on this site means acceptance of these terms. The TOS may be changed without direct notice to individual visitors, so it is recommended that you check this page frequently for updates.
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Account Responsibility

Users are solely responsible for protecting their accounts from access by others. "Group" and/or shared accounts are not allowed. You are strongly encouraged to select a hard-to-guess password and not reuse that password on any other sites where it may be read by the owners or administrators of those sites.

While it is acceptable for users to maintain multiple accounts on TV.com, TV.com can and does track multiple shared accounts from a single or multiple computers as one account in terms of TOS violations. If the TOS is violated severely enough to warrant banning one account, all known accounts which use the same computer may also be banned for the actions of the violating account at the administrators' discretion.

For this reason, it is recommended that board users do not share computers used to access the site with others.
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Content Notice

By viewing the site content, you agree that all content on the TV.com message boards is the responsibility of the person from which the content originated. You agree that neither TV.com nor its sponsors or affiliates are responsible for all content that you personally post or upload. TV.com does not directly control any content posted on the boards and does not guarantee the truthfulness or quality of any content. You agree that while using the TV.com message boards, you may be exposed to content that is offensive or objectionable and that you will in no way hold TV.com nor its sponsors or affiliates liable in any way for any harm or loss that may come to you or others from viewing this content. TV.com is not responsible for screening content before it is posted; although, an offensive language filter is installed on the system that will reject certain posts that may contain certain words considered offensive or used most often in an offensive way.
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Privacy and Release Information

Under normal circumstances, TV.com will never release your provided information to any third-party without a court order requiring us to do so. However, in cases of certain severe or repeated TOS violations or illegal activities, we reserve the right to send any known information about you and your accounts to your ISP (including libraries, schools, and places of employment), e-mail service provider, your ISP account owner (if someone else is paying for it), and any parties whose copyright has clearly been infringed by your actions on the boards.
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Registration Requirements

To view messages on the TV.com message boards without user restrictions, no registration is required or necessary. To post messages on the boards and use other advanced services, you must register with TV.com using a valid e-mail address. After registration, an activation key in the form of a URL will be sent to the address you provided. You must visit this URL using the web browser of your choice to activate the account. No posting privileges are granted until the account is activated. TV.com does not require you to use your real name or other identification that can be easily traced to you and the e-mail address you provide will be kept private. To register on TV.com, registrants must be 13 years or older. TV.com does not knowingly collect any information from any users under 13 years of age. If it is found that an underage user has fraudulently registered, the account will be terminated immediately.
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Terms Violations

Topics and message posts that violate the TOS will be deleted from the boards, and additional penalties may be applied at the moderator's discretion. Reposting deleted violations (yours or those of others) is also considered a violation.

Messages and topics may be removed for any reason at the sole discretion of TV.com and its appointed moderators. User accounts may be warned, suspended, or revoked for any reason at the sole discretion of TV.com and its appointed moderators. All determinations of what is "acceptable" and "unacceptable" content will be determined solely by TV.com and its appointed moderators. You agree the decision of the moderators and administrators is final, and you may not contest their rulings legally.

Intentional, repeated, or severe violations are cause for the banning of your account, all use of the boards from your IP address or your entire ISP, and TV.com contacting your ISP or other relevant parties about your activities.
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Member Conduct

Account Sharing

Using an account that is not your own or giving another user access to your account is prohibited and is grounds for immediate loss of all accounts.
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Bugs and Exploits

Using exploits or tricks in the TV.com code to gain privileges, access, or abilities not clearly intended by the board design are prohibited. Making exploits public or using them for personal benefit is grounds for immediate loss of all known accounts.
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Censor Bypassing

The TV.com message boards are programmed with a list of words that are considered vulgar under any context and these words are not allowed to be posted. Trying to bypass the censor by misspelling, inserting spaces or symbols, switching letters, using look-alike symbols, using abbreviations, dropping letters, or any other method is not allowed. The only acceptable method of posting one of these words is to obscure it making it impossible to determine what the word is without context. Also, certain words are restricted from being used in topic titles and user information pages. Bypassing the censor to post those words where they are restricted is also disallowed. For example, if "gris" is a banned word:

Not allowed: g-r-i-s, gr*s, g***, 9|-1$, girs, gryeeeas, grizznizz, **** (rhymes with "bris")
Allowed: ****, ****ed, ****ing, g'ed, g-word
Users are granted greater (but still not unconditional) freedom of speech on their personal blogs and in their sig lines.
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Disruptive Posting

Posts that disrupt the message boards for other users, intentional or not, are prohibited. This includes, but is not limited, to:

Message posts or topic titles that force browsers to scroll horizontally or excessively vertically
Large blank or content-free posts
Posts that consist only of quotes, or quotes plus an unsubstantial reply ("Okay" - "Yeah!" - "LOL" - smile), or just an unsubstantial reply.
Excessive quoting (i.e., quoting a ten-paragraph post to respond to one sentence)
"Bumping" older topics, directly or indirectly (posting in them well after the last post and/or primarily to keep them near the top of a forum, or creating a purportedly new thread that primarily rehashes the original topic)
Posting multiple identical or near-identical messages or topics, including "fad" topics
Intentionally hard-to-read topic titles and thread content (i.e. ALL CAPS, AlTeRnAtE cApS, no spaces, no or excessive punctuation, 1337 speak, et cetera)
Posting multiple hard-to-read or absurd messages in a single or multiple topics
Posting large ASCII art (except in social topics specifically calling for it)
Post counting (i.e. "First", "100th Post")
Posting a browser hijack link (i.e. Rick Roll)
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False Moderation Reports

Report Abuse is only to be used for genuine breaches of these Terms of Service and is not to be used as a means of settling petty disputes and squabbles between board users. Repeated reporting of posts which do not violate the TOS may result in your account being suspended or banned.
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Flaming (Insulting Other Users)

Posts of a hostile or insulting nature toward other board members and a show's cast or crew, individually or as a group, directly or indirectly, beyond the bounds of reasonable and informed criticism and debate, are not allowed. This includes, but is not limited to:

Name-calling ("You're an idiot", "You moron")
Direct insults ("Screw you")
Offensive orders ("Go kill yourself")
Suggestions ("Are you stupid or something?") or insults towards family ("Your mom...")
Physical threats, even as jokes ("I'm going to hunt you down and set you on fire!")
Derogatory references to another poster's experience or ability to follow the rules, or lack thereof.
Excessive upper-case posting, which is the Internet equivalent of hostile screaming.
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Flooding, Invading, and Board Wars

Users (and all associated accounts) will be banned immediately for:

Flooding a board with multiple disruptive topics or posts
Posting a single identical post on multiple forums, including but not limited to petitions
Invading another board (flooding a board as a group with multiple topics or posts)
Announcing or inciting a "war" or any conflict with the regular members of another board.
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Harassment/Stalking/Privacy

Continual harassing behavior directed towards a certain individual or group with the intent of creating an intimidating, offensive, or hostile environment on the boards with the Personal Messaging (PM) system, with or without use of explicit or implicit threats is strictly prohibited. Posting private information without permission is also prohibited.
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Illegal Activities

Posts that violate or incite others to violate the law are not allowed. This includes (but is not limited to) discussing, asking for or providing, in any way, shape, or form:

Illegal copies of copyrighted software and related applications (ROMs, Warez)
Methods of avoiding copyright protection (Cracks, No-CD Patches, CD Keys)
Illegal copies in part or in whole of copyrighted music (MP3s), movies, videos, TV shows, images, or any other media
Reprints of material from other web sites (pay or free)

Simply mentioning the word "download" is not a violation of TOS policy. Specific illegal download sites or methods must be mentioned for a violation to occur.
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Impersonation

Impersonating other board members, actors, writers, et cetera is grounds for immediate ban of all accounts.
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Offensive Posting

Posts of a patently offensive nature are not allowed. This includes, but is not limited to:

Using vulgar, profane, or sexually explicit language
Using race, religion, sexual orientation, culture, ethnicity, handicap (including "retard"/"retarded"), nationality, or gender as a means of insult
Using sexual preference terms as insult in any way
Using threatening, harassing, defamatory, hate-speech, or libelous language
Posting or requesting links to or material from pornographic, obscene, or hate-speech web sites
Posting links to web sites with potentially offensive content without a clear warning
Descriptions or details about any sexual act or sexual organs
Sexually suggestive or nearly nude images that are judged inappropriate by Moderators or Administrators - As a general guideline, this refers to images that would be censored on network television, in a daily newspaper, or in an office
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Off-Topic Posting

The main purpose of the TV.com message boards is to provide a place to discuss television programs. Threads are expected to be on topic - whether they be in the forum for a current or canceled series or in one of the general or special interest forums. Threads should encourage discussion rather than one word replies. Topics that have nothing to do with the board's category, "secret base" type threads, discussions of other users, and other "social" topics are typically disallowed, but less formal discussion threads may be created at an editor's discretion. No more than one such thread can be created per forum.
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Other

These are public boards, so act like you would if you were in a public place. TV.com reserves the right to choose the action taken on objectionable content based on its knowledge of users and company policy. These issues are left to the individual moderators, but may include any material that is knowingly false or defamatory, misleading, inaccurate, abusive, vulgar, hateful, harassing, obscene, racist, sexist, profane, sexually oriented, threatening, invasive of a person's privacy or that otherwise violates any law or encourages conduct constituting a criminal offense.
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Plot Spoilers

Spoilers regarding any form of media are disallowed within thread titles. Spoilers should not be included within forum posts unless posted within BB Code spoiler tags or preceded by a clear SPOILER warning.
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Reviews

To eliminate purely speculative reviews and to avoid reviews of pre-air episodes that later change before airing officially, reviews of televised episodes or shows that have not had an official broadcast premiere WILL BE DELETED. Posting these "speculation" reviews and any other TOS violations associated with the reviews section could wind up costing you points. If you want to write a review, please watch the episode first.

Reviews should be written in English. Reviews written in other languages are not permitted and are subject to removal.
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Signatures/Profile Banners/Avatars/Personal Images

Signatures may not exceed 550 pixels wide.
Signatures may not exceed a combined height of 200 pixels and/or 14 lines (including blank lines)
Signatures of an offensive nature are not allowed

If your signature causes a scrollbar (either horizontally, vertically, or both), then it's too large.

Signatures can and will be deleted without notice to the user.

Banners: 760 x 140 - 48 Kilobytes (49152 Bytes)
Avatars (Forum Icons): 80 x 80 - 19 Kilobytes (19456 Bytes)
Personal Images: 84 x 84 - 19 Kilobytes (19456 Bytes)

+ Please note these size limitations will only apply if you are uploading your own image to TV.com servers. These limits do not apply if you provide a URL to an image which is hosted by another site.
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Spam/Advertising

Posts that advertise or promote a service, product, site, or personal blog (here or otherwise) are not allowed. This includes, but is not limited to:

Unsolicited commercial or personal web site advertisements
For-Sale/For-Trade/For-Auction/Wanted notices
DVDs, VHS tapes, downloads, screen captures, and any other copyrighted material, in part or in whole, owned by someone else
"Make Money Fast" scams, chain letters, and pyramid schemes
Advertising for another message board
Solicitations and drawings for charity or profit events
Users can include a web site address in a signature, request comments on their personal site in a social setting, or post (only once) an interesting or relevant link to another site.
A blog created to let the user and his friends raise their post count without contributing any substantial content. Typically, spam blogs include posts containing, but not limited to the following: emoticons (face icons), a single word, and numbers
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Trolling (Inciting Flames)

Posts intending mainly to annoy or offend other posters by going against the clear nature of a board or topic are not allowed. Moderators have the final say in what was "intended" judging by a number of factors, including the response to the post. This includes, but is not limited to:

Provoking other users to respond with flames
Provoking fans of a particular show or genre, especially on boards dedicated to that show or genre (i.e., "This show suxx!!!")
Making misleading topic titles
Asking useless or unrelated questions
Posting false information as fact
Threatening to report other users
Posting hostile and insulting comments about other users in blogs and forums
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Usernames, Profiles, and Forms

Violation of any rules with a username, user profile section (signature, quote, e-mail), or by feedback forms (i.e. Mark for Moderation function) is considered a severe violation.
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Table of Contents

General Information About TV.com

What is TV.com?
Who is CNET Networks?
How/Where do you get your information? How reliable is it?
How does TV.com support itself?

Contributing to TV.com

What is TV.com's general submission/community philosophy?
What are some important must-knows about contributing data to TV.com?
Can I cut and paste information from other sites and contribute it to a guide?
Can I add a link to a page from another site outside of TV.com?
How do I submit a new show to TV.com?
How do I request deletion of a show or person guide from TV.com?
How do I submit new information to an existing show on TV.com?
How do I make changes to incorrect, existing data on TV.com?
How long do submissions normally take to reach the live site?
A contribution I submitted was rejected! What's the deal?
What is "gaming" and what is the penalty for it?
How do I add credits for an actor/actress on TV.com?
Is there any way to track submissions I've made to the site?
I made a mistake in a submission. Is there any way to correct it before it goes live?
How do I delete information on the site?

Editors, Contributor Scoring, and Special Privileges

What are TV.com editors? Who are these people?
What privileges do editors receive?
How can I become an editor? What is contributor scoring?
Are all submissions scored the same?
Can editors ever be unseated? Can they resign?
What constitutes "MIA" status?
MIA Editors
Special Circumstances
Reporting a "Problem Editor" Editors Gaming/Cheating -- Consequences
What constitutes "active"?
How do I report an editor whom I believe is MIA?
What happens if I am reported MIA?
How do I report an editor whom I believe is gaming?
How often is an editor expected to check their editor's queue?
What does an editor do in case of special circumstances (like vacation, etc.)?
Can a retired editor still submit to that show? Why don't you assign the new editor when he or she has at least one point over the current editor instead of requiring a full 80 points?
What are trusted users? How does an editor assign them?

Specific Forms and Formatting for Submitted Content

What are some must-knows about formatting content on TV.com?
What HTML formatting is allowed?
The show summary form
Best practices for the show summary
The show stars form
Best practices for show stars
The episode summary form
Best Practices for the Episode Summary
The trivia form
The notes form
The allusions form
The quotes form

User Profiles, Friends, and Reviews

What is a user profile?
What are "my favorites"?
Can I use a different email address but still keep the same profile name? What are friends? How does the friends system work?
Can I make my profile private? Why does the site show my birth date and location? I don't want people knowing that!
How do I write a user review? How long does it take for them to show up?
Is it OK for reviews to include spoilers?
Where can I find reviews I've previously written?
How are reviews sorted?
How do I send A PM (Private Message)?
How do I add/change the ICON on my profile?
How do I add/change the banner on my profile?

User Leveling and Emblems

What are user levels? How do I gain levels?
Are levels used for anything?
Can you lose levels? Is there a level cap?
What does the colored bar in my profile represent? Why does it say I'm a weatherman?
What are emblems?

General Information About TV.com

What is TV.com?

TV.com is a free Web site dedicated to all things TV. Launched June 2, 2005, and owned by CNET Networks, the site is home to the largest database of television shows, episode summaries, credits, trivia, and related media on the Web. It is also host to the largest known TV-specific community with message boards, reviews, and ratings dedicated to just about every show ever aired. (Back)

Who is CNET Networks?

You can find more information about CNET Networks here. TV.com is specifically part of the Games & Entertainment division of CNET, which includes GameSpot, GameFAQs, and MP3.com, among other properties. (Back)

How/Where do you get your information? How reliable is it?

Information posted on TV.com comes from a wide variety of sources. While we have a fairly large staff that actively adds content, the vast majority of information comes from our users. Almost everything on the site--aside from basic show identifying information, photos, and clips--can be edited or added to by users. We also occasionally receive content from networks and studios themselves.

Our accuracy is maintained by a strict moderation system that not only lets our experts check for poorly submitted data, but also provides enhanced editing privileges to trusted users who consistently submit quality content. However, given the evolving nature of a site as ambitious as TV.com, errors may occur, and we encourage you to report them. (Back)

How does TV.com support itself?

TV.com is supported almost entirely through paid advertising on the site. Without these ads, TV.com would not be able to hire a staff and provide the user base with the attention, new features, editorial, and quality control that we currently provide. Note that CNET Networks takes a firm stance against ad obtrusiveness, and we try to make sure that we don't alienate our users with their incorporation into the site. (Back)

Contributing to TV.com

What is TV.com's general submission/community philosophy?

TV.com aims to remain the largest source of independent television information on the Internet. Realizing that our users might know more about what's on television than we do, TV.com sports an easy-to-use user-submission system that lets registered users contribute and edit almost every piece of data on the site. TV.com also rewards loyal active users by awarding them special privileges on the site. (Back)

What are some important must-knows about contributing data to TV.com?

* All content on the site is dynamic and should be considered subject to change. Information you submit could be improved, corrected, or downright rewritten by another user at a later date.

* Because of the collaborative nature of content creation on our site, we may be unable to identify and remove your specific content if it was edited by other members of the community after being submitted.

* Submissions go through a moderation process and do not appear live on the site immediately after submission.

* We maintain the database independent of any studios or production companies. We do not fall to favoritism with submissions and do not cater to specific groups or people.

* TV.com is not meant to be a resume service for people in the industry. Data from credited sources goes through the same submission process and is subject to the same terms as data from any other user.

* TV.com uses a proprietary moderation system that grants trusted members of the community certain enhanced privileges. Continuing to submit quality data to the site over time can make it easier for you to get your submissions approved.

* All forms have instructions for best practices specific to the information you're submitting. Failure to follow the instructions will result in your submission being rejected. (Back)

Can I cut and paste information from other sites and contribute it to a guide?

Submitting summaries copied from ANY webpage is not allowed. This goes for all sites, including IMDB or any "official" network or fan sites. The word "official" does not mean that it's OK to copy. Even though you are copying the "official" summary, you do not have permission to use it, nor does CNET (sometimes a network may specifically ask us to post a summary which they have already written, but this is rare). (check out the US Copyright Office website for more details, if you are not sure about copyright laws and what this means). (Back)

Can I add a link to a page from another site outside of TV.com?

No, you can NOT post links to pages outside of TV.com in the guides. Links to pages within TV.com are allowed anywhere in the guides. (Back)

How do I submit a new show to TV.com?

You should use This form for new show submissions. Note that new shows do not appear immediately and must be added by staff. Also note that we add only those shows that we deem to be of general interest to our user base. (Back)

How do I request deletion of a show or person guide from TV.com?

You should use This form to request the deletion of a show or person guide. (Back)

How do I submit new information to an existing show on TV.com?

There is a "contribute" button on every show page. By clicking on this button you can find the forms specific to the information you would like to submit. Most forms deal with information attached to a specific episode of a show and not the show itself. In certain cases, specific data--like show images, news, or stars--may be locked, with access limited to TV.com staff and the editor of that show. (Back)

How do I make changes to incorrect, existing data on TV.com?

Almost all data on the site will have a small "edit" link listed after the entry. Clicking it will jump you to a prefilled form that lets you edit the current data. Certain data, such as the show summary or cast, is often locked, with access limited to TV.com staff and the editor of that show. (Back)

How long do submissions normally take to reach the live site?

Times vary per show, per data submitted, and even per user. We use a proprietary scoring system to prioritize and qualify submissions. If the show has an active editor, most submissions get processed within a couple of days. Submissions to shows without an editor can take longer, since they are processed directly by our staff. We review new episode submissions and any data submitted to current, on-air shows as soon as possible. In most cases, moderation time doesn't exceed one week and is often much shorter, but we almost always have a backlog of data to process. (Back)

A contribution I submitted was rejected! What's the deal?

There are many reasons a submission is rejected. Most of them have nothing to do with our thinking your submission was incorrect. We process thousands of submissions each day, and a portion of those submissions are duplicates. This is especially true for current, on-air programs. In such cases we mostly take the best bits of a couple of user submissions and push that to the live site, and then we reject the duplicates. Other reasons for rejection include:

Bad Grammar/Spelling: We're not going to reject an entry for simple grammatical errors but please, PLEASE, write complete sentences. "Is a fan of Dave Mathews" or, "likes cake", are not complete sentences. Also, the moderators don't have time to spell check your work so please take the time to check your own spelling.

Copy and Paste: You cannot copy and paste information from IMDB, or Yahoo, or any other site; that material is copyrighted. Write your own bio or synopsis, or paraphrase one that's already been written, get creative. Do not copy someone else's work.

Links/Email Addresses: You cannot include links to commercial websites or personal websites and we would rather you did not include your own or someone else's email address.

Improper Formatting: Please read the FAQ for information on formatting. Quotes, for example, should look like this: name: quote. The moderators don't have time to re-format your submissions.

Pictures: Most of the pictures users submit to TV.com are copyrighted and cannot be posted without permission. The pictures you see on TV.com have been posted by TV.com with permission from the owners. Simple rule: don't post pictures.

False Information: In order to accumulate points, some users have decided to change episode numbers, season numbers, air dates, etc., without bothering to check the accuracy of their information. This causes problems and it's a big headache for the people who have to go back and fix everything. It's okay to change an airdate, or an episode number, etc., if you know it's incorrect, but please be certain.

Hearsay/Gossip: Trivia is one thing but let's leave statements like, "has a thing for Lindsay Lohan", and, "living with mystery man in Miami" to the tabloids. We'd like to stick to the facts.

Posting to the Wrong Form: Trivia belongs in trivia, bio's belong in bio, quotes in quotes and etc. Again, it takes time to go back and fix these things so please be aware of which form you're adding to.

Duplicate Entries: Sometimes it can't be avoided, we understand that there's a lot of folks out there and there is bound to be some overlapping. All we ask is that you take a minute to check to see if the information you're intending to post has already been posted.

Nonsense: Some examples of nonsense would be: "she's sooooooo hottt!!!"; "I would like to go on a date with her!!!"; "is the best actor ever!!!!" This information isn't valuable to anyone and really doesn't have any place in the guides. (Back)

What is "gaming" and what is the penalty for it?

Gaming basically means cheating. Someone "gaming the system" might submit false information or delete and re-post information over and over again; they might add a comma to a summary that needs no comma, or add an alias that does not exist. Sometimes someone will add one piece of information to a form that allows you to add several pieces of information, one at a time, in order to gain as many points from that form as possible. The goal is to accumulate as many points as they can without adding any useful information or doing any real work. "Gaming" can cause a huge backlog of pending submissions wasting both the moderator's and editor's time, and delaying good submissions from being accepted in a timely fashion. Anyone found to be "gaming" will first be given sufficient warnings and then dealt with according to the decision of the staff. (Back)

How do I add credits for an actor/actress on TV.com?

TV.com is a show-specific, not an actor-specific, database. This means that all links between an actor and a show happen at the show or episode level. For example, if you noticed that Courteney Cox's credits did not include Friends, you would need to submit her as a star on the Friends page, not the Courteney Cox page. Note that guest stars will need to be attached at the episode level, not the show level. (Back)

Is there any way to track submissions I've made to the site?

In your user profile, under your history tab, there is a section titled "submission status." This section provides a list of all submissions you have made to the site as well as the current status of each submission. There are three submission-status categories: pending, approved, and rejected. Any comments associated with a submission are also displayed. In addition, private messages (PMs) are sent to your inbox any time an action is taken on your submissions. (Back)

I made a mistake in a submission. Is there any way to correct it before it goes live?

Not currently. We may catch your mistake, but if it gets past us you are more than welcome to submit a new entry if you think it should not have gone through. (Back)

How do I delete information on the site?

Currently only "blurb" (trivia, allusions, quotes, and notes) data can be deleted, since it's the most apt to change. These types of deletions get processed through the submission queue like any other contribution. All other deletions are handled by the staff and can be requested by sending them a private message. You can usually find a list of staff members by checking the message boards, which update more often than this FAQ. (Back)

Editors, Contributor Scoring, and Special Privileges

What are TV.com editors? Who are these people?

TV.com recognizes an elite group of users as experts for the individual shows they contribute to. These dedicated users are referred to as "editors" and are called out on the summary pages for the shows they edit. They are given several special privileges over regular users that let them keep the shows they maintain organized. (Back)

What privileges do editors receive?

In recognition of their superior contributions to the site, editors receive the following abilities for each show they edit.
* They can bypass moderation and make near-real-time edits and additions to their shows. Due to the complicated nature of displaying so many dynamic Web pages, edits on TV.com can still take up to an hour to show up on the site.
* The moderation queue for their show(s) is opened to them so that they can approve and deny submissions submitted by other users.
* They gain the ability to designate trusted users for their show(s).
* They are the only users allowed to update the summary and stars for any show(s) they edit.
* They can moderate their own show forums.
* They can create an Editor's Blog where news about the show/person whose guide they edit, can be discussed.

Check out the TV.com Editor Guidelines for more helpful information on how to edit guides. (Back)

How can I become an editor? What is contributor scoring?

TV.com selects its editors by monitoring the number of approved submissions they contribute to any specific guide. By having your submissions approved, you earn "contributor points" toward that show. Become the highest contributor to any one show, with at least 80 contributor points, and you will automatically become the editor. Points are calculated nightly, so it can take up to 24 hours for you to become an editor once you have enough approved submissions. The top 10 contributors to any one show can be found in the main contribute index, accessed by hitting the "contribute" button on the right side of any show page. (Back)

Are all submissions scored the same?

No, certain submissions are worth more than others and will therefore add more to your contributor score. It's TV.com's belief that some information, such as an episode recap, can take a lot longer to write and is more valuable to the average TV.com visitor than something like an episode quote. We recognize these differences and weigh our scoring accordingly. The specifics on scoring, though, are purposely hidden to allow us to tweak our scoring system when necessary for balance. (Back)

Can editors ever be unseated? Can they resign?

Yes, there are four ways that editors can be unseated or "retired". These include:
* The editor voluntarily resigns. TV.com will assign the next-highest-scoring user with more than 80 points the title of editor the next time our nightly calculations are made. The retired editor still retains their contribution score.
* Another user scores at least 80 points over the current editor. In this case the previous editor retains all points earned and has the potential to unseat the new editor by following the same formula.
* The TV.com staff removes the editor for delinquent maintenance of the show or "MIA" status ("delinquent maintenance" meaning not updating a guide - this refers especially to shows which are currently airing that may require more frequent maintenance). Staff can also retire an editor if they violate the TOS (Terms of Service) outright. This happens rarely and is always preceded by warnings through the PM system.
* The editor is found to have deliberately cheated (has been caught "gaming" the system).

NOTE: Retirement is permanent, it can not be undone. Please carefully consider this before either retiring yourself or letting one of the above things happen. (Back)

What constitutes "MIA" status?

MIA Editors

An editor is considered MIA if they have not been active on the site for over 30 days and/or submissions in their editor's queue have been pending for more than 3 days (for a show on our Top 20 List) or more than 7 days (for a show NOT on the Top 20 List.) Any submissions left unmoderated longer than the deadline requires may be moderated by TV.com staff.

To report an MIA editor send a PM to ReportMIAEditor. Include the Editor's username, the guide(s) they are neglecting and any other information you think is relevant.

An editor will receive up to 2 warnings from TV.com Staff regarding MIA status before they are retired. Any editor receiving a warning MUST respond to TV.com Staff as soon as possible with an explanation. Failure to respond within 7 days to any MIA warning will result in automatic retirement from the guide(s) in question.

The ReportMIAEditor inbox will be checked every Wednesday and Friday. We will not issue responses from ReportMIA but you will receive a PM from staff letting you know the outcome of the investigation. Staff will NOT discuss the details of the investigation. (Back)

Special Circumstances

If you are an editor and you know that you will be unavailable to edit your guide(s) for a set period of time, you can PM a staff member or post the details regarding your absence from TV.com in the pinned Editor Special Circumstances forum thread. If you give us this courtesy beforehand, staff will check your queues for the duration of your absence. This will also ensure that you will not be considered MIA and not be retired from your guide(s). (Back)

Reporting a "Problem Editor"

First, and most important rule -- DO NOT complain about editors (or any user for that matter) in blogs or forums. Even the most seemingly harmless gripe or criticism can lead to flaming or other offensive behavior. Complaining about an editor in a blog or forum thread could be considered Trolling, which is a TOS violation.

If you believe an editor is gaming (cheating) in order to keep a guide, report that editor to a TV.com Staff member via PM with the Subject Line: Problem Editor, and provide a detailed explanation of the situation. TV.com Staff will investigate these reports. (Back)

Editors Gaming/Cheating -- Consequences

Editors who are found to be gaming in order to keep or acquire a guide will be retired from that guide immediately and/or face possible suspension/ban depending on the results of the investigation. Each report of gaming will be considered unique. Staff will consider the results of the investigation and determine if subsequent action, in addition to retirement, needs to be taken. (Back)

What constitutes "active"?

These are things a user can do to gain points and be considered active on the site:

* Simply visiting the site each day.
* Posting on the message boards or sending PMs to other users.
* Contributing new content to a show or actor.
* Writing reviews.
* Updating your profile by posting on your blog, adding a banner, making comments, or adding shows to your "my shows" list.
* Commenting on news stories and other users' blogs. (Back)

How do I report an editor whom I believe is MIA?

If you believe an editor is possibly MIA, we ask that you contact the editor first. If you do not get a reply from them after a reasonable amount of time, then please follow this procedure:

If you need to report an editor as MIA, send a PM to the following TV.com staff account: ReportMIAEditor You must include the following information: * username in the Subject Line
* ID of the guide(s)
* specific reason(s) for why you are reporting them as MIA.

The ReportMIAEditor inbox will be checked every Wednesday and Friday. We will not issue responses from the ReportMIAEditor inbox but you will recieve a PM from staff letting you know the outcome of our investigation. However, staff will NOT discuss the details of the investigation. (Back)

What happens if I am reported MIA?

An editor will recieve up to 2 warnings from TV.com Staff regarding MIA status before they are retired. Any editor receiving a warning MUST respond to TV.com Staff as soon as possible with an explanation. Failure to respond within 7 days will result in automatic retirement from the guide in question. (Back)

How often is an editor expected to check their editor's queue?

Of course, it would be excellent if editor's checked their queue every day, but we realize this may not be possible for every editor to do. We ask that you clear your queue every 3 days if you're the editor of a Top 20 Show, or every 7 days if your show is not in the Top 20.

NOTE: It is especially important that submissions for currently airing and popular shows are processed in a timely manner. (Back)

What does an editor do in case of special circumstances (like vacation, etc.)?

If you are an editor and you know that you will be unavailable to edit your guide(s) for a set period of time, you can PM a staff member or post the details regarding your absence from TV.com in the pinned Editor Special Circumstances forum thread. If you give us this courtesy beforehand, staff will check your queues for you during your absence. This will also ensure that you will not be considered MIA and not be retired from your guide(s). (Back)

Can a retired editor still submit to that show?

Yes! (Back)

Why don't you assign the new editor when he or she has at least one point over the current editor instead of requiring a full 80 points?

This buffer is designed to prevent daily battles for editor status. By requiring an 80-point leapfrog in scoring, TV.com recognizes and rewards true commitment to the show in question and assumes you aren't trying to take over from the current editor just for the power trip. Since moderation of submissions is handled by the current show editor, that editor will have some say in a new user taking over. (Back)

What are trusted users? How does an editor assign them?

Because maintaining a show can be a hard job for just one person, editors can assign up to two users, each having at least 40 contribution points, as trusted users. These users receive the same moderation bypass abilities as the editor, letting them make near-live edits to that specific show. An editor can assign/remove trusted users on the contribute index screen.

Editors should assign trusted status very carefully. Because of their moderation bypass status, trusted users have the potential not only to ruin content, but to unseat the current editor much more quickly than the average user can. (Back)

Specific Forms and Formatting for Submitted Content

What are some must-knows about formatting content on TV.com?

* The XHTML allowed is extremely limited and mostly used for font decoration.
* All forms will process your paragraph separations automatically. There is no need to use br or p tags.
* You should mimic the formatting that already exist on the site. Not doing so could lead to your submissions being rejected.
* You can find instructions and helpful hints on the right side of every form by rolling over the question mark icons. (Back)

What XHTML formatting is allowed?

The following XHTML tags are allowed:

Code:

<strong>, <em>, <br />, and <p>

You can learn more about XHTML here. (Back)

The Show Summary Form

The show summary includes all the core information about a program. It can be updated only by the editor for the show. Please take special care when editing this form, because it affects sorting and display across the entire site. For example, incorrectly listing the show as "ended" could change the way it's treated in our top-shows list. (Back)

Best Practices for the Show Summary

* Always use your opening paragraph to quickly summarize the premise of the show. Since this information is all that will show up on a search or in a summary on another guide, it is the most important part of your summary
* Please keep personal opinions out of the summary. Summaries should be fact-based and as neutral as possible.
* The airtime used should be US specific unless it is for a non-US show.
* Do not include spoilers anywhere in the show form. (Back)

The Show Stars Form

The show stars are actors or actresses who have starred in a show over the course of its lifetime. (Back)

Best Practices for the Show Stars

* Include stars from the entire course of a show, not just from the current season.
* Do not put recurring characters in the show stars form if they are not credited as stars. Recurring characters displayed on the "cast" page are automatically generated and reflect any actor that has appeared on a show more than five times.
* If you feel the need to display season information, please do so in the character name. For example, "Kramer (Seasons 1-9)". Please do not list episode information--"Kramer (Episodes 1-123)"--in character names unless a show lasted only one season.

Check out the TV.com Person Submission Guidelines for more helpful information on submitting to person guides. (Back)

The Episode Summary Form

Episode summaries are meant to encapsulate all information about a specific episode of a show. If you need to create a new episode, go to the main contribute index and select "add new episode." Existing episodes can be updated either by navigating to the specific episode from the episode list or by selecting it on the contribute index page.

Note that all episodes submitted for a season that does not yet exist on the site must go through moderation, even if the submitting user is the editor of the show. This forced moderation is a preventive measure against abuse of editor power. These new episodes will be made a top priority of the staff at TV.com. (Back)

Best Practices for the Episode Summary

* Episode summaries and the recaps that follow them should not contain opinion and should be as neutral in tone as possible. * The summary should be vague and should not contain any spoilers. The recap is the opposite and should be as comprehensive as possible, containing full plot elements.
* Episodes should be ordered by their airdate on American television, unless there is a majority consensus by the community on another ordering scheme.

Check out the Episode Submission Criteria for more helpful information on submitting "new" episodes and editing episodes which have not yet aired. (Back)

The Trivia Form

Trivia is any small detail or goof that might not be known to people who view an episode. Trivia is attached at the episode level, not the show level. It should be specific to what aired in the episode and not deal with off-camera events, which should be submitted in the "notes" form. A car license-plate number is trivia, and a producer walking off the set is a note. (Back)

The Notes Form

Notes are off-camera tidbits about an episode. They should contain off-camera events that deal with a show's production. They should not deal with on-camera events or trivia. (Back)

The Allusions Form

An allusion is an indirect or passing reference to an existing form of media, be it to another TV program, a movie, a piece of music, or a book. Allusions are prevalent in television shows, and some shows, like The Family Guy, make exclusive use of this kind of humor. When submitting allusions, always credit the original media being referenced with as much detail as possible. (Back)

The Quotes Form

Quotes are specific dialogue between characters. Quotes submitted should always be specific to the episode, not the show, and should be formatted as follows:

Code:

<strong>Person A</strong>: Person A dialogue. <em>(Person B nods)</em> <strong>Person B</strong>: Person B dialogue.

Please do NOT use any quotation marks. Please hit the enter key once (and only once) after each line in the quote.

Please do not use

Code:

<p>

or

Code:

<br />

tags.

Please put xhtml tags for italics around any "action" (as shown above) - using

Code:

<em> and </em> tags

.
Please put the colon OUTSIDE of the xhtml tags.

Code:

<strong> and </strong>

(Back)

Edited on 06/26/2009 3:54am
Edited 8 total times.