Jump to content

Creating an Overall Stats Page for Magazine Status?


Recommended Posts

  • Retromags Curator

I threw this together with Copilot and a data dump from the Magazine Database section. I kept it simple and just pulled out the USA stuff for this first round. Would having something like this that is dynamically generated here at Retromags be of any benefit?

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/11wE6UuAGROH7onWOjb38ch9m6SIVQYVasy-HMa8PI7s/edit?usp=sharing

 

image.pngmagazines-summary.csv

  • Like 1
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I can't speak for anyone else, but I only scan what I have, and I only buy what I want.  And out of what I have, I already have a pretty good awareness of what's already been preserved either here or on other sites.  This kind of list seems like it would be mostly useful to the kind of person who is sitting there thinking: "I've got nothing to scan but want to fill some of Retromags' holes.  Lemme see what's needed before I head over to eBay and drop some cash." 

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Retromags Curator

So my thought process is an easier way to see progress. Right now if you want to know which magazines Retromags has fully preserved, you will need to go into the Magazine Database, drop into the USA section and then go into each category one by one and look for this at the top.

image.png

 

Which is totally doable, but what if you just want to know what Retromags has completely preserved thus far? Well if all the information is dropped out then its simple to sort.....

image.png

Wow look at that, Retromags has completely preserved 51 publications so far. I didn't even know it was that many. What about publications that are on the cusp of being fully preserved?

 

image.png

Well from the above data, it looks like if we scan 29 more magazines that are "Missing" and 15 magazines that need a "Rescan Needed", that we could add another 23 completed publications to the Retromags Download Manager.

I am just coming at this from the point of, more information can probably excite users to helping us track down and complete out areas we need help on.  :)

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, Phillyman said:

I am just coming at this from the point of, more information can probably excite users to helping us track down and complete out areas we need help on.  :)

Yes, exactly.  This is a list that's useful for someone wanting to purchase magazines to fill holes and wants to see which titles HAVE holes before seeing which individual issues are needed -- potential donators and potential certified crazy people like Dablais who buy mags just to fill holes even though they've got so many mags already they have to send hundreds of them to E-Day to scan to lighten their load. 😋

It's probably not necessary for anyone who wants to scan or donate mags they already own, since they're either already aware of what's needed, and are probably going to have to go into each mag's DB/download section to see which individual issues are needed anyway.

But it sounds like it's more or less already scripted and will update automatically, so is there any reason NOT to use it?

  • Like 1
  • Haha 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

One flaw with something like this is, while at a glance it looks like we've completely preserved 51 publications, the true number is actually lower since a lot of publications aren't fully represented in the database (PC World, GameRoom and The Gamer, to name a few, and that's just from the completed list). For those publications one would still have to check the individual database entry to see that, "Oh, this site only has GameRoom issues from Volume 20."

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yeah, there are some publications (offhand I don't know what) where someone has scanned a single issue, and created a DB entry for that issue and that issue only.  So it would look 100% preserved when in fact only a single issue has been preserved.

This is why we usually want to ascertain how many issues total a mag has before creating its database, but it hasn't been done that way with 100% consistency, especially on mags where we're unsure of the number of issues.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
  • Recent Achievements

    • Johnny9toes earned a badge
      Member for 3 Months
    • Royalish earned a badge
      Dedicated
    • Taaf earned a badge
      Member for 7 Days
    • Mikestergame earned a badge
      1 New Forum Reply
    • GrandAl earned a badge
      Dedicated
×
×
  • Create New...
Affiliate Disclaimer: Retromags may earn a commission on purchases made through our affiliate links on Retromags.com and social media channels. As an Amazon & Ebay Associate, Retromags earns from qualifying purchases. Thank you for your continued support!