I think it would be beneficial to the puzzle database and its users for all the puzzle moderators to agree upon and adhere to the same set of standards. Here are a few topics and opinions to get the dialogue started:

IMAGES: Obviously large high quality images are ideal. But what do we do if we only have small images or low-quality images? Personally, I prefer to invest my time in creating good content, not spend my time trying to turn lead into gold. There are exceptions to this, of course. When the puzzle database was created from the Virtual Puzzle Museum, for example, some images were pretty small (and some still are). Also, sometimes only smaller-than-standard images were available at the time.

I think each item has to be examined on a case-by-case basis. A mathematically-inclined person could probably come up with a function that takes two inputs, the duration of the value of an image (from short term to long term) and the amount of time required to prepare an image, and calculates a yes or no answer about whether or not to invest the resources.

TEXT QUALITY: Clearly some areas of the database suffer from a lack of quality control. Many fields are blank, spelling errors and formatting differences abound. Whenever I add or edit an item, I give myself full licence to tweak everything according to my standards. This is the beauty of a system that can be updated by anyone, since there are too many items in the database for one person to go through and edit them all. I'd like to avoid adding any new text that doesn't exhibit a high level of quality, and in this way, upgrade the quality slowly but consistently over time.

MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS: What are the minimum requirements for an entry? A picture? A picture and a name? A name and a description? Personally, I'm good with just a name and a picture, although I would really like there to be much more as soon as possible. Pictures seem to be king in my world, cause I sometimes don't even require a title. (I have an idea of creating a feature for the homepage that will show a sparsely-populated puzzle database item and request users come forward with whatever information they may have, but that's another topic.)

There's a start.

Sandy

I am the first to answer? Okay!
I think a picture and a name should be minimum requirements for a new entry.
And I think (or hope) that a problem with low quality image won't occur to often. If I am wrong the moderators can start a new thread "Help us providing better pictures for Puzzle XYZ"
Just my 2 cents.

Just a question.. to send pictures, can I just link them in the "comments" section?
It seems much easier then going through email... but I may be wrong.



Another question, have my additions been in high enough 'standards'? Im not a fantastic writer, but I try to spice it up.

Thanks.


P.S. -to the database mod's- Sorry about messing up the Golden cubes production year.

*EDIT* Sorry, this was a double post. I cant seem to find the delete button.