There are two things I am simply not able to understand!

1. Imagine you just have added a profile to your collection, modify some data (overview, studios etc.) and then contribute your new version. For a long long time I was used not to control the checkbox for "including covers" as it was only active if I had added a cover. Some days I add twenty or more profiles, and this way I don't remember for which ones I had to add covers. Well, contributing the modifications including the same covers I downloaded maybe just an hour ago I simply don't understand. Is there anything wrong with my profiler or why does the "automatic" not recognize anymore that the cover didn't have any change?

2. The other thing I don't understand anymore is updates! We all no the green arrow which shows us if there is an update or not. And if you might do it like me and check every single update, it costs time. Well, during the last couple of weeks I have a massive problem with this arrow: After clicking on "Previw Changes", for at least the half of the updates, shown by the mentioned arrow, I only get to see "no differences deteced". Sorry to say, but that SUCKS! Imagine 50 or 100 updated profiles to check (if I could do all of them at once, there are much more) and at least half of them don't exist! I'd appreciate a solution for this very much.

Any suggestions or ideas what goes wrong with my database or with Invelos and how I/we could solve these troubles? At least the first one is unneccessary server load, and maybe the 2nd one, too, as I always need to contact the server to find out, that there is something or not.

I click on the "Refresh Updated Profiles from Invelos" under the Online tab at the top of DVDP. When that is done scanning my images and profiles for changes, a window pops up with "There are x number of profiles that have changed. There are the 2 sections with check marks in them: "Refresh Profile" and "Refresh Cover Images". At the bottom of that window is a box called "Skip All Unchanged". When you put the check mark in that box, that means if your local database profile and the Profiler online database profile are the same in every section (cast, crew, studios, etc.), there will be 2 red X's in the Refresh Profile and Refresh Cover Images section. That way, you won't have to go through every updated profile if there are no changes. This should replace the need for you to click on the green arrows of the profile itself.

Hope this helps,
Eric

There is at least one reason for that "No differences"-Crap (and the only way to change/modify this is to change the App): All of these (not existing) updates are profiles I contributed. So altough the data came from me, profiler wants to update my own data with my own data. You know what I mean? And this is unneccessary load for the server and wasted time for me. But as nobody seems to update the programm anymore, this problem will last for a long long time

This is a bit complicated for one who does not do contributions, but if I understand correctly, what you are describing could explain why I had some issues with matching the CLT credits. I found that sometimes the CLT takes into account pending accepted contributions even before they are reflected in the profile metadata that comes across the query API.

So, thanks for the information. I wish there were some kind of solution for you. We depend heavily on the diligent work of contributors, such as you.

Next step I don't understand is image updates. Don't know how or where their size is defined. But what caused my confusion - and I am absolutely not able to understand - is the "variation" of the updates:

There are countless covers with e. g. about 100 KB per picture. Okay!

A load of the updates brings scans with a bigger file size, that's okay and understandable, altough I visually can't recognize any difference and improvement.

But on the other side there are updates with a SMALLER size. Once again no visual difference!

So I think to remember that any contribution of covers is resized to reach predefined values. If I am right, how could it happen that the updates sometimes are bigger but sometimes smaller, too?

Next thing - as addition to the "jr." post - are names with "de" or "van" and so on. Countless times I got existing profiles with "De" (like in 'Danny De Vito') is written big. And the update brings me the small written version. But then I have them written in small and the update brings them in big. So what about a definition that those "name extentions" always are written small or big?

Not to mention the update where suddenly the "de" is not part of the name anymore but suddenly middle name. When I did this years ago my contribution failed because of that and I got an explanation. How could this happen now? Does Invelos really become worse or am I the only one who feels so?

And the next "missing rule": slash (/) used in played roles

One half of the updates my existing profile has a space before and after the slash ("Father / Son") and the update is without. And the next time I don't have space ("Father/Son") but the update brings it.

Maybe I didn't check updates for too long but this way I recognize so mand unneccessary changes which could be erased in advance by some further rules

I am just shocked a little bit how it could happen that so many rules have been "bend". I own "Magnum", the whole series in a box. As the seasons keep cases don't have UPC, the rules say that the season only could get a profile by the Disc-ID of the first disc. That's what I did then when I bought the series. And I got the advice that the only chance for a child profile for the disc 1 (of every season) is to create a manual profile.

Well, since I (and probably a load of other ones) did the whole series in the past, suddenly the Disc-Id of Disc 1 is just a profile for DISC 1. So this way the whole seasons couldn't have a profile anymore.

I am even not through half of the alphabet with checking the updates but so far I am sad, I am disappointed, I am angry and exhausted and with every load of updates I check I understand less and less. Why do some people have to follow the rules and others not? I won't say that I am living in the past, but on the example of Magnum: What happened? There was such an intensive and detailed control of every contribution then but now additionally to all the stupidities allready mentioned I get countless updates which are definitly break the rules! And this totally sucks!!!!

If the number of claims in this thread will become longer (and I am quite sure that it will) I am getting closer and closer to the point where I don't do ANY updates anymore. Not downloading and also not contributing. It is a horrible situation for me and maybe it's good that I don't know so much "bad" words in English. Otherwise my anger would be much more visible without senseful reasoning anymore.

That for sure is a HUGE factor! I don't remember the name of the guy who cared about that in the past. I only know that he left for any reason. Someone anywhere posted that he might comeback but it is not sure. And without his support/work in my opinion this once genius development goes down.

Actually my mind produces one idea after another to improve profiler and maybe bring back the fun, but if you check the thread about requests for enhancements and modifications: There are countless good ideas but if "the guy" keeps invisible, none of them might be done.

I had some other technical issues in the past (database collapsed at usual start and I had to create a completely new one to rescue my data) and after this happened more than once, I was looking for any alternative. Well, there are a few programs for DVD-Collectors, but not one of them is as well as profiler is. But thinking about all the problems I recognized in just one day (and - sad to say - thei are growing), maybe in the future one of them is better. I am here nearly as long as you and am missing the time when users really CARED about their data.