GameDB2 User Manual - Categories, Publishers and Designers

Description


Categories, Publishers and Designers are arbitrary tags which can be attached to game records to help classify them and group them into logical orderings.

Each Category, Publisher or Designer is just a simple string which represents some piece of information. As such, all of them are handled in the same way, and so the help system provides you with the same help regardless of which of the items you are attempting to work with.

A game may have any number of Categories, Publishers and Designers attached to it, including none at all. The very first item of each type associated with a Game is known as the Primary item of that type. This is the only item that is seen in abbreviated data listings, such as the Game List.

Primary Items


While a Game may have any number of Categories, Publishers and Designers attached to it, in some places there is only room to display a single item. An example of this is in the Game List, where only a single Category, Designer and Publisher is displayed, regardless of the number of each item the game has attached.

The item that is displayed is known as the Primary item. This is the first item of each type assigned to a particular game. In the Game Edit page, you can change the Primary item of each type by changing the item that appears first in the list.

Viewing the list of current items


The list of Categories, Publishers and Designers that are currently registered with the ssystem is available by clicking on the desired item in the main GameDB menu. The list of items is displayed alphabetically.

Each list has a short filter bar that allows you to view all of the items, or only items that begin with a particular letter. The filter bar only allows you to set filters for items that actually exist, so any filter items that are not clickable are indications that there are no items that match that filter.

The list iteself contains:

Adding a new item


To add a new Categories, Publishers or Designers to the system, first display the item list for the item type you want to add by clicking on the item name in the main GameDB menu, and then click the button labeled "Add more" at the top of the page.

The page that appears allows you to enter in up to 10 new items at once, by entering the text in the text fields provided. All items of a particular type must have unique names (case is not important).

You can also add items directly at the Game Add Page by entering the new data into the text fields provided there, allowing you to add in items for a game on the fly.

You will not see the Add button if you do not have permission to add new items of this type.

Editing an existing item


To edit the name of Categories, Publishers or Designers that already exist, first display the item list for the item type you want to edit by clicking on the item name in the main GameDB menu.

In the Item List, you can click the Rename link next to the item whose name you would like to change, to be taken to a page that allows you to alter the text. GameDB requires that all items of a particular type have unique names (case is not important).

You will not see the Rename link if you do not have permission to edit items of this type.

Removing an existing item


To remove Categories, Publishers or Designers, first display the item list for the item type you want to remove by clicking on the item name in the main GameDB menu.

In the item list, check the check box next to the items that you would like to remove, and then click the "Remove" button at the bottom of the list. You will be asked to confirm the operation before the removal takes place.

You will not see the check boxes or the Remove button unless you have permission to remove items of this type.