Postbot
From DocuWiki
Postbot is a custom tailored script that collects all kind of information about a documentary release and compiles it into a wiki page.
It was made to guarantee a minimum of information on each entry and also performs some error checking on the input. If possible it tries to add relevant information from known sources automatically. It's also the only available way to create an account for this wiki.
PostBot is constantly under development to improve it further and to fit the needs of users. If you'd like to suggest a change or just leave a comment, have a look at this forum thread on MVGroup.
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[edit] Prior to using Postbot
Although the usage of PostBot is very straight forward, it's recommendable to prepare the required information in order to use it without major delays.
Also note that PostBot was primarily tested with FireFox, Opera and Internet Explorer 7. Other browsers may cause problems.
The following checklist should be completed before accessing PostBot in order to get it done fast:
- Make sure you follow the Posting Guidelines.
- Acquire the original avi/mkv file of the documentary you want to post
- Check the starting/ending credits for the following details:
- Narrators Name
- Year of Production (not the year of the first DVD sale)
- Name of Publisher(s).
- Search the beginning of the video for a suitable covershot. Usually you can find a scene where the title of the documentary is written down on the screen. (e.g. Snowball Earth (NG)). Pause the video in that moment and take a screenshot and save it.
- Take a few snapshots from along the documentary which you find to be representative. Have a look at How to make Screenshots.
- Extract the Technical Specifications of your file
- (Optional) Create the ed2k hash from the file
- Obtain the torrent for the file
- If you are a releaser on MVGroup and you created a new release, create a torrent for your release as described in the releasers guide
- If you got this file from a public tracker, save the torrent for later use.
- If you obtained the file from a non-public tracker, newsgroup or somewhere else, you should talk to the MVGroup Staff for access to their trackers.
[edit] Usage
The PostBot page is divided into several tabs for different kinds of information about a documentary. On the right side of all tabs there's the Help Box.
It's strongly suggested to complete the process by entering all information into the current tab before progressing to the next one. Some options in later tabs rely on previously entered information and may not be visible if accessed in a different order.
[edit] Help Box
The Help Box will turn up whenever you click on an input field or any text which figures a question mark as mouse cursor. It will also change whenever you switch to a different tab.
Whenever you want to get more information about a certain input field, click on it to have the associated text displayed in the Help Box.
[edit] Authentication Tab
This is the first tab you will see when accessing PostBot.
Here you not only supply your username and password but can also request one:
[edit] If you do not have a DocuWiki username, but are registered to the MVG Forums
In that case you can leave the DocuWiki Access section blank and only supply the MVGroup username and password.
At the end the whole process when the wiki page is created, an account on DocuWiki is created with the same username and password as used for the MVG forums.
Note: Although the username and password is identical it's not the same account, but a copy of it. Changing any settings on the forum will not affect the wiki and vice versa.
[edit] If you want a different DocuWiki username than the one used for the MVG forums
In that case enter your desired username and password into the DocuWiki Access section. If that username is still free, it will be created using the password supplied.
