Note: some approved reviews may be culled for length
 

Just a heads-up: been meaning to do this for awhile, but we're going to go back the site's Reviews and tighten the standards a little. We're at 8,600 now, and some of those were approved before we'd really fleshed out what kind of guidelines we wanted to use. Mostly in that they're short and/or contain largely plot description.

I doubt anyone will lose too many, and I'll be surprised if it affects any of our more prolific reviewers, either. Just wanted to let you guys know in advance.

If we end up removing a lot of reviews from one person, we'll probably notify them so they have the option of filling the reviews out a bit.

Re: Note: some approved reviews may be culled for length
 

Yeah, we don't have any hard and fast rules but, going forward, if your introduction is longer than your actual critique, you'll probably want to think before submitting. ;)

Re: Note: some approved reviews may be culled for length
 

I should add: we're also going to try to be clearer about what all those guidelines are, notify people about specific reasons if the review fails to meet any of them, etc. Rough guidelines worked fine at first, but you guys have responded with a ton of reviews, which is really awesome, but it forces us to streamline and expand this whole process. A good problem to have, no doubt!

Re: Note: some approved reviews may be culled for length
 

So, good news: we've had to remove far fewer than expected! I think just around 100 so far (out of roughly 8,600). :up: So...carry on, and all that.

to whom are the reviews sent? Is there any standard format for the reviews?

sorry for the questions, I know this is not the proper place for newb questions.

Re: Note: some approved reviews may be culled for length
 

The reviews are displayed in the Reviews area, and you'll find them on members' profiles, on individual movie pages, and places like that.

As for format, there are some guidelines, mostly about length, and you can see them on the Post Reply page, just beneath the text box (click on "how's this work?"). That's also where you'll find the checkbox you can use to flag your post as a review, so it'll go into an approval queue for a mod to take a quick glance at before approving.

That reminds me... I was churning out 1 a day and now it's been 6.5 months since I done did my last review :eek:


Might have to get the thinking cap on again.

Re: Note: some approved reviews may be culled for length
 

Good thread. I brought this up on at least two occassions, I'm glad to see it being worked out this detailed. :up:

Yeah, we really decided to do it right: I wrote a custom script to sift through them all by character length, display the shortest ones, the shortest ones without popcorn rating tags, etc. Then Dave and I (more Dave, since he's the maestro of the whole review filtering process) started going through them. Thankfully, we ran into borderline ones a lot sooner than both of us were expecting.

We're going to think some more about the guidelines and maybe flesh it all out a bit more. It's a fine line, though, and it's pretty subjective sometimes, so we're always open to feedback.

Re: Note: some approved reviews may be culled for length
 

Edited post. Slight misunderstanding.

I thought Yoda was putting on a word limit for a second. Guess I shoud not have tried to speed read the post. lol

Re: Note: some approved reviews may be culled for length
 

Shouldn't Iro be losing about 200 or so? Not to put me back on top or anything, I swear. :p

Re: Note: some approved reviews may be culled for length
 

Ha, you guys are thinking, like I did, when I first read the title. Yoda's not saying he cut long reviews, he cut some short reviews.

Wanted to bump this since we have gotten a few waves of new MoFos since this thread was floated to the top.

Keep in mind folks, if you want your review tagged for the system, it's best to keep a couple of things in mind:

• Length: Reviews that are too short, or don't attempt to review the film in a fairly focused way will most likely get denied.
  
• Formatting: Keeping in mind the first point, also remember to format the review using multiple, clean paragraphs, and try to use proper punctuation and correct spelling to the best of your ability. Obviously, a review won't be denied if someone misspells a word or two, but if the entire review comes across as sloppy and haphazard in this regard, chances are it won't make the cut. Also, reviews that are one giant paragraph usually won't make it.
  
• Graphics: Images are fine, as long as they follow forum guidelines for content. Just keep in mind that images on the internet are a fluid territory, and images that work today might not maintain their links indefinitely, so at some point down the road, your review may end up with some dead links/broken graphics.
  
• Lastly, we do keep a watchful eye on review posts, and try to tag them on the regular, but if you have a review up that hasn't been tagged, and you want us to take a look at it, feel free to contact a mod, and we will be happy to take a look.

Re: Note: some approved reviews may be culled for length
 

Thanks guys (mods that is:)) for all the hard work you do on reviewing and approving our reviews.

Which reminds me I have a bunch of reviews to post, so that I can keep you real busy:p

We're ready!

:p

I forgot an important bullet point in regards to reviews. For a review to be added to the system, it should be rated with the site's popcorn box rating system. There is a pinned thread created by Ms. Vicky that explains how to use the system.

Here

Bookmarking this useful thread, for future reference. ;)

Whoa, Omnizoa's review for Coherence was approved right after mine was! If it's not too much trouble, could someone find out if reviews for the same movie have ever been approved in succession like that?

Well, the only easy way to "check" is just to scan ID numbers in the database and hope I notice something, but it'd be pretty easy to miss things that way. The only comprehensive way to check is for me to write a custom script to find out for sure, unfortunately.

That said, it has definitely happened. The reviews are accepted by a moderator via a queue tool, and they/we tend to do whatever's in the queue all at once, so there's probably many examples of newly released films being reviewed shortly after release and then approved back-to-back.

The more interesting thing, I think, is people submitting a review for a film more than a decade old around the same time, unless it was for a Hall of Fame or something.