Editing Guest Stars type Data

drosso46561 wrote 8 years ago: 1

While watching Star Trek Voyagers 'In The Flesh' episode, I heard Chakotay reffer to the character of Valerie Archer as Commander Archer. I went into the guest stars and changed the Actress's character information to reflect the name of 'Commander Valerie Archer' instead of just 'Valerie Archer' so the name information would be more specific. I noticed that I then had to reupload the image of her in that role that I had uploaded a few minutes before changing the character name. Is it possible for the programming to be changed so instead of when we update a already set character name, it just changes the existing name (maybe only after higher ups approve the change) so the already entered information if there is any on that character is preserved? Basically I am guessing that this would only involve renaming the character name for the already existing data (only changing that specific data field leaving the existing field links intact). Not sure it this can be done or not.

LadyShelley wrote 8 years ago: 1

That's ... weird. I'm trying to remember if I've ever changed a name and had associated information disappear like that.

pentar wrote 8 years ago: 1

If you do a character search, you'll find two Valerie Archers. Maybe you created a new character instead of modifying the old one?

drosso46561 wrote 8 years ago: 1

pentar wrote:
If you do a character search, you'll find two Valerie Archers. Maybe you created a new character instead of modifying the old one?

I went into the manage for the guest cast and entered the name below the original name, I am pretty sure it ended up as a new character. I thought that was how I was supposed to edit it. Am I supposed to overwrite the existing name with the change and will it let me save it that way? without removing any existing information on that character such as image or any detailed character information that may be there?

tnt wrote 8 years ago: 1

drosso46561 wrote:
I went into the manage for the guest cast and entered the name below the original name, I am pretty sure it ended up as a new character. I thought that was how I was supposed to edit it. Am I supposed to overwrite the existing name with the change and will it let me save it that way? without removing any existing information on that character such as image or any detailed character information that may be there?

It's funny how having about 300K of contributions you still don't know how to edit a character's name :)

It's done not by managing a guest list, but by going to the character's page and changing a name or adding an AKA.

BTW, where's the "other" Valerie Archers? Did somebody deleted her with all her appearances?

tnt wrote 8 years ago: 1

Also I want to note, that while having a military rank as part of the character's name seems a good idea, often it is not. In the long running series military characters tend to be promoted/demoted, so the rank could change through the series. The good examples would be SG-1 or The Last Ship. That's why it is better to add ranks as an AKA for a character. Also it's a good idea to follow the names used in the on-screen credits, press releases or at the official character pages at the show's website (if available), adding extended names as AKA.

Of course each series is different, so if it's an ended one and the character had a single rank through all his/her appearances, it could be added to the name.

drosso46561 wrote 8 years ago: 1

tnt wrote:
It's done not by managing a guest list, but by going to the character's page and changing a name or adding an AKA.
I will remember that for future reference.
BTW, where's the "other" Valerie Archers? Did somebody deleted her with all her appearances?
I never checked on their being 2 Valerie Archer, she only had 1 appearance and that was in that one Voyager episode, also there was no info other than that single episode of Voyager under the originals character when I went in to put the gallery image in before changing the name that's why I was not overly concerned about the possibility of her rank changing. There have been times where I have not entered a rank when adding characters due to the reason you mentioned about the possibility of ranks changing throughout a series.