General FAQ: Difference between revisions
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=Frequently Asked Questions - General Stuff= |
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'''NOTE''': ''We are currently standardizing the terminology used in our documentation. In some the following terms used interchangeably.'' |
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* ''album and release'' |
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* ''moderate and edit'' |
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'''''Release''''' ''and'' '''''edit''''' ''are the new standards.'' |
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''You can update the content of [[Account FAQ|this page]] on the wiki but please do not add questions without answers. If your question has not been answered here, ask on the [[Mailing List|MailingList]]s'' instead.'' |
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If your question is not covered here, please check the [http://www.musicbrainz.org/faq.html official General FAQ] on the main site, which is more complete that this here. There are also [[Frequently Asked Questions|FrequentlyAskedQuestions]] specific to different subjects, like the [[Moderation FAQ|ModerationFAQ]]. If that still doesn't help, please find us in one of the [[MusicBrainz Forum|MusicBrainzForum]]<code><nowiki></nowiki></code>s or via the [http://www.musicbrainz.org/support/contact.html contact page]. |
If your question is not covered here, please check the [http://www.musicbrainz.org/faq.html official General FAQ] on the main site, which is more complete that this here. There are also [[Frequently Asked Questions|FrequentlyAskedQuestions]] specific to different subjects, like the [[Moderation FAQ|ModerationFAQ]]. If that still doesn't help, please find us in one of the [[MusicBrainz Forum|MusicBrainzForum]]<code><nowiki></nowiki></code>s or via the [http://www.musicbrainz.org/support/contact.html contact page]. |
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In certain places, [[MusicBrainz]] itself uses [[FreeDB]] when it doesn't know an album already. (RJMunro) |
In certain places, [[MusicBrainz]] itself uses [[FreeDB]] when it doesn't know an album already. (RJMunro) |
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===Why won't the web site accept my login name and password?=== |
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Please [http://www.musicbrainz.org/support/contact.html send us an e-mail] providing as much of the following information as accurately as possible: |
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* your username (or as much as you can remember of it) |
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* your password (or as much as you can remember of it) |
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* the e-mail address you registered with |
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* when you registered |
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* when you last successfully logged in |
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* when you last tried and failed to log in |
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With that information we'll be able to look into the problem and help you. |
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===I've forgotten my password - how do I get in?=== |
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If you've previously entered and confirmed your e-mail address, then use the [http://www.musicbrainz.org/user/forgot-password.html Forgot your password?] link. |
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Otherwise, please see the answer to the previous question, "Why won't the web site accept my login name and password?" |
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===How do I delete my account?=== |
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You can't completely delete your account; we need to keep at least the information that an account existed at some point, so that the database is kept consistent. However, you can remove your personal information from an account: |
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* delete all your subscriptions, if you have any ([http://www.musicbrainz.org/user/subscriptions.html http://www.musicbrainz.org/user/subscriptions.html]) |
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* edit your profile, and blank out all three fields ([http://www.musicbrainz.org/user/edit.html http://www.musicbrainz.org/user/edit.html]) |
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* change your password to something very complex and hard to remember, and don't write down what it is ([http://www.musicbrainz.org/user/change-password.html http://www.musicbrainz.org/user/change-password.html]) |
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That way all your personal information is removed from your account, and you've effectively "locked" the account (by giving it an almost impossibly complex password). |
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If you like we can also rename the account to something like "deleted account #1234". If you want us to do this, then follow the above instructions except: |
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* set the "bio" text of the account to "Please delete this account" (or similar) |
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* e-mail us ([http://musicbrainz.org/support/contact.html http://musicbrainz.org/support/contact.html]), telling us that you'd like your account to be deleted, and ''tell us the name of the account''. We'll e-mail you back to let you know when it's done. |
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----[http://www.musicbrainz.org/faq.html OriginalVersion] |
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Revision as of 02:13, 12 March 2006
NOTE: We are currently standardizing the terminology used in our documentation. In some the following terms used interchangeably.
- album and release
- moderate and edit
Release and edit are the new standards.
You can update the content of this page on the wiki but please do not add questions without answers. If your question has not been answered here, ask on the MailingLists instead.
This page lists some very general FrequentlyAskedQuestions about MusicBrainz and how to use the site.
If your question is not covered here, please check the official General FAQ on the main site, which is more complete that this here. There are also FrequentlyAskedQuestions specific to different subjects, like the ModerationFAQ. If that still doesn't help, please find us in one of the MusicBrainzForums or via the contact page.
This FAQ seems to have gotten truncated, and should be updated/merged with the version on the main pages.
General Questions
What's the purpose of this site?
This site is intended to be a free, on-line encyclopedia of music information. We (and you, if you decide to join us) are building an open-source database containing all the information you would ever want to know about songs, albums, and artists.
Why would I need to use your site? What's wrong with Gracenote's CDDB?
No one needs to use our site, and nothing's wrong with CDDB. We just have a different aim from the maintainers of CDDB. Check the history pages for more information on the origins of this project.
This site is free. CDDB is not.
CDDB was made by volunteers sharing the track listings of their CDs with the central server that was run voluntarily, not for profit. This freely volunteerd effort was effectively stolen by Gracenote, who made it a commercial service that you have to pay to use in your music player software, or if you want to download large parts of the database for whatever reason. (RJMunro)
Why would I need to use your site? What's wrong with FreeDB?
FreeDB is based on the last version of CDDB that was freely available. While it is a very useful site, it is technically inferior to this site as it is based on a flat format. Ie. Albums are not grouped by artists, they just have a text field "Artist Name". Different printings of the same album that are not quite identical go into the listing twice etc. There is no concept of a single track being on more than one album - a track doesn't really exist in its own right. While MusicBrainz is not perfect in this respect, it is a lot better, and plans for improvements are laid down. The path to acheiving those goals is clear. It would be very hard to give FreeDB those facilities. Eventually it is envisioned by some that MusicBrainz could take over from FreeDB, although they may evolve to take different markets, or be competitors continually spurring each other on.
In certain places, MusicBrainz itself uses FreeDB when it doesn't know an album already. (RJMunro)
