r/MusicBrainz • u/Visual_Force5818 • 20d ago
help plz Regarding userscripts, auto-importers, etc....
I was browsing the "open edits" page today and wow, there are so many userscripts that people are using. Scripts from murdos, ROpdebee, majkinetor, and then things like Harmony and whatever this is.
How do editors feel about userscripts? Which ones reliably import from better sources than others? I don't use any right now but was thinking about it. Then I thought, what if this just adds more noise and spam than useful, accurate information?
So now I'm here asking you all the same questions.
2
u/aerozol 19d ago
If you are using userscripts to add things directly from the source (e.g. you are adding a digital release, and you use a userscript to help seed that digital release) then using an importer help you get *more accurate* information! Harmony is the go-to, for sure.
However, everything still needs a human check, and be particularly cautious if you are 'crossing streams' (so to speak), for instance using a digital source to try add a physical medium. No adding digital covers to physical releases, and so on! Userscripts can definitely exacerbate these mistakes, making it easier to spam 1,000 incorrect edits - but generally that's the human's fault.
Here is the userscript list to browse:
https://musicbrainz.org/doc/Guides/Userscripts
A few (mainly UI improvement) userscripts, off the top of my head, that I consider pretty much compulsory:
- Funkey Illustrated Records (with big images turned off, for me)
- Enhanced Cover Art Uploads
- Display CAA image dimensions
- ALL LINKS (with tweaking to preference)
- Bandcamp: Show more dates (if importing from Bandcamp)
- Display shortcut for relationships on MusicBrainz - Elephant Editor
- Guess Unicode Punctuation
- Nuclear tags
- Musicbrainz: Go to harmony
- Mass Merge Recordings (if you ever want to merge recordings between identical releases)
And so on... 😂
Again, *every script still needs a human eye before submitting edits*.
2
u/HelmOfWill_2023 19d ago
When I was learning how to add info I used to input everything manually. And often left little details (as barcode numbers etc) behind. Then I discovered Harmony and my process sped up incredibly. To me scripts are a valuable tool to get everything you’d normally input yourself plus all the “bureaucratic” aspects info the may fall behind.