Articles

Nitpicking 101

Overview

Nitpick Categories

Submission Process

NOTE: For the first year and a half of the NNG, nitpicks have been submitted by email. These submissions are currently backlogged (though none have been lost!), awaiting entry into the database once I resolve some issues surrounding how they are linked to members. The remainder of this page outlines the process that will be in place once these issues are resolved and the Members section is activated.

Submission Form

Nitpicks are submitted to the NNG via the online submission form, which includes fields for the episode in question, the category of the nitpick, a description of the nitpick, and any other comments the author wishes to provide.

NNG members will also be asked to provide their member name and password when completing a nitpick, so that their submission can be tied to their membership. This will allow the member to review the current status of her or his submission from within the Members section.

Visitors who do not wish to become members must still provide a 'member' name, which will be the name that is displayed with their entry when it is activated, and will be given a randomly-generated password. If they subsequently wish to join the NNG, they may use this member name (and will be required to change the password) if they wish to have their prior submissions tied to their account.

Nitpick Review

Nitpicks will be reviewed by the site owner as they are submitted and their status set as required (see below). Members may access their submissions via the Members section in order to review the current status of their nitpick and any notes that may have been added to it. Members will also have the ability to add their own notes in response, if desired.

Nitpick Status

The status of each nitpick in the database will be one of the following (nitpick status may progress through one or more of these stages at various times, though this is not a linear sequence):

Awaiting Initial Review

When a nitpick is first submitted to the database, it is automatically date and time stamped and given this status. Once I have looked over the nitpick, the status will be reset to the appropriate class from the remainder below.

Awaiting Episode Review

This status is generally used for Production Problems (and some Series Inconsistencies), where the nitpick needs to be confirmed through review of the episode in question. I will try to get to this review promptly, but there is no set timeframe.

Awaiting Clarification

In some instances, the author's point or intention may not be clear on initial reading. In these cases, I will set this status and add a note to the database explaining what I feel needs clarification. The author may review this note and resubmit his or her nitpick as desired.

Awaiting Author Approval

If I rewrite a nitpick (for grammatical or content reasons) in what I feel is a substantial manner, I will request the author's approval for the new format before activating it under his or her name in the database. If the author feels that the new text does not capture their initial intention, I will work with them to resolve the issue before the nitpick is active.

Duplicate

In some cases, a nitpick may have been submitted previously but not yet activated in the database (or made active and the author simply missed that it was already present on the episode page). In these cases, the second and subsequent submissions (based on date and time) will be marked as Duplicate. Duplicate is a specific category of Inactive (see below.)

Inactive

If a nitpick is erroneous (for example, episode review conflicts with the author's statement) or is otherwise deemed incorrect, it will be inactivated and a note will be added to the database explaining why. The author may request an appeal of this decision, and in some cases this appeal will be presented to the general membership for discussion and voting. However, final approval authority remains at the discretion of the site owner.

Active

When a nitpick is Active, it will appear on the Submitted Nitpicks page for the episode in question, notated with the author's name and the date of the submission. If subsequent episodes render an active nitpick inactive (for example, an Unanswered Question is answered), a display note (one that will be visible on the episode page) will be added to the database, but the nitpick will otherwise remain active for historical purposes.

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