Change Log for mb_server
The bulk of the work this time was a series of changes which are actually invisible to end-users of the system:
- Each of the 27 moderation types has been re-implemented using a dedicated “handler” module, conforming to a single moderation handler API.
- Moderations are inserted using a more Perl-like “named parameters” style of calling. Instead of passing cryptic parameter combinations off to a POST to /bare/enter_*mod.html, each web page for editing the data (e.g. “editartist.html”, “remdiscid.html”) now call the “insert moderation” API itself.
The main effects of those changes are:
- It will now be much easier to add new types of moderations, which in turn means that it will be much easier to extend MusicBrainz to handle new types of data.
- It will also be much easier to adjust the behaviour of the existing moderation types, e.g. to change what is shown as “old” and “new” values for a given mod type, perhaps to make voting easier.
Although all of those changes should be mostly invisible to the end-user, a number of other changes relating to the moderation system were also introduced:
- It’s now possible to see a list of moderations entered by any given moderator. Previously it was possible to see “My Mods”; now “My Mods” is just a special case of “View Mods by Moderator”. To see a moderator’s list of moderations, go to the moderator’s profile page (/moderator.html) and follow the “List Moderations” link.
- The “artist filter” system used in some moderations (e.g. move album, merge artist) is now much improved. Instead of entering the artist sortname first, then perhaps having to enter the artist name on the next page (where you can’t edit the sortname), you can now just search for the artist however you like, then enter both the artist name and sortname together if required. You can also “search again”. Anyway, try it and see. It’s much nicer.
- The “change track name and artist” page (changetrack.html) is improved. Bug #736075 has been fixed. You’re now given buttons to flick between the current track/artist names and the guessed (split) names, in case it guessed wrong. Also the order of track/artist for this album (i.e. does this album go “track – artist” or “artist – track” ?) is remembered, so you should only have to click “Swap” up to once per album.
- It’s easier to enter “non-album tracks” than before; there’s also a link for entering a non-album track for the artist when you do a tag lookup.
- The “moderation pending” flag is now correctly set in a few places where it never was before (e.g. for “merge albums”, all the albums in question are marked as “mod pending”).
- When viewing moderations, the “old” and “new” values have changed in minor ways for some moderation types. For example, the tagger version is shown for “Add TRMs” mods. Bug #738587 has been fixed.
- Previously, certain “edit” moderations were only auto-moderated if the only change was upper/lower case. Now, more things can be auto-moderated, including changing the amount of space (e.g. changing two spaces to one), and changing types of quotes (e.g. single quotes (apostrophes), double quotes, and so-called “smart quotes”).
- The “merge albums” page has become fractionally easier to use.
- Certain moderations (including “add album” and “add track”) now insert potentially much faster than before.
- Security holes relating to removing moderations and adding notes to moderations have been fixed.
Bugs fixed in this release:
- #660921 Redundant sortname changes
- #736075 Convert to MAC, Change Track Artist doesn’t “guess” any more
- #738587 Bad links in “Edit Track Number” mods
- #749901 ModBot on top moderators lists
There’s also one little feature for MusicBrainz developers running “staging” servers (e.g. test.musicbrainz.org):
- On the “view moderation” page (/showmod.html), there are now buttons for accepting and rejecting open mods (so you don’t have to vote on them). This feature only appears if DB_STAGING_SERVER is true.
Dave Evans
MetaBrainz Blog 