How to resolve unknown publisher issues

[JAMES BROWN]

I imported a CSV file (weird that it has to have a txt extension -  very non-standard) and there are a few designated as "unknown publisher".  What is the procedure to remove these from my collection or convert them to the correct title/publisher.? I cannot list the indivisual titles and I cannot delete the unknown publisher references from my database.

[Gregory Hecht]

Are you saying that you don't know the publisher for the items in question?  

Or are you saying that you have a publisher listed but it doesn't match the publisher that is in the ComicBase database?

[Mark J. Castaneda]

If its not too many titles, i'd just visit each title with the unknown publisher and update the publisher info

 

[Steven L. Dasinger]

After Importing data, if a publisher is listed as 'Unknown Publisher', that means that CB could not find a matching Title to add the issues to.

What you need to do is get a list of the Titles (do a Find where Publisher is "Unknown Publisher'.

Use the list and try to match up with Titles already in CB (they are most likely there but it is possible to have something not yet in CB).

Note: Some of the Titles in Comic Books might have been moved to Books or Magazines.

If the Title the same and it is in a different Media, use  Edit->Change Title Media Type to move it to the correct media.

If the Titles is the same Media, you can select any/all issues in the incorrect Title and use Edit->Transfer Issues to a Different Title...

 

[Patrick O’Malley]

On 8/23/2021 at 5:10 PM, Steven L. Dasinger said:

After Importing data, if a publisher is listed as 'Unknown Publisher', that means that CB could not find a matching Title to add the issues to.

What you need to do is get a list of the Titles (do a Find where Publisher is "Unknown Publisher'.

Use the list and try to match up with Titles already in CB (they are most likely there but it is possible to have something not yet in CB).

What do you do if the Titles are completely new to CB?  Is there a way to fix them?  

Is there a correct way to import Publishers & Titles that are new to CB?

I have attached below the import file and a screen pic of what the result was.

ImportTest.txt

[Patrick O’Malley]

I manually added the Publisher "Dream Weaver Press" before I did the import, but there isn't a way to put the publisher in the import.

[Steven L. Dasinger]

First, I would be careful about adding Publishers.
For example, 'Dream Weaver Press' would just be 'Dream Weaver'
CB usually leaves of common endings for a Publisher. These include (but are not limited to) Press, Meida, Publishing, ext.
Sometimes they are added if there are Publishers with similar names.
If you do enter an 'incorrect' (from HC's perspective), and they catch it, they well change it. What this means is the next Update will add a New Title in your database with the 'correct' publisher which will be a duplicate of the one you entered. This should show up on the Unmatched Items list that is part of the Update.

Not saying I agree with this but it is so ingrained in CB that it is not likely to change.

PS I just check and CB already has Publisher 'Dream Weaver' (2 titles) in the database.

How many Items are you importing?
If it is a small amount, I would just import the minimum need to get the entry into CB This would be:

Title, Item#, Condition, and Qty
and either let CB fill in the info with Updates or manually enter it.

If you have 'thousands', again, do as little as possible.

Now for your questions.
A) New Title not in CB.
Double Click an issue to bring up the Edit window.
In the top right corner should be an Edit Title Information button. Click it.
Type in the Publisher.
As you type suggestions for Publisher will be displayed.
Either select the one in CB or finish typing in the New Publisher name.
Save the change then Cancel or Save the Issue Edit window.

B) Is the same as A. IF the Title is in CB and the name you have matches, it will go to that Title. If not, it will be imported with Unknown Publisher.

C) No, there is no way to Import Publisher.

[Steven L. Dasinger]

By the way, if you use the Find box (top middle of the window) and change it to Publisher, you can start typing a Publisher name and see what shows up. Since the part left off of the Publisher is on the end, this should find any you are looking for that are already in the database.
Don't trust the Setup->Publisher listing as not all Publishers are in there (not sure why). For example, I checked there for Dream Weaver and didn't see it. But the Find DID find the Titles that are using it.

[Patrick O’Malley]

1 hour ago, Steven L. Dasinger said:

First, I would be careful about adding Publishers.
For example, 'Dream Weaver Press' would just be 'Dream Weaver'
CB usually leaves of common endings for a Publisher. These include (but are not limited to) Press, Meida, Publishing, ext.
Sometimes they are added if there are Publishers with similar names.
If you do enter an 'incorrect' (from HC's perspective), and they catch it, they well change it. What this means is the next Update will add a New Title in your database with the 'correct' publisher which will be a duplicate of the one you entered. This should show up on the Unmatched Items list that is part of the Update.

Not saying I agree with this but it is so ingrained in CB that it is not likely to change.

PS I just check and CB already has Publisher 'Dream Weaver' (2 titles) in the database.

How many Items are you importing?
If it is a small amount, I would just import the minimum need to get the entry into CB This would be:

Title, Item#, Condition, and Qty
and either let CB fill in the info with Updates or manually enter it.

If you have 'thousands', again, do as little as possible.

Now for your questions.
A) New Title not in CB.
Double Click an issue to bring up the Edit window.
In the top right corner should be an Edit Title Information button. Click it.
Type in the Publisher.
As you type suggestions for Publisher will be displayed.
Either select the one in CB or finish typing in the New Publisher name.
Save the change then Cancel or Save the Issue Edit window.

B) Is the same as A. IF the Title is in CB and the name you have matches, it will go to that Title. If not, it will be imported with Unknown Publisher.

C) No, there is no way to Import Publisher.

Currently I have around 30 titles to add.   I wasn't sure what the minimum was so I was imitating already existing entries.  I will definitely go with Title, Item#, Condition, and Qty.

I did find the pre-existing Dream Weaver, but it is not the right company.  Dream Weaver Press has 2 titles currently, The Oswald Chronicles and Tall Tails.

For my purposes of adding the titles not in CB, I should manually create the title first and then import the issues.

Thank you for the help. 🙂