The "Help, the generator isn't working!" thread

Post your questions & get help from friendly LibriVoxers
redrun
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Post by redrun »

So, you're looking to start a project. You opened the template generator, and you filled it all out and hit "Next"... and all you got was either a blank screen, or "Error 500".

Here are some things you can check:

1. Make sure that the author is already in the LibriVox database.
Type the author's last name in the "Last name" box, under "Information about the Author(s)". You should see their name and information come up in a list, and clicking on that name should fill in all the other boxes - the author's first name, years of birth and death, and usually their Wikipedia link, too.

If you do NOT see the author's name come up, say so here in this thread. Include any of that information you can find about the author - full name, Wikipedia link, dates of birth and death. An admin will get them added to the LibriVox database, and will let you know when you can try again!

If you DO see the author's name, be sure you click it so that the other boxes are filled, and DO NOT change any of those boxes after that - they are the way the admins entered them. :wink:

If you are running a collection by various authors, then enter "Various" as the author's last name, and leave the other boxes blank! Don't put "Various" for the author's first name, date of death, etc., leave them all empty but the last name.


2. Make sure all of the "date" fields have only numbers
These fields should include no letters like BC/AD, no year-ranges like 1901-1902, and no spaces - just digits.


3. Temporarily remove any special characters.
If the title, the summary, or the "summary by" name includes anything other than English letters and numbers, try leaving those out for now. You can re-enter those characters after you've pasted the template into the forum. Examples of things to leave out are punctuation and "special" characters, such as ".*&()%`[]@', and characters with umlauts or diacritics, such as ü or ñ.

You can try leaving the summary and other optional boxes entirely blank, if you still have trouble after removing all the special characters you can find. Some special characters are pretty hard to spot, and could be copy/pasted by accident.


Please post a reply here if you're still having problems!
ej400
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Post by ej400 »

I'm consistently getting error pages and have tried multiple tricks. Anyway, could someone please add William T. Palmer into the database? :mrgreen:

Thank you!
victoriaalicebell
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Post by victoriaalicebell »

Thankfully, I haven't had this problem before :mrgreen: . Would someone please add the author Josephine Scribner Gates to the database?
Thanks,
TriciaG
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Post by TriciaG »

ej400 wrote: August 29th, 2023, 12:22 am I'm consistently getting error pages and have tried multiple tricks. Anyway, could someone please add William T. Palmer into the database? :mrgreen:

Thank you!
Please provide all the info you have on him: birth/death years, Wikipedia page link (if available, or if not, if you happen to have a different web page for his bio)
School fiction: David Blaize
America Exploration: The First Four Voyages of Amerigo Vespucci
Serial novel: The Wandering Jew
Medieval England meets Civil War Americans: Centuries Apart
TriciaG
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Post by TriciaG »

victoriaalicebell wrote: August 29th, 2023, 4:22 am Thankfully, I haven't had this problem before :mrgreen: . Would someone please add the author Josephine Scribner Gates to the database?
Thanks,
She's already in the catalog - which shouldn't be a surprise for you, since you already have a project running for her?
School fiction: David Blaize
America Exploration: The First Four Voyages of Amerigo Vespucci
Serial novel: The Wandering Jew
Medieval England meets Civil War Americans: Centuries Apart
victoriaalicebell
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Joined: June 12th, 2022, 3:39 pm
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Post by victoriaalicebell »

TriciaG wrote: August 29th, 2023, 5:04 am
victoriaalicebell wrote: August 29th, 2023, 4:22 am Thankfully, I haven't had this problem before :mrgreen: . Would someone please add the author Josephine Scribner Gates to the database?
Thanks,
She's already in the catalog - which shouldn't be a surprise for you, since you already have a project running for her?
When I entered her name in the catalog when I started those projects, nothing came up. I just tried it now and she is there. Is that because her name is in a project now?
Thanks,
TriciaG
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Post by TriciaG »

Yes. If the project is set up and you've got a Magic Window, the author has been entered.

We really only need posts requesting new authors if the template generator spits out an error.

If you start a project with a new author, and the code comes back as normal rather than getting an error, there's no need to ask for the author to be added. :)
School fiction: David Blaize
America Exploration: The First Four Voyages of Amerigo Vespucci
Serial novel: The Wandering Jew
Medieval England meets Civil War Americans: Centuries Apart
victoriaalicebell
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Joined: June 12th, 2022, 3:39 pm
Location: Out there someplace

Post by victoriaalicebell »

TriciaG wrote: August 29th, 2023, 5:50 am Yes. If the project is set up and you've got a Magic Window, the author has been entered.

We really only need posts requesting new authors if the template generator spits out an error.

If you start a project with a new author, and the code comes back as normal rather than getting an error, there's no need to ask for the author to be added. :)
Ok, thanks for letting me know! :mrgreen:
ej400
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Post by ej400 »

TriciaG wrote: August 29th, 2023, 5:03 am Please provide all the info you have on him: birth/death years, Wikipedia page link (if available, or if not, if you happen to have a different web page for his bio)
My apologies! All I have is his birth and death year 1877-1954. Tired to look on wikipedia and other sites but no luck. His books come up first with a google search (not that this helps any :? )
TriciaG
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Post by TriciaG »

That's enough, thanks! He's entered.

And I was able to glean some info about him from one of his books. :)

P.S. I can't tell why this one couldn't be entered. Maybe it was the period after the initial?
School fiction: David Blaize
America Exploration: The First Four Voyages of Amerigo Vespucci
Serial novel: The Wandering Jew
Medieval England meets Civil War Americans: Centuries Apart
brownrottger
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Post by brownrottger »

My problem was I copied the Editor's name and title from the Gutenberg text and pasted it into the generator in the "Summary by" field. Once I eliminated that by leaving it blank .There might have been some symbols the field did not like. Anyhow, after that, it did produce a code which I pasted in the Launch Pad and then edited the "Summary by" to include the editor's name and title.
Hope this helps,
Christine
alanmapstone
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Post by alanmapstone »

I am trying launch a DW of an English translation of a work by Richard Wagner. The author is in the database but the translator seems not be. System is failing to generate code.

Should I just launch it without a translator and then add them later?
Alan
the sixth age shifts into the slippered pantaloon with spectacles on nose
TriciaG
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Post by TriciaG »

If you don't put it in, the template won't have that information in the intro and outro.

Who is the translator, and do you have his birth/death years? Any info on him on a web site? I can put him in now.
School fiction: David Blaize
America Exploration: The First Four Voyages of Amerigo Vespucci
Serial novel: The Wandering Jew
Medieval England meets Civil War Americans: Centuries Apart
alanmapstone
Posts: 8116
Joined: February 15th, 2012, 12:20 pm
Location: Oxford

Post by alanmapstone »

TriciaG wrote: September 1st, 2023, 4:44 am If you don't put it in, the template won't have that information in the intro and outro.
Who is the translator, and do you have his birth/death years? Any info on him on a web site? I can put him in now.
The translator is John P. Jackson (d. 1902)

This is all I could find on him:
https://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/webbin/book/lookupname?key=Jackson,%20John%20P.,%20-1902

I have launched the project without the translator's name, but I can add it by editing the first post later.
Alan
the sixth age shifts into the slippered pantaloon with spectacles on nose
TriciaG
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Joined: June 15th, 2008, 10:30 pm
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Post by TriciaG »

OK, I've entered him. Thanks!

I'm guessing the period in the initial might have been the problem, unless you put something non-numeric in the birth year field. *shrug*
School fiction: David Blaize
America Exploration: The First Four Voyages of Amerigo Vespucci
Serial novel: The Wandering Jew
Medieval England meets Civil War Americans: Centuries Apart
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