Topic: New version - and what it really means
About a month ago the "new" version of Chordie was launched. Not all features were available in the beginning, but gradually most of them has now been activated.
I thought it was time to explain a bit about what they really mean to the users.
The change is really fundamental but apart from the number of songs being tripled, the changes might be a bit hard to notice for regular users. The big change is that Chordie is now totally "dynamic".
In the previous version all updates were done manually, it was very time consuming and it could go several months between each upgrade. New songs are now being added dynamically, every single day. These additions can be viewed here: https://www.chordie.com/newadditions.php
You can still view "all versions" of a song, but you now also have a "preferred version" of any song. This means a lot less "clicking". It also means that it is easier for Chordie to grow without being "bloated".
The old Chordie did also have star-ratings. However, they had very little effect. This has changed. The user star rating is now essential to selecting the "best version" of a song. Here is how it works: Every song get an initial score based on a Chordie algorithm. This score only exists until it has user ratings. Every registered user have only one vote for a song. You can vote multiple times but it is your latest vote that counts. Non registered users have in reality only one vote.
Use the star-ratings relative to the other versions of a song. Dont give a song top rating because you like the song. Give the song rating if you think the transcription is good and accurate, and if you like it to be the "preferred version". Whenever a song is given 1-star, a note is sent to the administrator, and if multiple users do this on a song (and there are other versions available) the song will simple disappear from Chordie. Less versions to choose from. Some songs have 30+ versions, and it is really a good thing if some of them is removed.
Please use rating actively. It will improve Chordie.
Most of the dynamic features are instant. However some, like rebuilding the search index, the alphabetic lists, calculating final star score etc is done daily. The daily version of these will always be made available at 8AM CET.
A few things are left:
* The quality of the search should improve dramatically in the next days. Stay tuned.
* Users will be able to add new songs to the index directly. This includes an effective way of simply requesting any new songs. If it is on the Internet, it will be on Chordie.
* Better tools for adding own contributions.
* New songs will be available from the front page.
* People that use rating actively will get "bonuses". I have not decided what these bonuses might be. Please come with suggestions. However, you are already getting a point every time you rate a song.
