More Upgrades For The Anime List...
After more effort than I'd care to admit, the Anime List has been automated. Delving into the inner workings of the Anime List, I realized that there are a handful of items that are not necessarily anime on the list. This is because a few non-anime items have ratings which appear on their respective snippets and the rating data is only applicable to items on the Anime List. In a weird twist, it turns out that the Anime ring is actually a catch-all for anything that isn't flagged for the Mainstream or Other rings. So, for now, at least, these errant items are included among the anime dataset. Once, I figured out the weirdness in the raw data, the anime graph and accompanying listing were fairly straightforward to wire up for automation.
The anime graph lives on the Anime List page and used to derive its data by parsing the text of the listing that appeared on the same page. Since I'm already loading the anime dataset on the site, I decided to populate both the text listing and the graph from the same dataset. Now, when I update the dataset, I no longer have to manually edit the text listing. I have a function which checks for the table placeholder and just dumps data into the table. And, I've been able to include the updated graph on the post where I explained how the Anime List Got An Upgrade, on the About Me page and also on this page. Similar to the table, the graphs have a placeholder and a function that just populates the current values for the respective pie segments.
Consolidating these items saved about 1200 lines of code on the Anime List page and reduced the overhead on the site's code base by another 150 lines of code. And, for a wonder, Stuart Langridge's Sortable still works like a charm. I only had to change the ratings header on the text listing from numeric sort to alpha sort and actually I should have done that a while ago as trying to sort ratings numerically added complications that weren't necessary. From a user perspective, sometimes the Anime List was out of sync with the web rings because of the extra time involved in getting everything to line up correctly. But, behind the scenes, this change saves me a lot of time and effort.
After years away from updating the site, I've started the process of refamiliarizing myself with the inner workings of the site. Case in point, recently, I spent a few hours trying to figure out why a new anime post wasn't showing up in the site's Anime web ring despite having all of its internal meta data, only to realize that I forgot to label the post appropriately and that the code I'd written years ago was actually looking for a specific post label.
I've also realized that the other two web rings: Mainstream and Other, need to be better defined programmatically. At the time of this writing (August 2026), the non-anime web rings are somewhat hazy with regard to why a post might fit in one ring and not the other ring. This came up when I noticed that the Anime web ring has its own link -- sort of, but, the Mainstream and Other web rings do not -- well, again, sort of, but, decidedly less so.
In the database, I have flags that I set for each of the three web rings. For off-topic posts that don't refer to anime, movies or TV shows, I have to create miscellaneous entries in the database that are kept separate from the list of physical media. Mainstream items refer mostly to movies, short films or commercials that may or may not be in the physical media list, but, definitely should not be on the Anime list. Anything else like Convention Reports and Site Revisions would go into the Other list.
At some point, I'll go through the various posts on the site and make a determination on a case by case basis. But, not today.
| Best | --% |
| 4/5 | --% |
| 3/5 | --% |
| 2/5 | --% |
| 1/5 | --% |
| Worst | --% |
| NR | --% |
Consolidating these items saved about 1200 lines of code on the Anime List page and reduced the overhead on the site's code base by another 150 lines of code. And, for a wonder, Stuart Langridge's Sortable still works like a charm. I only had to change the ratings header on the text listing from numeric sort to alpha sort and actually I should have done that a while ago as trying to sort ratings numerically added complications that weren't necessary. From a user perspective, sometimes the Anime List was out of sync with the web rings because of the extra time involved in getting everything to line up correctly. But, behind the scenes, this change saves me a lot of time and effort.
After years away from updating the site, I've started the process of refamiliarizing myself with the inner workings of the site. Case in point, recently, I spent a few hours trying to figure out why a new anime post wasn't showing up in the site's Anime web ring despite having all of its internal meta data, only to realize that I forgot to label the post appropriately and that the code I'd written years ago was actually looking for a specific post label.
I've also realized that the other two web rings: Mainstream and Other, need to be better defined programmatically. At the time of this writing (August 2026), the non-anime web rings are somewhat hazy with regard to why a post might fit in one ring and not the other ring. This came up when I noticed that the Anime web ring has its own link -- sort of, but, the Mainstream and Other web rings do not -- well, again, sort of, but, decidedly less so.
I maintain an actual database of the physical media in my collection. Sometime ago, when I worked for a print shop, I had made actual printed books, but, once the printed books began to exceed 200 pages, it just was no longer feasible to do that anymore, so I migrated from an Excel spreadsheet and PowerPoint for the markup to an Access Database. The benefit to using Access is I can use the report functionality to markup the data and print preformatted reports as PDF files with the cover art, descriptions and even links to YouTube and store that PDF file on either a tablet or phone. On those rare occasions when I'm out on the road looking for physical media, I can refer to my list to see what I have and determine what I might need.Sharp-eyed visitors may notice, on some posts, that there are icons either in gray (shown) or red that link to the Anime Rating List. These icons are the last surviving remnants of my printed movie list.
In the database, I have flags that I set for each of the three web rings. For off-topic posts that don't refer to anime, movies or TV shows, I have to create miscellaneous entries in the database that are kept separate from the list of physical media. Mainstream items refer mostly to movies, short films or commercials that may or may not be in the physical media list, but, definitely should not be on the Anime list. Anything else like Convention Reports and Site Revisions would go into the Other list.
At some point, I'll go through the various posts on the site and make a determination on a case by case basis. But, not today.
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