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Edit Types

Most of the changes made by editors to the MusicBrainz Database are recorded as Edits, to provide a record of the changes made, and to allow other editors to vote on the changes. There are several dozen different types of changes that can be made, and each of them has their own EditType. The following table lists all the different types in a summary form, indicating differences in their behavior. The names are links to pages with detailed descriptions of their operation. Explanations of the other columns in this table can also be found at the end of the table.

Most edits go to a vote before they are permanently applied. Some edits are automatically applied without a vote; this depends on the type of edit and possibly the specific change being made or the fact that the editor making the change is an AutoEditor. When an edit goes to a vote, sometimes the change is visible immediately, but undone if the change is not approved by the voters. For most types, however, items with pending edits are highlighted, but changes are visible only after they have been applied. Whether a change is applied or undone is decided by the number of yes or no votes received, the DataQuality Edit Conditions and the algorithm that determines HowVotingWorks.

ArtistEditTypes:

Edit type	Object	Auto	Immediate	Multiple
AddArtistEdit		Y
EditArtistEdit		+		R
EditArtistNameEdit		C		R
EditArtistSortnameEdit		C		R
AddArtistAnnotationEdit		Y
MergeArtistsEdit		–
RemoveArtistEdit		–
AddArtistAliasEdit		A
EditArtistAliasEdit		C
RemoveArtistAliasEdit		–
ChangeArtistQualityEdit		–

ReleaseEditTypes:

Edit type	Object	Auto	Immediate	Multiple
AddReleaseEdit		A	I
AddReleaseEventEdit		A	I
EditReleaseNameEdit		C		R
EditReleaseAttributesEdit		+	I	R
EditReleaseEventsEdit		+		R
EditReleaseLanguageEdit		+		R
AddReleaseAnnotationEdit		Y
MoveReleaseEdit		A
ConvertReleaseToMultipleArtistsEdit		A
ConvertReleaseToSingleArtistEdit		A
MergeReleasesEdit		–
MergeReleasesEdit (VariousArtists)		–
RemoveReleaseEdit		–
RemoveReleasesEdit		–
RemoveReleaseEventsEdit		-
ChangeReleaseQualityEdit		-
SetReleaseDurationsEdit		A		T

TrackEditTypes:

Edit type	Object	Auto	Immediate	Multiple
AddTrackEdit		A	I	R
AddTrackAnnotationEdit		Y
EditTrackNameEdit		C		R
EditTrackNumberEdit		A		R
EditTrackTimeEdit		+		R
ChangeTrackArtistEdit		A		R
RemoveTrackEdit		–		R

LabelEditTypes:

Edit type	Object	Auto	Immediate	Multiple
AddLabelEdit		Y
AddLabelAnnotationEdit		Y
EditLabelEdit		C/+
MergeLabelsEdit		-
RemoveLabelEdit		-
AddLabelAliasEdit		A
EditLabelAliasEdit		C
RemoveLabelAliasEdit		-

RelationshipEditTypes:

Edit type	Object	Auto	Immediate	Multiple
AddRelationshipEdit	AR	A	I
EditRelationshipEdit	AR	A
RemoveRelationshipEdit	AR	-
EditURLEdit	URL	A
AddRelationshipAttributeEdit	RA	R
EditRelationshipAttributeEdit	RA	R
RemoveRelationshipAttributeEdit	RA	R
AddRelationshipTypeEdit	RT	R
EditRelationshipTypeEdit	RT	R
RemoveRelationshipTypeEdit	RT	R

OtherEditTypes:

Edit type	Object	Auto	Immediate	Multiple
AddDiscIDEdit		Y	I
MoveDiscIDEdit		A	I
RemoveDiscIDEdit		–
AddTRMsEdit		Y	I	T
RemoveTRMIDEdit		A	I
AddPUIDsEdit		Y	I	T
RemovePUIDEdit		A	I
ChangeWikiDocEdit	WD	T

The second column is the type of object it operates on
- = Artist
- = Release
- = Track
- = Label
- = DiscID
- = TRM
- = PUID
- URL = URL
- AR = AdvancedRelationship
- RT = AdvancedRelationshipType
- RA = AdvancedRelationshipAttribute
- WD = WikiDocsPage
The third column shows what happens upon entering the edit, sometimes depending of the privileges of the editor entering the edit. However with the introduction of DataQuality, these rules depend on the quality level of what is edited so it is useful to refer to Edit Conditions too.
- Y = Applied immediately - Never has to be voted on.
- C = Applied immediately - If case/accents are changed (or if entered by an AutoEditor).
- + = Applied immediately - If information is added (or if entered by an AutoEditor). Removal has to be voted on.
- A = Applied immediately - If entered by an AutoEditor.
- – = Never applied immediately (edits which possibly cause LossOfData always have to be voted on, even if entered by an AutoEditor).
- R = Applied immediately - If entered by a RelationshipEditor. (Other editors cannot make these edits.)
- T = Applied immediately - If entered by a TransclusionEditor. (Other editors cannot make these edits.)
The fourth column shows whether the changes of this EditType are immediately visible:
- I = Visible immediately. (Edits applied immediately are visible immediately - used only when pending edits are visible immediately).
The fifth column shows how one edit may change multiple entities, or multiple edits may be entered on one page.
- = One edit can change several entities at once as a "Batch Operation"
- T = One edit changes several entities
- R = The page which allows to enter this EditType allows other changes to the same/releated entities.

CategoryEditing CategoryEditTypes CategoryTerminology