Guide: Contributing scores
This page explains how to submit scores to IMSLP. You may wish to read the overview first. Please be sure to have verified the copyright status before proceeding.
To submit a score:
- Create a composer page for the composer if none exists
- Create a work page for the work if none exists
- Add the file to the work page
Additional information:
- For details on the correct submission style, please refer to the Manual of Style.
- For special cases like parts, incomplete pieces, different editions, arrangements, etc., see the page Special cases
When in doubt, post the score in the way you think best. The goal is to make the work titles clear for everyone, to make the work pages not too long, and to make the work lists not too long. You may also post an entry in the Moderator Request section of the forums.
Creating a new composer page
- Go to the main composer page, and click on "Add Composer".
- The form should be fairly self-explanatory. All fields are optional except Last Name, First Name (usually, unless for some reason the composer doesn't have one) and Time Period. See also: guideline for composer names on IMSLP.
- If the composer bridges two time periods, choose the period that the composer spent most of his or her life in.
- If you think the composer should be credited to both periods equally, please select one of the periods, and leave a note in the Moderator Request section of the forums.
- Please include the full date (year/month/day) of the birth and death dates if possible. These can often be found on Wikipedia, ViAF, MusicSack and WorldCat.
- If dates cannot be found, put in the active years for birth and death, then insert the added filed |Flourished= in the edit window, putting the in the new field
(|Flourished=1710-1725), removing date from the |Born Year= and inserting a question mark (?) into the |Died Year= field. (|Died Year=?)
- PLEASE DO NOT CREATE EMPTY COMPOSER PAGES. Composer pages which are still empty 24 hours after their creation may be deleted without further notice.
Creating a new work page
- Check on the composer page to see if the work page already exists. If not, go to the composers' page and select "Add Work" under "Toolbox". Do not create double work page entries! Different editions, manuscripts, scans, typesets, arrangements of a piece all go onto the same work page.
- An explanation of the form is available on the form page itself. If there are any fields besides the three mandatory ones (page title, genre, and piece style) which you don't know, leave it blank.
- Please note that the info which is entered in the "General Information" section of a work page - especially the instrumentation and key, pertains only to the composer's original version, never to an arrangement (even an arrangement by the composer).
- Date fields should always begin with the 4-digit year.
- PLEASE DO NOT CREATE EMPTY WORK PAGES. Work pages which are still empty 24 hours after their creation may be deleted without further notice.
Adding a File to a Work Page
- Go to the work page of that piece, and click on "Add File" button in the upper right corner of the page. Use the pull down menu to "Add score" or "Add recording". Please do not use the "Upload file" link found in the left sidebar as this creates orphan files which have to be deleted.
- Please include as much information as you can. This helps prevent confusion and redundant files to be added. The fields are explained on the submission page itself (alternatively, you can read the explanation for the fields).
- Notes:
- Files must be in PDF format, though a zip archive of the engraving files (or files in a interchangeable format like MusicXML or MEI) can be added along with the PDF. (Such zips must always be accompanied by a PDF.) The current file size limit is 200MB. For exceptions, please contact a staff member at IMSLP staff contact list.
Adding a Number of Files to a Work Page
(a.k.a. batch submit)
- To batch submit files (up to 20) to a work page, use the "Add multiple score files to this page" link on the work page itself. You will be presented with a form, in which to add file names, descriptions, etc. for each of the files you wish to upload.
- After uploading the set of files, you may wish to reorganize the work page a little bit. New files are always added below the existing contents of the page. Clicking on the 'edit' tab will allow you to cut and paste the template and entries in the usual way.
How to add thumbnails and preview samples
Thumbnails
Thumbnails appear to the right of the file description box.
- First, upload the file you wish to use as a thumbnail of the score (see file upload instructions below). This should be of type 'jpg'. Please give the filename a prefix of "TN-" (i.e. TN-Mahler-SymphonyNo1-Peters.jpg) for neat system purposes.
- All thumbnails are automatically resized to a height of 165 pixels (at the moment), but are viewable in full resolution after clicking on their link. The aspect ratio is maintained with resizing.
- The name of the thumbnail file can be added in the "Upload picture" form. To add a thumbnail to an existing work page, edit the page and add to the template the field
|Thumb Filename=<<thumbnail filename>>.
Preview samples
If a preview sample is added, a link is placed in the first bar of the file description. Adding a preview of the first measures is especially useful in the case of large files, so that users can decide whether they will download.
- Upload a sample of the file. Include some of the first measures at full resolution. Please give the filename a prefix of "PV-" (i.e. PV-Mahler-SymphonyNo1-Peters.jpg) for neat system purposes.
- The sample can at the moment not be added in the file submission form. To add a sample, edit the file page, and add to the template the field
|Sample Filename=<<sample filename>>.
An example of both thumbnails and preview images are on Piano Sonata No.11 (Beethoven, Ludwig van)
P.S. Please do not upload images larger than 12 megapixels as they will be displayed wrongly.
Maintaining Existing Pages
Editing a Page
- IMSLP uses the popular Mediawiki software, such as is used on Wikipedia.
- To change a page, you either click a red link pointing toward a page, which will guide you directly to editing that page, or you simply click on the "edit" tab on top of any article, and you may start editing.
- At IMSLP, you must be logged in to make changes to the site.
Deleting a Page
- Normal users can't delete a page for themselves. If you see a page that you think must be deleted, though, you can tag it with the special Delete template and an administrator will act accordingly.
- For more information, including the site policies on when a page should be deleted, visit Help:Page deletion.
To Change the Title of a Page
- To rename a page, simply click on the 'move' tab at the the top. You will be prompted for the new name.
- The title of the page should conform to the standards set in the Manual of Style
(Technical: The page is not actually renamed - the old one still exists, but has a 'redirect' to send it to the page with the new name.)
File Maintenance
Uploading a File
- The usual use for this feature is to upload thumbnail files and previews. To upload one or more scores to the site, use the instructions above.
- To upload a file, click on the link 'Upload Picture' on the left side of the screen. (The link may be hidden: click on the arrow next to "Toolbox" to show it.) The 'Upload Picture' screen then prompts you for the file name to be uploaded.
Replacing a File
- It may be useful to replace an existing file, if you have uploaded the wrong one, or made improvements to an existing one.
1. Go to the Work Page with the file you wish to replace.
2. Locate the blue bar with the score e.g.
| Publisher. Info.
|
Munich: Jos. Aibl, 1897. Plate R.2518c
|
| Copyright
|
|
| Purchase
|
Javascript is required for this feature.
|
| |
3. Click on the small file index number link - IMSLP #15297 - this will take you to the Image File page.
(The Image File page is a maintenance page associated with each file on the site)
4. Click on the link Upload a new version of this file. You will be prompted for the new file to upload. You should also enter a few words to describe why you are making this change. In the case of uploading a new score version, this file will again be screened by the copyright review team before it is available for general downloading
Deleting a File
- Like deleting pages, normal users can't delete a file for themselves. If you see a file that you think must be deleted, you can tag it with the special Delete template and an administrator will act accordingly.
The first three steps are the same as replacing a file, above.
1. Go to the Work Page with the file you wish to delete.
2. Locate the blue bar with the score.
3. Click on the small file index number link - IMSLP #15297 - this will take you to the Image File page.
4. Click the edit tab at the top of the page.
5. Insert the deletion tag on the page, i.e.
{{Delete|REASON}}
Replace REASON with a few words describing why it should be deleted. The site administrators will then remove the file.
