[Click ‘Continue on!’ below for instructions as to how to easily back up all of your RateBeer reviews in 3 mins!]
A couple weeks after site troubles hindered RateBeer, Todd Alstrom announced at Beer Advocate today that he had accidentally deleted user wants/gots lists. The accident apparently occurred while making improvements to the wants/gots system. After several years of providing excellent, and for the most part, free, services on their respective sites, the beer community clearly offered its support in both cases as it should have. The two incidents raise an important issue, however: backup.
An important question for all reviewers, especially those of you who have over 1,000 reviews at one of the sites: How often do you back up your reviews and ratings? I would assume that RateBeer and Beer Advocate have safeguards and protection in place so that the reviews always remain safe but the question is more poignant now than ever before.
Fortunately, for you RateBeer users, there is an easy backup solution: “Compile my ratings.” This feature allows you to save all those reviews you’ve entered in RateBeer onto your own hard drive for safe keeping. The file you save is a text file which can be later be opened in a spreadsheet or a webpage. I’ve been told that it doesn’t work if you have a free membership but I’m unable to confirm at this time. For the nominal membership fee, this feature alone may be worth it, depending on how many reviews you have entered into RateBeer.
INSTRUCTIONS START HERE
1) When logged in as a premium member, click on “My Account” in the upper right corner.
2) At the next page, scroll down to the bottom right and click on “Compile my ratings.”
What you see next is a screen with the following options:
3) At this point, choose whichever of the three sort options that you prefer and select the ‘Delimited ASCII (|) option’ and click ‘SUBMIT’ (HTML won’t give you as much flexibility to have fun with the data you download but will suffice for those that just want to print their stuff).
4) You’ll see the following message on the next page: “Your ratings, have been successfully compiled and are ready for you in this file.” Right-click where it says ‘this file’ and save to your hard drive.
5) If you try opening that file with Microsoft Word or Notepad, you’ll see a lot of text meshed together. Instead, open up ‘Microsoft Excel’ or another spreadsheet program and open the file through that program. You will then see the different rating components (like taste, aroma, etc.) and your actual written review all separated easily into columns. Those that are tech savvy can then slice the data and make charts if they so feel, etc. You may just want to copy-paste the reviews column to Microsoft Word as well and make a book of your own beer reviews!
As for Beer Advocate, I had trouble finding such an easy backup solution. Hopefully, Todd or Jason will pay beernews.org a visit and help inform us as to how to back up our BA reviews. Feel free to bring this discussion/information to the boards.
the goat brothers (the alstroms for those who lack imagination) will never allow such a user friendly way of backing up data.
they even, at least once, threatened to delete/ban users who tried to use code to gleam all their own reviews. they claimed this was a misuse of resources and went against the terms of service.
letting users have independent access to their own work would decrease the the dependence the same users had to BA. and then how could they possibly sell more magazines, ask for donations to their non tax deductible (and thus no need to open the financial)beer advocacy fund, and other loads of useless crap.
the goat despots do not want you to have options, they want you to suck on the BA tit and give thanks and tithe for doing so.
Hell Yeah to what nadir said! The Goat Bros. are control freaks who want users to be completely dependent on them. Here’s a BeerSmack for the Bros: Learn how to back up data you idiots!
Now that’s punk rock if I do say so myself. Hell Yeah!
I’ve never had an account on BA — I never really got into the Alström Brothers’ way of thinking, trying to convert the beer world into what they envisioned. Seig Heil. But I’ve always been a proud RateBeerian, and I’ve always been proud of the many innovative user tools the RB sysadmins have provided their users — for a nominal fee, of course. I’d gladly pay double if I could, to ensure that my 2,643 beer ratings (and counting) are backed up. It’s just a shame that the good folks over on BA don’t have this option — I’m sure those who enjoy the Kool Aid would pay mightily for this opprotunity, too…!
” I’d gladly pay double if I could, to ensure that my 2,643 beer ratings (and counting) are backed up”
Oooh, look at me, I’m an dick waving uber-ticker.
BTW, I have over 5,000 reviews in my own database, over 10 inches in my pants, a Vette in my driveway, and two ho’s that hang off my arm. So you’re puny stuff doesn’t even measure up to my manly-man status. Get back to the basement and start ticking off some more beers by the thimblefull.
Ah, my old nemesis fictickerlives…, I see the Border Patrol has finally released you from lockup. Carrying 30 cases of rare beer from Belgium to the US, and not wanting to pay Duties? Tsk, tsk….! Did your barfly/crack ho of a mother bail you out?
I see your 5,000 reviews, and raise you 3,765 mini-reviews. No excess words to get in the way — just the name of the beer (if I remembered it), and a “thumbs up” or “thumbs down”.
In the end, they’re can only be one! I take you task, good sir. What else you got…?!
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RateBeer seem to be in trouble again.
Thank you, thank you. thank you for the info in haw to back up my ratings. I did this, and now can sleep night without worrying about my 1,192 ratings going down the drain.