Hello, I found this site on Download.com (cnet) as I was looking for a program similar to the one I use for my music, but for my DVDs. DVD Profiler was at the top of the list.

There were three reviews, two which only list pros, then one which seems to be a lenghty attack:

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"Pros: If you are looking for a quick application to use to enter data for your DVD collection, this fits that bill nicely.

Cons: The main draw of the program of course is the online functionality, and there are serious issues in that department. All of the data contributed to the developer's servers by the users is subject to insanely rigorous "rules." Many of these rules when strictly followed result in ridiculous data. For example, there is a rule saying that a DVD title must come from the front cover. Therefore, the DVD for "Star Wars: Episode II: Attack of the Clones" would have to be entered as "II: Star Wars: Attack of the Clones," because that's exactly what's on the cover. That's just one example. Another is "Production year." The rules say to use the "year of theatrical release," which is *not* the production year. Even then, entering the year of original theatrical release is often seen as incorrect by other users, because even if the movie premiered at film festivals the year before, many users feel that film festival premiers do not fall under "theatrical release."

Again, I listed two examples above, but there are actually many many issues like this that would be too extensive to go into here.

They have forums for discussing these sorts of issues, but these forums harbor some of the biggest trolls on the internet (including one person in particular who regularly insults every poster). The developers appear to be personal friends with these trolls, so they are allowed free reign on the forums to behave as they wish.

Because of these factors, most users will find that when they take the time to enter data for a particular DVD and then contribute it, other users will use the voting system set up on the site to downvote their contribution because it doesn't strictly adhere to their listed rules, when in fact the issue is usually due to the many issues and contradictions present within their rules. When the user goes to the forum to try to discuss the issue, they will find themselves berated and insulted by the trolls, and at that point the person will give up entirely and want nothing more to do with the online database."

Is there any truth to this or is this just some crank user with an axe to grind?

Quoting Xerstorer:

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Is there any truth to this or is this just some crank user with an axe to grind?

take it with a pinch of salt. the contribution rules can be found under the database section of this forum. I never had big problems with it. If there where problems you could ask in this lively forum.

Quoting Xerstorer:

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Is there any truth to this or is this just some crank user with an axe to grind?

The production year example is true, but a name change has been requested so may not be an issue for much longer. It's also a fairly minor pain.
The Star Wars example is completely false: The actual inputted title is Star Wars II: Attack of the Clones (because the cover doesn't include the word "episode") Everybody has a different opinion as to whether this is a big deal or not.
The rules are quite complicated, and quite rigorously upheld. And it can be quite hard for new users to get their heads round them. But users on the forums are happy to help with any queries. And you are under no obligation to contribute anything if you don't want to!

Why not give the program a go? You can download the program and use it for free as long as you don't add more than 50 DVDs (after that, some parts become restricted until you register it) and see if it's to your taste.

If you are looking for a program to catalog your DVD collection, you won't find a better program than this right here.

And if all you want to do is catalog, you don't have to worry about rules, about forums, about discussions. All you have to do is to enter the UPC, download the profile and finetune the data you received to your personal liking.

You are not obliged to upload anything, and the program does not do it automatically either. This is no P2P kinda thing.

If you buy a DVD that's not in the online, i.e. the profile is not found when entering the UPC, just wait. Sooner or later soemone will add it, and you'll be able to download it and have the data someone else provided made available to you as well.

Once again: the rules do not concern those users only taking the data available and using it locally. All problems relevant to the rules and according discussions in the forums only affect those contributing to the online db. For if you decide to actively participate in the creation and inprovement of the online db, the place where you get all the info for your profiles to begin with, you'll have to do it accodering to the rules.

The user who wrote that review obviously does not agree with certain rules. Well, he is in no way forced to upload his data, he can download the data from Invelos, change it in whatever way he likes, lock the profiles on his PC and avoid them being overwritten once he has set them up (even partially if only portions of the profile differ from the online, rule conform version) and the program will work just fine.

The problem, if it's one at all, is that there are users of the program who fail to understand the concept of an online database as a starting point and a local database each user creates that reflects his personal preferences. You must have both, and it's not a problem at all to maintain your own personal db that does not at all follow the rules.

4.5 out of 5 from 14 votes aint bad! 

And there is no program better than dvdp for a newbie user either. I used this program 5 years without uploading anything. The last year ive started to upload profiles and its actually quite fun. Especially if you make a change that is well recieved in the voting process.

I suggest you test it out and ask here in the forum for help if you need any, they are mostly nice to us.
But I do suggest to check out the word irony in a dictonary as much of the Trolling originates in misunderstandings.

We welcome every new user with open hands.

Quoting Xerstorer:

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Hello, I found this site on Download.com (cnet) as I was looking for a program similar to the one I use for my music, but for my DVDs. DVD Profiler was at the top of the list.

There were three reviews, two which only list pros, then one which seems to be a lenghty attack:

Is there any truth to this or is this just some crank user with an axe to grind?

As others have said. The rules are there to stop needless and continuous changes to dvd profiles.

There used to be the problem where it wasn't as clear what information should be held for dvds and this meant that there was the opportunity to interpret the data differently. This could lead to some titles being changed on a regular basis. Trying to be exact about how you input the data means (or should mean) that titles are more static and don't keep changing.

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Many of these rules when strictly followed result in ridiculous data. For example, there is a rule saying that a DVD title must come from the front cover. Therefore, the DVD for "Star Wars: Episode II: Attack of the Clones" would have to be entered as "II: Star Wars: Attack of the Clones," because that's exactly what's on the cover.

Quoting northbloke:

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The Star Wars example is completely false: The actual inputted title is Star Wars II: Attack of the Clones (because the cover doesn't include the word "episode")

No, it's not. If you examine the cover closely, the roman number two is covered with the texts "Star Wars" and "Attack of the Clones" which means that the number has to come first. And this shows exactly how insanely it is to use the rule "Use the title from the front cover" for a title change in certain surcumstances. The rules should be followed as much as possible, but there can always be situations you have to use own head and not the one of someone else.