Comprehensive Episode Title Hygiene & Field Normalization Standard
This report establishes the definitive standard standard for episode title formatting across the entire radio catalog and documents the repository-wide refactoring of 3,679 episode titles across 926 series JSON files in…
Comprehensive Title Hygiene & Metadata Normalization (3,679 Episodes Refactored)
This report establishes the definitive canonical standard for episode title formatting across the entire radio catalog and documents the repository-wide refactoring of 3,679 episode titles across 926 series JSON files in radioindex.org-meta.
1. Canonical Title vs. Metadata Storage Standard
To preserve pristine typography, clean search indices, and proper data separation:
Episode Title (
v["title"]):- Must contain only the actual, canonical title of the story, episode, musical piece, or sketch.
- Must never append performer names (e.g.
"... with Benny","... with Basil Rathbone","... with Bob Hope"). - Must never append sponsor brandings (e.g.
"... for Camel Cigarettes","... for Pepsodent"). - Must never append physical media/tape source annotations (e.g.
"(Network Master)","(AFRS Master)","(Master 1)","(NBC Transcription)"). - Must never append parenthetical part numbers (e.g.
"(Part 3)","(Episode 6)").
Performer / Cast / Guest Information:
- Stored in the narrative
descriptionfield (e.g. "Host Jack Benny and Mary Livingstone banter with guest Frank Sinatra..."). - Categorized in the
genreskeyword list (e.g.["Jack Benny", "Frank Sinatra", "Comedy"]).
- Stored in the narrative
Multi-Part / Story Arc Information:
- Structured in the
storyJSON object:{"title": "<Arc Title>", "part": <Part Number>}.
- Structured in the
Guest Star Showcases:
- Formatted cleanly as
"Guest: [Name]"or"Guests: [Name] and [Name]"when the broadcast was titled after its guest appearance.
- Formatted cleanly as
2. Summary of Applied Refactorings
| Category | Previous Stuffed Pattern | Canonical Clean Title | Metadata Preservation Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| Performer Appending | "The Five Orange Pips with Louis Hector" |
"The Five Orange Pips" | Preserved in description & genres |
| Co-Star Appending | "The Limping Ghost with Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce" |
"The Limping Ghost" | Preserved in description & genres |
| Sponsor Appending | "Tutti Frutti by Mel Tormé with Bob Hope and Pepsodent" |
"Tutti Frutti by Mel Tormé" | Preserved in description |
| Studio Master Tag | "The Case of the Careless Corpse (Network Master)" |
"The Case of the Careless Corpse" | Cleaned |
| Transcription Note | "Peaches and Cream Melodrama (Woodbury's Soap)" |
"Peaches and Cream Melodrama" | Preserved in description |
| Multi-Part Marker | "The Decapitation of Jefferson Monk (Part 6)" |
"The Decapitation of Jefferson Monk" | Moved to "story": {"title": "The Decapitation of Jefferson Monk", "part": 6} |
3. Repository & Deployment Synchronization
- Series Files Refactored: 926 series JSON files
- Episode Titles Cleaned: 3,679 titles
- Binary Bundles Rebuilt: 3,176 bundles
- Edge Deployment:
meta-addonpublished to Cloudflare edge; global edge cache purged