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 Author: Ninepartsred View Messages Posted By Ninepartsred
 Posted: Mar 12, 2021 13:55
 Subject: Re: Option to exclude incomplete instructions
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 Topic: Suggestions
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Ninepartsred (354)

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In Suggestions, psusaxman2000 writes:
  In Suggestions, Ninepartsred writes:
  We have the option to exclude incomplete sets from searches but I'm coming
across a lot of instructions entries that are missing parts and I'd like
to filter them out as I'm looking for complete ones.

I'm not suggesting disallowing individual parts as people may need them to
complete a set.

I don't spend much time search the catalog for instructions, so I'm more
curious than anything. Are you saying you are seeing instructions that are torn
or missing pages? This is the only reason that I would think for having "incomplete"
as an option.


As peregrinator says, there are often several books that make up the full instructions
for a set, so when I visit stores with those listed, there is sometimes a note
to say, for example, "books 2 & 3 only". In the case of games/gear, it may say
"build instructions only, no rules booklet", or vice-versa.
 Author: infinibrix View Messages Posted By infinibrix
 Posted: Mar 12, 2021 13:54
 Subject: Re: Colour Abbreviations for Catalog Navigation?
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 Topic: Suggestions
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infinibrix (4988)

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In Suggestions, SylvainLS writes:
  In Suggestions, popsicle writes:
  In Suggestions, infinibrix writes:
  Just an idea I’m putting out there for future consideration because with colour
abbreviations it can give you useful options for catalog use/navigation!

It's a strong idea that's getting some push back. How about...

For color descriptors within the title, just using the color itself
as a small box next to the part within the description, as in the Color Guide?

And then people will have to hover over the patch to know the name of the colour
because the colours are undistinguishable unless they are side to side and named?

Not very practical, I fear.


Yeah Popssicle its a terrible idea and almost as bad as the OPs suggestion
 Author: DeLuca View Messages Posted By DeLuca
 Posted: Mar 12, 2021 13:49
 Subject: Re: Colour Abbreviations for Catalog Navigation?
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 Topic: Suggestions
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DeLuca (286)

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In Suggestions, infinibrix writes:
  In Suggestions, DeLuca writes:
  In Suggestions, infinibrix writes:
  In Suggestions, jennnifer writes:

  The only abbreviations I have ever tried to use for colors are LBG and DBG and
then only when pressed for character space. Abbreviations are often difficult
to read and add to visual clutter. I am not sure why the entire minifig's
inventory would need to be listed in its name when that information is already
searchable? Sorry, I am very not onboard with this suggestion. I did a search
for 'spider-man' limited to minifigs and got 24 results. I can clearly
see all of them on one page of thumbnails and can quickly scan for the differences.
That's good enough for me!

Jen

Well part of the reason for giving this idea some thought is because minifgs
will apparently need to have their own unique description and cannot rely on
using vague terms like Spider-man 1

 
Minifig No: spd001  Name: Spider-Man 1 - Blue Arms and Legs, Silver Webbing
* 
spd001 (Inv) Spider-Man 1 - Blue Arms and Legs, Silver Webbing
Minifigures: Spider-Man: Spider-Man 1


I do agree that this is a bad title, but this is an example of the more general
issues with many current figure titles, and of the need for improved standards
(which are currently being developed) - Something like “Spider-Man - Silver Web
and Eyes Pattern, Blue Arms and Legs” would be sufficient, and would not
lengthen and clog up names with unnecessary colour-abbreviations.

unless those colour abreviations could be used to search but hidden from view
in descriptions because I agree they do look messy


That would be something like a tag-system, which we do not have. We all
want a tag-system, but (IIRC) the site cannot currently accommodate one. 😕
 Author: infinibrix View Messages Posted By infinibrix
 Posted: Mar 12, 2021 13:39
 Subject: Re: Colour Abbreviations for Catalog Navigation?
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 Topic: Suggestions
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infinibrix (4988)

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In Suggestions, DeLuca writes:
  In Suggestions, infinibrix writes:
  In Suggestions, jennnifer writes:

  The only abbreviations I have ever tried to use for colors are LBG and DBG and
then only when pressed for character space. Abbreviations are often difficult
to read and add to visual clutter. I am not sure why the entire minifig's
inventory would need to be listed in its name when that information is already
searchable? Sorry, I am very not onboard with this suggestion. I did a search
for 'spider-man' limited to minifigs and got 24 results. I can clearly
see all of them on one page of thumbnails and can quickly scan for the differences.
That's good enough for me!

Jen

Well part of the reason for giving this idea some thought is because minifgs
will apparently need to have their own unique description and cannot rely on
using vague terms like Spider-man 1

 
Minifig No: spd001  Name: Spider-Man 1 - Blue Arms and Legs, Silver Webbing
* 
spd001 (Inv) Spider-Man 1 - Blue Arms and Legs, Silver Webbing
Minifigures: Spider-Man: Spider-Man 1


I do agree that this is a bad title, but this is an example of the more general
issues with many current figure titles, and of the need for improved standards
(which are currently being developed) - Something like “Spider-Man - Silver Web
and Eyes Pattern, Blue Arms and Legs” would be sufficient, and would not
lengthen and clog up names with unnecessary colour-abbreviations.

unless those colour abreviations could be used to search but hidden from view
in descriptions because I agree they do look messy
 Author: infinibrix View Messages Posted By infinibrix
 Posted: Mar 12, 2021 13:36
 Subject: Re: Colour Abbreviations for Catalog Navigation?
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 Topic: Suggestions
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infinibrix (4988)

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In Suggestions, infinibrix writes:
  In Suggestions, jennnifer writes:

  The only abbreviations I have ever tried to use for colors are LBG and DBG and
then only when pressed for character space. Abbreviations are often difficult
to read and add to visual clutter. I am not sure why the entire minifig's
inventory would need to be listed in its name when that information is already
searchable? Sorry, I am very not onboard with this suggestion. I did a search
for 'spider-man' limited to minifigs and got 24 results. I can clearly
see all of them on one page of thumbnails and can quickly scan for the differences.
That's good enough for me!

Jen

Well part of the reason for giving this idea some thought is because minifgs
will apparently need to have their own unique description and cannot rely on
using vague terms like Spider-man 1

 
Minifig No: spd001  Name: Spider-Man 1 - Blue Arms and Legs, Silver Webbing
* 
spd001 (Inv) Spider-Man 1 - Blue Arms and Legs, Silver Webbing
Minifigures: Spider-Man: Spider-Man 1

Just to add how are you getting just 24 Spider-mans on one page as when I search
Spider-man I get 139 results which includes everything from Aunt May to all Spider-mans
nemisis
 Author: DeLuca View Messages Posted By DeLuca
 Posted: Mar 12, 2021 13:31
 Subject: Re: Colour Abbreviations for Catalog Navigation?
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 Topic: Suggestions
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DeLuca (286)

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In Suggestions, infinibrix writes:
  In Suggestions, jennnifer writes:

  The only abbreviations I have ever tried to use for colors are LBG and DBG and
then only when pressed for character space. Abbreviations are often difficult
to read and add to visual clutter. I am not sure why the entire minifig's
inventory would need to be listed in its name when that information is already
searchable? Sorry, I am very not onboard with this suggestion. I did a search
for 'spider-man' limited to minifigs and got 24 results. I can clearly
see all of them on one page of thumbnails and can quickly scan for the differences.
That's good enough for me!

Jen

Well part of the reason for giving this idea some thought is because minifgs
will apparently need to have their own unique description and cannot rely on
using vague terms like Spider-man 1

 
Minifig No: spd001  Name: Spider-Man 1 - Blue Arms and Legs, Silver Webbing
* 
spd001 (Inv) Spider-Man 1 - Blue Arms and Legs, Silver Webbing
Minifigures: Spider-Man: Spider-Man 1


I do agree that this is a bad title, but this is an example of the more general
issues with many current figure titles, and of the need for improved standards
(which are currently being developed) - Something like “Spider-Man - Silver Web
and Eyes Pattern, Blue Arms and Legs” would be sufficient, and would not
lengthen and clog up names with unnecessary colour-abbreviations.
 Author: infinibrix View Messages Posted By infinibrix
 Posted: Mar 12, 2021 13:17
 Subject: Re: Colour Abbreviations for Catalog Navigation?
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 Topic: Suggestions
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infinibrix (4988)

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In Suggestions, jennnifer writes:

  The only abbreviations I have ever tried to use for colors are LBG and DBG and
then only when pressed for character space. Abbreviations are often difficult
to read and add to visual clutter. I am not sure why the entire minifig's
inventory would need to be listed in its name when that information is already
searchable? Sorry, I am very not onboard with this suggestion. I did a search
for 'spider-man' limited to minifigs and got 24 results. I can clearly
see all of them on one page of thumbnails and can quickly scan for the differences.
That's good enough for me!

Jen

Well part of the reason for giving this idea some thought is because minifgs
will apparently need to have their own unique description and cannot rely on
using vague terms like Spider-man 1

 
Minifig No: spd001  Name: Spider-Man 1 - Blue Arms and Legs, Silver Webbing
* 
spd001 (Inv) Spider-Man 1 - Blue Arms and Legs, Silver Webbing
Minifigures: Spider-Man: Spider-Man 1
 Author: SylvainLS View Messages Posted By SylvainLS
 Posted: Mar 12, 2021 13:11
 Subject: Re: Colour Abbreviations for Catalog Navigation?
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 Topic: Suggestions
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SylvainLS (46)

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In Suggestions, popsicle writes:
  In Suggestions, infinibrix writes:
  Just an idea I’m putting out there for future consideration because with colour
abbreviations it can give you useful options for catalog use/navigation!

It's a strong idea that's getting some push back. How about...

For color descriptors within the title, just using the color itself
as a small box next to the part within the description, as in the Color Guide?

And then people will have to hover over the patch to know the name of the colour
because the colours are undistinguishable unless they are side to side and named?

Not very practical, I fear.


  I've seen this type of catalog item description elsewhere, can't remember
where though

Maybe not doable, I don't know. But it would be clear and succinct.
 Author: jennnifer View Messages Posted By jennnifer
 Posted: Mar 12, 2021 13:07
 Subject: Re: Colour Abbreviations for Catalog Navigation?
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 Topic: Suggestions
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jennnifer (3532)

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In Suggestions, infinibrix writes:
  Just an idea I’m putting out there for future consideration because with colour
abbreviations it can give you useful options for catalog use/navigation!

For starters I glanced at all the different colours and it didn’t appear to be
too difficult to give each colour a suitable 3 Letter abbreviation though it
goes without saying that a few colours may be forced to have a 4 letter abbreviation
but they will likely be just a very few obscure colours such as Very Light Bluish
Grey (VLBG) or Trans Light Bright Green (TLBG) but even if it became problematic
some colours may not even benefit as much from the need to have an abbreviation
compared to the more widely and commonly used colours

Either way here are just a few quick abbreviation examples:-

Black – BLK
White – WHT
Reddish Brown – RBR
Dark Brown – DBR
Light Bluish Grey – LBG
Dark Bluish Grey – DBG
Dark Grey – DGR
Red – RED
Blue – BLU
Dark Blue – DBL
Green – GRN
Olive Green – OGN
Tan – TAN
Dark Tan – DTN
Orange – ORG
Dark Orange – DOR
Yellow – YEL

It’s also worth mentioning that the idea would be to have these abbreviations
on display wherever we see colour descriptions which is pretty much anywhere
in the catalog and so if we had abbreviations like this I don’t think it would
take long for people to memorize them and put them to good use so that instead
of searching for ‘Dark Tan hair’ they can just search ‘DTN hair’ or instead of
‘Light Bluish Gray Helmets’ they can just search ‘LBG Helmets’. The other benefit
is that where space is limited in descriptions a Torso could contain ‘RBR Belt
Buckle’ instead of ‘Reddish Brown Belt Buckle’

However once you have colour abbreviations in places their uses can be extended
in other ways too for instance if they are combined with a minifigure part to
create a unique combined colour/part reference such as Legs-DBR (Dark Brown Legs)
or Torso-GRN (Green Torso) these combos can be exclusively used to narrow down
search results for minifigures in ways where you barely need to worry about trying
to guess or work out what keywords have been used and in some cases you won’t
even need to know the name of the character!

For Example if I start with this Henry Minifigure description in its most basic
form it would look something like this:-

 
Minifig No: poc036  Name: Henry Turner
* 
poc036 (Inv) Henry Turner
Minifigures: Pirates of the Caribbean
Henry - Torso-RBR, Hair-DTN, Head-LNO, Legs-OGN

Granted it’s not the most visually pleasing of minifig descriptions and right
now you’re probably thinking it looks a confusing mess but translated it basically
reads ‘Reddish Brown Torso, Dark Tan Hair, Light Nougat Head and Olive Green
Legs

Now even before I add keywords to that description or even if it already had
keywords and I wasn’t sure what keywords to try? If I had that minifig in my
hand and I didn’t know the name of the character I will at least still be reassured
that with a simple search for some or all of those main minifig part colours
it will either bring up what I’m looking for or narrow it down considerably.

For example if I search for say both ‘Hair-DTN Legs-OGN’ that Henry minifig will
be the only minifigure match that comes up because it’s the only minifigure in
the catalog that currently includes both Dark Tan hair and Olive Green Legs.
Now even if I search for both ‘Hair-DTN Head-LNO’ I’m sure I will still only
get a very small page of matches and that’s before I’ve even attempted to narrow
down with character names Like Luke or Han or the colour/description of the torsos/legs
etc etc...

Essentially if minifigure descriptions were laid out in a format something like
this:-

Minifig Character/Type (*) - Torso/Arms-COLOUR (*), Hair/Headgear-COLOUR(*),
Head-COLOUR (*), Legs/Hips-COLOUR (*), (*Other Keywords)

where the (*) represents where keywords can be added for each core minifigure
component (as/when necessary) it would then mean a revised and more detailed
example of the Henry Minifigure might look something like this even though the
description may not need to be quite as detailed for helping to find this particular
minifig:-

Henry - Torso-RBR, Arms-WHT (Brown Waistcoat, White Tunic), Hair-DTN (Swept Back
Ponytail), Head-LNO (DS, Open Mouth Smile/Worried), Legs-OGN

Its worth mentioning that the ‘DS’ after head represents Double Sided Head (SS
= Single Sided) which would allow you to narrow down even further with just a
couple of extra letters added within search criteria

However one thing to also notice is that you can still search for specific colours
such as the ‘White’ print details found on legs or torsos such as the white tunic
without needing to worry about it bringing up core components in white as they
will only come up if you search ‘Arms-WHT’, Legs-WHT, Torso-WHT, Head-WHT, Hair-WHT
whereas searching for white alone would mean the colour can be set aside for
prints allowing you to be more specific with your overall minifig search results...

Here are a few more examples of how similar minifigs might look:-

 
Minifig No: sw0278  Name: Han Solo, Reddish Brown Legs without Holster Pattern
* 
sw0278 (Inv) Han Solo, Reddish Brown Legs without Holster Pattern
Minifigures: Star Wars: Star Wars Episode 4/5/6
Han Solo - Torso-WHT (Shirt), Hair-RBR, Head-LNO (SS, Smirk), Legs-RBR

 
Minifig No: sw0823  Name: Han Solo, Dark Brown Legs, Wavy Hair
* 
sw0823 (Inv) Han Solo, Dark Brown Legs, Wavy Hair
Minifigures: Star Wars: Star Wars Episode 4/5/6
Han Solo - Torso-WHT (Shirt), Hair-RBR (Wavy), Head-LNO (DS, Closed Eyes), Legs-DBR

 
Minifig No: sw0841  Name: Han Solo, Old
* 
sw0841 (Inv) Han Solo, Old
Minifigures: Star Wars: Star Wars Episode 7
Han Solo (Senior) - Torso-DBR (Jacket), Hair-LBG, Head-LNO (DS, Angry), Legs-BLK
(Printed Gunbelt)

 
Minifig No: sw0343  Name: Han Solo, Tan Legs with Holster Pattern, Parka Hood with Tan Fur
* 
sw0343 (Inv) Han Solo, Tan Legs with Holster Pattern, Parka Hood with Tan Fur
Minifigures: Star Wars: Star Wars Episode 4/5/6
Han Solo (Hoth) - Torso-DBL (Jacket), Headgear-DBL (Parka Hood), Head-LNO (SS,
Smirk), Hips-DBL, Legs-TAN (Printed Gunbelt)

 
Minifig No: cas115  Name: Crusader Lion - Blue Legs with Black Hips, Dark Gray Neck-Protector
* 
cas115 (Inv) Crusader Lion - Blue Legs with Black Hips, Dark Gray Neck-Protector
Minifigures: Castle: Crusaders
Knight (Crusader Lion) - Torso-Red, Arms-BLU, Headgear-DGR (Neck Protector Helmet),
Head-YEL (SS), Hips-BLK, Legs-BLU

I appreciate in might not be to everyone’s liking but it does for the most part
seem to work and I’m pretty sure I could even use it to tackle all those samey
spider-man minifigs without having to worry too much about relying on vague (Web
Pattern) keywords and focusing more on the definitive colours of Torsos, legs,
hips, arms and definitive styles such as printed/legs arms etc…

But again just some ideas for another day perhaps?

The only abbreviations I have ever tried to use for colors are LBG and DBG and
then only when pressed for character space. Abbreviations are often difficult
to read and add to visual clutter. I am not sure why the entire minifig's
inventory would need to be listed in its name when that information is already
searchable? Sorry, I am very not onboard with this suggestion. I did a search
for 'spider-man' limited to minifigs and got 24 results. I can clearly
see all of them on one page of thumbnails and can quickly scan for the differences.
That's good enough for me!

Jen
 Author: popsicle View Messages Posted By popsicle
 Posted: Mar 12, 2021 13:05
 Subject: Re: Colour Abbreviations for Catalog Navigation?
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popsicle (6658)

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In Suggestions, infinibrix writes:
  Just an idea I’m putting out there for future consideration because with colour
abbreviations it can give you useful options for catalog use/navigation!

It's a strong idea that's getting some push back. How about...

For color descriptors within the title, just using the color itself
as a small box next to the part within the description, as in the Color Guide?

I've seen this type of catalog item description elsewhere, can't remember
where though

Maybe not doable, I don't know. But it would be clear and succinct.
 
 Author: infinibrix View Messages Posted By infinibrix
 Posted: Mar 12, 2021 12:47
 Subject: Re: Colour Abbreviations for Catalog Navigation?
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infinibrix (4988)

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In Suggestions, infinibrix writes:
  In Suggestions, yorbrick writes:
  In Suggestions, SylvainLS writes:
  In Suggestions, infinibrix writes:
  Just an idea I’m putting out there for future consideration because with colour
abbreviations it can give you useful options for catalog use/navigation!
[…]

Using tags would bring the same searchability advantages without cluttering the
descriptions with incomprehensible jargon terms.

So what is incomprehensible about ... ?

Bear Costume Guy - Minifigure only Entry - Torso-WHT (Heart and Rainbow), Headgear-CRL
(Mask Bear/Panda), Head-YEL, Left Arm-BLO, Right Arm-CRL, Left Hand-DAZ, Right
Hand-BLO, Hips-CRL, Left Leg-MAZ, Right Leg-BLO.

 
Minifig No: col356  Name: Bear Costume Guy, Series 19 (Minifigure Only without Stand and Accessories)
* 
col356 (Inv) Bear Costume Guy, Series 19 (Minifigure Only without Stand and Accessories)
Minifigures: Collectible Minifigures: Series 19 Minifigures

You'd probably only bother to reference a complex minifig like this:-

Bear Custume Guy - Torso-WHT (Heart and Rainbow), Headgear-CRL (Mask Bear Panda),
Head-YEL (DS)

Besides most people will already find quite easily with key searches for Bear,
Coral, Rainbow

However with other minifigs where you have lots of Han Solos for instance you
could simply search 'Han Hair-LBG' and that alone will only bring up
these two minifigs:-

 
Minifig No: sw0841  Name: Han Solo, Old
* 
sw0841 (Inv) Han Solo, Old
Minifigures: Star Wars: Star Wars Episode 7

 
Minifig No: sw0675  Name: Han Solo, Old (Lopsided Grin)
* 
sw0675 (Inv) Han Solo, Old (Lopsided Grin)
Minifigures: Star Wars: Star Wars Episode 7

and thats where it really helps to find things

In truth you'd only need to start including colour references to arms and
things like that if your dealing with complex variations of minifigs such as
spider-man otherwise colour references for the 4 core minifig components would
be sufficients i.e Headgear or Hair, Head, Torso, Legs
 Author: infinibrix View Messages Posted By infinibrix
 Posted: Mar 12, 2021 12:42
 Subject: Re: Colour Abbreviations for Catalog Navigation?
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infinibrix (4988)

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In Suggestions, yorbrick writes:
  In Suggestions, SylvainLS writes:
  In Suggestions, infinibrix writes:
  Just an idea I’m putting out there for future consideration because with colour
abbreviations it can give you useful options for catalog use/navigation!
[…]

Using tags would bring the same searchability advantages without cluttering the
descriptions with incomprehensible jargon terms.

So what is incomprehensible about ... ?

Bear Costume Guy - Minifigure only Entry - Torso-WHT (Heart and Rainbow), Headgear-CRL
(Mask Bear/Panda), Head-YEL, Left Arm-BLO, Right Arm-CRL, Left Hand-DAZ, Right
Hand-BLO, Hips-CRL, Left Leg-MAZ, Right Leg-BLO.

 
Minifig No: col356  Name: Bear Costume Guy, Series 19 (Minifigure Only without Stand and Accessories)
* 
col356 (Inv) Bear Costume Guy, Series 19 (Minifigure Only without Stand and Accessories)
Minifigures: Collectible Minifigures: Series 19 Minifigures

You'd probably only bother to reference a complex minifig like this:-

Bear Custume Guy - Torso-WHT (Heart and Rainbow), Headgear-CRL (Mask Bear Panda),
Head-YEL (DS)

Besides most people will already find quite easily with key searches for Bear,
Coral, Rainbow

However with other minifigs where you have lots of Han Solos for instance you
could simply search 'Han Hair-LBG' and that alone will only bring up
these two minifigs:-

 
Minifig No: sw0841  Name: Han Solo, Old
* 
sw0841 (Inv) Han Solo, Old
Minifigures: Star Wars: Star Wars Episode 7

 
Minifig No: sw0675  Name: Han Solo, Old (Lopsided Grin)
* 
sw0675 (Inv) Han Solo, Old (Lopsided Grin)
Minifigures: Star Wars: Star Wars Episode 7

and thats where it really helps to find things
 Author: StormChaser View Messages Posted By StormChaser
 Posted: Mar 12, 2021 12:27
 Subject: Re: Colour Abbreviations for Catalog Navigation?
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StormChaser (566)

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In Suggestions, macebobo writes:
  I sincerely hope this was sarcasm.

I don't think it was sarcasm as much as a realistic look at what figure titles
could look like if color abbreviations were adopted within them.
 Author: macebobo View Messages Posted By macebobo
 Posted: Mar 12, 2021 12:24
 Subject: Re: Colour Abbreviations for Catalog Navigation?
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 Topic: Suggestions
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macebobo (2430)

Location:  USA, Oregon
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In Suggestions, yorbrick writes:
  In Suggestions, SylvainLS writes:
  In Suggestions, infinibrix writes:
  Just an idea I’m putting out there for future consideration because with colour
abbreviations it can give you useful options for catalog use/navigation!
[…]

Using tags would bring the same searchability advantages without cluttering the
descriptions with incomprehensible jargon terms.

So what is incomprehensible about ... ?

Bear Costume Guy - Minifigure only Entry - Torso-WHT (Heart and Rainbow), Headgear-CRL
(Mask Bear/Panda), Head-YEL, Left Arm-BLO, Right Arm-CRL, Left Hand-DAZ, Right
Hand-BLO, Hips-CRL, Left Leg-MAZ, Right Leg-BLO.

 
Minifig No: col356  Name: Bear Costume Guy, Series 19 (Minifigure Only without Stand and Accessories)
* 
col356 (Inv) Bear Costume Guy, Series 19 (Minifigure Only without Stand and Accessories)
Minifigures: Collectible Minifigures: Series 19 Minifigures

I sincerely hope this was sarcasm.
 Author: yorbrick View Messages Posted By yorbrick
 Posted: Mar 12, 2021 12:17
 Subject: Re: Colour Abbreviations for Catalog Navigation?
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yorbrick (1182)

Location:  United Kingdom, England
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In Suggestions, SylvainLS writes:
  In Suggestions, infinibrix writes:
  Just an idea I’m putting out there for future consideration because with colour
abbreviations it can give you useful options for catalog use/navigation!
[…]

Using tags would bring the same searchability advantages without cluttering the
descriptions with incomprehensible jargon terms.

So what is incomprehensible about ... ?

Bear Costume Guy - Minifigure only Entry - Torso-WHT (Heart and Rainbow), Headgear-CRL
(Mask Bear/Panda), Head-YEL, Left Arm-BLO, Right Arm-CRL, Left Hand-DAZ, Right
Hand-BLO, Hips-CRL, Left Leg-MAZ, Right Leg-BLO.

 
Minifig No: col356  Name: Bear Costume Guy, Series 19 (Minifigure Only without Stand and Accessories)
* 
col356 (Inv) Bear Costume Guy, Series 19 (Minifigure Only without Stand and Accessories)
Minifigures: Collectible Minifigures: Series 19 Minifigures
 Author: hpoort View Messages Posted By hpoort
 Posted: Mar 12, 2021 12:01
 Subject: Re: Colour Abbreviations for Catalog Navigation?
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hpoort (410)

Location:  Netherlands, Groningen
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In Suggestions, infinibrix writes:
  Just an idea I’m putting out there for future consideration because with colour
abbreviations it can give you useful options for catalog use/navigation!

For starters I glanced at all the different colours and it didn’t appear to be
too difficult to give each colour a suitable 3 Letter abbreviation though it
goes without saying that a few colours may be forced to have a 4 letter abbreviation
but they will likely be just a very few obscure colours such as Very Light Bluish
Grey (VLBG) or Trans Light Bright Green (TLBG) but even if it became problematic
some colours may not even benefit as much from the need to have an abbreviation
compared to the more widely and commonly used colours

Either way here are just a few quick abbreviation examples:-

Black – BLK
White – WHT
Reddish Brown – RBR
Dark Brown – DBR
Light Bluish Grey – LBG
Dark Bluish Grey – DBG
Dark Grey – DGR
Red – RED
Blue – BLU
Dark Blue – DBL
Green – GRN
Olive Green – OGN
Tan – TAN
Dark Tan – DTN
Orange – ORG
Dark Orange – DOR
Yellow – YEL

It’s also worth mentioning that the idea would be to have these abbreviations
on display wherever we see colour descriptions which is pretty much anywhere
in the catalog and so if we had abbreviations like this I don’t think it would
take long for people to memorize them and put them to good use so that instead
of searching for ‘Dark Tan hair’ they can just search ‘DTN hair’ or instead of
‘Light Bluish Gray Helmets’ they can just search ‘LBG Helmets’. The other benefit
is that where space is limited in descriptions a Torso could contain ‘RBR Belt
Buckle’ instead of ‘Reddish Brown Belt Buckle’

However once you have colour abbreviations in places their uses can be extended
in other ways too for instance if they are combined with a minifigure part to
create a unique combined colour/part reference such as Legs-DBR (Dark Brown Legs)
or Torso-GRN (Green Torso) these combos can be exclusively used to narrow down
search results for minifigures in ways where you barely need to worry about trying
to guess or work out what keywords have been used and in some cases you won’t
even need to know the name of the character!

For Example if I start with this Henry Minifigure description in its most basic
form it would look something like this:-

 
Minifig No: poc036  Name: Henry Turner
* 
poc036 (Inv) Henry Turner
Minifigures: Pirates of the Caribbean
Henry - Torso-RBR, Hair-DTN, Head-LNO, Legs-OGN

Granted it’s not the most visually pleasing of minifig descriptions and right
now you’re probably thinking it looks a confusing mess but translated it basically
reads ‘Reddish Brown Torso, Dark Tan Hair, Light Nougat Head and Olive Green
Legs

Now even before I add keywords to that description or even if it already had
keywords and I wasn’t sure what keywords to try? If I had that minifig in my
hand and I didn’t know the name of the character I will at least still be reassured
that with a simple search for some or all of those main minifig part colours
it will either bring up what I’m looking for or narrow it down considerably.

For example if I search for say both ‘Hair-DTN Legs-OGN’ that Henry minifig will
be the only minifigure match that comes up because it’s the only minifigure in
the catalog that currently includes both Dark Tan hair and Olive Green Legs.
Now even if I search for both ‘Hair-DTN Head-LNO’ I’m sure I will still only
get a very small page of matches and that’s before I’ve even attempted to narrow
down with character names Like Luke or Han or the colour/description of the torsos/legs
etc etc...

Essentially if minifigure descriptions were laid out in a format something like
this:-

Minifig Character/Type (*) - Torso/Arms-COLOUR (*), Hair/Headgear-COLOUR(*),
Head-COLOUR (*), Legs/Hips-COLOUR (*), (*Other Keywords)

where the (*) represents where keywords can be added for each core minifigure
component (as/when necessary) it would then mean a revised and more detailed
example of the Henry Minifigure might look something like this even though the
description may not need to be quite as detailed for helping to find this particular
minifig:-

Henry - Torso-RBR, Arms-WHT (Brown Waistcoat, White Tunic), Hair-DTN (Swept Back
Ponytail), Head-LNO (DS, Open Mouth Smile/Worried), Legs-OGN

Its worth mentioning that the ‘DS’ after head represents Double Sided Head (SS
= Single Sided) which would allow you to narrow down even further with just a
couple of extra letters added within search criteria

However one thing to also notice is that you can still search for specific colours
such as the ‘White’ print details found on legs or torsos such as the white tunic
without needing to worry about it bringing up core components in white as they
will only come up if you search ‘Arms-WHT’, Legs-WHT, Torso-WHT, Head-WHT, Hair-WHT
whereas searching for white alone would mean the colour can be set aside for
prints allowing you to be more specific with your overall minifig search results...

Here are a few more examples of how similar minifigs might look:-

 
Minifig No: sw0278  Name: Han Solo, Reddish Brown Legs without Holster Pattern
* 
sw0278 (Inv) Han Solo, Reddish Brown Legs without Holster Pattern
Minifigures: Star Wars: Star Wars Episode 4/5/6
Han Solo - Torso-WHT (Shirt), Hair-RBR, Head-LNO (SS, Smirk), Legs-RBR

 
Minifig No: sw0823  Name: Han Solo, Dark Brown Legs, Wavy Hair
* 
sw0823 (Inv) Han Solo, Dark Brown Legs, Wavy Hair
Minifigures: Star Wars: Star Wars Episode 4/5/6
Han Solo - Torso-WHT (Shirt), Hair-RBR (Wavy), Head-LNO (DS, Closed Eyes), Legs-DBR

 
Minifig No: sw0841  Name: Han Solo, Old
* 
sw0841 (Inv) Han Solo, Old
Minifigures: Star Wars: Star Wars Episode 7
Han Solo (Senior) - Torso-DBR (Jacket), Hair-LBG, Head-LNO (DS, Angry), Legs-BLK
(Printed Gunbelt)

 
Minifig No: sw0343  Name: Han Solo, Tan Legs with Holster Pattern, Parka Hood with Tan Fur
* 
sw0343 (Inv) Han Solo, Tan Legs with Holster Pattern, Parka Hood with Tan Fur
Minifigures: Star Wars: Star Wars Episode 4/5/6
Han Solo (Hoth) - Torso-DBL (Jacket), Headgear-DBL (Parka Hood), Head-LNO (SS,
Smirk), Hips-DBL, Legs-TAN (Printed Gunbelt)

 
Minifig No: cas115  Name: Crusader Lion - Blue Legs with Black Hips, Dark Gray Neck-Protector
* 
cas115 (Inv) Crusader Lion - Blue Legs with Black Hips, Dark Gray Neck-Protector
Minifigures: Castle: Crusaders
Knight (Crusader Lion) - Torso-Red, Arms-BLU, Headgear-DGR (Neck Protector Helmet),
Head-YEL (SS), Hips-BLK, Legs-BLU

I appreciate in might not be to everyone’s liking but it does for the most part
seem to work and I’m pretty sure I could even use it to tackle all those samey
spider-man minifigs without having to worry too much about relying on vague (Web
Pattern) keywords and focusing more on the definitive colours of Torsos, legs,
hips, arms and definitive styles such as printed/legs arms etc…

But again just some ideas for another day perhaps?

If you don't want to type all of the long name, you can use the asterix (*)
to allow partial matches in the part names. This does not catch all situations,
but some at least.

Or if you want to search by main color only, use the https://www.bricklink.com/catalogColors.asp
page.
 Author: hpoort View Messages Posted By hpoort
 Posted: Mar 12, 2021 11:57
 Subject: Re: Option to exclude incomplete instructions
 Viewed: 21 times
 Topic: Suggestions
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hpoort (410)

Location:  Netherlands, Groningen
Member Since Contact Type Status
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In Suggestions, Brick.Door writes:
  In Suggestions, Ninepartsred writes:
  We have the option to exclude incomplete sets from searches but I'm coming
across a lot of instructions entries that are missing parts and I'd like
to filter them out as I'm looking for complete ones.

I'm not suggesting disallowing individual parts as people may need them to
complete a set.

Interesting because incomplete minifigures can't be listed with the catalog
entry - they have to be listed as a custom item. I expect the same rules apply
to instructions.

Currently there is no way for sellers to indicate complete/incomplete except
for sets. So there is no way to flag them in searches. It would require programming
so is unlikely to happen.

Why would this involve any programming? You don't think an accomplished developer
as Dan would not have such a configuration setting in the database itself? I
would think this only involves the decision to do so, and to set one field value.
 Author: edk View Messages Posted By edk
 Posted: Mar 12, 2021 11:44
 Subject: Re: Option to exclude incomplete instructions
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 Topic: Suggestions
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edk (9170)

Location:  USA, Michigan
Member Since Contact Type Status
Jan 17, 2005 Contact Member Seller
Buying Privileges - OKSelling Privileges - OK
Store: Timeless Toy Bricks
In Suggestions, Brick.Door writes:
  In Suggestions, Ninepartsred writes:
  We have the option to exclude incomplete sets from searches but I'm coming
across a lot of instructions entries that are missing parts and I'd like
to filter them out as I'm looking for complete ones.

I'm not suggesting disallowing individual parts as people may need them to
complete a set.

Interesting because incomplete minifigures can't be listed with the catalog
entry - they have to be listed as a custom item. I expect the same rules apply
to instructions.

Currently there is no way for sellers to indicate complete/incomplete except
for sets. So there is no way to flag them in searches. It would require programming
so is unlikely to happen.

But an incomplete mini-figure can be sold as parts, with multiple instruction
book sets there is no other option, There is a market for only book 1,2,3 etc..
especially in the sets of 6-7 parts. It would be great if there was a method
to break down the instruction sets for the sale of the individual booklets. I
am not holding my breath because the $ value of instruction sales is a very small
amount compared to parts/sets. I list some partials with a clear note in all
caps describing what is included.
 Author: peregrinator View Messages Posted By peregrinator
 Posted: Mar 12, 2021 10:55
 Subject: Re: Option to exclude incomplete instructions
 Viewed: 35 times
 Topic: Suggestions
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peregrinator (772)

Location:  USA, New Jersey
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In Suggestions, psusaxman2000 writes:
  I don't spend much time search the catalog for instructions, so I'm more
curious than anything. Are you saying you are seeing instructions that are torn
or missing pages? This is the only reason that I would think for having "incomplete"
as an option.

Some instructions have multiple booklets, so if one or more are missing that
would be an "incomplete" set of instructions. For example, if you had only 1
or 2 booklets from the following instruction set and wanted to sell them, how
would you list them?

 
Instruction No: 31111  Name: Cyber Drone
* 
31111-1 Cyber Drone
Instructions: Creator: Model: Space Exploration

Of course this is just an example and not a very good one, I doubt many people
are looking for these. But maybe this one?

 
Instruction No: 10182  Name: Café Corner {Cafe}
* 
10182-1 Café Corner {Cafe}
Instructions: Creator: Creator Expert: Modular Buildings Collection
 Author: randyf View Messages Posted By randyf
 Posted: Mar 12, 2021 10:12
 Subject: Re: Colour Abbreviations for Catalog Navigation?
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randyf (442)

Location:  USA, Ohio
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Store Closed Store: The Bricking Spectre
BrickLink Catalog Administrator (?)
In Suggestions, infinibrix writes:
  In Suggestions, SylvainLS writes:
  In Suggestions, infinibrix writes:
  Just an idea I’m putting out there for future consideration because with colour
abbreviations it can give you useful options for catalog use/navigation!
[…]

Using tags would bring the same searchability advantages without cluttering the
descriptions with incomprehensible jargon terms.

Granted but I don't expect that will be coming anytime soon....

And neither will abbreviating all of the color names in the catalog.
 Author: psusaxman2000 View Messages Posted By psusaxman2000
 Posted: Mar 12, 2021 10:05
 Subject: Re: Option to exclude incomplete instructions
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psusaxman2000 (291)

Location:  USA, Pennsylvania
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In Suggestions, Ninepartsred writes:
  We have the option to exclude incomplete sets from searches but I'm coming
across a lot of instructions entries that are missing parts and I'd like
to filter them out as I'm looking for complete ones.

I'm not suggesting disallowing individual parts as people may need them to
complete a set.

I don't spend much time search the catalog for instructions, so I'm more
curious than anything. Are you saying you are seeing instructions that are torn
or missing pages? This is the only reason that I would think for having "incomplete"
as an option.

I agree with a previous poster that this would be additional programming that
probably only servers a small purpose and personally if I was looking for instructions
that I couldn't get online and they were "incomplete" or had a note that
they were missing pages, I wouldn't purchase them in the first place so this
feels like a waste of effort personally.
 Author: Brick.Door View Messages Posted By Brick.Door
 Posted: Mar 12, 2021 09:59
 Subject: Re: Option to exclude incomplete instructions
 Viewed: 29 times
 Topic: Suggestions
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Brick.Door (7507)

Location:  USA, New York
Member Since Contact Type Status
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In Suggestions, Ninepartsred writes:
  We have the option to exclude incomplete sets from searches but I'm coming
across a lot of instructions entries that are missing parts and I'd like
to filter them out as I'm looking for complete ones.

I'm not suggesting disallowing individual parts as people may need them to
complete a set.

Interesting because incomplete minifigures can't be listed with the catalog
entry - they have to be listed as a custom item. I expect the same rules apply
to instructions.

Currently there is no way for sellers to indicate complete/incomplete except
for sets. So there is no way to flag them in searches. It would require programming
so is unlikely to happen.
 Author: Ninepartsred View Messages Posted By Ninepartsred
 Posted: Mar 12, 2021 09:23
 Subject: Option to exclude incomplete instructions
 Viewed: 67 times
 Topic: Suggestions
 Status:Open
 Vote:[Yes|No]
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Ninepartsred (354)

Location:  United Kingdom, England
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We have the option to exclude incomplete sets from searches but I'm coming
across a lot of instructions entries that are missing parts and I'd like
to filter them out as I'm looking for complete ones.

I'm not suggesting disallowing individual parts as people may need them to
complete a set.
 Author: infinibrix View Messages Posted By infinibrix
 Posted: Mar 12, 2021 07:33
 Subject: Re: Colour Abbreviations for Catalog Navigation?
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infinibrix (4988)

Location:  United Kingdom, England
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In Suggestions, SylvainLS writes:
  In Suggestions, infinibrix writes:
  Just an idea I’m putting out there for future consideration because with colour
abbreviations it can give you useful options for catalog use/navigation!
[…]

Using tags would bring the same searchability advantages without cluttering the
descriptions with incomprehensible jargon terms.

Granted but I don't expect that will be coming anytime soon....
 Author: SylvainLS View Messages Posted By SylvainLS
 Posted: Mar 12, 2021 07:26
 Subject: Re: Colour Abbreviations for Catalog Navigation?
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SylvainLS (46)

Location:  France, Nouvelle-Aquitaine
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In Suggestions, infinibrix writes:
  Just an idea I’m putting out there for future consideration because with colour
abbreviations it can give you useful options for catalog use/navigation!
[…]

Using tags would bring the same searchability advantages without cluttering the
descriptions with incomprehensible jargon terms.

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