Metadata forms the foundation of SCADA.
Instead of storing information such as publishers, series, or characters with every individual comic, SCADA references centralized metadata records. This keeps your collection consistent, reduces duplicate data, and enables many of SCADA’s advanced features.
Well-maintained metadata is essential for getting the most out of your collection.
Publishers
Publishers represent the companies that originally released your comics.
Examples include:
- Marvel Comics
- DC Comics
- Panini Comics
- Image Comics
Each comic is assigned to exactly one publisher.
Series
The Series metadata is one of the most important parts of SCADA.
Every comic belongs to a series.
Each series contains information such as:
- Series Name
- Series Code
- Total Number of Issues
These values are used throughout the application.
Collection Progress
The Total Number of Issues allows SCADA to calculate the completion percentage of a series.
Example
- Total Issues: 137
- Collected: 52
SCADA automatically calculates your collection progress.
Without this information, SCADA would only know how many comics you own—not how complete your collection actually is.
SCA-ID Generation
The Series Code is also part of every automatically generated SCA-ID.
Because of this, the Series Code should generally not be changed once comics from that series already exist in your Archive.
Changing the code would affect the generated identifiers for those comics.
Creators
The Creators section stores everyone involved in creating a comic.
Examples include:
- Writers
- Pencilers
- Inkers
- Colorists
- Letterers
- Cover Artists
A single creator can be linked to any number of comics.
Characters
Manage all comic characters used throughout your collection.
Examples include:
- Spider-Man
- Venom
- Green Goblin
- Doctor Octopus
Each comic can be linked to multiple characters.
Story Arcs
Story Arcs connect multiple comics that belong to the same storyline.
This allows stories to be organized independently of publishers or series.
Universes
Universes group comics within the same fictional universe.
Examples include:
- Marvel Universe
- Ultimate Universe
- Spider-Man Noir Universe
This makes it easy to organize and filter comics across different series.
Formats
Formats define the publication format of a comic.
Examples may include:
- Comic Book
- Hardcover
- Trade Paperback
- Omnibus
- Manga
You are free to create formats that match your own collection.
Boxes
Boxes represent your physical comic storage.
Each box can store information such as:
- Name
- Maximum Capacity
Boxes become available throughout the Collection and can be assigned to individual comics.
Why Metadata Matters
Many of SCADA’s most important features rely entirely on metadata.
These include:
- Collection Progress
- Automatic SCA-ID generation
- Search and filtering
- Series organization
- Box management
- Statistics and analytics
The better your metadata, the more powerful and consistent SCADA becomes.
Summary
Metadata is the backbone of SCADA. It provides a centralized, consistent structure for your collection while enabling advanced features such as Collection Progress, automatic SCA-ID generation, powerful filtering, and statistical analysis.
For larger collections, investing time in maintaining your metadata before importing or creating comics is highly recommended.