Technical Bug: Approved submission showing "exists already" error in edit form

"Thank you for your response. I apologize for my difficulty in explaining the situation. I am not trying to add the episode again; the episode submission itself is initially accepted, and all is fine. However, when I go into the 'Reference' section (where the blue numbers are displayed), I see an error stating that the episode already exists. This error occurs only when viewing the episode page inside the 'Reference' link, which indicates a conflict with an existing entry."

Do you mean that you are on the history page https://contribute.imdb.com/updates/history/ with a column headed "Reference" like this:

The number is a link to the submitted contribution so if you click that number it takes you to the form populated with the data you submitted which is then checked. For example, when I click the number for a recent new episode submission it takes me to a page that has this at the 100%" height="auto" data-cannedresponseid="" data-img-url="https://prod-imdb-community-cdn.sprinklr.com/community/26653d1b-7bb8-47bf-ac21-90f16f2e4b48/Screenshot20251118at19.27.26-6c0ebf7b-d6d3-4343-b0b2-44e18540de97-1915362685.png" src="https://prod-imdb-community-cdn.sprinklr.com/community/26653d1b-7bb8-47bf-ac21-90f16f2e4b48/Screenshot20251118at19.27.26-6c0ebf7b-d6d3-4343-b0b2-44e18540de97-1915362685.png" loading="lazy">

A little way down it says The episode you are adding exists already: 

That is correct. It is the new episode form and the data that has been filled in is the data I submitted. The episode has been approved and created so a form with the same input data reports that the episode exists already.

That history page does not have a link to the episode page for the submission that created the episode.

If you click the Track Contribution button that takes you to the page that shows you the status of your contribution and that does have a link to the new episode page once it has been approved and published.

I tried adding a second image and it seems to have gone a bit crazy. Trying again...

Thank you for your reply. I understand you now. By the way, may I ask one more question? I really want to consolidate the pages for one anime. Currently, there are two separate pages on your site. The first page has the first two seasons, and the second page has the last two seasons. Can you merge them yourselves, or do I need to add Seasons 3 and 4 to the first page? Should I add all images from the second page to the first page and then request the second page to be deleted on the forum? Also, why was it split like this in the first place?

@bestrigyn- You can submit the respective title merges through the online Update form.

As these are TV series and episodes, per our guidelines, you will have to follow this:

3. Unfortunately two series pages cannot be merged if episodes exist on both titles. If you wish to merge two series pages please submit a title merge on any associated episodes first, then, once these have been approved, please submit a merge on the parent series titles.

You can find this and further information on How to merge title pages on our following Help Guide.

Hello.

Thank you for your assistance. I believe I understand the general process now, but I have a few detailed questions regarding the steps.

As I understand it, the main issue is that the data for Seasons 3 and 4 were incorrectly created under a separate "parent" title (let's call it Title X). Furthermore, data from Title 2 was also incorrectly added to this Title X. The goal is to move all this scattered data back to the correct main series title.

Here is the detailed plan of action I intend to take. Could you please confirm if this order and process are correct, or if I have misunderstood any part?

1.  I need to first **create the correct pages for Seasons 3 and 4** under the main series title ("Page 1") to establish the correct destination titles.2.  Next, I will go to the IMDb data correction form or forum.3.  I will submit a request asking to **copy and transfer** all information from the **incorrect Season 2 page (1.1)** to the **correct Season 3 page (3.1)**.4.  I will repeat this transfer process for all subsequent incorrectly entered seasons.5.  Once all the data is successfully transferred, I will submit a final request on the IMDb forms to officially request the **deletion** of the original, incorrect "parent" title (Title X).

If I am mistaken about any of these steps—especially the sequence or the use of the forms—could you please explain where I went wrong? If possible, screenshots would be highly appreciated to clarify the process (particularly the specific "form" you mentioned).

Thank you very much for your time and guidance.

@bestrigyn- Can you link the titles that you are referring to above?

1 https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1114855/?ref_=wh_rvi_t_3

2 https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1340802/?ref_=fn_tsp_i

@bestrigyn- Apologies for the delay response and thank you for posting the links!

Further reviewing the links, these were a bit more complicated to change therefore, I have helped on moving the episodes that were on this title tt1340802 as the respective season 3 and season 4 for "Bakugan Battle Brawlers." 

The changes are still in-progress and will be live on the site once completed. 

Hello Maya,

Thank you very much for your help with the complex changes for "Bakugan Battle Brawlers" (moving episodes to Season 3 & 4)!

I sincerely appreciate your hard work on this issue.

Best regards.

@bestrigyn- You're welcome!