News & updates tagged 'newsletter'

Alwin here, the CLZ guy, with your CLZ news for August 2024.

It’s holiday season, so members of the CLZ team are taking their well-deserved vacations. But still, we have been able to introduce a big improvement to the Add by Title features of both the mobile and web editions of our movie, game and comic products.
The new “search for…” suggestions will save you a lot of time and typing.

We have also completed a big 9.7 update for the CLZ Comics app, which we planned to release before the end of the month. But the last stretch, tweaking and tuning the UI, took more time than we anticipated. So we will release this new version early next week.
You can find a sneak preview of v9.7 below.

The news for August 2024:

• CLZ Movies and Movie Connect: New “search for…” suggestions when adding movies by Title
• CLZ Games and Game Connect: New “search for…” suggestions when adding games by Title
• CLZ Comics and Comic Connect: New “search for…” suggestions when adding comics by Series or by Issue
• Coming up next week: CLZ Comics 9.7, with lots of improvements all over the app!
• CLZ Core updates:
  • Core for Games: “Check Covers” project, 95.6% cloud coverage!
  • Core for Movies: “Check Covers” project, 78.0% cloud coverage!
  • Core for Comics: New Comic Book Day summary, 2,113 new releases

Read more

It’s me again, CLZ Alwin, with your CLZ News for June 2024.

Big changes for the CLZ mobile apps this month, as we replaced the 7-day trial with a 100-item “Free Mode”. Maybe not that interesting for you as an existing user, but then again, it *could* be. Read on below!

The implementation of the Free Mode took most of the time of the dev team this month, so only one other update went live, a cool new way to search comics in Comic Connect.

Of course, our 6-man Content Team (Rowdy, Martin, Justin, Taco, Kelvin and Senno) has been working full-time on our Core online databases. Their first priority always is the adding of all weekly new releases. When that’s done, they’ve always got some big projects going on, to improve the quality and completeness of the existing Core database.

Don’t worry, there’s time for fun too! We started building Lego projects at the office 🙂 First up was a big one: the Lego Barad-dûr tower!

Today’s topics:

• CLZ mobile apps: New “Free Mode” for small collectors
• Comic Connect: Search box top right now allows “Issue Search”
• Still coming up: CLZ Comics 9.4, with completely revised Pull List features
• CLZ Core updates:
  • Core for Games: “Check Covers” project, 92.2% cloud coverage!
  • Core for Movies: “Check Covers” project, 62.8% cloud coverage!
  • Core for Comics: New Comic Book Day summary
• Building the Lego Barad-dûr tower!
• Come join the Club CLZ forum (4 thousand members now!)

Read more

This is CLZ Alwin, with your monthly dose of CLZ news.

Lots of big and small releases this month, for both the CLZ mobile apps and the Connect web-based software, all bringing improvements of existing features:

• Connect + CLZ: Pre-fill screen: Orange highlights and a Clear button
• CLZ mobile apps: Easier access to Manage Pick Lists tool
• Connect: complete re-design of batch editing feature
• Comic Connect: Filter your Series list by Completed status
• Connect: Improved search results in the Link with Core screen

Read more

We’re closing in on the end of September, so here’s our CLZ Newsletter for Sept 2023.

This month was all about the CLZ mobile apps. A new sync button on the main screen and new getting started tips for new users. Read all about those below.
In the meantime, some CLZ users have helped us translate the Connect web-based software to more languages!

Also, Breaking News: The CLZ Team will present at the New York Comic Con!

The topics today:

• All CLZ mobile apps: New Sync button on main screen
• All CLZ mobile apps: New in-app “getting started” tips for new users
• Connect web-based software: now available in French, Spanish and Hungarian
• Breaking News: The CLZ Team will present at the New York Comic Con!

Read more

There we go, with a loooonnnnggg CLZ Newsletter for July 2023.
Three subjects this months: one big project finished (cast/crew editing for movies), one similar project almost done (creator/character editing for comics) and one ready for launch tomorrow (2FA for CLZ Accounts!).

At the CLZ HQ, we’re still planning around the well-deserved vacations of CLZ team members. But we are still managing to get updates out the door, albeit a bit slower than usual.

These are the big projects for this and next month:

• For Movie Connect and CLZ Movies:
  Modify the Cast and Crew lists of your movie entries and Sync them to/from the CLZ Cloud
• For Movie Collector:
  Cloud-sync your customized cast and crew lists + an easier way to add actors, directors, producers, etc…
• Coming up: Creators / Characters Editing and Syncing for Comic Connect, CLZ Comics and Comic Collector
• Coming up tomorrow: Two Factor Authentication for your CLZ Account

Read more

The last day of May, so it’s CLZ Newsletter time!

The CLZ mobile team, Pim, Bernard and AJ, finished a huge project this month, resulting in 5 updates for all 5 CLZ mobile apps with the long-awaited multi-level folder feature. It was a big and complex enterprise, but based on all the happy feedback we received it was well worth the trouble.

With that out of the way, the mobile guys have joined the rest of the team on our next team-wide mission : the ability to edit Cast, Crew for movies, and Creators and Characters for comics, in both the Connect web-based software and the CLZ mobile apps.
For more info, see the What’s Cooking section below.

These are our updates for May 2023:

• New in May 2023::
  • Use multiple folder levels in the CLZ mobile apps
  • Connect: re-designed collection tab-bar
  • Comic Connect: new look for the Series folders
• What’s Cooking?
  • CLZ mobile + Connect: edit and sync Cast, Crew, Creator and Character lists!

Read more

This is CLZ Alwin, with the April 2023 edition of the CLZ Newsletter.

This month, we were finally able to go live with a huge project: the localization of our Connect web-based software in other languages (other than English). The first language is live now and I guess you won’t be surprised it is Dutch, our own native language :-). More coming soon!

Also, we have embarked on a new mission this month, something we have been postponing for many years: the ability to add/edit and sync custom lists for Cast, Crew, Creators and Characters for our movie and comic tools! More info below.

Here’s the news for April 2023 and an updated What’s Cooking list:

• New in April 2023:
  • Connect is now available in Dutch!
  • Comic Collector 23.6: New report after Updating Key Info
  • Youtuber Mystic shows how he is using CLZ Games
• What’s Cooking?:
  • Multi-level folders for the CLZ mobile apps
  • Comic Connect: new look for the Series folders
  • Connect: re-designed collection tab-bar
  • Connect/Cloud: editable/syncable Cast, Crew, Creator and Character lists!

Read more

This is CLZ Alwin, with the first 2023 CLZ Newsletter.
Remember that in last month’s newsletter I had no releases to report on, because of the quiet December month? Well, we’re back on track, with 6 big releases in January. Two for the Collector desktop software, 2 for the Connect web-based software and 2 for the CLZ mobile apps!

And we have some interesting projects going on that will result in even bigger releases soon (check under What’s cooking below):

• Released in Jan 2023:
  • Book Collector 23.0 / CLZ Books 8.0 / Book Connect: 7 new data fields!
  • Comic Collector 23.3: Improved Pull List and new “Discover” mode!
  • CLZ Comics 8.2 / Comic Connnect: New report after Updating Key Info
• What’s cooking?
  • More slab-related fields for all comic products
  • New “CLZ Scanner” app, to replace CLZ Barry
  • Translations for the Connect web-based software
  • Multi-level folders for the CLZ mobile apps
  • Two-factor authentication on CLZ Accounts

Read more

This is CLZ Alwin, trying to write this newsletter in the midst of all the pre-launch chaos at the office. There’s only 5 days to go until the biggest launch in CLZ history: The partnership with CovrPrice, for integration of comic values into our comics apps and software. Going live on October 4! Read the latest news below.

But before launch, we are going to to celebrate our 22nd anniversary, in Paris!

The topics today:

• CLZ team going to Paris to celebrate our 22nd anniversary!
• Coming up on Oct 4: CovrPrice values integrated in comic software and apps

Read more

CLZ Alwin here, with the May 2022 edition of the CLZ News.
This month, more updates for the mobile apps (as always) and 5 big maintenance builds for the Windows software. I know it has been a bit quiet on the Connect end, but that is caused by the big translation project we are doing there. We will be swinging back to big feature updates for Connect soon!

The releases for May 2022:

• CLZ mobile apps: new Card View in main screen (and more)
• CLZ Comics: List View is back in the Add Comics screen
• 5 maintenance builds for all 5 Collector programs for Windows

Read more

This is CLZ Alwin, bringing you the CLZ News for April 2022!

Strangely enough, only ONE new release this month (CLZ Comics 7.6). Well, not that strange really, as part of the team is working on big back-end projects and the rest on upcoming May releases.

So today’s newsletter is all about “What’s Cooking at the CLZ HQ?”:

• Now live:
  • CLZ Comics 7.6: Bigger cover images in Add Comics screen
• What’s Cooking?
  • A new partner for comic values!
  • New “Card View” for all CLZ mobile apps
  • Faster searches with our new search engine servers
  • Multiple languages for the Connect web-based software!

Read more

It is the last day of March, so just in time for the March 2022 edition of the CLZ Newsletter.
We are really enjoying being back at the CLZ HQ, three of us full-time, the rest of the team for 2 days a week. It is so nice to be able to have live brainstorm sessions again, about new functionality, user interface designs, etc… Video meetings are okay, but nothing beats live face to face sessions!

And the extra efficiency is already showing, because we are cranking out good updates like never before; 5 updates for the Collector desktop programs (v22 live now!), 5 for the Connect web-based software (Pre-fill updates), and 2 x 5 updates for the CLZ mobile apps!

The topics today:

• All v22 for Windows updates are now live: Configurable Pre-fill and more!
• Also live for Connect: the new Configurable Pre-fill screen.
• All CLZ mobile apps: Progress Bars and Cancel buttons!
• All CLZ mobile apps: Support for Back Cover images
• Sneak Preview for CLZ Comics: bigger images in Add Comics screen

Read more

CLZ Alwin here, with the CLZ Newsletter for November 2021.
Syts and I are currently dealing with the busiest week of the year: the Black Friday craziness. Processing over 200 support tickets everyday, and answering lots of questions in our Facebook groups. Providing renewal advice, correcting wrong purchases, helping with problems, etc…

So let’s start with a quick reminder of the CLZ Black Friday Sale 2021:

CLZ BLACK FRIDAY SALE: 33% discount on all subscriptions

The deal is very simple: 33% discount on the “Pay Yearly” options for everything CLZ, so for the Collector desktop programs, the Connect web-based software and the CLZ mobile apps.

To take advantage: »» LOGIN to the BLACK FRIDAY page here ««

This Black Friday sale will end on Cyber Monday, November 29, 23:59 EST, so only 3 days left!

Today’s newsletter topics:

As you know, the entire CLZ team has been working on a comic related project in the last few months. Which has resulted in 3 major releases for our comic cataloging tools this month, the main attraction being automatic key comic info from Core (first appearances, cameo appearances, major event, iconic covers, etc..).

In the meantime, the team has already moved on to give our other products some well deserved attention. First, big v7 releases for the other 4 CLZ mobile apps, v22 releases for the other 4 Windows programs and… many updates for the Connect web-based software.

These are the November 2021 releases:

• Huge updates for all comic cataloging tools (CLZ Comics, Comic Connect and Comic Collector), with automatic key comic info from Core, many new fields, etc..
• CLZ Music 7.0 : New features and lots of improvements
• Connect: new Progress Bars for all “slower” actions
• Connect: new Add from Core settings: select which fields to download from Core

Read more

It’s Halloween! So it must be time for the Oct 2021 edition of the CLZ Newsletter!
October was a quiet month in terms of releases. But the CLZ team has not been sitting still, on the contrary:

At the moment, the entire team is working together on ONE big project, including all developers and all content managers. This is a rare opportunity, but we always enjoy working this way, as it is both fun and efficient.

This time, the big shared project is all about comics and it will result in BIG updates for all flavors of our comic cataloging tools: CLZ Comics 7.0, Comic Collector 22.0 and of course a big update for Comic Connect too (web developers are too cool for version numbers).
Read on for a sneak preview of the new features and improvements.

The topics today:

• 5 updates for Windows with an improved Submit to Core system
• 5 CLZ updates for Android to fully support system font sizes
• Sneak Preview: huge updates for all comic cataloging tools

Read more

CLZ Alwin here, with your Sept 2021 newsletter.
In September, we continued the stream of updates and releases that we started last month, with 2 big updates for all Windows releases, 2 big updates for all CLZ mobile apps, and several new features and tweaks for the Connect web-based software.

These are all September releases:

• For all “Collector” Windows programs:
  • v21.4: Bar chart in folder panel background
  • v21.5 for Movie/Comic/Game Collector: website-links now sync to cloud
• For the “CLZ” mobile apps:
  • Version 6.5, with several new features in one go:
    • Duplicate an item
    • Clear Cloud button in Sync screen
    • “Shake to Shuffle” – select a random item
    • Games/Comics: a new Links tab for adding web-links
    • Music/Movies: choose the currency symbol for displaying prices and values
    • Movies: Set and Sync your own Box Set cover images
  • Version 6.6, Submit to Core (and more):
    • Submit to Core
    • New Select Mode with new Action menu
    • Action menu now also available on details page
• For the “Connect” web-based software:
  • More fields available in Field Defaults
  • Easier user interface for Columns and Sorting
  • Remove/Restore the automatic Core images for Front and Back
  • Search your own database using CLZ Barry
  • Set Cloud Visibility per Collection

Read more

CLZ Alwin here, with your CLZ news for April 2021.

Here in the Netherlands things are looking up, albeit slowly. The evening curfew has been lifted, shops can be visited without appointments and restaurants and bars are allowed to open up their outdoor terraces between noon and 18:00.

For the CLZ team, it’s business as usual, with some nice releases this April, and more big projects coming to an end soon:

• Released this month:
  • Movie/Book/Game Collector 21.2 for Windows: New Link with Core screen
  • Comic Collector 21.1: Download values in other currencies
  • CLZ Books 6.3: New fields, website links and: other currencies!

• Coming up:
  • Music/Comic Collector for Windows: New Link with Core screen
  • CLZ mobile apps: big “cosmetic” update with a new look
  • Music Connect/Cloud: new fields
  • Re-design for the core.collectorz.net Submit to Core site

Read more

Welcome to the CLZ News for Feb 2021, as always brought to you by me, CLZ Alwin.

In the Netherlands, the lockdown with curfew has been extended, so that’s not going in the right direction yet. In two weeks, on March 13, we will be “celebrating” our 1 year anniversary of the entire CLZ Team working from home. Crazy, right?

But we will have to deal with the situation, so we’ll just focus on bringing you lots of improvements for your software!

This month we sure managed to get a lot of updates out: 1 for Windows, 6 for Connect, 5 for iOS and 5 for Android.
The topics today:

• Movie Collector/Connect: Automatic Audience Ratings from IMDb
• Connect web-based software: 3 new settings to save screen space
• CLZ mobile apps: Big updates with various improvements
• What’s cooking?

Read more

Here’s the Jan 2020 edition of the Collectorz.com Newsletter, as always brought to you by CLZ Alwin. No rest for the wicked, as we started 2020 with five big v20 releases for all five Collector programs for Windows. Read on for an overview of what went live this month, plus some sneak preview “what’s cooking” items.

Let’s start with the coolest:

Collectorz.com on AMC NewsWatch TV!

Last Monday, AMC’s NewsWatch TV program had a short feature about Collectorz.com, giving an overview of our products and services, with a focus on the CLZ Books mobile app.

Watch the “CLZ on NewsWatch” video here:

What’s Live and what’s Cooking?

• Collector desktop software:
  • Live: V20 for Windows: Folder panel improvements + new Statistics screen
  • Cooking: Improved movie file cataloging for Movie Collector Windows
• CLZ mobile apps:
  • Live: CLZ Comics 5.1: Better barcode scanning!
  • Live: CLZ Music 5.2: New Statistics screen
  • Cooking: Sort and search your folder list.
  • Cooking: Report unrecognized barcodes, straight from the CLZ Comics app.
• Connect web-based software:
  • Live: Improvements to Edit and Add screens
  • Live: Faster loading of images through WebP image format
  • Cooking: All settings stored server-side, no more cookies

Read more

This is CLZ Alwin, taking a quick break from answering Black Friday Sale related questions, to bring you the CLZ News for November 2019.
My wife Sytske and I are currently handling over 200 support tickets each day (!!), most of them about the sale, providing product info and buying advice, fixing wrong orders, helping with problems, etc…

No complaints though, the Black Friday Sale is a huge hit again, because up till now over 5 thousand users (!!) have already grabbed this opportunity to renew their subscriptions and to subscribe to more apps and software! If you haven’t yet, don’t miss out, there’s just 3 days left!

The CLZ Newsletter for November 2019

Okay, with that out of the way, back to the news. Busy times at the CLZ HQ with Team Desktop preparing for the upcoming Vee Twenty (v20), for both Windows and macOS (ETA: within a few weeks, at least before the end of the year). So that means no Windows or Mac updates this month 🙁

In the meantime, our 3-headed Team Web is making big steps on the Connect web-based software again (inc. track search for Music Connect!!), consolidating Connect’s status as the preferred solution for use on your computer or laptop.
Two big updates from Team Mobile too, with new fields for CLZ Music and CLZ Books.

So let’s go over the Connect and CLZ Mobile updates in November:

• Connect web-based software:
  • Music Connect: Search box now searches your tracks too!
  • Improved Statistics pages
  • New Breadcrumb / Filter bar
  • Create your own multi-level-folder favorites
• CLZ mobile apps::
  • CLZ Books and CLZ Music: more editable and syncable fields

Read more

CLZ Alwin here, with the CLZ News for January 2019.
Most of the CLZ Team is working on long-term, big projects, which meant there were very few releases this month. So let’s go over these releases and then do a “What’s Cooking” overview!

• Several tweaks and fixes for all five v19’s for Windows
• Multiple collections in the Connect web-based software
• What’s Cooking??
  • v19 for macOS
  • v5 for all CLZ mobile apps
  • CLZ Shop update
  • Several “Core” projects

Read more

This June 2018 newsletter is all about the extra fields that we added to the movie, comic and music editions of Connect, the CLZ Cloud syncing and the CLZ mobile apps, all based on your requests and suggestions in the past few years.

But first, a quick reminder of this week’s CLZ Summer Sale (3 days left!):

CLZ Summer Sale: Pre-pay for 1 year and get 6 extra months free!

This week only, for all Update Plans and Connect subscriptions:
Pre-pay for 1 year and get 6 extra months free!

LOGIN to the Summer Sale page here

More fields for Cloud, Connect and CLZ mobile apps

For many years, the CLZ Cloud has been at the center of all our cataloging solutions. Starting out basic, with most of the details shared from our Core, but through time enhanced with more and more cloud fields, so that you can sync your own data between desktop, mobile and Connect.

Adding new fields to the CLZ Cloud is a *lot* of work, as it requires changes to the cloud storage itself, to the Connect web-apps and to the syncing system. Then when that’s done, all desktop programs and mobile apps need to updated to support the new sync fields. Quite a project, involving *all* CLZ developers.

To make this as efficient as possible, we usually bundle the field additions, doing all requested fields in one go. Last year, the CLZ Clouds for books and games have received a big upgrade with extra fields, plus we added track list syncing to the music cloud.

Now it is time to add a lot of fields to the movie, comic and music editions:

New fields for movie cloud:

• Is TV Series (yes/no)
• Release Date
• Runtime
• Audience Rating
• Region
• Studio
• Distributor
• IMDb Number
• IMDb Rating
• Box Set

All of the above fields are now fully editable in Movie Connect, fully editable in CLZ Movies and now sync your own data between Movie Collector, CLZ Movies and Movie Connect. Of course this requires the latest versions of Movie Collector and CLZ Movies.

New fields for comic cloud:

• Edition
• Crossover
• Story Arc
• Imprint
• Age
• Cover Price
• Cover Date

All of the above fields are now fully editable in Comic Connect, fully editable in CLZ Comics and now sync your own data between Comic Collector, CLZ Comics and Comic Connect. Of course this requires the latest versions of Comic Collector and CLZ Comics.

New fields for music cloud:

• Original Release Date
• Packaging
• Media Condition
• Vinyl Color
• Vinyl Weight
• RPM
• Disc Titles
• Composer Sort Names

All of the above fields are now fully editable in Music Connect.
Updates to support the new fields are coming up for all Windows, Mac, iOS and Android editions, within 4 weeks.

New in Connect: selection checkboxes and action bar

A cool user interface update for the Connect software, in which we makes it easier to select items and easier to perform batch actions on the selected items.

Select using checkboxes

To select items, just click the checkboxes on the left of each entry in the list. Checkboxes are also available in Card View and Images View, just hover your mouse over an item.

No more need to go into “Select Mode” first. The Select Mode is automatically activated as soon as you checkbox the first movie, clearly indicated by the blue Batch Action Bar that replace the regular toolbar.

Batch Action Bar

While in Select Mode, the blue Batch Action Bar appears, always showing you the number of selected entries. Also:

• Use the “Select all” checkbox to select all entries in the current list in one go
• Use the “x Cancel” button on the right to leave Select Mode
• And of course, use any of the action buttons (Edit, Delete, Print, Export, Duplicate and Loan) to perform an action on the selected items

New in Movie Connect: Automatically add multi-movie box-sets

Yes, this time-saving tool finally made it to the Connect edition!

See it in action:

Just use the enhanced Add Movies screen to find a box set, either by title or by barcode, and our Core immediately shows which movies are in the box. Click Add to Collection at the bottom right and all contained movies will be added to your database, automatically linked by a box set entry.

Enjoy!

This is Alwin, with the final CLZ Newsletter for 2017. December is always a busy month here at the CLZ HQ, but this December was particularly crazy, with all the v18 for Windows releases.
Our support guys and gal have been handling over 100 support requests every day since early December. Add to that this week’s Connect updates plus a Year End Sale and we’re up to 150 tickets each day 🙂

But no worries, it’s not just all work and no play 🙂 On December 23, the entire CLZ Team and their families visited the local Dutch theme park “De Efteling”! We had a great day, with cool rides, great food and a lot of laughter.

More pictures of the CLZ Family here.

Our newsletter topics for December 2017:

• Now live: version 18 for all Windows editions
• Now live: a new look for all Connect editions
• Now live: a new Add Movies screen in Movie Connect
• Year-End-Sale: Get Connect for 1 year, get 6 extra months free
• Coming up: Auto-Cloud-Syncing for all iOS and macOS editions

Read more

2018 is coming closer, which means: version 18 is coming up! First, for the Windows editions (early December), then for all Mac editions (early January). For both, the main attraction will be: Automatic CLZ Cloud syncing! Full details below.

The topics of this November 2017 CLZ Newsletter:

• Coming up: Automatic CLZ Cloud syncing
• Coming up: version 18 for all Windows editions
• Now live: updates for all mobile apps, with several Add screen improvements

Read more

CLZ Alwin here, with the final 2016 edition of the Collectorz.com newsletter. I have 3 news topics for you today:

• New Collectorz.com Help Center at Help.CLZ.com.
• New “Unrecognized Barcode” tools are a huge success!
• New iOS Add screens now live for CLZ Music and CLZ Games.

Read more

This is CLZ Alwin. After a crazy Black Friday Sale, everything’s quieting down here again 🙂 Thank you all for renewing or extending your Update Plans!
(tip: watch your inbox for news on further holiday season deals)

These are this month’s releases:

• New Collectorz.com shop at Shop.CLZ.com
• New MyCLZ site at My.CLZ.com
• Book Collector and CLZ Books: Dealing with “Unrecognized ISBNs”
• New Add screens for iOS editions of the CLZ mobile apps
• Entering/editing track lists in CLZ Music

Read more