What's new in CLZ Books? (page 10)
Quick Search: Search-As-You-Type suggestions
Instantly find and select a particular book in your local database:
- In the Quick Search box, just start typing the first few letters of the author or title you are looking for.
- While typing, a drop-down list will appear, showing the first five matching books.
(for most books, it only takes 2 or 3 letters before it shows up.) - Once you see the book you were looking for, tap it to bring up its detail page
- TIP: Tap the search button on the keyboard or tap “View All Results” to perform the normal search.
Quick Search now searches more fields
Now also searches in:
- Subtitle
- Series
- LoC Classification
- LoC Control Nr
- Dewey
- Plot
- Tags
- Notes
Full list of fields that are now searched:
- Title
- Author
- ISBN
- Publisher
- Subtitle
- Series
- LoC Classification
- LoC Control Nr
- Dewey
- Plot
- Tags
- Notes
A new v4.8.1 update for your app is available now, with:
Automatic CLZ Cloud syncing
Add or edit books and your changes will auto-upload to the CLZ Cloud instantly.
Made changes on the desktop or Connect side? Just start the app and changes will download automatically.
Note: Auto-Syncing is switched OFF by default. Switch it ON in the “Sync with CLZ Cloud” screen.
The CLZ Cloud syncing will let you:
- Sync your data between devices, e.g. between your phone and your tablet. Or from your old phone to your new phone.
- View your database online using the free CLZ Cloud viewer website.
- Make an online backup of your data. Better safe than sorry!
New: ‘None’ folder entries
- Added ‘None’ entries to list of folders: The [None] folder groups the books you have not set the field for on which you’re currently folder grouping.
Fixed:
- Add Screen: by ISBN: Very long book titles could overflow into the author name.
- Search cleared when the X button was pushed in the search bar of the main screen.
We have just updated both the Connect web-application and the free CLZ Cloud viewers to make them a lot faster.
- The folder panel now uses “lazy-loading” which makes it load (a lot) faster.
- When selecting a folder, only the list panel is re-loaded, where previously the entire page was refreshed.
The above changes will make browsing your CLZ Cloud or Connect app a lot snappier and will prevent server performance problems (two birds with one stone!).
The performance improvements are especially noticeable for large book, music and comic collections, as these generally have loooonnnngggg lists of author, artist and series folders.
Our web-team has been working on this for a long time: a new search engine for Author/Title searches in our Core online book database.
And Book Connect is the first to use the new engine, in it’s “Add Books from Core” screen!
(coming soon to the Book Collector desktop software and the CLZ Books mobile app)
What’s new?
- Faster searches: Most Author/Title searches will give you results within a second. UNLESS our Core server decides to consult our “back-end” sources like Google Books, Library of Congress and other national libraries.
- Better search results: The results are now more focussed, less fuzzy, as it will only show books containing ALL your search term words (as opposed to the old search that gave you books that matched ANY or your search term words).
- Single Search Box: Just one box for search (e.g. like Google or Amazon). No more separate Author and Title boxes. Just enter (part of) the author’s name and (part of) the title and you will get the best matching results. (see the screen shot above with “crichton jurassic” results”).
- Search by Publisher and Year: Getting a lot of results? Filter down to the book edition you’re looking for by adding the publisher and/or publication year to your search! (see screen shot below)
Now live in your Book Connect software, a complete re-design of the Add Book screen, with a new look, easier interface and new features.
Adding Books by ISBN
Scanned ISBNs will be automatically added to your queue, with the book information populating instantly. Use the big blue Add to Collection button at the bottom right to add the selected book to your database, OR use the little blue “+” buttons to add straight from the queue.
Adding Books by Author and Title
Search by author and title to see a list of matching book results:
Not the right cover image? Use the built-in Find Cover tool to pick the correct one.
In this “between Christmas and New Year” week, a huge update to the look and feel of our Connect web-based software.
- We removed the tabs at the top that let you switch between the programs, to give you more screen space for the software you are in. (you can still switch using the app-switcher button top right).
- Dark toolbars with white text and buttons everywhere, while keeping your list and details pages light and clear.
- All tools and feature are now accessible from the “hamburger” menu on the top left.
- Your account settings and log out options in a “user menu” on the right.
- TIP: the new look is also available in your free CLZ Cloud viewer!
A new v4.8 update for your app is available now, with:
Automatic CLZ Cloud syncing
Add or edit books and your changes will auto-upload to the CLZ Cloud instantly.
Made changes on the desktop or Connect side? Just start the app and changes will download automatically.
Note: Auto-Syncing is switched OFF by default. Switch it ON in the “Sync with CLZ Cloud” screen.
Don’t have a CLZ Cloud account yet?
If you don’t have a CLZ Cloud account yet, I strongly recommend signup up for one from the app. Using the CLZ Cloud is completely free!
The CLZ Cloud syncing will let you:
- Sync your data between devices, e.g. between your phone and your tablet. Or from your old phone to your new phone.
- View your database online using the free CLZ Cloud viewer website.
- Make an online backup of your data. Better safe than sorry!
In today’s update for the CLZ Books app, we have made further tweaks to the Add Books from CLZ Core screen, to make it clearer than previous versions:
- Slightly smaller font for the book title, so that longer titles fit better.
- Color high-lighting: Books already ‘on wish list’ now have an orange title, books already “in collection” show up with a blue title.
Fixes in this update:
- After changing the sort order the list could sometimes scroll to a random position.
- Small CLZ Cloud Sync tweaks.
- After restarting the app it would sometimes repeatedly scroll to the last added book.
- After manually typing a barcode in the add by barcode screen you weren’t able to search another one.
In today’s update for the CLZ Books app, we have made further tweaks to the Add Books from CLZ Core screen, to make it clearer and (hopefully) more stable than previous versions:
- Slightly smaller font for the book title, so that longer titles fit better.
- Color high-lighting: Books already ‘on wish list’ now have an orange title, books already “in collection” show up with a blue title.
- Improved scroll behaviour.
Fixes in this update:
- Full screen cover scroller on iPhone/iPod devices was not properly updating its title bar
New
- Optimized layout of main screen on 10.5 and 12.9 inch iPads
- Optimized the performance of the main screen thumbnail view
- Fresh placeholder cover images
Fixed
- Black bars showing on 10.5 and 12.9 inch iPads
- Add screen: ISBN button wasn’t working correctly
- Disappearing floating add button when switching from list to thumbnail view
Fixed:
- Crash in add screen on devices running iOS10 or lower
New:
- Redesigned Selection Mode
- Tap and hold on a book to select it, select as many books as you like (or select all, using the “Select All” top right).
- Then use the blue action button to perform an action on the selected books (Remove / Update from CLZ Core).
Fixed:
- Crash when saving a cover image to the camera roll
- Odd scrolling behavior when scanning book ISBNs in the barcode scanning screen
- Stuck keyboard after searching in main list
- Autocorrect was enabled for the main list search bar
- Small iOS11-related UI glitches
Now live, a new design and layout for the book detail page in both Book Connect and the free CLZ Cloud viewer.
Some highlights of the new look:
- bigger cover image
- backdrop (can be switched off in your settings)
- circular author pictures
- more logical layout and placement of all fields
Screen shot:
All Connect apps: Manage Pick Lists, edit, merge and remove pick list entries.
A Manage Pick Lists screen is now available in Connect!
Finally, you can easily manage your pick lists for Artists, Authors, Series, Genres, Formats, etc… To edit your sort names, merge duplicate entries or remove entries.
The new Manage Pick Lists screen can be found in the Tools menu top right (the wrench icon).
Fixed:
- Missing app icons for 12.9 inch iPad
Fixed:
- ”Show more” buttons weren’t working in the iPhone versions of the Symbols/Bookshelf detail templates
- The on-screen keyboard was covering the lower input fields in the edit/add manually screens
This update converts your database
In order for this update to work, your database has to be converted once. This happens automatically after starting the app for the first time after updating and can take a couple of minutes depending on the size of your database (amount of books) and the speed of your iPhone or iPad. This could take a couple of minutes on slower devices or with very large databases (5000 or more books).
New:
- CLZ Cloud syncing: Added loan fields to the sync.
- Edit Book: Autocorrect now works on the plot and notes fields.
- New folder option: You can now group your books by reading year. To do this, tap the menu button top right, then “Folders”, then tap “Reading Year”.
Coming up:
- A loan manager to loan and return books.
Fixed:
- Loan information could be cleared during an upsync of a loaned book if that book was recently edited on your device.
New:
- Added loan fields to the CLZ Cloud sync.
Fixed:
- After tapping the “Not Found?” button to add a book anyway, the app could crash on adding an author.
Coming up:
- A loan manager to loan and return books.
New:
- New fields you can now sort your books on:
- Country
- Format
- Language
- Publisher
New fields for Edit Multiple
We’ve expanded the amount of fields you can edit in the Edit Multiple screen.
Improved interface
We’ve made it more clear how you can clear information from specific fields for all selected items you’re editing. Use the X button to clear a field for all selected items.
Using “Edit Multiple”
Quick reminder how to use Edit Multiple: Click the “Select” button at the top of your Connect page, select a couple of items, and click “Edit” (again, at the top).
Be advised that changes you make here affect all selected items, and can not be reverted once done!
New:
- Added a new “All Books” folder with a back button to go back to your folders
Fixed:
- Barcode queue was lost when a crash occurred in the Add from CLZ Core screen.
- The “move to wish list” functionality in the Add from CLZ Core screen was not working.
New in Book Connect: Loan/Return books and a Loan Manager feature!
You can now loan books in Book Connect: just find and select a book (or select multiple with the Select tool), and click the “Loan” button at the top!
Loan Manager
Click the wrench icon, top right, and then Loan Manager to access the new Loan Manager where you can see all your loaned out items, and directly return them. Alternatively you can also use CLZ Barry to scan an ISBN of a book, find it in your outstanding loans, and return it.
In the Loan Manager, you can click on a loaned item to modify the loan date, due date, return date, loaner and notes about the loan.
New:
- Loan books by selecting a couple in your list, or by viewing the details of a book, and then click “Loan” at the top.
- Return books straight from the loan manager or by scanning their ISBN barcodes with CLZ Barry.
- Check outstanding loans and loan history in the Loan Manager.
- Edit outstanding or returned loans by clicking on them.
All loan information can also be synced to Book Collector for Windows. We will also be adding the syncing of loan information to CLZ Books for iOS and Android and Book Collector for Mac.
New:
- Added a new “All Books” folder with a back button to go back to your folders
New:
- After adding/editing a book, the app will now always find and show your last added book in your main screen.
- Main screen will now always remember navigation state, even after device reboot.
Fixed:
- Add auto screen not obeying the device’s rotation lock.