What's new in CLZ Comics Web? (page 2)
Continuing with our quest to revamp and re-design features and screen of the Connect web-based software. Today we took on the Import from CSV/TXT screen.
Connect and CLZ Cloud users often ask us about printing or exporting only a part of their collection, e.g. “how do I print just my wish list?” or “how do I export a list of just one series?”.
Now, this was possible, but it took a few steps that were not intuitive for many users. You had to:
- Make the selection in the main screen first, e.g. by using folders, the collection status filter or the search box
- Checkbox all comics in the selection, using the checkboxes in the list
- Then use the Print or Export button on the special blue action toolbar above the list
With today’s update, we are making this a lot easier. And while we were at it, we also freshened up the user interface of the Print to PDF and Export to CSV screens.
Great news for all our German-speaking customers: starting today the Connect web software is also available in German!
Our programmers have been working for months to make the Connect software available in other languages (other than English). This meant:
- Make the Connect software translatable, to ensure that all interface texts come from a translation database.
- Making a nice and easy translation tool for our translators, so that they can translate all texts efficiently and also maintain the translation when new functionality is added.
- And of course, to do the actual translation.
And today we can take the next step: Connect is now available in German!
A nice update for all Connect users who use multiple collections, especially for those who have a LOT of collections.
New in this re-design:
- Single row tab-bar. No more lost screen estate caused by multiple rows of tabs.
- Got more tabs than fit on screen? Scroll the bar horizontally.
- Or use the next/prev buttons on the right to jump page by page.
- Alternatively, click the menu icon on the bottom left to pick a collection from a menu.
- The menu also provides quick access to the Manage Collections screen.
- Drag tabs to change their order.
- Double click a tab to rename a collection.
In the CLZ Comics mobile app the Series list has always been a special case folder option, not showing the regular textual folder entries, but instead a nice layout with the cover art of the first or last issue.
So we decided to bring that same look to the Series folder panel in Comic Connect:
A big project our web-dev team has been focused on the past few months is making our Connect web-based software available into other languages. A huge project that consists of:
- Making the software translatable, basically ensuring that ALL UI text is retrieved from a translation database.
- Creating a nice and easy web-based CMS tool that translators can log in to and translate text, preview in Connect, etc…
- Doing the actual translations of all UI texts.
And today we can finally show the first results: Connect is now available in Dutch!
Now live in your web-based Comic Connect software, a big update that is all about slabbed comics!
More and more CLZ Comics users are using the app to catalog slabbed comics (CGC, CBCS, PGX, etc..). So let’s take our slab support to the next level!
Here’s what’s new in Comic Connect today:
- Three new slab-related fields: Label Type, Page Quality and Custom Label.
- A cool new look for your slabs in Card View and Details Panel.
- Four new options for the Grade field: NG, PG, CVR and ART.
- A new setting “For raw comics, show Grade as letters”
Introduced in November 2021, the Update Key Info tool is one the biggest and most popular features of the Comic Connect software. It automatically gives you crucial information about your collection, that is, which of your comics are major keys, which ones are minor keys. Of course, it also tells you why, for example: first appearances of characters, deaths, cameo appearances, first team appearances, origins, iconic cover art, etc…
However, since we introduced this feature, one of the most requested improvements has become:
“After updating my key info, I would like to see WHICH comics were updated and WHAT has changed.”
We’re closing in on the end of the year, so it is time for the
CLZ Comics Wrap-up 2022!
CLZ Justin has been gathering some stats and has created some nice top 10 lists for you.
These are the most popular 2022 comics and series based on your usage of the CLZ software:
Enjoy!
Today, two further improvements to the CovrPrice integration in your Comic Connect software:
- New “View Last Update Report” in the menu, to re-open the last “Updated Values” report
- Updated Values screen now includes cover images!
A small but important update to the Comic Connect software and the CLZ Cloud site: CovrPrice values can now be exported to a CSV file AND include in Print to PDF reports.
IMPORTANT: to prevent abuse, this is ONLY possible when you are subscribed to CovrPrice on their YEARLY subscription.
Your Comic Connect software has just been updated with new features. Based on your feedback and questions, we have made 2 big improvements to the CovrPrice integration, that is, to the way values are displayed in your software:
- Improved value displaying for My Value entries
- CovrPrice value box now also visible when CP value is 0
This is it, the big Launch Day of the CovrPrice integration!
As of today, you can get comic values from CovrPrice inside your Comic Connect web-based software!
Great news: WE HAVE A DATE!
Launch Day for the CLZ / CovrPrice integration is OCTOBER 4 !!!
That’s less than 2 weeks from now… The teams at CLZ and CovrPrice cannot wait to show you all what we all have been working on for many many months.
In fact, we won’t wait… Sneak Preview screenshots below!
Just 5 weeks to go before the CovrPrice integration goes live in the CLZ app and software.
So today, a quick remember of the CovrPrice trial offer:
Wanna give COVRPRICE a try? – $4 discount on your first month!
Just use this coupon code: CLZ2022
Follow the instructions below for the Promo!
1) Go to https://covrprice.com/ and sign up for the Free 10 Day trial
This will make you a BASIC (free) CovrPrice member, then…
2) After you’ve created a COVRPRICE account, click here for 30 days of Premium Membership for only $2.99 (coupon code: CLZ2022):
https://covrprice.com/register/unlimited-monthly/?coupon=CLZ2022
After 30 days your account will automatically revert to the $6.95/month account.
IMPORTANT: please note that this is a trial of the CovrPrice.com website, so that you can research comics and check out their value system. You will not get values in your CLZ software yet, neither will the CovrPrice.com site automagically list your database.
Let me try to answer the most common questions about the upcoming partnership between CLZ and CovrPrice (CP):
Q: To get comic values in my CLZ app/software, do I need a subscription to CovrPrice?
A: Yes, that is correct.
To get access to the comic values from CovrPrice, you will need a subscription to the CovrPrice “Premium” plan, which is US $6.95 per month or US $60 per year.
You will also need an active subscription to your CLZ app or software. A grandfathered account will not suffice.
Q: So does this mean I need to use two different sites or apps?
A: No, that is not necessary, you will get the comic values *inside* your CLZ app/software. You do not need to go to the CovrPrice site to see the values.
However, because of the CovrPrice subscription, you *will* have access to the all functionality of the CovrPrice site, like seeing values for all grades for raw and slabbed, checking on value trends, looking up the actual sales a value is based on, etc…
September is getting closer, so time for an update about our upcoming collaboration with CovrPrice for comic values. But first, a quick summary:
CLZ / CovrPrice: What’s it all about?
CLZ and CovrPrice are going to work together, which will give you comic values from CovrPrice (for both raw and graded comics), right there in your favorite CLZ comic cataloging tool (CLZ Comics, Comic Connect or Comic Collector).
To get access to these comic values from CovrPrice, you will need a subscription to the CovrPrice “Premium” plan, which is US $6.95 per month or, when paid yearly, US $60 per year ($5/month).
You will also need an active subscription to your CLZ app or software. A grandfathered account will not suffice.
In today’s update for your Comic Connect software, one new feature and some further tweaks to the new Vertical Card View (based on your feedback):
- Relink Core Variant: easily link your local entry to a different variant in Core
- Improved Vertical Card View: now including Grade/Value and Collection Status
Based on lots of feedback from members of the CLZ Comics group on Facebook, we decided to completely re-design and rewrite the Pull List feature.
This re-designed Pull List tool was already released for the CLZ Comics mobile app a few weeks ago. Today, the new design has also been released for your Comic Connect software, expanding it into a fully flexible way to browse recent and upcoming comic releases.
Here’s an overview of all the improvements:
- View releases per week
- List releases in series folders or as one “flat list”
- New “My Series” tab: view releases for your existing series
- New “Discover” tab: browse ALL recent and upcoming releases!
- Easier adding of series to your Pull List
- Easily open the full issue list for any series
For this update, the main goal was to make the cover images in the Add Comics screen bigger, to make it easier to find the issue or variant that you own.
However, while working on that, we ran into some other things that could be improved, so we figured why not? So in the end, it turned out be a serious overhaul of the Add Comics screen 🙂
Here’s an overview of all the improvements:
- Bigger cover images in the Issue List
- The Issue List for a series now opens in a separate page
- Preview Page now also shows a bigger cover image
- And finally: the Add Comics screen is now a lot bigger!
Recently introduced in the CLZ mobile apps and instantly very popular, so now available in all five Connect flavors too: the Card View.
(And… because Connect already had a view called “Card View”, we renamed the old view to “Horizontal Cards” and named the new one “Vertical Cards” here.)
Here’s how to switch to new “Vertical Cards” view: on the toolbar above your collection list, click the 2nd button from the left, called “Vertical Cards”.
Check out the screenshots below:
A big update for your Connect software today, with several cool new features and some smaller tweaks, all in one go:
- Easily add cover images by pasting into the Edit Screen’s Covers tab
- New Month and Date folder options for all date fields
- Improved Update from Core tool
- “Move to Other Collection” now possible from details panel toolbar
Great news for all users of our comic cataloging tools:
We can finally reveal which 3rd party we are going to work with for the upcoming solutions for comic values!
We are proud and excited to announce that our new partner for comic values is….:
>> COVRPRICE !!!
Yes, CLZ and COVRPRICE are going to work together, to provide you with the internet’s most reliable and up-to-date comic values, right there in your favorite comic cataloging tool!
This also means we can finally answer your most common questions:
- Will it only provide values for graded comics or for raw comics too?
- What will it cost?
- ETA???
One of the most popular features we added to the Comic Connect in the past few years is the Pre-fill screen. You know, the screen that pops up when adding new comics from Core and lets you “pre-fill” some fields for the new additions, right there and then. Without having to go back and edit the entries afterwards. A big time-saver for most users.
The set of fields that is available on the Pre-fill screen has always been fixed, limited to Storage Box, Owner, Purchase Date/Store/Price, Quantity, Grade, Grading Company, Raw/Slabbed and Tags.
However, after the release of this feature, we instantly started getting requests for more fields to be added to the Pre-fill screen. Which makes sense, I mean, if you always fill in a field that is not on the Pre-fill screen, you would have to “edit after adding” anyway, rendering the entire Pre-fill screen useless…
So today we are taking the Pre-fill feature to the next level by making the screen completely user-configurable. That is, to allow you to choose your own Pre-fill fields!
And while we were at it, we made some other related improvements. Here’s what’s new today:
- User-configurable Pre-fill screen: choose your own fields
- Pre-fill: new for personal Date fields: Fill with “Today”
- Pre-fill: new for Purchase Price: Use “Cover Price” minus your discount percentage.
- The Pre-fill screen is now also used to set field defaults
The “Automatic key comic info” feature, introduced early November, has proven to be enormously popular… BUT it is also easily THE most controversial feature that we have ever introduced to any of our software titles!
Most users are loving the extra little trivia about their comics. But others are annoyed by too many comics being “key” for reasons that are not important enough in their opinion.
Soo… let’s see if we can improve this feature, so that we can remove most of the annoyance and make it useful for a larger part of our audience.
Today, we introduce the following improvements to the key comics feature:
- Distinction between Minor Keys (blue icon) and Major Keys (yellow icon)
- New “Key Category” field, automatically delivered from Core, e.g. “First appearance”, “Death”, “Cameo appearance”, “Iconic cover”, etc..
- New “Update Key Info” tool in the CLZ Core, that is fully configurable (Minor/Major Keys, Allow Overwrite/Clear). No more need to use Update from Core.
- Key icons now also show in issue lists in Add Comics screen.
- New charts in Statistics screen, for Key Comics and Key Category.