What's new in CLZ Games? (page 6)

Last week we implemented several small improvements to the Connect software, based on suggestions (and complaints) from you all, our loyal users:

Configurable Date Format for Edit screen

Two months ago, we introduced a Date Format setting to control how dates are displayed throughout the Connect software. But the date editors in the Edit screen still always used “yyyy-mm-dd” as the format. Which could be confusing to some users.

So in the Settings screen, under Editing, we have now introduced a new setting, specifically for controlling the order of the year, month and day boxes in the Edit screen:

New “Year” options for folders, colums and sorting

Some dates were already available as Year-only options for folders, columns and sorting (like Release Year, Publication Year, etc…), but we have now updated the available options to include ALL date fields as Year-only options, for example:

• Added Year
• Purchase Year
• Seen it Year
• Read it Year

Improved Auto-Capitalization feature

Small tweak for the Auto-Capitalization tools: it now correctly auto-caps letters that follow a parenthesis, bracket, square bracket, single quote or double quote.

More Totals in Statistics screens

The Statistics screen has been updated with more Totals at the top, e.g. for Purchase Price, Current Value.

Version 6.0 is coming up for all five CLZ mobile apps:
CLZ Books, CLZ Music, CLZ Movies, CLZ Comics and CLZ Games (probably in that order).

For “Vee Six” we decided to finally implement THE most commonly requested feature:

Editing Multiple entries in one go! (aka: Batch Editing)

At the same time, v6 will come with completely re-designed Edit screens. Check out some sneak preview screenshot below. More information about app-specific v6 features and improvements will follow later!

Finally: Edit Multiple entries in one go!

This has been the most common feature request for many years: How can I edit (or clear) the Grade/Location/Owner/etc… for many of my database entries in one go?

And in v6, it will finally be possible:

• Just select the entries you want to edit (using tap and hold), and choose Edit from the menu.
• Then select which fields you want to edit (or clear).
• Finally, set the values you want to set and click Done.

Some screenshots:

(These screenshots have been taken from the iOS edition of CLZ Comics, but the other 9 apps will look very similar):

Edit screen re-design

Also new in v6: completely re-designed Edit screens, to make them clearer, more compact and nicer looking.
No more long lists of fields, one per row. In the new screen, fields are placed side by side where possible, with the Cover on a separate tab. Resulting in a more compact screen, requiring less scrolling. Especially on tablet devices!

Some sneak preview screenshots:

(These screenshots have been taken from the iOS editions of CLZ Books and CLZ Music, but the other 8 apps will look very similar):

At customer support, we were regularly receiving questions about the Edit Multiple screen, so in today’s update we made several changes to make it clearer.

• The checkboxes (for unlocking fields) have been replaced by clearer “lock” icons. Click the lock icon to unlock a field for editing.
• Or, just click on a lock field and you will receive a popup asking you to unlock it.
• An extra notification at the top explaining the unlocking and clearing of fields.
• Save button now indicates the number of games that are being edited.
• Extra warning when saving “You are about to change data for 4 games. This can not be undone. Would you like to continue?”

Using “Edit Multiple”

Quick reminder how to use Edit Multiple:
In the main list, use the checkboxes to select some games, and click “Edit” in the blue action bar that appears above the list.

Today’s version 5.4 brings two improvements to your CLZ Games app:

• A redesigned Select Folder Field screen
• A much faster Update from Core feature

Redesigned Select Folder Field screen

Through the years, the number of available folder fields has grown enormously, making the Select Folder Field screen a bit “unwieldy”. We decided to come up with a better solution.

This update includes a redesigned Select Folder Field screen, with all folder options nicely grouped under sensible headers, and the most popular options (Platform, Game/Hardware, Completeness, Genre) instantly accessible at the top.

Faster Update from Core

On large collections the old Update from Core feature was quite slow, as it updated your games one by one, that is doing separate requests to our server for each and every game.

So for this update, we also complete rewrote the Update from Core feature to do the updates in batches of 100 games at a time, making it much much faster!

Remember: Update From Core can be used to update your local game entries with possible extra data from our Core online game database. To use this feature, tap and hold on a game in your list to select it, tap more to select more, then tap the menu icon on the bottom right and choose Update from Core.

Fixed:

• Field Defaults screen could crash
• Edit Screen: some fields would give a bad sorting while editing them

Today’s version 5.4 brings two improvements to your CLZ Games app:

• A redesigned Select Folder Field screen
• A much faster Update from Core feature

Redesigned Select Folder Field screen

Through the years, the number of available folder fields has grown enormously, making the Select Folder Field screen a bit “unwieldy”. We decided to come up with a better solution.

This update includes a redesigned Select Folder Field screen, with all folder options nicely grouped under sensible headers, and the most popular options (Platform, Game/Hardware, Completeness, Genre) instantly accessible at the top.

Faster Update from Core

On large collections the old Update from Core feature was quite slow, as it updated your games one by one, that is doing separate requests to our server for each and every game.

So for this update, we also complete rewrote the Update from Core feature to do the updates in batches of 100 games at a time, making it much much faster!

Remember: Update From Core can be used to update your local game entries with possible extra data from our Core online game database. To use this feature, tap and hold on a game in your list to select it, tap more to select more, then tap the menu icon on the bottom right and choose Update from Core.

Fixed:

• Loaner info wasn’t shown correctly

New in the Cover tab of your Edit screen: built-in Crop and Rotate tools for your cover images!

Super useful for fine-tuning images that you uploaded or found through the Find Online tool. You can even Crop/Rotate images that you received from Core, in which case they will be automatically turned into a custom image.

To use the new Crop/Rotate tools, open your Edit screen go to the Cover tab and click the “Crop/Rotate” icon on the top right above the Front or Back cover image:

Then:

• Click the Rotate icon to rotate the image 90 degrees to the right.
• Drag the blue crop rectangle to indicate your desired crop area.
• Click Apply to apply the changes.

New in Connect today: We have added several keyboard shortcuts to the most commonly used features:

For the Main screen:

• Navigate through your items with your arrow keys (works in List, Images, Shelves and Card View!)
• Use c + a or c then a for Add from Core
• Use c + m or c then m for Add Manually
• Use c + h or c then h for Add Hardware from Core (Game Connect)
• Use c + j or c then j for Add Hardware Manually (Game Connect)
• Use c + e or c then e for Edit Selected Item

For the Edit screen:

• Use cmd/ctrl + s to Save and close
• Use cmd/ctrl + j to Save and go to Previous item
• Use cmd/ctrl + k to Save and go to Next item

Fixed:

• Add by Platform list was messy on some devices (platform names showing)
• Add Hardware / ‘Search for’ – popup did not show up right on devices with large font
• On devices with intermittent internet connection, app could revert to trial mode
• After down-syncing updated cover images, the list could still show old cover
• Improved error messages in case of core search problems

Now live in the App/Play Store, a huge 5.3 update for your CLZ Games app, introducing two big new features:

• Add games by checkboxing from a full platform list.
• Add game hardware by searching our new Core hardware database.

IMPORTANT:
Both are new premium online services, so require an active CLZ Games subscription!
If you are still using CLZ Games in the grandfathered “Unlocked” status, you will have to subscribe before you can use these new services. To do so, just open the menu and near the top, tap “Subscribe for more”.

Add Games by Platform

(in the Add Game screen, use the new “Platform” tab)

Add by Platform is a new 3rd tab in the Add Games screen, for quickly adding all games you own for a platform.
Just select a platform top left, then checkbox the games you own from a full list of games for that platform. Use the US/EU selector to choose which version of the game you want to add.

The list also clearly highlights in the games you already have, making it a perfect tool for platform completionists. Use the filter top right and select “Not in collection” to make the list show only the games that are not in your app yet.

Add Hardware from Core

(In the menu, choose “Add Hardware from Core”)

Search our new Core online hardware database, to easily add consoles, controllers and other accessories. Automatically get descriptions, box images, device images, backdrop images, sometimes even YouTube promo videos.

Use the platform selector top right to search within a platform. Limit the search results to consoles, controllers and other accessories using the “Search for” filter.

Fixed:

• When downloading new entries from CLZ Cloud, previously cleared fields could get filled in.
• In the Add from Core screen, when adding a game that is already in your app as ‘On Wish List’ or ‘On Order’, the app will now offer to change its status to ‘In Collection’.

Now live in the App/Play Store, a huge 5.3 update for your CLZ Games app, introducing two big new features:

• Add games by checkboxing from a full platform list.
• Add game hardware by searching our new Core hardware database.

IMPORTANT:
Both are new premium online services, so require an active CLZ Games subscription!
If you are still using CLZ Games in the grandfathered “Unlocked” status, you will have to subscribe before you can use these new services. To do so, just open the menu and near the top, tap “Subscribe for more”.

Add Games by Platform

(in the Add Game screen, use the new “Platform” tab)

Add by Platform is a new 3rd tab in the Add Games screen, for quickly adding all games you own for a platform.
Just select a platform top left, then checkbox the games you own from a full list of games for that platform. Use the US/EU selector to choose which version of the game you want to add.

The list also clearly highlights in the games you already have, making it a perfect tool for platform completionists. Use the filter top right and select “Not in collection” to make the list show only the games that are not in your app yet.

Add Hardware from Core

(In the menu, choose “Add Hardware from Core”)

Search our new Core online hardware database, to easily add consoles, controllers and other accessories. Automatically get descriptions, box images, device images, backdrop images, sometimes even YouTube promo videos.

Use the platform selector top right to search within a platform. Limit the search results to consoles, controllers and other accessories using the “Search for” filter.

IMPORTANT: both are premium online services, so require an active CLZ Games subscription!

Fixed:

• In the Add from Core screen, when adding a game that is already in your app as ‘On Wish List’ or ‘On Order’, the app will now offer to change its status to ‘In Collection’.
• When scanning barcodes the “beep” sound would only sound on the first scan

Previously, the “Add to …” button in the Add screen let you choose between “Add to Collection” or “Add to Wishlist”. But as of today, you can now choose from ALL possible Collection Status option directly. For instance, this lets you add an item as “On Order” straight from the Add screen!

Now, the possible choices are:

• In Collection
• For Sale
• Wish List
• On Order
• Not In Collection

A big update for Game Connect again, in which we introduce many new settings for further customizing your software to your own liking.
And while we were at it, we updated the Settings screen with clearer grouping and naming of settings.

Here’s what’s new:

Auto Capitalization

This is a completely new feature, for automatically capitalizing your game titles.
Auto capping can be done:

• when adding games from Core. This is OFF by default as our Core delivers nicely capped game titles in general.
• as you type titles in the Edit and Add Manually screens, very useful when adding games manually
• by clicking the AutoCap (aA) button above the Title box in the Edit screen

The Settings screen lets you choose between 4 Auto Cap methods:

• First Letter of Each Word with Exceptions
• First letter only with exceptions
• UPPER CASE
• lower case

The Auto Cap Exceptions list comes pre-filled with a sensible list of common exceptions, but is completely user configurable.

Date Format

Choose how date formats are displayed throughout Connect.

Timezone

Choose your own timezone and all Date Added and Date Modified fields will be displayed according to that timezone. (previously these all showed in UTC time)

Sorting

Two new options that control the sorting by title and how titles are displayed:

• When sorting, ignore sort titles: check this if you prefer to ignore all sort title when sorting and just have the software sort on the regular Title field.
• When sorting, ignore sort names for Developers and Publishers: check this if you prefer to ignore all sort names when sorting and just have the software sort on the display name.
• When displaying, show sort title: when sorting by title, showing the actual sort titles that it sorts on can make your list a bit “easier on the eye”.
• When displaying, show sort names for Developers and Publishers: showing the actual sort names that it sorts on can make your list a bit “easier on the eye”.

Show trailers in Details View Panel

If, for whatever reason, you don’t like the trailer videos in your game details panel, switch them off here.

A very nice cosmetic update for your Connect software today: a new “Shelves View”!

Shelves View is a fourth view for your game list, similar to Cover View, but with your cover images standing on a nice shelves background. You can even choose between 6 different shelf styles using the Shelf Style selector:

• Wood Light
• Wood Dark
• Glass
• Metal
• Carbon
• White

Also new, for both Shelves View and Images View, as “Size Slider” to control the size of the images.

Toolbar tweaks

Because of the introduction of the new view, the Shelf Style selector and the Size Slider, we have also made several changes to the various Connect toolbars:

• A new “View” toolbar right above the list, with 4 buttons for switching between the 4 views (List, Card, Cover and Shelves), the Size Slider and the Style Selector (for Shelves) and finally the Sort Order button (on the far right).
• The new “View” toolbar replaces the “Filter” toolbar that was in that spot.
• The “Filter” toolbar now only appears when a filter is actually active, and now has a pale yellow background to make it super-clear that you are looking at a filtered list.
• The number of games indicator has been moved (back) to the center of the top toolbar.

Faster CLZ Cloud syncing!

We have made several structural changes to the CLZ Cloud syncing, making it much much faster than before, especially when syncing large amounts of entries up to the CLZ Cloud or down from the CLZ Cloud.

To enjoy the faster syncing, you need to use the actual Sync with CLZ Cloud screen.

(The Auto-Syncing in the background is also slightly faster now, but if you need to sync many entries up or down, please use the Sync with CLZ Cloud screen.)

New design for Sync with CLZ Cloud screen

While we were at it, we decided to do a quick make-over for the Sync screen, with a new look and layout and a direct link to your CLZ Cloud page online.

Faster CLZ Cloud syncing!

We have made several structural changes to the CLZ Cloud syncing, making it much much faster than before, especially when syncing large amounts of entries up to the CLZ Cloud or down from the CLZ Cloud.

To enjoy the faster syncing, you need to use the actual Sync with CLZ Cloud screen.

(The Auto-Syncing in the background is also slightly faster now, but if you need to sync many entries up or down, please use the Sync with CLZ Cloud screen.)

New design for Sync with CLZ Cloud screen

While we were at it, we decided to do a quick make-over for the Sync screen, with a new look and layout and a direct link to your CLZ Cloud page online.

Fixed:

• Made the touch area for scrollbars a bit bigger (useful for quick scrolling)
• Added a “Clear” button in the search box in the Add Screen

It’s been a bit quiet with Connect updates in the past 2 months, as we have been preparing a *huge* update. BUT it is live now!

All settings are now saved server-side, in your CLZ Cloud

We have taken the advantage of the Connect web-based software to the next level, by storing all your settings on the server side, your CLZ Cloud (instead of in local browser cookies).
So any computer or device you log in to will automatically have the same folder option selected, the same columns selected for the list view, the same sort order, the same layout, etc..

Connect now even stores your Add screen’s barcode queue on the server side, so you scan barcode into the queue on one computer and process the queue later, from any other device.

All your existing settings will be automatically transfered to the server, the first time you login.

BTW: this change finally resolves the problem of losing all settings for users who have their browser configured to remove all cookies on exit.

Create your own Favorites for Columns and Sort Orders

While we were working on the settings, we figured this was a good time to add some more customizability to the Columns and Sort Order features. You can now create and save your own Column and Sort Order settings as Favorites, then easily switch between them.

To create and manage your Favorites, click the Column or Sort Order button and choose Manage Favorites:

Manage Column Favorites:

Manage Sorting Favorites:

An old feature from the Windows and macOS editions, that somehow never made it to Connect: Re-Assigning Index Values. But now it’s available in Connect too!

What are index values?

Connect automatically assigns and increments index numbers to items that you add to your collection. The Index value is assigned when you add an item to the database. The next item you add to your collection will have an index number that is incremented by 1.

Index numbers are only used once. When an item is deleted, the next added item will still increment on the highest index number present in your collection.

New: Re-Assign Index Values:

With the new “Re-Assign Index Values” tool, you can automatically assign new and consecutive index values to all your items, according to a sort order you select, e.g. by Title, Release Year or your own Purchase Date.

To begin, click the menu top left and select “Re-Assign Index Values”. Now choose your desired Sort Order.

Please note that this action can not be undone!

In this update we introduce a new quick-search for your folders, sorting your folders by the counters, and more stable cloud syncing through our brand-new dedicated Sync-server.

Quick-search your folders

Grouping in folders is a powerful way to browse and filter your collection. Just group by Platform, or Developer, etc… tap a folder and the list will give you all games for the selected Platform or Developer.

However, if your collection spans thousands of games and a lot of platforms, that “tap a folder” part is sometimes easier said than done. It may require lots of scrolling in the folder list.

But not anymore! This version introduces a new search box right above the folder list, that lets you instantly search/filter the folder list as you type! Just typing a few letters is often enough to bring the folder you are looking for into view:

Sort folders by count

By default, the folders are sorted alphabetically. But as of today, there is another option: sort your folders by the counter, that is by the number of games contained.

Sorting by the counters is a nice way to find the most popular Platforms, Developers, Genres, etc..

Switch between the Alphabetical and By Count sorting using the sort toggle at the top:

Improved barcode scanning

We have improved the scan engine and gave it a larger “scan area”. This should help scan barcodes faster and easier.

Now uses our brand-new CLZ Cloud Sync-server

Previously one big server was handling the Connect website, the CLZ Cloud website AND the CLZ Cloud syncing from the desktop programs and the mobile apps.
But this week we have set up a brand-new dedicated Sync-server to handle just the CLZ Cloud syncing.

In today’s update, CLZ Games has been updated to sync through this new server, which should result in faster syncing and a more stable syncing experience during high load times (weekends).

Fixed:

• The correct EU or US cover wasn’t downloaded correctly sometimes.
• Field Defaults: It wasn’t possible to set the rating field back to zero.
• Manage Pick Lists: Merging list items caused too many sync changes.

In this update we introduce a new quick-search for your folders, sorting your folders by the counters, and more stable cloud syncing through our brand-new dedicated Sync-server.

Quick-search your folders

Grouping in folders is a powerful way to browse and filter your collection. Just group by Platform, or Developer, etc… tap a folder and the list will give you all games for the selected Platform or Developer.

However, if your collection spans thousands of games and a lot of platforms, that “tap a folder” part is sometimes easier said than done. It may require lots of scrolling in the folder list.

But not anymore! This version introduces a new search box right above the folder list, that lets you instantly search/filter the folder list as you type! Just typing a few letters is often enough to bring the folder you are looking for into view:

Sort folders by count

By default, the folders are sorted alphabetically. But as of today, there is another option: sort your folders by the counter, that is by the number of games contained.

Sorting by the counters is a nice way to find the most popular Platforms, Developers, Genres, etc..

Switch between the Alphabetical and By Count sorting using the sort toggle at the top:

Improved barcode scanning

We have improved the scan engine and gave it a larger “scan area”. This should help scan barcodes faster and easier.

Now uses our brand-new CLZ Cloud Sync-server

Previously one big server was handling the Connect website, the CLZ Cloud website AND the CLZ Cloud syncing from the desktop programs and the mobile apps.
But this week we have set up a brand-new dedicated Sync-server to handle just the CLZ Cloud syncing.

In today’s update, CLZ Games has been updated to sync through this new server, which should result in faster syncing and a more stable syncing experience during high load times (weekends).

WebP is a new image format, developed by Google, that is producing smaller images compared to JPG and PNG, while preserving image quality. All modern browsers fully support the new WebP format so many websites are now using WebP for a faster browsing experience, consuming less bandwidth.

Of course, our Connect web-based software and the free CLZ Cloud viewer sites are quite heavy on cover images, especially in the Image and Card Views. So we figured switching to WebP could produce a nice boost in performance!

So today, we switched over and are now delivering all cover images and backdrops in WebP format, on all browsers that support it (older browsers still get JPG images).

You will find that your Image View and Cards View will load faster now. The difference is especially noticeable on slower internet connections and mobile devices (if you have a very fast internet connection, the difference will be minimal).

Noticeable on all connection types is the faster loading of the details panel after selecting a different item in your list. Because of the huge difference in the backdrop image sizes, viewing item details is now a lot snappier.

Enjoy!

Multiple small tweaks to your Connect software today, improving both the Edit Game screen and the Add Games screen.

Editing pick list fields: checkbox multiple values in one go

The Edit screen is where many users are spending most of their time, so we’re always trying to make your editing life faster and easier.
Today, we improved all multi-value pick lists fields (e.g. Genres, Developers) by letting you add multiple values in one go. In the Select Value screen we have introduced checkboxes now, that let you checkbox multiple values and add them instantly.

This is now available for the following fields:

• Developers
• Publishers
• Genres
• Tags

Adding Games by Barcode: instant adding to queue

Previously, when you searched by barcode (either by typing or scanning), the barcode instantly disappeared from the search box, but only appeared in the queue when the search was complete. Also with no “loading” indicator showing in the meantime. Not a problem when searches are instant, but it could lead to confusion in situations where it took a bit longer for the search to complete.

So we got to work and made it better: after hitting search, the barcode now instantly appears in your queue, showing a “Searching” indicator. This gives you instant feedback the barcode was accepted and is searching. Then, when the search has completed, the queue entry is filled in with the game details and cover image.

The above tweak also applies to the opening of the screen while you still had some barcodes in the queue. This saved queue list will now populate faster.

New:

• You can now folder group on “Purchase Date Year” and “Completed Date Year.

Fixed:

• Rare incident where timeouts occurred during CLZ Cloud sync.

New:

• You can now folder group on “Purchase Date Year” and “Completed Date Year.

Fixed:

• Rare incident where timeouts occurred during CLZ Cloud sync.

A useful and fun new option in Game Connect software today!
By default, the folders in your folder panel are sorted alphabetically. But as of today, there is another option: sort your folder panel by the numbers, that is by the number of games contained.

Sorting by the numbers is a nice way to find the most important Platforms, Developers, Genres, etc.. in your collection.

Switch between the Alphabetical and Number sorting using the new toggle to the right of the search box:

While adding games, you would sometimes get the wrong EU or US cover.

Fixed:

• Wrong cover would sometimes be downloaded