What's new in CLZ Movies? (page 7)
Live today in your Movie Connect software: a completely re-designed Edit Movie screen with an improved look, layout and usability!
New look and layout
We’ve moved some fields around and to have them grouped and placed more logically. You’ll notice that we’ve also updated the look of certain buttons so it’s all easier on the eye, and there’s only one big blue important “OK” button to save your changes.
Updated dropdown and pick list fields
The pick list fields have been updated so they’ll only show options from your own collection instead of all available options in our online database. This makes it a lot faster to quickly pick something from a pick list that you used before!
You can just start typing to filter to the pick list entry you want to use, or open up the dropdown to scroll and pick.
Multi value pick list fields such as the Genre field, have a blue plus button to pick a genre from your genre list. Click it, and either start typing or just pick a genre from the list.
New Pick List fields
We’ve updated the following fields from plain text fields to “pick list” fields. This means that those fields now have a dropdown which you can click to quickly pick an existing pick list entry for that field.
The following fields haven been updated from plain text to pick list fields:
- Location
- Condition
- Purchase Store
- Storage Device
- Owner
These field now all have a dropdown to pick an entry. You can also type into them to search or create a new entry for that field.
Panel with personal fields on all tabs
At the bottom of the edit screen we added a “sticky” panel that you can see on all edit tabs. This panel contains some of your most important personal fields so you can always edit them quickly.
New Find Cover pop-up
The Find Cover pop-up has been updated to the latest version we introduced in the Add Screen. Check it out:
Quick Search: Search-As-You-Type suggestions
Instantly find and select a particular movie :
- In the Quick Search box, just start typing the first few letters of the movie title you are looking for.
- While typing, a drop-down list will appear, showing the first five matching movies.
(for most movies, it only takes 2 or 3 letters before it shows up.) - Once you see the movie 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:
- Plot
- Episode Titles for TV series
- Notes
- Tags
- Series
Full list of fields that are now searched:
- Title
- Title Extension
- Original Title
- Barcode
- Actors
- Directors
- Writers
- Producers
- Plot
- Episode Titles for TV series
- Notes
- Tags
- Series
Disable backdrop downloading
Also new: in Settings screen, a new setting “Download backdrop images”. Switch that OFF to disable the downloading of the big backdrop images, to save space on your device.
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.
A new v4.8.1 update for your app is available now, with:
Automatic CLZ Cloud syncing
Add or edit movies 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!
Fixed:
- Search cleared when the X button was pushed in the search bar of the main screen.
- Update from Core didn’t update the episode list correctly.
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!
Now live in your Movie Connect software, a complete re-design of the Add Movies screen, with a new look, easier interface and new features.
Adding Movies by Title
Search by title to see a list of matching movie results, or pick the movie you were looking for directly for the Search-As-You-Type suggestions.
Expand a movie entry to see the available DVD and Blu-ray editions, with small cover thumbnails:
Pick your format straight from this Add screen, no need to edit afterwards:
Not the right cover image? Use the built-in Find Cover tool to pick the correct one.
Adding Movies by Barcode
Scanned barcodes will be automatically added to your queue, with the movie information populating instantly. Use the big blue Add to Collection button at the bottom right to add the selected movie to your database, OR use the little blue “+” buttons to add straight from the queue.
Barcode not found? Use the new Unrecognized Barcode screen to find the movie by title. This will not only let you add the movie anyway, but also helps our Core by adding the barcode to that selected movie.
A new v4.8 update for your app is available now, with:
Automatic CLZ Cloud syncing
Add or edit movies 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 Movies app, we have made further tweaks to the Add screen, to make it clearer than previous versions:
- Add from CLZ Core:
- Faster movie title search.
- Color high-lighting: Movies already ‘on wish list’ now have an orange title, movies already “in collection” show up with a blue title.
- Slightly smaller font for the movie title, so that longer titles fit better.
- Search as you type now respects tv-series only/adult filters.
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 an empty details template could sometimes show.
- After restarting the app it would sometimes repeatedly scroll to the last added movie.
- 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 Movies app, we have made further tweaks to the Add screen, to make it clearer and (hopefully) more stable than previous versions:
- Slightly smaller font for the movie title, so that longer titles fit better.
- Color high-lighting: Movies already ‘on wish list’ now have an orange title, movies 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
New:
- Redesigned Selection Mode
- Tap and hold on a movie to select it, select as many movies 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 movies (Remove / Update from CLZ Core).
Fixed:
- Crash when saving a cover image to the camera roll
- Odd scrolling behavior when expanding/collapsing a movie title search result in the Add Automatically screen
- Odd scrolling behavior when scanning movie barcodes in the barcode scanning screen
- Stuck keyboard after searching in main list
- Autocorrect was enabled for the main list search bar
Now live, a new design and layout for the movie detail page in both Movie Connect and the free CLZ Cloud viewer.
Some highlights of the new look:
- bigger cover image
- bigger trailer video
- more logical layout and placement of all fields
Screen shots:
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).
A nice upgrade for the search feature today, in both Movie Connect and the free CLZ Cloud viewer for movie collections!
We have completely replaced the search engine, making the searches much faster and giving you better, more focussed, less “fuzzy” search results.
On top of that, we have now added our popular “Search-As-You-Type” mechanism to the search box for quick finding and selecting a particular movie in your database:
- In the Quick Search box, just start typing the first few letters of the title you are looking for.
- While typing, a drop-down list will appear, showing the first five matching movies, with small cover images.
(for most movies, it only takes 2 or 3 letters before it shows up.) - Once you see the one you were looking for, use the up/down keys to select it, then hit Enter.
- This will instantly take you the movie details page for that movie.
See the Search-As-You-Type system in action:
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:
- Series Folders: You can now folder group on “Series” so your TV serie entries all go into their own respective series folders.
- Sorting on Country: We added “Country” to the list of available sort fields.
Fixed:
- After searching a movie, the edit screen wouldn’t display all available formats.
New:
- Added a new “All Movies” folder with a back button to go back to your folders
With all the sharing features we’re building we’ve now added a way for you to set a default view for your friends so they can browse your collection the way you want them to.
To set a default view for your friends:
Go to your CLZ Cloud / Connect page, login at the top right and set the columns, sorting and folder view you wish your friends see when they browse your collection.
Once you’re happy with the setup, choose Settings from the “wrench” icon menu top right. Then click the blue button “Set current view as default view” and you’re done! Anyone viewing your collection for the first time will now get the view you’ve just set for them.
You can now quickly share your entire collection or one single item in your collection with anyone using the Share button at the top of your collection. You can share your collection or single item on Facebook, Twitter, via email or just copy a direct link using the Share icon top right.
Go to your cloud page, login at the top right, and use the Share icon at the top to begin:
Share entire collection
For your entire collection, make sure you’re on your Cloud / Connect page with all your items in view and then click the Share icon top right:
Share one single item
For one single item, click the item in your collection and then click the Share button at the top:
This is a new way to show your collection list to specific people, without making it Public. Just set your Cloud Visibility to Private, hiding it from public view, then generate a secret Private Cloud Sharing link. Send this link to your friends and only they will be able to see your collection. Best of both worlds!
To change our Cloud Visibility, go to your cloud page, login at the top right, then choose Settings from the “wrench” icon menu.
Previously, the search feature in the cloud viewer took you to a separate page showing the search results.
Now, the search is fully integrated into the regular collection viewer. Which means that you can now search, then further drill down using folders and/or the alphabet bar. Super handy, especially for large collections.
New:
- Add Movies from CLZ Core: New skinned preview templates.
- After adding/editing a movie, the app will now always find and show your last added movie in your main screen.
- If you log in to your CLZ Account on a new or empty device, the app will now ask you if you wish to download your movies from CLZ Cloud.
- Added skinning to Sign up/Log in/In App Purchase screens.
Fixed:
- After each CLZ Cloud sync the “Quick Search” and “Collection Status Filter” was cleared.
- When a custom cover was downloaded via CLZ Cloud syncing, the thumbnail in the list wasn’t immediately updated.
- When a movie was removed, the list would scroll back to the top.
- Various skinning, layout and color fixes.
Another productive week here for our Connect pages! Our web developer Joe has finished work on 2 improvements for your Connect page:
New layouts in Edit Screen
We recently took a look at our Edit Screen and figured it was time to change some fields around as we thought they weren’t all logically placed. So for all 5 Connect titles we’ve now changed the layout and placements of your fields in the Edit Screen. We also consolidated all “Cover” tabs in the edit screens so they work the same in all 5 Connect titles.
New: Duplicate feature
You can now duplicate an item in your database. To do this, click on an item in your database to view its details, then at the top click on “Duplicate”.
The new duplicated item will be an exact duplicate of the previous item, but it will be unlinked. You can Link the duplicated item with the “Link” button at the top of the details page.
Add by Barcode: Now directly connect to your CLZ Barry barcode scanning app!
We’d love to see more users enjoy the fun and ease of adding items to their database by scanning barcodes with their phone or tablet. So we also decided a couple of weeks ago to make our CLZ Barry app FREE (previously US $10).
New: Directly connect to CLZ Barry from Connect
Previously you needed a special program to connect and send barcodes to your computer, but today we added a direct connection to CLZ Barry on all “Add by Barcode” pages on Connect, which means you can directly connect to any mobile device running the barcode scanning app “CLZ Barry” and scan barcodes straight into your Add by Barcode page on Connect!
Reminder: What is CLZ Barry ?
CLZ Barry is the Collectorz.com barcode scanner app. It lets you:
- Scan barcodes with your mobile device’s camera.
- Instantly send the barcodes (the 12 or 13-digit numbers) to the Add page on Connect.
How to get started with CLZ Barry
- Open the App Store or Play Store on your device,
then search for “CLZ BARRY” and download the app. - Follow the Getting Started Guide to set up and start scanning.
Getting Started for iOS / Getting Started for Android
Changed:
- Made some improvements to the barcode scanner
Fixed:
- Manual focus for barcode scanning
- Add Auto: Able to get a duplicate barcode in the barcode search queue by inputting it manually
- Crash in the add auto screen when adding a mix of new movies and movies on wish list by barcode
- Crash in the pick cover option in the edit screen