What's new in CLZ Movies? (page 9)

Fixed:

• Movies added through a box set that were supposed to get a format set sometimes didn’t.
• It was possible for movies added through a box set got the box set cover instead of their own movie cover.
• The ‘Unrecognized Barcode’ popup would crash the app on iPad.

During 2017, our content managers worked for months to enhance our Core online movie database with movie list information for thousands of multi-movie box sets.

As of today, CLZ Movies can use this new Core data: Just use the enhanced Add Movies screen to find a box set, either by title or by barcode, and our Core “knows” which movies are in the box.

See it in action:

Find and add box sets by barcode

Scan a box-set barcode and Core will show you which movies it contains. 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.

Find and add box sets by title

Alternatively, use the Title tab and enable the new Box Set search to find box sets by their title.

Note: the new Movies, TV Series and Box Sets switches now let you search each of these three Core section separately OR combined.
AND: The switches also operate on the Search-As-You-Type suggestions, for even quicker searching and adding!

New box set panel on movie details page, with movie list!

A nice new box set panel at the top of the movie details for each of the contained movies. Now showing the list of the contained movies, in the correct order, AND with clickable links to go straight to the other movies in the set!

Change the order of movies in a box set

At the bottom of the list of movies you will find a link to “change order of movies…” to modify the order in which the movies are displayed in the details page.

Two updates for the Movie Connect software and the CLZ Cloud viewer today. One a big step forward in usability, the other a nice cosmetic improvement:

Movie Details now integrated in main screen

Up till now, when you clicked a movie entry to see its’ full details, you were taken to the movie details page, that is, a new page in your browser. One had to click “Back” to get back to the movie list again. Often resulting in an annoying back and forth clicking, each time causing you to lose your position in the list.

But not anymore! Starting with today’s update, the movie details are now integrated in a panel within the main collection view:

No more back and forth clicking. Just click a movie entry to see its’ details, click another one to see that movie’s details. Nice and easy, never lose your spot again.

Choose from two Layouts:

• Horizontal Split: folders on the left, list on the top right, details on bottom right
• Vertical Split: 3 panels side by side, folder, list and details

In either layout, the 3 panels are fully resizable by dragging the black “splitter bars” between the panels, so that you can customize the layout to your own liking.

The movie details panel comes with its’ own “action bar”, with the main actions you may want to take on the selected movie (Edit, Share, Delete, Duplicate, Loan and Link with Core).

Improved Cover View and Card View

At the same time, we made some small tweaks to both the Card View and Cover View, so that they’re making better use of your specific screen width. Both now use a “fully justified” layout, with the Cards auto-resizing to fit your screen width and the Covers distributing over the width, both resulting in a cleaner, less “jagged” view.

As some of you may know, we have a page detailing the 50 most popular movies of this week in our Core online movie database. It also details the new DVD, Blu-ray, 4K releases for last month and this month.

Wouldn’t it be cool if you could quickly add those to your Collection or Wish List? Yes. It would. So we added 2 new tabs to the Add Movies screen!

New: Most Popular tab

Open your Add Movies screen and click the “Most Popular” tab to see the 50 most popular movies of this week in our online movie database. Select one to add it to your collection or wish list!

New: New Releases tab

The second new tab in the Add Movies screen is the “New Releases” tab showing you all new releases of last month and this month. Use the little expand button to see which editions are new (including their release date!).

Up until today, the quick search box in Movie Connect (and the CLZ Cloud viewer for movie) only searched in the Title, Year, Barcode and Tags fields. Pretty limited, but necessary for performance reasons.

However, with the new search engine we created last year, it became possible to search more fields while keeping the search super-fast. So lets use that capability!

From now on, if you use the search box, it will also search in many more fields. The complete lists of fields that are now searched:

• Title
• Title Extension
• Original Title
• Series
• Episode Titles
• Year
• Barcode
• Plot
• Notes
• Tags

Example: searching for “hogwarts” will return all Harry Potter movies, because the word appears in the plot summary:

During 2017, our content managers worked for months to enhance our Core online movie database with movie list information for thousands of multi-movie box sets.

As of today, Movie Connect can use this new Core data: Just use the enhanced Add Movies screen to find a box set, either by title or by barcode, and our Core “knows” which movies are in the box.

See it in action:

Find and add box sets by barcode

Scan a box-set barcode and Core will show you which movies it contains. 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.

Find and add box sets by title

Alternatively, use the Title tab and enable the new Box Set search to find box sets by their title.

Note: the new Movies, TV Series and Box Sets checkboxes now let you search each of these three Core section separately OR combined.
AND: The check boxes now also operate on the Search-As-You-Type suggestions, for even quicker searching and adding!

New box set panel on movie details page, with movie list!

A nice new box set panel at the top of the movie details for each of the contained movies. Now showing the list of the contained movies, in the correct order, AND with clickable links to go straight to the other movies in the set!

Change the order of movies in a box set

At the bottom of the list of movies you will find a link to “change order of movies…” to modify the order in which the movies are displayed in the details page.

Fixed:

• Crash when the ‘loaner’ folder was selected.

By popular demand, we have added 10 more editable fields to CLZ Movies. Two completely new fields (Is TV Series and Box Set) and 8 fields that were already available as automatic Core fields but are now fully editable:

Completely New Fields:

• Is TV Series (Yes/No). For your entries, indicate whether these are movies or TV series. Use Is TV Series folders to split them in the main list. This is a new field. Default values for your entries have been set using our Core central database, but you may want to run though your list to check and correct as needed.
• Box Set. Enter a box set title in your movies to make them part of a box set. You can see the box set information at the top of the details panel for each of the movies inside that box set. Also available as a folder option.

Fields that are now fully editable:

• Release Date. Previous only available as Release Year, this is now a full date field.
• Runtime. Previously set automatically, now fully editable.
• IMDb Number. Previously set automatically, now fully editable.
• IMDb Rating. Previously set automatically, now fully editable.
• Audience Rating. Previously set automatically, now fully editable. Also available as a folder option.
• Region. Previously set automatically, now fully editable. Allows multiple values. Also available as a folder option.
• Studio. Previously set automatically, now fully editable. Allows multiple values. Also available as a folder option.
• Distributor. Previously set automatically, now fully editable. Also available as a folder option.

But wait, that’s not all: All the above fields now also sync to and from the CLZ Cloud!

Secure HTTPS connections, for your security and privacy

As indicated in our recent GDPR email, we are updating our software and services, to be more secure and to better protect your privacy.

Starting with version 4.11 CLZ Movies now uses secure HTTPS connections for all communications with our servers:

• for logging in with your username and password
• for syncing your data with CLZ Cloud
• for sending your searches to Core.

To make this possible, we have created new secure “entry points” on our servers, that are only allowing secure HTTPS connections. The new CLZ Movies app only communicates with those secure entry points.

For your privacy and security, we strongly recommend updating your app to v4.11.

Over the last week Joël from team Connect worked on splitting the settings into more logical places, and added new tooltips to explain what all the buttons do. The full what’s new:

Added tooltips

Hovering your mouse over the various buttons will now show tooltips to explain what the buttons do! Hover your mouse over the buttons to see what they do.

Split the settings

All settings used to be together in one screen, but they weren’t easy to find so we decided to split the settings up into their own logical pages. You can now find them by opening the menu (top left), and look for:

• Field Defaults: to set up default field values for new items
• CLZ Cloud Sharing: to set up all your CLZ Cloud sharing options
• Settings: with just the behaviour and display settings

By popular demand, we have added 10 more editable fields to CLZ Movies. Two completely new fields (Is TV Series and Box Set) and 8 fields that were already available as automatic Core fields but are now fully editable:

Completely New Fields:

• Is TV Series (Yes/No). For your entries, indicate whether these are movies or TV series. Use Is TV Series folders to split them in the main list. This is a new field. Default values for your entries have been set using our Core central database, but you may want to run though your list to check and correct as needed.
• Box Set. Enter a box set title in your movies to make them part of a box set. You can see the box set information at the top of the details panel for each of the movies inside that box set. Also available as a folder option.

Fields that are now fully editable:

• Release Date. Previous only available as Release Year, this is now a full date field.
• Runtime. Previously set automatically, now fully editable.
• IMDb Number. Previously set automatically, now fully editable.
• IMDb Rating. Previously set automatically, now fully editable.
• Audience Rating. Previously set automatically, now fully editable. Also available as a folder option.
• Region. Previously set automatically, now fully editable. Allows multiple values. Also available as a folder option.
• Studio. Previously set automatically, now fully editable. Allows multiple values. Also available as a folder option.
• Distributor. Previously set automatically, now fully editable. Also available as a folder option.

But wait, that’s not all: All the above fields now also sync to and from the CLZ Cloud!

Secure HTTPS connections, for your security and privacy

As indicated in our recent GDPR email, we are updating our software and services, to be more secure and to better protect your privacy.

Starting with version 4.11 CLZ Movies now uses secure HTTPS connections for all communications with our servers:

• for logging in with your username and password
• for syncing your data with CLZ Cloud
• for sending your searches to Core.

To make this possible, we have created new secure “entry points” on our servers, that are only allowing secure HTTPS connections. The new CLZ Movies app only communicates with those secure entry points.

For your privacy and security, we strongly recommend updating your app to v4.11.

Fixed:

• Last update made some settings disappear in the settings screen. They are back now.
• Added bottom margin to the add auto screen on iPhone X to make the add button more reachable
• The sync screen wasn’t logging local deletes.

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

Select using checkboxes

To select movies, just click the checkboxes on the left of each movie 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 is visible, always showing you the number of selected movies. Also:

• Use the “Select all” checkbox to select all movies 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 selection movies

You can now loan movies in Movie Connect: just find and select a movie (or select multiple with the Select tool), and click the “Loan” button at the top!

Loan Manager

Click the menu top left, 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 a barcode of a movie, 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.

Print current loans to PDF

You can print out all your current loans to a PDF file by clicking the Print to PDF button in the Loan Manager screen.

Alternatively, you can select a loaner from the dropdown menu there, and only print out his/her current loans to a PDF file!

New:

• Loan movies by selecting a couple in your list, or by viewing the details of a movie, and then click “Loan” at the top.
• Return movies straight from the loan manager or by scanning their barcodes with CLZ Barry.
• Check outstanding loans and loan history in the Loan Manager.
• Edit outstanding or returned loans by clicking on them.
• Print out current loans to a PDF file

Coming up:

We will be adding the syncing of loan information to Movie Collector for Windows and macOS, and CLZ Movies for iOS and Android.

New for the Add Movies screen:

• Add button is now bigger and easier to spot (some new users missed the little round “+”).
• Add button now “remembers” your collection vs. wish list selection. No need to pick from the Collection/Wish List popup menu every time you add anymore.
• Remove from queue button is now bigger and easier to spot. Tap and hold on a barcode in the queue to select barcodes you want to remove.

Fixed:

• Accented characters in sortnames/titles were sorted incorrectly.
• Main screen: the over-sensitive quickscroll bar in the thumbnail view has been fixed.
• Edit: ‘Done’- button doest not scroll from screen on manual scroll.
• Edit: New ‘Unsaved changes’ dialog.
• Cloud sync: Sync reporting ‘invalid xml’ in rare cases.

If you’re a new user or thinking of moving your collection from the program “DVD Profiler” to Movie Connect, good news: we’ve just added a new “DVD Profiler” import tool in Movie Connect!

You can find the “DVD Profiler” import tool under the menu top left, then choose “Import Data”.

If you’re a new user or thinking of moving your collection from the program “Delicious Library” to Connect, good news: we’ve just added a new “Delicious Library” import tool in Connect!

You can find the “Delicious Library” import tool under the menu top left, then choose “Import Data”.

New for the Add Movies screen:

• Add button is now bigger and easier to spot (some new users missed the little round “+”).
• Add button now “remembers” your collection vs. wish list selection. No need to pick from the Collection/Wish List popup menu every time you add anymore.

Fixed:

• Details view: In-template editing of seen-it status was broken.
• Adding a movie would clear the collection status filter in the main screen.
• The sorting option screen would sometimes not fully show the chosen sort option when opened.
• iPad: Main screen: the details view did not refresh after changing the details template.
• iPad: Main screen: the ‘edit my rating’ pop up was rotated when in landscape mode.

By popular demand, we have added 9 more editable fields to Movie Connect. One a completely new field (Is TV Series) and 8 fields that were already available as automatic Core fields but are now fully editable:

• Is TV Series (Yes/No). For your entries, indicate whether these are movies or TV series. Use Is TV Series folders to split them in the main list. This is a new field. Default values for your entries have been set using our Core central database, but you may want to run though your list to check and correct as needed.
• Release Date. Previous only available as Release Year, this is now a full date field.
• Runtime. Previously set automatically, now fully editable.
• IMDb Number. Previously set automatically, now fully editable.
• IMDb Rating. Previously set automatically, now fully editable.
• Audience Rating. Previously set automatically, now fully editable. Also available as a folder option.
• Region. Previously set automatically, now fully editable. Allows multiple values. Also available as a folder option.
• Studio. Previously set automatically, now fully editable. Allows multiple values. Also available as a folder option.
• Distributor. Previously set automatically, now fully editable. Also available as a folder option.

To make room for all the new fields in the Edit Movie screen, we introduced a new “Edition” tab and moved all edition-specific fields there (including the Format and Barcode fields):

We’ve added new fields to sort on to change the order in which your movies are displayed in your list. Your movie list will adapt to sort and show the field you’re sorting on. On top of that we’ve redesigned the Select Sort Order screen to make it more clear what you’re choosing.

Open the Select Sort Order screen by tapping the menu top right, then tap “Sort order”.

All available sort fields:

• Title
• Release Date
• Format, then Title (New!)
• Runtime
• IMDb Rating
• Order of Entry (New!)
• Viewing Date (New!)
• My Rating (New!)
• Purchase Date (New!)
• Purchase Price (New!)
• Current Value (New!)
• Quantity (New!)
• Index
• Storage Device (New!)

All fields can be sorted either ascending or descending. Tap the field you wish to sort on, then tap “Apply” to confirm.

A small user interface tweak today:
The Add Movies screen is now a pop-up screen that lays over your movie list.
(previously it was a separate full screen page)

Looks cooler, feels more “snappy” and while adding movies, you can actually see the new additions appear in your movie list in the background!

If you’re a new user or thinking of moving your collection from the program “My Movies” to Movie Connect, good news: we’ve just added a new “My Movies” import tool in Movie Connect!

You can find the “My Movies” import tool under the menu top left, then choose “Import Data”.

Import from “My Movies”:

If you’re a new user or thinking of moving your collection from the program CATVids to Movie Connect, good news: we’ve just added a new CATVids import tool in Movie Connect!

You can find the CATVids import tool under the menu top left, then choose “Import Data”.

Import from CATVids:

Persistent barcode queue

Barcodes scanned on the add page are now remembered! This means you can scan your barcodes into the add queue, leave the page, return later and still add the barcodes you scanned.

If you wish to remove barcodes from your queue, use the Edit button top right of the list of barcodes!

You were already able to group your movies on various fields such as Format or Director, and we’ve now expanded those options with Actor and Producer!

Log in to your Connect account and click the folder icon top left of the page, then select Actor or Producer.

Selecting a folder option:

Grouping your movies on Actor:

Last week we updated the field selection popup for Connect and CLZ Cloud, and this week we bring that same field selection popup to your “Export to Text” and “Print to PDF” pages.

The update also includes an update Preview box for Export to Text, and an updated way for dragging/dropping fields for your columns or sort order.

Open up your Export to Text or Print to PDF screen via the menu top left in Connect.

New field selection popup:

Updated “Export to Text” page:

With new preview panel:

Updated “Print to PDF” page:

The ability to select your own Columns for the List View is an important customization feature of Movie Connect. The same holds for selecting the Sort Order fields.

However, the “field selection” screens for doing these customizations were a bit outdated and finding a field could be tricky. So we decided to re-imagine the field selection screens to make them easier to understand, easier to use and better to use on mobile devices too.

Redesigned Field Selection screen:

• Available fields are now grouped, like the tabs in the Edit screen.
• Easily find the field you want with the search box top left.
• Use checkboxes on the left to select fields.
• Use the “x” button on the right to remove fields.
• Drag and drop fields on the right side to change the order.
• For sorting: use the ASC/DESC button to change the sort direction of that particular field.
• Works great on both your desktop and mobile browsers!

Select Columns screen:

Select Sort Order screen: