v18: Auto-Cloud-Syncing, revamped Edit screen, new “Clean” template and more!
NEW: Fully Automatic CLZ Cloud Syncing!
The free CLZ Cloud service is at the center of all our cataloging solutions (desktop, mobile and web), the glue that binds them all together.
Tens of thousands of users are using the CLZ Cloud syncing every day, to transfer data between their desktop, Connect and mobile software, to update their online collection list, or simply for keeping an online backup of their precious database.
Now, it is time to take the CLZ Cloud to the next level, with automatic syncing:
Add or edit albums in Music Collector and these changes will auto-upload to the CLZ Cloud instantly. Did you make changes using the CLZ Music mobile app or directly in Music Connect? Just start your software and changes will download automatically.
No more need to go to the Sync with CLZ Cloud screen, ever.
With “Sync Automatically” switched on…
- Your online cloud backup is always up-to-date.
- Your cloud viewer always shows the current state of your collection.
- All your CLZ tools (desktop, mobile and Connect) will always be in-sync.
Automatic Cloud Syncing is an optional feature, switched OFF by default. If you don’t want to auto-sync, or don’t want to sync with the CLZ Cloud at all, just leave it switched OFF.
Revamped Edit Album and Edit Disc/Track screens
A huge refresh of the Edit screens, bringing the look and feel more in line with the recent Add Albums from Core screen.
- Button bar is now at the bottom of the screen
With OK button high-lighted in blue, nice Next/Prev arrow buttons, etc… - Clearer blue “+” buttons for checkbox list fields (like Sound, Extras)
- Same blue + buttons for dropdown fields (like Format, Label, Packaging)
- Revamped Edit screen for pick list items
Button bar at the bottom with blue OK button, smaller generate buttons, etc..
But it’s not all just cosmetic changes:
Improved interface for adding Artists, Musicians, Credits
The new interface helps you make better use of your existing person pick lists:
- Cleaner lists, showing just Display Name and Instrument/Role.
- Right-click to Modify the name and sort name of a person in the list.
- Drag the icon in the first column to change the order.
- Click the “x” in the last column to remove entries.
- 1. click the “+ Add Artist” button, or hit Insert on your keyboard
- 2. A new screen appears, showing your existing Person pick list.
- 4. Type a few letters in the search box to find the artist you want to add, e.g. enter “spri” to find Bruce Springsteen.
- 5. Hit the down arrow on your keyboard a few times to select the person from the search results
- 6. Hit Enter to return to the Edit Album screen with the artist added to the list.
ONLY when the artist is not in your pick list yet, there’s 3 extra steps:
- 4a: click the New Artist button top right
- 4b. enter/paste the display name
- 4c. click OK
A similar interface is now also used for the Genre and Studio fields.
No more endless scrolling in a small check-box list to find the Genre or Studio you’d like to add. Instead, just click the Add button and making your pick from your pick list, using the convenient search feature if necessary.
Improved: Edit Multiple screens
- Now use checkboxes to explicitly indicate which field(s) you want set.
Safer and clearer, no more unexpected changes. - To clear a field, just click the checkbox and leave the box empty.
The box will highlight in red to indicate the CLEAR action. No more hidden F8 keys.
New screens for selecting Column, Sort and Folder fields.
The ability to select your own Columns for the List View is an important customization feature of our Music Collector software. The same holds for selecting the sort order and the folder fields for the folder panel.
However, the “field selection” screens for doing these customizations have always been an area of confusion. So for v18 we decided to re-imagine both the field selection screens and the system for creating/managing your own presets.
- New Field Selection screen:
- Available fields are now grouped, like the tabs in the Edit Album 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.
- Rename the field set at the top right.
- New interface for selecting and managing your field presets:
- Just click the Columns or Sort Order button to EDIT the current preset.
- Click the little arrow to the right of the Columns or Sort Order button to open the preset menu and switch to a different preset.
- Choose Manage Presets from the preset menu to edit your presets and create new ones.
NEW: “Clean” template for the details panel, in Light and Dark styles
A complete refresh, based on the recent Connect/Cloud details page updates. Clean, clear and modern, with some fresh layout ideas:
- Cleaner look, in both Light and Dark styles.
- Larger cover image.
- New look of the track list.
No more Standard edition: Pro-only features now available for everyone!
Since last week, we stopped selling the Standard edition of Music Collector. From now on, the Pro edition is the only edition we sell, and will just be called “Music Collector” now.
Our gift to all users on the Standard edition who have a valid Update Plan:
Starting with v18, you now get access to all Pro-only features:
- Batch editing with the Edit Multiple feature:
Save time by editing multiple items in batch, e.g. to fill in a field value for many items in one go. - Customizable pre-sets for sorting, columns and folders:
Create your own pre-set field combination for sorting and columns. Define your own folder options, even multi-level folder combinations. - User Defined Fields:
Create your own fields (text, number, pick list, checkbox or date) and rename pre-defined fields. - Export features:
Export your database to a CSV or XML file.