Hi, I've been trialling the free version and love what has been created in Coollector.

In order for it to be really useful for me though, I have a new feature request. Could we please have more than 1 instance of the 'Video Detail' field as a filter in to the 'Movie Filtered Search'? Ideally I would like to be able to add around 10 instances of this filter. If this can be done I will purchase the full version immediately.

The reason for this request is that I've been using the 'Details' field to add custom information to each of my videos, which is probably only useful in my particular instance, so not worth requesting creation of new specific fields/filters. The kinds of information I add to the 'Details' field include information about videos suitable for my nephews and nieces according to their ages, movies that I have only watched partially, movies I watched at cinema Vs DVD/rental/streaming, etc... I add similar info each time, which is why I prefer to add it once in the 'Details' field, and then reuse the same text next time rather than using tags.
I'd like to be able to narrow my list of videos down across several of these criteria at a time, but currently under 'Add/Remove Filters', only 1 instance of 'Video Details' is available.

Also, is it possible to backup/restore my custom added entries to the 'Details' field? If not, could this functionality also be added?

A superior alternative to the above requests would be to enable users to create their own custom fields and entries, or to re-purpose and rename existing fields and entries.
I suspect that this would be far more work to develop though, so I am happy to instead continue adding all my custom entries to the 'Details' field, so long as I can search on multiple entries within this field at once.

Finally, one additional not so critical request - Would it be possible to add 'Date first Watched' and/or 'Date last Watched' fields? Being able to record this information would be useful when deciding which favourites to re-watch, and also as a reminder of what I have and haven't watched recently.

Thanks for considering my requests.

Joel.

Why you don't use the MPAA rating filter instead?



Why you don't use the tags instead? Below the movie title, there's "no tag" written in green. You click on it and you can add as many tags as you want. You can use simultaneously 2 tag filters (tag and tag 2).



10? Seriously!...



Sorry, I don't understand this request.



I think the tags are already a superior alternative. They're the most natural way to create all the categories that you want.

Hi Hector, thanks for your efforts in responding to my queries. Here's my thoughts on your responses...


Because the records I want to add aren't purely about age ratings. Just because I might have a nephew and niece that are each the same age, doesn't mean they'll both want to watch the same videos. My nephew for example, isn't interested in movies about fairies and princesses. So I want to add records relative to each particular person.


I already provided my reasoning here:

Maybe I've missed some functionality regarding tags, but as far as I can ascertain, each time I want to add a tag I have to type it from scratch. If you could make tags a drop-down box populated with all previously created tags, then I'd be happy to use tags instead of the 'Details' field.


Yep, 10 would be awesome, but I'd settle for 5. Take it as a compliment that I want to utilise your software to it's full potential! If you turned previously created tags into a drop-down box (as per earlier discussion point above), then I'd also settle for 5 instances of the tag filter instead!
If you're wondering why so many, I didn't give you a complete list of all my custom made categories, because frankly - every user is going to have their own that they wish to apply and it's therefore irrelevant. As I suspected would happen, you have focussed on the few examples that I did provide and have attempted to make individual suggestions on how to modify what I want to do, to fit your existing structure (e.g. suggesting I use the MPAA rating filter, as per above discussion point). We could go back and forth looking at each specific type of field I want to create, and how best to adapt each to your existing design. I think that would defeat the purpose of you having already created the capability to add custom 'details' and tags though. I can already use these exactly the way I want to, but I just want to be able to filter by several of them at once.
What I really like about Coollector is that you have built in the flexibility I desire through custom fields and/or tags, which the end user can adapt and use as they see fit. I just want to be able to make the most of that inbuilt flexibility. If I can create hundreds of custom entries in the details field (or alternatively tags - see earlier discussion point), then why can't I filter by more than 1 or 2 of these at a time? More filters would simply allow your users to make the most of the flexibility that you've already designed into Coollector!


That's ok, I think I've worked out the answer to this question anyway, and if I'm right, then Coollector already deals with the problem I was concerned about. I was worried about what would happen if I'd gone to the effort of creating a whole bunch of my own entries in the 'details' field (or alternatively tags - see earlier discussion point), then reinstall Coollector, or move to a new computer. I was worried I'd loose all the pre populated entries I'd made, but I've realised now that they would be restored along with all other data, by re-importing the 'Collector Movie Database XML File'. So if this assumption is correct, then we're all good in regards to this point.


As per earlier discussion point, I don't want to re-type the same tags over and over. If existing tags could be reused via a drop-down, then I agree with you that tags would resolve my concern nicely... I'd still like to have at least 5 instances of the tags filter though then!

As an update to my last post, I've been experimenting with tags more, and I'm beginning to agree that this would be the best place for my custom information, as I can use tags to add info about movies I've seen, whether I personally own copies of them or not.

Also, there was a lot of info in my last post, so here's an updated summary of my requests, as they currently stand:

1) Enable tags to be added via drop-down box which contains all previously created tags (to avoid having to re-type the same tags multiple times for different movies).
2) At least 5 (more is better!) simultaneous instances of the Tags filter.
3) 'Date first Watched' and 'Date last Watched' fields added to movie information section (and searchable via filters).

Amazing how all the info of my previous posts can be boiled down into these 3 simple requests now. If these can be implemented then you will have yourself one very keen customer!

On a logical point of view, the categories you want to create are relevant to the movies rather than the videos.



I'm aware that it'll be a welcome improvement. It's on my todo list. I know how I will do it, but I don't know when. There are several improvements that I plan to add before that, sorry.



In my opinion, it would be highly infrequent to use more than 2 filters at same time. 10 filters AT THE SAME TIME sounds crazy to me.

What I could do is display tag and tag2, and in case you use both, then tag3 would appear as an option, etc... I add that to my todo list... Once again I can't give you any date of availability.



I plan to add a new icon (that would look like an eye) to enter all the details of your viewing (how many times, when, and where). This feature is on my todo list since a very long time and still I don't know when I'll implement it.



Not the XML file, but the coollection file. Absolutely all you personal data is stored inside a .cool file (we call it the coollection file). It's that file that you must transfer when you switch to a new computer.

http://www.coollector.com/help.html#coollection