Movie Collector Manual
for Windows edition
Welcome to Movie Collector Download and Install Navigating the Main Screen Adding your First Movie How to search your Collection Adding Movies Automatically Adding Movies Manually Barcode Scanning Adding Movie Files Adding a Box Set Importing from text Field Defaults Managing your Wish List Search Settings Editing Movies List Items and more Editing Multiple Movies Update File Links Find Cover Image Adding Trailers, Links and Files Editing List Icons Customizing Movie Collector Custom Field Names Changing the layout Sorting your Collection Custom Views Edit, Merge List Items CLZ Movies for iPhone/iPod CLZ Movies for Android CLZ Movies HD for iPad Using the Filter screen Managing Loans Synchronize with Connect Collection Statistics Printing a Simple List Using Folders Browsing your movies on Vista Media Center Exporting your collection Database Totals Print Screen The Collectorz.com movie database Field Reference Linking your Movies Updating Movie Collector The Options Screen Keyboard Shortcuts Creating a Backup Validating Movie Collector Add/Edit Movie Screen Data Submission Guidelines
Adding Movies Automatically
Introduction
The Add Movies Automatically screen is the fastest way to add movies to your database. It enables you to connect to our central database and download detailed information to your own collection. You can search by title or by barcode then add the movies directly to your collection, or to your wish list. Click the links below to learn more about the various options available to you in the Add Movies Automatically screen.
Contents
- Searching by Title
- Searching by Barcode
- Add to Collection/Wish List
- Queue Mode
- New Releases
- Most Popular
- Settings
To search for a movie:
- Type the title into the Title Field.
- Click Search Now on the right, or press enter on your keyboard to start the search.
- Movie Collector will search our database for appropriate matches. Click the + next to the result to view all the different regional matches we have for that title.
- Double click on one of the search results to see a detailed preview on the right.
- Use the columns and preview to select the correct movie from the search results, then click Add Selected.
Tips
When a Movie is released in different regions (USA, Europe, Asia etc.) they often have minor differences, for example, the audience ratings in Europe differ to those in the USA, that's why it's important to select a regional match when adding your movies; it ensures you get the most accurate information in your database.
When searching by title you will usually see lots of results for just one movie, each result is for a different release. To find an exact regional match we recommend searching by barcode but you can also find exact matches with a title search. Here are some tips to help locate accurate, regional matches.
- Check the columns, they provide useful information about the result provided such as the format, release year and region.
- Use the preview on the right to check the cover image matches your movie, if you'd prefer a different cover, right click on the result from the search queue and click 'Find Cover Image'.
- If there are lots of results, use the 'Editions' filter to narrow down the search results to a specific region.
- If you are adding T.V. Series, use the 'TV Series Only' check box to search our database for TV Series.
- Still can't find an exact match? Try searching by barcode.
Searching by barcode
Adding movies by performing a barcode search is not only easy, it also has its advantages:
- It instantly returns only *one* result, the exact edition that you own.
- This one result is automatically shown in the Preview Panel, no double-click needed.
You can search by manually typing the barcode into the barcode field. Like how that works? Then consider speeding it up with one of our inexpensive barcode scanners.
Click here to learn more about using a scanner with our software.
Add to Collection or Wish List
Movie Collector includes Collection Status filters, making it easy for you to manage both the movies you own, as well as the movies you want. When adding movies, you can choose whether to add them to your Collection or to your Wish List.
At the bottom left of the Add Movies Automatically screen you should see options to Add to:
- Collection
- Wish List
You can learn more about managing your Wish List on our website. Click here for more information.
Queue Mode
Queue mode allows you to add movies in batches. You can add multiple titles and/or barcodes to the search queue then search for them. Queue mode is the most efficient way to add movies to your database. Combined with a barcode scanner, it makes light work of even the largest collections.
To enable queue mode, click the 'Show Queue' button.
With the Search Queue visible you can start queueing movies.
- Type the title or barcode into the appropriate search field then click Add to Queue.
- Once you've added your movies, click Search All.
- Once the search is complete, click on a title in the queue to view the results.
You now have three options for adding your movies:
- Add Anyway: This will add the selected movie to your database without any additional information, using only your title/barcode information. This is useful if no results are found in our database. You can add the movie title to your database then add more information manually.
- Add Selected: This will add the movie you've selected to your database. First, click the movie in the Search Queue, select a result by clicking on it or checking the box next to it then click 'Add Selected'.
- Add All: This option will remain grey until you click a result from the Search Queue, then select a movie from the Search Results. You can use the check box next to the movie then move to the next movie in the queue. Once you've selected a result for each movie you can click Add All to add the movies to your collection.
Tip: You can select and add multiple movies from the search results. For example, if you search for 'The Matrix', you'll get a lot of results from our database. If you own all 3 movies, you can check the boxes next to each release then use the Add Checked option to add all of them. This allows you to add all 3 titles with just one search!
New Releases
The new releases tab includes movies released within the past month, as well as upcoming releases. Extremely useful for adding titles to your Wish List. Just click Refresh to see the latest list of new releases. If you already own one of these releases it will appear blue in the list.
Most Popular
Do you wonder which movies are most popular in our database? Do you have the number one most popular movie in your database already? Click on the "Most Popular" tab and hit refresh to see the Collectorz.com Movie Top 50.
Figure 7: Add Movies Most Popular
If you see a lot of blue colored titles: congratulations! You own a lot of popular movies! Maybe you will see some titles that you forgot about and still want to get? Click the checkboxes in front of them and click "Add Checked" to add them to your collection.
This Top 50 is refreshed every week (usually Monday morning GMT+01) so that's when you can use the refresh button again. You can also visit the Top 50 online right here.
Settings
You can find the settings in the top right (bottom left for Mac) corner of the Add Automatically screen. From here you can change the Data Language, check the connection and view the main Settings screen.
Data Language:
If you prefer your plots in your native language you can control this via the Data Language setting. Click Data Language in the top right corner of the Add Movies Automatically screen to change the language. This allows you to control the language of the information you receive from our database. You can choose from:
- English
- Nederlands
- Español
- Français
- Deutsch
Check Connection
The Check Connection icon allows you to test if you have a working connection to our database. If you aren't getting any results from our database, click this icon to check if you have a valid connection. If there is a connection problem you will be notified of it here. If you are unable to Connect to our database please contact us via our Support Form.
Search Settings
Click the Settings icon in the top right corner to access the Settings screen. The settings screen allows you to control the functionality of the Add Automatically screen as well as controlling what information is (or is not) downloaded.
Main:
The 'Proxy Settings' are only required if you connect to the internet via a Proxy. The remaining options are self explanatory.
Details
The details tab allows you to control the maximum size of the Cast and Crew information that is downloaded. If you don't want to receive any information for a particular cast/crew member, set it to zero.
Web Site Links
When you add a movie, Movie Collector will automatically add links to the entry in your database. These links are generated automatically based on the title you search for. If you prefer not to receive these links, or you wish to limit the amount provided you can do so via this screen.
Can't find your movie?
Tried all possible searches but still can't find your movie? You may want to add the movie manually.