Music Collector Manual

for Windows edition

Getting Started

Welcome to Music Collector Download and Install Navigating the Main Screen Cataloging CDs Cataloging Music Files How to search your Collection

Adding

Adding Albums Automatically Adding Albums Manually Barcode Scanning Adding Multi-Disc Albums Adding Tracks Adding a Box Set Adding Music Files Import from iTunes Importing from text Adding Backdrops Managing your Wish List Search Settings Field Defaults

Editing

Editing Albums Editing Multiple Albums List Items and more Changing the layout Adding Lyrics Files Find Cover Image Editing List Icons Update File Links

Customizing

Sorting your Collection Custom Field Names Custom Views Edit, Merge List Items Customizing Music Collector

Enjoying & Sharing

Activating Connect Sync & Share Synchronize with Connect Linking your albums for Connect CLZ Music for iPhone/iPod CLZ Music for Android CLZ Music HD for iPad Exporting your collection Managing Loans Printing a Simple List Using Folders Using the Filter screen

Reference

Updating Music Collector The Options Screen Data Submission Guidelines Field Reference Transfer your collection Validating Music Collector Creating a Backup Keyboard Shortcuts Collection Statistics Print Screen Linking Albums

Linking your albums for Connect

Before uploading your albums to Connect from the Windows or Mac software, you need to "link your albums". Let me explain what linking is exactly, and why you need to do it.

Music Collector Connect and Linking

Music Collector is built around the Collectorz.com central online albums database. For the online user databases in Connect, all factual album details (like track lists, label, etc...) and cover images are used and shown directly from that central, shared database.

This factual album data is not stored per user. Instead, it is stored only once, in the central database, then linked to for every Connect user that owns that album.
This factual data is not uploaded to Connect when you sync your data from Music Collector. It only uploads your personal data fields like Collection Status, Purchase information, Notes, Rating, etc...), plus the link to the corresponding entry in the central database (basically just the CLZ Album ID of the central entry).

So in order to see full Album details and cover images in Connect, it is essential that your local album entries are linked to the corresponding entries our central database.
Without linking, your album entries will show up as simple Artist / Title entries, with just your personal data. No cover image, no track list.

How to link your albums

First, if you have been using the Add Albums Automatically screen to catalog your albums, selecting and downloading the data from our online album database, then most of your albums will already be linked.
You will only need to link the albums that you added manually.

The fastest and easiest way to link your albums is to use the Link Albums screen in your Music Collector program for Windows or Mac. It has been designed to let you link many albums quickly. Read the Sync with Connect topic for more information.

Alternatively, you can link while in the Connect online software, by clicking the little link icon. However in Connect, linking can only be done one-by-one.

The advantages of the Linking and Data Sharing system

This system of linking and sharing central data has many advantages:

Automatic Updates: When our content managers update the album information in our central database (e.g. to add a better cover image, to improve the track list, or to fix a typo), you will immediately see those changes in your online collection.
No need to "Update Albums Automatically". You online collection always automatically shows the latest and greatest version of the data and cover art.
It's FAST: Sharing the factual album data means that its retrieval can be optimized (e.g. by caching), resulting in a smooth experience when browsing your online album collection. Also, uploads from your desktop software are lightning fast, because only your personal data and a simple ID value needs to be uploaded.
It's efficient: Shared factual album data is only stored once, which means our servers are not clogged by duplicate copies of data and images (that are all the same for every user anyway). This made it possible for our systems to make daily backups of your collection data.

What if an album is not in the Collectorz.com central online album database?

Hopefully this won't happen too often, but here's what you can do to handle this situation and to help us improve our central online album database:

First, you can upload and keep un-linked albums in your Connect collection. Unlinked items will show up online with just Artist and Title information. Plus your personal data of course. And if your local entry had a cover image, it will even be uploaded to Connect automatically.
TIP: For albums not available in our central database, make sure to include the barcode in your unlinked entry, so that our Content Team can spot popular "un-linked" barcodes and add them to the central database. As soon as they do, your entry will automagically be transformed into a full entry with all album information.
Also, if you *do* have full information for that album, maybe even scanned the cover image, then please Submit it to us for inclusion in our database. You can do this from the Windows edition of Music Collector using Edit / Submit to Collectorz.com.