With the last few (possibly only two) DVDPedia updates, I'm no longer able to add entries to any of my collections that I designate as a wished for item. After I've added the entry and changed the its status, DVDPedia removes it from the collection and changes the entry's residence to the Wish collection. This was not how DVDPedia used to work. It used to work by leaving the entry in the collection, and merely changing its residence from Library to Wish. I tried to make it work by dragging it (even using the "copy" option) from the Wish list to the collection, but when I did that it changed its status back to "in Library" and out of the Wish list. In such a situation I am not able to designate something in any of my added collections as a "wished for" item. Note that the software update that made the change did not alter what was in there before the updates, so I do have many wished for items in my collections, which are also in the Wish collection. However, with my trying to find some way of making it work, I wound up having several entries in the "in Library" collection designated as "wished for", not something I would expect to see.
Please tell me what's going on here, so that I can try to figure out how to work with your new way of handling collections.
James
feature no longer available w/ recent updates
Re: feature no longer available w/ recent updates
To keep your wish list entries among those in the library and other collections, select the wish list and choose 'Include collection in library' from the File menu.
Re: feature no longer available w/ recent updates
Hi James,
We did change the behavior of the excluded wish list. A few users made the point that an item dragged out or into an excluded wish list should be removed from any other collection. As you know the previous behavior was to be able to drag excluded collection items into a regular collections, but some felt this broke the simplicity of the excluded rule.
The second issue with the items that are in your library collection marked as wish list but not in the wish list was a bug related to the change we made. Dragging an item from the wish list to another regular collection would remove it from the wish list and add it to the library but not remove the wish list status. We have fixed it in version 4.3.2 to remove the status. To fix the movies already stuck in this state drag them from your library to the wish list again and then back out to the library to remove the wish list status.
We will review the change we made and make sure it's the right choice to take DVDpedia in. We agree with both arguments for the two distinct behaviors, making it hard to decide what would be better for most of the users.
We did change the behavior of the excluded wish list. A few users made the point that an item dragged out or into an excluded wish list should be removed from any other collection. As you know the previous behavior was to be able to drag excluded collection items into a regular collections, but some felt this broke the simplicity of the excluded rule.
The second issue with the items that are in your library collection marked as wish list but not in the wish list was a bug related to the change we made. Dragging an item from the wish list to another regular collection would remove it from the wish list and add it to the library but not remove the wish list status. We have fixed it in version 4.3.2 to remove the status. To fix the movies already stuck in this state drag them from your library to the wish list again and then back out to the library to remove the wish list status.
We will review the change we made and make sure it's the right choice to take DVDpedia in. We agree with both arguments for the two distinct behaviors, making it hard to decide what would be better for most of the users.
Re: feature no longer available w/ recent updates
Thanks for the explanation. Let me give you an idea of what I'd been doing and why it made a great deal of sense for it to work the way it used to. My actual movie collection has evolved over time and is now organized principally around actresses and actors. For example, I have a Tom Cruise collection and a Winona Ryder collection. Using DVDPedia, I add a collection for each such actor or actress. Other collections include, as an example, the Bond movies. When a movie casts more than one actor or actress I've collected, I place that movie in both DVDPedia collections, identifying the principal actor or actress (as I judge it, using the collection ID) so that I can locate it within my actual library.
When I decide to add a new actress or actor collection to DVDPedia, I run through their filmography using imdb and, except for those already in some other collection, add each of the films I intend to collect to the DVDPedia collection I've just added, and, as each is added, I change the status to "Wish", so that DVDPedia recognizes it as a movie I don't have but intend to purchase. When it comes time to acquire these movies, I peruse the DVDPedia collection and, for each movie designated as wished for (and if the price is right and is available), I go ahead and purchase it (usually off of Amazon). When it arrives, I change the status to "in Library".
In this way I treat the "Library" collection as matching what I actually have in my library and treat the "Wish" collection as matching those among my collections that are "wished for". This leaves the collections themselves as containing all the in-library and wished for movies for that actor or actress. It's all very convenient for me. I make use of the "Library" and "Wish" collections for summary information and for searching.
The change you made makes the collections I add less useful, though I suppose i can live with it. Unfortunately, in consideration that 90% of the movies were and still are organized in accordance with the old way, it's somewhat of a mishmash, where most of what I have in the Wish pile also appears among the collections, with only the most recent ones residing exclusively in the Wish collection.
James
When I decide to add a new actress or actor collection to DVDPedia, I run through their filmography using imdb and, except for those already in some other collection, add each of the films I intend to collect to the DVDPedia collection I've just added, and, as each is added, I change the status to "Wish", so that DVDPedia recognizes it as a movie I don't have but intend to purchase. When it comes time to acquire these movies, I peruse the DVDPedia collection and, for each movie designated as wished for (and if the price is right and is available), I go ahead and purchase it (usually off of Amazon). When it arrives, I change the status to "in Library".
In this way I treat the "Library" collection as matching what I actually have in my library and treat the "Wish" collection as matching those among my collections that are "wished for". This leaves the collections themselves as containing all the in-library and wished for movies for that actor or actress. It's all very convenient for me. I make use of the "Library" and "Wish" collections for summary information and for searching.
The change you made makes the collections I add less useful, though I suppose i can live with it. Unfortunately, in consideration that 90% of the movies were and still are organized in accordance with the old way, it's somewhat of a mishmash, where most of what I have in the Wish pile also appears among the collections, with only the most recent ones residing exclusively in the Wish collection.
James
Re: feature no longer available w/ recent updates
Hey Conor, I think James is using DVDPedia like I do ... that is, as an information tool as much as a DVD collection tool, even though it comes down to that in the end. It's subtle (at least in my mind) but I think I understand where he's coming from.
Having said that, for some reason the "new" way works better for me. It freaked me out at first because I didn't know why the behavior changed or what impact it was having on my workflow/organization. It used to bother me that I would have to find duplicates and delete them from my wish list once they made it to the Library. Tough call, but my vote is for the new way.
Having said that, for some reason the "new" way works better for me. It freaked me out at first because I didn't know why the behavior changed or what impact it was having on my workflow/organization. It used to bother me that I would have to find duplicates and delete them from my wish list once they made it to the Library. Tough call, but my vote is for the new way.
Re: feature no longer available w/ recent updates
I personally used it the old way and is why it was originally designed that way, but I like the simplicity of the rules with the new way (excluded is always excluded not sometimes excluded). Also the new way has the advantage that those that wish to use it the old way can still do so at the disadvantage of including the wish list in their library. I think the biggest confusion has been in the transition, and having previous entries in the old format and the new ones following the new rules, especially since the change occurred in a minor update and not a major one, where users expect more changes. Thank you for adding your take on the change.