Looking for help from hard-core collectors
 

Hi All. My company is building a free online "collection management" application and we've decided that one of the first rounds of collections we're going to tackle is DVDs. The problem is that none of us are DVD collectors and e have some questions for those of you who are. Right now we're trying to define the proper "attributes" a DvD can have. There are some obvious ones (i.e. title, extended title, rating, aspect ratio, etc.), but we're curious for the attributes you'd like to see as well.

Our system will also be making use of item "variations." In terms of DVDs I would imagine a typical variation would be something like and Iron Man DVD with an alternate box cover that was available from a specific retailer.

So I'm starting this thread in hopes of gathering any kind of information you may be able to offer. Thanks in advance for any input you might have!

Re: Looking for help from hard-core collectors
 

Well, not to blow you off but you can simply download the trial version of DVD Profiler and see what they're doing. I'm not saying you need everything, but it'll certainly point you in the right direction.

Re: Looking for help from hard-core collectors
 

Thanks for the tip. I haven't downloaded that. I'll give it a try.

Is there anything lacking in that software?

Re: Looking for help from hard-core collectors
 

nucite, I have been using DVD profiler for over 5 years. The ONLY thing I wished it had was the ability to list DVDs in my collection for sale. That is it.. Other than that I am more than happy with it.

Re: Looking for help from hard-core collectors
 

Wrong section to be talking about porn collections, OP.

Re: Looking for help from hard-core collectors
 

If you'll notice, there is a "Sticky" thread above with a list of most (if not all) DVD cataloging software/websites. I tried numerous before I settled on DVD Profiler. The ONLY thing I've found that I'm not particularly keen on is the lack of ability to add individual discs from TV seasons without actually increasing the count of your DVD collection, the advantage to that would be that by adding individual discs you get episode information/summaries. The downside is that it counts each disc as 1, which I really don't want to do. I'd rather count each season of each series as 1, yet have access to episode information/summaries. Every way I've tried, it has increased the number of DVDs in my collection and I've had to restore a previous backup to undo it.

Other than that I've been most pleased with DVD Profiler. I think you'll find alot of people here use it. -kd5-

Re: Looking for help from hard-core collectors
 

Actually, with the current version you can assign "Count As" to any profile, so for the individual discs you just assign them as "zero".

Re: Looking for help from hard-core collectors
 

I just tried to do that, succeeded with counting a double feature as 2, it wanted to assign the latest numbers to them, so I tried to reassign numbers so they would be in alpha/numerical order and it re-arranged my entire collection, placing the numbered titles like 2001: A Space Odyssey, etc. in weird places, not in any number sequence, nor numerical sequence. I finally restored the database and said screw it. Apparently, if I want it the way I want it, I'm going to have to start over from scratch. -kd5-

Re: Looking for help from hard-core collectors
 

If DVDSpot was still around, that'd be the best template to model yourself after.

If you implement statistics the way DVDSpot used to, I'll sign up at a heartbeat. There were various Top 20 lists generated from your collection, such as most collected actor, director, genre, decade, etc. I was addicted to constantly checking how the stats would change after entering a new crop of movies. They also had a list of the 100 largest collections by users on the site which I have to admit to checking all the time to see where I placed on the list. The week after I made it to the top twenty, the site went down which bummed me out.

Re: Looking for help from hard-core collectors
 

I would like something with edition i.e. special edition, collector's edition, limited edition, 3 disc collector's edition etc. Able to keep track of directors and actors is also a plus, that way if I want to watch a Denzel movie, I can sort to find all the movies I own with him.

Re: Looking for help from hard-core collectors
 

FWIW, I'm a serious DVD collector and I'm very satisfied with DVD Profiler. If I weren't, there are many other alternatives to go to. If you're looking to launch a new listing manager software, maybe you should consider a category where there isn't an established leader (admittedly, I don't know what that is). This is not to discourage you, but just to let you know that introducing new DVD listing software and differentiating yourself from the established competitors will be difficult.

Whatever you decide, good luck!

Re: Looking for help from hard-core collectors
 

Thanks everyone for your helpful feedback! Given some of the responses I'm seeing, I might as well give a little more insight into what the project actually is...

The site will allow a person to manage all sorts of collections (not just DVDs). We're starting off with a few different types of collectible lines to get our feet wet with the system. We'll be starting with DVDs, a couple of popular figurine collectible lines, one or two types of antiques and maybe a couple others.

The "point" of our site will be more focused on the community surrounding the things we collect as well as an archived point of reference for individual items we want to buy/sell/trade with others.

And just to throw it out there - this is a fairly large project my company is funding. I wish I could provide some more details, but we're in a "startup stealth" mode. We hope to do a live launch of the first version of the site by year's end and hope to be in full swing by summer of 2011. Once the first version is live I would be happy to post a link.

I'm still listening if anyone has more to add. Thanks a ton!

Re: Looking for help from hard-core collectors
 

:lol:

Re: Looking for help from hard-core collectors
 

I think it's great that you came to this forum for suggestions. Here are a few:

I, too, miss the statistics and reports that DVD Spot offered. I remember being able to find out which actors or directors were best represented in my library, or to take a glance at how many titles I had from a given decade or year.

Listing variants and retailer exclusives is a must; the kind of person that's going to want to catalog their library is the kind of person who collects those kinds of releases.

I concur with those who've suggested you use DVD Profiler as your starting point, but you should also look at what Goodreads has done with books. There you can find the specific print edition of a book, enter the date you bought it, began reading, finished reading, and can post updates while you read it to track your progress.

Another area where you could have an advantage is by expanding to include other media. DVD Profiler does not, for instance, offer support for VHS or Laser Disc and there are many DVD Talkers with extensive libraries that include both formats. You can add those to your individual DVD Profiler library, but you have to do it manually. I'd love to be able to just type in an ISBN and have the standard information pop up for any movie. I'd want to be able to sort by media type, of course, but it would be nice to have all that together.

Also, seeing that you're interested in including collectibles in your comprehensive cataloging system, it may be interesting if there was a way that you could link to current eBay auctions, Amazon Marketplace, etc. so that we could see at a glance what the current going rate for an item in our library is. Often times, a title goes out of print without anyone really paying attention and before you know it, Cool World is fetching $50.00. We have a frequently updated thread here for OOP titles that bring decent money, but that thread is dependent on attentive collectors. An automatic, integrated feature that did it for us would be helpful. It would be even more so if we could have this cataloging system linked to our accounts on those sites so that we could easily offer our copy for sale directly from your program. I'm not sure how that would work, of course; that's for you and your team to make happen! ;)

Also, DVD Profiler lets users have two pieces of artwork per title; the front and the back. Given how many collectors like to use custom artwork, it might be nice if there was a way to store that kind of thing with the corresponding title and be able to print it directly from your software. Just an idea.

Lastly, given how many of us were burned by DVD Spot going under, it is mandatory that your software be something we can download to our computers and operate independent of any online integration. I sincerely wish you well with your endeavor, but I have no desire to enter all my information (again) and fall in love with your work only to endure the agony of another DVD Spot heartbreak later.

Re: Looking for help from hard-core collectors
 

Oh, I almost forgot. When we add TV shows, there should be a separate field to note the number of episodes!

Re: Looking for help from hard-core collectors
 

Have you considered making the collection more open ended to start with? What I mean is that have a very basic structure and allow people to add their own fields to track what they want? Then they could save what they've setup as a template they can load for other types of collection lists and work off something they've already created.

Maybe start off with allowing a limit of 20 categories, or so, per collection type they could do. Categories someone could make for a movie collection could include, genre, director, format, actor/actress, year, title(duh), rating, cover art, etc.

Naturally, you could provide some basic templates for people to start with, such as books, movies, music, etc.

If you allowed people to save and share templates, maybe by being able to download a file with the template outline or being able to share it through a link, people could share them your site's forum. The more popular user created templates could be easily tracked by who's using them and you could have a top 10 list of them, broken up by category(movie, books, music, etc.)

The main reason I'm pushing for the possibility of user created templates, along with some generics, is that you admitted in the post that you aren't really familiar with what would be needed for a DVD collection (personally, I'd go with a movie type collection instead of basing it on a format). Since you want to be able to let people use it for other types of collections, that would mean you'd need to research and know the ins and outs of any type of collection you'd want to add. Making the system more generic would relive a lot of hassle trying to figure out how to design something you don't know 100%, plus on the db end, making it more generic is less headache for designing that part. Everything would be pretty standardized so you don't have to rebuild something new for each type of collection.

If you want to hear more of my ramblings without bothering everyone else here, more than I already do, shoot me a PM.

Re: Looking for help from hard-core collectors
 

Hi All. I put together a quick list of what I've learned here. Thanks for sharing! I'll come back and post a link once we're ready to do that. I sincerely appreciate everyone's feedback.

> Various Top 20 lists generated from your collection, such as most collected actor, director, genre, decade, etc

> List of the 100 largest collections by users on the site

> Include “Edition” as an attribute (i.e. special edition, collector's edition, limited edition, 3 disc collector's edition etc)

> Collection grouping views (i.e. advaned searching and sorting within my own collection)

> Explore Goodreads and gain inspiration from fun features

> Price tracking with opt-in alerts about titles that are “on the rise”. Do this through linking to eBay auctions, Amazon, etc.

> Make the DVD section the Movie section and have DVD, Blu-ray, etc. a format type rather than break each format into multiple, separate collections.

> Allow more image storage per item

> Download my collection to a local file (i.e. export it from the site).

> Allow collectors to add their own fields to track the individual item attributes they want. Save these configurations as templates that can be shared with others.

Re: Looking for help from hard-core collectors
 

This sounds awesome, I'll be keeping a close eye on this. I don't currently use DVD profiling software, and I'm looking to start, so this is perfect timing for me.

Re: Looking for help from hard-core collectors
 

^
This. I loved DVDSpot and was really quite depressed when it ended. A lot of the folks involved there had talked of starting their own program, but nothing ever came of it.

The biggest feature that hooked me on DVDSpot was the ability to add titles pretty easily. I have hundreds of legit wrestling dvds that don't have UPC codes so the ability to add them to the database myself was a HUGE perk. It seems to me as if most of the cataloging sites now don't offer a feature like this without making it damn near impossible to do.

Re: Looking for help from hard-core collectors
 

^ I hadn't cried in several days, but then you all had to go and mention DVDSpot. :(

Re: Looking for help from hard-core collectors
 

Cant you make a sublist called "For Sale" or something like that, and move the discs that you are trying to get rid of, there?

That said, DVDProfiler has been the end all be all of dvd cataloguing software from the last several years.

Re: Looking for help from hard-core collectors
 

After DVDs try and tackle comic books. I've yet to see a single collecting/database program that was worth anything for comics. I know a lot of people that be very happy if someone did a good job there.