Setting Options

The first thing to do is setup your options to your liking. You can always go back and change your options settings at any time. There are four options screens, however, the last options screen (Reset) contains no options. It just allows you to reset any or all of the options screens back to their original values. The main thing to remember when changing any of the option fields is to press the 'Update Database' button before leaving the screen or your changes will not be saved.

Miscellaneous (Tools -> Options -> Miscellaneous)

Start Screen

When you first log in to the movie manager, this is the screen you will go to. There are four screens to choose from: Simple Search, Advanced Search, Movies or Add Single

View Default

This field defines the default display format for the search results on all of the search screens, including the 'Movies' screen. You can also change the view directly from any of the search screens, including the 'Movies' screen.

There are five different views to choose from.

The Thumbnail view displays columns of four cover images in a row. If the movie is a movie file on your hard drive, the help text "Play Movie" will appear when your mouse moves over the image. When you click on the image, the movie will play using your default movie player. (The free version of BSplayer is very good.)

If the movie is a DVD or any other media type that does not reside on your hard drive, the movie's media type and location will appear as the help text when your mouse moves over the image. The movie's location can be set in three ways. When a movie name is imported from a text file, the location can be defined on the first or second line of the text file in the format of ':location'. If it is, then every movie name in the text file will be given that location unless the movie name has a location appended to it between two vertical bars. For example H:\DVD\POPEYES VOYAGE [PG].avi|movie location| or Willy Wonka|movie location| will be given the location 'movie location'. The location can also be added on the Tools -> Edit -> Single screen.

Below the cover image is the title of the movie. If you click on the title, the plot will be displayed along with title, genre, MPAA rating, and user rating.

The Summary view displays a short detail summary of each movie which includes the cover image, title, genres, MPAA rating and description of rating, user rating, playing time, year released, media type and location. It also has a link to imdb.com for the movie, a link to the edit screen for the movie, a link to display the plot information and you can also update the seen and the personal rating fields from this screen. As with the Thumbnail view, you can play movie files by clicking the cover image.

The List view displays 7 columns of information for each movie, but does not include the cover image. Each column can be sorted on in either ascending or descending order. The seen and personal fields can be edited directly from this screen. If you click on the plot arrow, the plot will be displayed along with title, genre, MPAA rating, and user rating. If you click on the Info (Edit) arrow, you will be taken to the Edit screen for that movie. The titles for movie files will be in bold and you can play the movie by clicking on the title.

The Text view is the fastest at listing all your movies since it displays only the title and a link to the edit screen for each movie. The title for movie files will be in bold and you can play the movie by clicking on the title.

The Detail view displays a separate page for each movie giving all the details possible for each movie along with the cover image. For movie files you can play the movie by clicking on the image. You can not edit any fields on this screen, however, you can go to the edit screen by clicking the info link below the image. There is also a link to imdb.com for the movie. The arrows at the top right of the screen will take you either forward or backward one page and the double arrows will take you to either the first movie or the last movie.

Movie File Extensions

Only files with these extensions will be added to the database when adding movie files from a text file. Each extension must be defined on a separate line.

# Of Movies To Display Per Page

For three of the different view types, thumbnail, summary and list, the number of movies to display on each page can be selected. If you have a large numbert of movies or a slow internet connection, setting this value to a smaller number of movies per page will allow your movies to display faster.

Additional Genre Types

You can define your own genres to search on. For example, for your home videos, you may want a genre called home, or perhaps a genre called Birthdays or Christmas. Each genre must be defined on a separate line. You would then edit the movie information and select the new genre for your movie. Each movie can have up to 5 genres defined for it.

If a movie is added and has a genre returned from IMDb.com that is not in the predefined list of genres, it will automatically be added to this list.

This list, along with the predefined genres, is used in the drop down list for genre on the search screens.

If you want to be sure that all genres used in your movie database are in your genres list, you can press the 'Search Your Movie DB' button to search your movie database and any genre found that is not already in the genres list will be added for you.

Each name can be no more than 15 characters long.

Media Types

You can rename, delete or add new media types to this list. Each media type must be defined on a separate line.

When a movie name is imported from a text file, the media type can be defined on the first or second line of the text file in the format of '::media type'. If the movie name is a movie file on your hard drive then the media type will default to the file extension if no media type is defined in the text file. When adding a movie with a media type that is not already defined in the media list, the media type will automatically be added to the list for you.

When you add movies from the Add Single or Add Multiple screen, you are required to select a media type for that movie. If the media type you want is not in the list, this is where you would add it.

A movie can have multiple media types defined for it. Edit the movie information and select multiple media types by pressing the Ctrl key while you select the media type.

If you want to be sure that all media types used in your movie database are in your media list, you can press the 'Search Your Movie DB' button to search your movie database and any media type found that is not already in the media list will be added for you.

Each name can be no more than 15 characters long.

Languages

This list contains all the languages that your movies were recorded in and is used on the Search Advanced screen. From here you can manually add the languages although you probably don't need to. When the movie information is imported from IMDb.com, the language is automatically added to this list if it is not already in it.

If this option was made available after you added a number of movies or you just want to be sure you have all the languages in the list, you can press the 'Search Your Movie DB' button to search your movie database and all languages found that are not already in your languages list will be added for you.

Each name can be no more than 15 characters long.

Countries

This list contains all the countries where your movies were produced and is used on the Search Advanced screen. From here you can manually add the countries although you probably don't need to. When the movie information is imported from IMDb.com, the country is automatically added to this list if it is not already in it.

If this option was made available after you added a number of movies or you just want to be sure you have all the countries in the list, you can press the 'Search Your Movie DB' button to search your movie database and all countries found that are not already in your countries list will be added for you.

Each name can be no more than 15 characters long.

Locations

This list contains all the locations where your media or movies can reside. From here you can manually add your different locations or you can press the 'Search Your Movie DB' button to search your movie database and all locations found that are not already in your location list will be added for you.

There also three other ways locations can be added to your location list. On the Edit screen you can either select a location from the drop down menu or you can type in a location in the text field. If you type in a location, whey you press 'Update Database', the location you just entered will be added to the list if it was not already it it.

Another way to add the location is from the Add Multiple screen. You can either select a location from the drop down menu or you can type in a location in the text field. If you type in a location then when you add the movies, the location will be added to the list if it was not already it it. Also, if you appended the |location| to the end of any movie title, file name, or UPC code, then that location name will be added to the list if it was not already it it.

This is also true when adding movies by importing a text file. If you include the :location at the top of the text file, then that location will be added to the list if it was not already it it. Also, if you append the |location| to the end of any movie title, file name, or UPC code, then that location name will be added to the list if it was not already it it.

Each name can be no more than 15 characters long.

Display Year Next to Title

When movie information is imported from IMDb.com or Amazon.com, the year is appended to the title to allow for movies released with the same name but in a different year. If you select this box, the release year will be displayed next to the title in your search results.

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