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Next 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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