CLZ Music v11 is live: v11.0: Create your own Custom Fields!

This is it, the big v11.0 update for your CLZ Music app. Version 11 is a huge step forward in the customizability of the app. And I am not talking about tweaking the look and feel here, like layout, colors, fonts, etc… No… this time we are giving you the ability to actually customize the database itself, with your own “Custom Fields”!

The Custom Fields feature will let you create your own data fields, to catalog any information for which the app does not have a built-in field. You can create text fields, number fields, date fields, Yes/No toggles, pick list fields and much more.

All fields you create can be edited on a special Custom Fields tab of the Edit Album screen. The entered data will nicely appear in a special section on the album details page. And of course, you will be able to use the fields like any built-in fields, that is, sort on them, use pick list, date and toggle fields as folders, search your text fields, etc..

Custom Fields Overview

This is the “Manage Custom Fields” where you can add, remove, rename fields, showing some example custom fields, and the “Preview Edit Screen” with those fields:

Use the special Custom Fields tab in the Edit Album screen to fill in your created fields and they will appear in the Details Panel, the area where it shows all information for one album. There is a special block with the custom data near the top, showing all your fields and their data.

Of course, you can also use the Edit Multiple screen to edit your fields in batch for many albums in one go!

On top of that, you can use your custom pick list fields as folders in the folder panel.

Creating your own Custom Fields

Creating your own fields is done in the Manage Custom Fields screen, which can be opened from the menu top left in your main screen. Here you add new custom fields, rename them, change their order, or remove them.

Tip: you can edit the “Custom Fields” heading at the top to your own liking, e.g. to “My Fields”. The name you choose will be used in all places where the custom fields appear.

Click the big blue “Add Custom Field” button to get started.

Check out the manual on Creating Custom Fields for more information.

Select the Field Type:

First, you need to choose the type of field you want to add. Choose the one that best fits the type of data you want to track. Lots of options, the feature offers 15 different field types!

  • Text
    Single line text field (for max. 250 characters)

  • Textarea
    Big text field (for lots more characters)

  • Toggle
    Toggle between Yes and No

  • Pick List
    Pick a single value from dropdown with manageable list

  • Multi-Value Pick List
    Checkbox multiple values from a manageable list

  • Number
    Whole numbers only

  • Decimal
    Whole number with 2 decimals

  • Date
    Date controller for full or partial date

  • Currency
    Monetary value as a whole number or with 2 decimals

  • Fixed List
    Choose one from a pre-defined fixed list of max. 20 options

  • Fixed Button Bar
    Choose one from max. 4 options

  • Percentage
    Percentage as a whole number or with 2 decimals

  • Size
    Dimensions as a whole number or with 2 decimals

  • Weight
    Weight as a whole number or with 2 decimals

  • Duration
    In hours and minutes

Check out the manual for more details on the different field types.

Set other field properties, like the Field Name

Once you have selected a Field Type, a screen will appear that lets set the Field Name and possibly several other properties, depending on the type you selected. A preview of your new field will appear at the bottom. When satisfied with your choices, click Add at the bottom right.

Managing your fields

Once you have create some fields, you can drag and drop them to change their order. The order will used in the Edit screen, and in the display area in the Details panel. You can Edit your created fields too, but only their name and possible control and display type.

More information about Managing Custom Fields can be found in the manual.

NOTE: Once you have created a field it is not possible to change the Field Type afterwards! You will need to add a new field with the desired Type and remove the old field. If the field already had data, you can move that data from the old to the new field with the Transfer Field Data tool.

3 Likes

I’m looking forward to using these but was wondering whether I can import the Custom Fields I already have in my desktop version & whether they will sync with the mobile app.

1 Like

@DancingMonk

User Defined Fields from the old Windows version will not sync to the new “Custom Fields” feature on mobile. They will only sync between the CLZ Web app and CLZ Mobile app.

We do offer a one-time import to get your User Defined Fields to the web-app, and from then on you can sync them with the mobile app.

This does mean you have to switch your subscription over to the Web-app and stop using the old Windows version.

So to get your User Defined Fields to your mobile app, you need to perform 3 steps:

  1. Start a trial of the CLZ Web app
  2. Import your user defined fields to the web-app with our special tool
  3. Completely switch your old Windows license and subscription over to the web-app

Would you be interested in that at all?

1 Like

Thanks for the prompt response. I guessed that might be the case. Your offer is tempting but the desktop version still has quite a bit of functionality that isn’t available on the web app so I’ll stick for the time being. I might end up having to subscribe to all three versions, if that’s even possible

That is possible (signing up to all 3), but you’d still not be able to sync your custom fields, it will always be that “one time transfer” for that I’m afraid.

1 Like

I have the same use case like @DancingMonk . Its fantastic, that we have now custom fields on the app. I would switch from desktop to the web version but I can’t too, because of some missing features, that the web- and app version still not have.

But overall - thank you so much for introducing custom fields. That’s really great! I hope more features will be added.

1 Like

The new custom fields are great!! even though I’ll probably only use the text fields myself…

But, in this case: it would be nice if the text fields were easier to use and larger in edit mode — not just a single long, horizontal field that you have to scroll through for ages to reach a specific point. Right now, I still have to write and format the text in an external editor and then copy it into the text field…

And another issue about that: I use the text field for my own reviews, which can be quite a bit longer. On a tablet, the text is displayed in its entirety, but on a smartphone, only a small portion is shown, and it cuts off after only a few words — and there’s no way to expand or view the rest of the text.

It would be great if you could further develop these two features in time…

Ah, sorry, shortly after I wrote the post above, I finally noticed the text area, jipieeh :slight_smile:
Forget everything I wrote above

Good to hear you found it, feel free to remove your other post if it is not needed anymore :slight_smile:

Maybe there’s someone out there who’s just as blind as I am, then they can read this :slight_smile:

1 Like

Thanks to the team for another great upgrade. I’ve been using a custom field in the web app, it’s nice to have it on my phone now as well.

1 Like

Just fyi, the update and syncing of custom fields worked flawlessly on an iPad, but on the iphone the custom fields never showed up after re-syncing. I finally deleted and reinstalled the app and everything synced correctly. Perhaps clearing the database would have accomplished the same thing. Just thought you might want to be aware of a what may be a minor bug in the update process.

@antonmb I’m unable to reproduce this problem on the current version. We did have some issues on iOS with newly created multi-value pick list fields, but 11.0.2 resolved that already. Could be you were just in that area. Anyway good to hear you’re up and running now.