Hello! Last week I had no problem entering new books I’d purchased into my desktop version of Book Collector, as I have done since I first bought it more than a decade ago.
But this week I opened BC again (v. 23.2.3 64-bit) and many of my books are completely missing. The most recent entry is now from May 2018, and it seems that at least 300 books are missing. I’ve tried opening the backup that is automatically created, and it looks the same as the main file.
Since I always synced my desktop info with the cloud version, I do see that the cloud/web version of my database is accurate and up-to-date.
Did this happen because of the nudges to start using the web-based version, or has something else happened?
Related question: While looking at my web-based database, I couldn’t see any way to download the entries so that my desktop version would match the web-based database. Is this possible? What am I missing? Is this because I will need to subscribe differently than I have been doing all these years in order to more fully use the web-based version?
Sorry for all the questions! I suspect they’re all related, so I figured I’d ask them all at once.
Oof, I’m really surprised and shock that that would be an idea someone could have That would be a very bad business idea from us to just randomly remove books from the Windows version… if you think that or anything similar at any point in time, please contact us because we would never ever remove books from your local Windows collection.
Something else must’ve happened.
If you opened your Book Collector program, and you are missing 300 books there’s 2 things that could be happening:
You’ve inadvertently just opened a wrong collection file (File > Open Database, OR by double clicking on any of the many backups that the Windows software make.
You might just have a filter switched on
If it’s 1: just click File > Open Database and look for your database file and open it. Note that by opening database files your sync with CLZ Cloud might stop working - we can fix this just let me know
If it’s 2: Open the quick filter panel, top left. It has a red exclamation mark on the button probably, as it might be active. The red icon indicates that the filter is active.
You can either:
Click “Reset Filters” at the bottom.
Or uncheck “Keep Active” and hide the quick filter panel.
If that’s not it can you check if you have a collection status filter active via menu Search > In Collection Status > ALL
And if that’s not it, check the bottom bar of your program, does it say a filter is on?
A screenshot could help.
If all your books are in the Cloud, you could also click File > New Database, and then sync with CLZ Cloud to download all your books.
Again, I see an assumption about subscribing “differently” (I’m not sure what this means) but please for the future: just ask if you have any issues with the software or syncing, or Cloud. We will try to help you. We are not actively trying to annoy you if you stick to the Windows version of course I hope I can get that out of the system
Note: I would usually check your collection and make a backup of your CLZ Cloud on our side, but I can not find your account with the email address you used to register on our forums.
The filter is not the issue. I checked and don’t have any filters selected or engaged.
Also, apologies to any CLZ folks about the “nudge” comment. I was just trying to cover all the remote possibilities as well as the more obvious ones. I tend to like to eliminate all variables up front, no matter how unlikely, just in case.
Anyway, I took your sage advice and downloaded my books back down from the cloud and they’re all here again in a new database. (I only ever had one database from the start, so I’m pretty sure I’ve always opened up that same one in the many years I’ve been using your software.)
I’m delighted to see all my books as they were. Thank you!
Oh, my question about subscribing differently was this: I was peeking around the cloud version of my account but didn’t see any easily discernible way to use it in terms of adding books there. I thought maybe this was because I always purchase the desktop software subscription but not the cloud subscription. Are they indeed separate subscriptions?
Good to hear you were, in the end, able to get the books back!
Alright so:
At CLZ.com we offer 2 cataloging solutions. The main difference between them is the platform.
For use on your phone and tablet, there is our CLZ mobile app, available for iOS and Android.
The CLZ mobile app has a built-in barcode scanner for adding items, a nice native app-like user interface and stores data locally, on your device, so you can also view and edit your data while offline.
For use on your computer, there is the CLZ Web web-based software
CLZ Web is web-based, basically a website that you log into with your web-browser, with your data and images stored in our CLZ Cloud system. It is super easy to use and easy to manage. We handle everything for you, like software updates, daily backups, etc..
And since CLZ Web is just a website that you login to, you never have problems with firewalls, security software, etc…
And then there is the Windows software, which you’re using of course.
So browsing the Cloud that is included with your Windows version, and syncing too. But if you wish to Add/Edit there, then you would need the CLZ Books Web app subscription.
We offer trade-in deals where you would be able to trade in any remaining days on your Windows subscription for the Web subscription (and we give you 4 months extra, for free).
Or you could have both subscriptions of course.
