Tutorial: Enabling additional collection management features
Posted by Huw,
This is an update of an article first published in 2015 which I am reposting now in response to a growing number of requests added to our suggestion box that can be fulfilled by using these features, which suggests that they are not well known about.
As well as the standard 'own' and 'want' checkboxes in the set listings, you can enable up to eight others and label them as you see fit. You can use them to indicate, for example, sets you used to own, sets your kids own, sets you've just ordered, sets that the dog chewed the instructions for, and so on.
Additionally, you can add input fields to the 'own' and 'want' checkboxes to record the quantities of the set you own new and used, and also the number that you want, and how badly you want it.
Additional checkboxes
They won't appear and clutter up the interface unless you enable them. To do that, log in, click on your name at the top right of the page to access your profile, then on Collection checkboxes in the menu. On that page you can give them labels and once you've done so they'll appear in the set listings and reports. You don't have to use them all, simply label the ones you want to use and leave the others blank.
Set listings will then present them like this:
Flag 4 can be used to indicate that you don't have the minifigs for the set. If you check it, minifigs from the set will not be included when determining your minifig collection. You can read more about that feature in this tutorial.
Once you've set up the flags and used them, you can filter set listings using the My collection drop-down at the top, to see both sets you've flagged and those you haven't. You can also access them in your queries and list the sets you've assigned them to via links in the 'Sets flagged' box on the My collection page.
If the default colours are not to your taste, you can change them on the set listing preferences page.
Adding input fields to record new and used
If you wish to record the condition of your sets without resorting to the advanced collection manager you can enable a feature on the set listing preferences page.
Check 'enable additional input fields' to add boxes in which you can enter the quantity of the set you own new and used, and also how many you want and how badly you want it.
If you use this feature to record the condition of your sets, you can then view a more accurate valuation of your collection based on sold prices at BrickLink.
Useful links
- Your profile, accessed by clicking on your name at the top of the page. From here you'll find links and options to customise the site to your liking.
- Set listing preferences, customise what appears in set listings, enable the additional input fields, and alter the colours of the collection checkboxes.
- Collection checkboxes, enable and name additional collection checkboxes.
- More tutorials covering how to use various aspects of the site.
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74 comments on this article
This is a very useful article! I had no idea these features even existed :D
Is there any option that is similar to the "No Minifigs" option where you may be missing just one fig from a set and not every fig? I own 75182, but all i am missing is the aayla secura fig. Is there any way to let the database know that i own every other fig in that set but that one?
@Retroblox77 said:
"Is there any option that is similar to the "No Minifigs" option where you may be missing just one fig from a set and not every fig? I own 75182 , but all i am missing is the aayla secura fig. Is there any way to let the database know that i own every other fig in that set but that one?"
This sounds like a good feature. I own a few sets where I have kept most of their figures but traded away/lost some. It would be helpful to be able to mark which figures you do not own.
love this feature and has been used for years to help me search through my collection for ‘Future Gift’, ‘Gifted already’ and other miscellaneous fields I have added to sort through my collection. If it were only so easy to find some the sets in my basement.
I love that there's a default option for "fig(s) lost," which I had to use since my brother broke my https://brickset.com/minifigs/tech040a/technic-figure-blue-legs-red-top-with-zipper-blue-arms-black-hair-white-helmet from my copy of 8640 when we were kids. I'm that's not the only inaccuracy in my collection here, but it's the only one I know for sure, and I'm not trying to track my collection down to the last piece, anyway.
@Retroblox77 said:
"Is there any option that is similar to the "No Minifigs" option where you may be missing just one fig from a set and not every fig? I own 75182 , but all i am missing is the aayla secura fig. Is there any way to let the database know that i own every other fig in that set but that one?"
Yes.
- Check the 'no minifigs' box
- On the 'My sets' page, click on the 'Update your collection' link in the minifigs box (or wait until you next use the site, when it's done automatically)
- Find the set, go to the minifigs tab, then mark 'I own loose' for the ones you still have.
@Binnekamp said:
"This is a very useful article! I had no idea these features even existed :D"
That worries me given the length of time you've used the site. These features, and many others, must not be signposted clearly enough, so are not being used. Do you have any suggestions as to how that might be improved?
Incredible feature- I use for landscape types/ MOC bricks/ kids.
Amazingly helpful!
This is brilliant. Thanks!!!
Thank you for this. It’s nice that you can now classify and quantify ‘new’ and/or ‘used’ for the ‘owned’ sets.
Can this also be done for the ‘owned’ minifig section as well, one day?
This is great, thank you Huw for this tutorial!
For some reason when you first mentioned the field to indicate how badly you want a set the options that came to mind instead of for example "Priority 1" were things like "Sooo bad", "Desperately", "Can't wait for release date", "Lego, shut up and take my money", etc. LOL!
@ReyMando said:
"Thank you for this. It’s nice that you can now classify and quantify ‘new’ and/or ‘used’ for the ‘owned’ sets.
Can this also be done for the ‘owned’ minifig section as well, one day?"
Maybe -- I guess ideally it would use the new/used information you've recorded for sets to determine what state the figures are in but that is probably quite complicated :)
@Huw said:
" @Retroblox77 said:
"Is there any option that is similar to the "No Minifigs" option where you may be missing just one fig from a set and not every fig? I own 75182 , but all i am missing is the aayla secura fig. Is there any way to let the database know that i own every other fig in that set but that one?"
Yes.
- Check the 'no minifigs' box
- On the 'My sets' page, click on the 'Update your collection' link in the minifigs box (or wait until you next use the site, when it's done automatically)
- Find the set, go to the minifigs tab, then mark 'I own loose' for the ones you still have."
Thx alot Huw! Helped me heaps! Thx for this incredible website btw.
Personally, would love it if the site could add more flags to set up. I've maxed out mine as I use it like a library to indicate which storage tub I have which sets stored in.
@chrisaw said:
"Personally, would love it if the site could add more flags to set up. I've maxed out mine as I use it like a library to indicate which storage tub I have which sets stored in. "
You can always use the set "notes" section to add more detailed information. I typically add how much I paid along with the date purchased.
@Huw said:
"in response to a growing number of requests added to our suggestion box that can be fulfilled by using these features, which suggests that they are not well known about."
I suggest that on the set page you add a link or gear button in the flair box that opens the Collection checkboxes. This way the user will intuitively know that they can edit the flairs.
@Huw said:
" @Retroblox77 said:
"Is there any option that is similar to the "No Minifigs" option where you may be missing just one fig from a set and not every fig? I own 75182 , but all i am missing is the aayla secura fig. Is there any way to let the database know that i own every other fig in that set but that one?"
Yes.
- Check the 'no minifigs' box
- On the 'My sets' page, click on the 'Update your collection' link in the minifigs box (or wait until you next use the site, when it's done automatically)
- Find the set, go to the minifigs tab, then mark 'I own loose' for the ones you still have."
This is exactly what I do :)
@Huw said:
" @Binnekamp said:
"This is a very useful article! I had no idea these features even existed :D"
That worries me given the length of time you've used the site. These features, and many others, must not be signposted clearly enough, so are not being used. Do you have any suggestions as to how that might be improved?"
My two cents: right on top of the site next to the Brickset logo: a big flashy label saying "get the most out of this site". In there, all the articles with the new developments and improvements. Also, you could run a poll: "what is your 3-5 preferred options on the site and why. You then showcase them in there as well. People could read into what is used, how it's used and why it is good - that might give people idea on how to adapt this to their needs.
@HOBBES said:
" @Huw said:
" @Binnekamp said:
"This is a very useful article! I had no idea these features even existed :D"
That worries me given the length of time you've used the site. These features, and many others, must not be signposted clearly enough, so are not being used. Do you have any suggestions as to how that might be improved?"
My two cents: right on top of the site next to the Brickset logo: a big flashy label saying "get the most out of this site". In there, all the articles with the new developments and improvements. Also, you could run a poll: "what is your 3-5 preferred options on the site and why. You then showcase them in there as well. People could read into what is used, how it's used and why it is good - that might give people idea on how to adapt this to their needs."
Great ideas, thank you.
Huw, I've been using the site for a while and I generally knew there were features I wasn't using. Mostly I keep my collection information locally (excel on my laptop) and on Bricklink. If I hadn't started using BL for my collection information years ago I would start keeping my info here. I'm sure I'm not using BL to it's fullest either, as I don't sell Lego on that site. My collection is modest compared to many others I'm sure, however it's large enough that moving it all over to Brickset seems like a major undertaking. Maybe I'll do it in stages one day. The old saying "how do you eat an elephant?" comes to mind...
All this to say this is a great site and I wish I had started with it instead of BL, lol.
@racinrc14 said:
"Huw, I've been using the site for a while and I generally knew there were features I wasn't using. Mostly I keep my collection information locally (excel on my laptop) and on Bricklink."
Assuming you can export it and manipulate it into to a CSV you can import here from this page: https://brickset.com/import/csv
These features are really great. What I am still missing though is an easy way to store the paid price for each owned set. I know I can do this via ACM but that's way to many clicks. I would prefer a simple editor box next to my rating stars so I could browse my list of sets and enter all the prices at once. This would then also make more features possible to implement, for example displaying the total of all found and owned sets for the current search result.
That would be really cool for questions like: How much did I pay for my collection? or how much for my modular buildings.
@IgelCampus said:
"These features are really great. What I am still missing though is an easy way to store the paid price for each owned set. I know I can do this via ACM but that's way to many clicks. I would prefer a simple editor box next to my rating stars so I could browse my list of sets and enter all the prices at once. This would then also make more features possible to implement, for example displaying the total of all found and owned sets for the current search result.
That would be really cool for questions like: How much did I pay for my collection? or how much for my modular buildings."
I sure know that I absolutely do not want to know ever what I paid in total for all of my Lego collection :D
Very useful! Thank you!!!
A very handy feature that I've been using for a while, and one of the things that makes Brickset so useful. My main use of them is, similar to mentioned in your examples, that I keep a flag for the sets that I used to own as a child but sold during my dark age years; but I use various other flags to keep track of sets that I have an interest in for various reasons but aren't ones that I would necessarily have on my main 'wanted' list.
I'm hopeful that we can someday get additional flags like these added for our minifigure collections, too... ^^
@Huw said:
" @Binnekamp said:
"This is a very useful article! I had no idea these features even existed :D"
That worries me given the length of time you've used the site. These features, and many others, must not be signposted clearly enough, so are not being used. Do you have any suggestions as to how that might be improved?"
There should be a 'welcome email' for every new registered user that has a manual for the navigation on the site, glossary etc., or just links to helpful topics. Or a pop up after registering. Once a year this article should be also posted as a reminder.
@huw, thank you for this info! I'm not sure yet how I'm going to use it, but it's great.
One thing I do need, and I think this is likely beyond the scope of BS, is to be able to mark pieces missing or recolored in a set. The downside is that if i have 3 copies, and 1 is complete, 1 has recolors, and 1 has missing parts, I need them to be separate.
As a vintage collector/builder/seller, it's so hard to keep accurate track of what I need, what it's for (since I can't keep it all out at once), and if I have the parts in use elsewhere. I think I'm going to have to make my own database for this, but I don't want to lol.
@Huw said:
[ @Binnekamp said:
" This is a very useful article! I had no idea these features even existed :D "
" That worries me given the length of time you've used the site. "
Don't worry too much. I'm just one user. Maybe I'm just not that great with websites in general :P
I actually recall reading an article about this at one point, but I guess it didn't stick with me at the time.
"These features, and many others, must not be signposted clearly enough, so are not being used. Do you have any suggestions as to how that might be improved?"
There have been a few excellent suggestions in this thread so far. I would personally recommend allowing a way to edit it with a small symbol whenever the checkmarks are. So in the 'Your collection' section on the 'My sets' -> 'owned' page, and on the set pages themselves. The best way to remind a user of a feature is to have a way to use it on places they might want to use it.
As stated above a gear symbol or something might be a clear indicator that it can be customized.
Maybe a Tips & Tricks section could help with this too? There are a 'help with searching' 'FAQ/how do I...' and 'Tutorials' sections under 'help' but I never go there because 1). It's under 'other' and is thus only a place I would go if I'm specifically looking for it. And 2) All three sections seem like places meant for newcomers. As for the 'help with searching' section, my knowledge of lego is good enough that I usually don't need advanced search techniques.
So tl;dr: a tips and tricks section might make it clearer for longtime users that features they didn't know (or remember) were there are possible.
@IgelCampus said:
"These features are really great. What I am still missing though is an easy way to store the paid price for each owned set. I know I can do this via ACM but that's way to many clicks."
I agree with this and it's pretty much why I don't use the ACM. Whenever I add a set, it's usually the same day I buy it - It'd be nice if there was a quick way to just add a record using today's date and RRP. Even if the RRP is off it's much easier for me to just change the amount than having to do everything manually.
Right now the flow is this:
1. Mark set as owned in brickset
2. open ACM
3. click edit on the one record it shows
4. manually enter the date, (no datepicker?) location (no previous values?) and price (no idea what the 2nd input is for)
5. hit save
it'd be nice if I could just hit a quick "create record for today" and it'd autofill the date and RRP, only leaving me to enter the location and maybe adjust the amount
@Huw said:
" @HOBBES said:
" @Huw said:
" @Binnekamp said:
"This is a very useful article! I had no idea these features even existed :D"
That worries me given the length of time you've used the site. These features, and many others, must not be signposted clearly enough, so are not being used. Do you have any suggestions as to how that might be improved?"
My two cents: right on top of the site next to the Brickset logo: a big flashy label saying "get the most out of this site". In there, all the articles with the new developments and improvements. Also, you could run a poll: "what is your 3-5 preferred options on the site and why. You then showcase them in there as well. People could read into what is used, how it's used and why it is good - that might give people idea on how to adapt this to their needs."
Great ideas, thank you."
I would suggest something a little more subtle. Many people have trained themselves to block out anything resembling an advert, so I would avoid anything too garish. Plus the features won't be of interest to everyone, so no need to splash it everywhere.
What you need to do is identify the segment of your user base that *should* make use of this, but doesn't. Perhaps, something like, logged in users who have flagged at least ten sets in their collection with the default flags, and regularly logs in (for a given definition of "regularly" based on your user base). Then you want to show a message to them only, perhaps something by the collection on the set page?
Actually, you should probably start by profiling the people who submitted those suggestions, looking at their activity on the site, and tweaking the features they do use to refer to / suggest the features they don't.... it depends a lot on the data you capture about users, but you can do quite clever things to nudge only the relevant users without blasting everyone... It also depends on how much time you want to spend working on the site and how customizable it is - ideally you'd be able to expose certain messages / content to certain segments only, with throttling to ensure you're not bombarding users every time they log in.
Perhaps this is a bit too much that might not be relevant to you, but this kind of thing is part of my day job, happy to continue the discussion if any of this is useful!
OK I just learned about the ACM, this is amazing. I don't know that it will entirely cover my needs, but it's SUPER helpful.
@Huw and BS team, thank you for your work!
While everything I need can be stored somewhere within Brickset, I'd like to be able to Sort By 'location' and 'price paid' internally, both of which I currently do by first exporting to Excel with ACM data.
@Brick_Master said:
" @Huw said:
" @HOBBES said:
" @Huw said:
" @Binnekamp said:
"This is a very useful article! I had no idea these features even existed :D"
That worries me given the length of time you've used the site. These features, and many others, must not be signposted clearly enough, so are not being used. Do you have any suggestions as to how that might be improved?"
My two cents: right on top of the site next to the Brickset logo: a big flashy label saying "get the most out of this site". In there, all the articles with the new developments and improvements. Also, you could run a poll: "what is your 3-5 preferred options on the site and why. You then showcase them in there as well. People could read into what is used, how it's used and why it is good - that might give people idea on how to adapt this to their needs."
Great ideas, thank you."
I would suggest something a little more subtle. Many people have trained themselves to block out anything resembling an advert, so I would avoid anything too garish. Plus the features won't be of interest to everyone, so no need to splash it everywhere.
What you need to do is identify the segment of your user base that *should* make use of this, but doesn't. Perhaps, something like, logged in users who have flagged at least ten sets in their collection with the default flags, and regularly logs in (for a given definition of "regularly" based on your user base). Then you want to show a message to them only, perhaps something by the collection on the set page?
Actually, you should probably start by profiling the people who submitted those suggestions, looking at their activity on the site, and tweaking the features they do use to refer to / suggest the features they don't.... it depends a lot on the data you capture about users, but you can do quite clever things to nudge only the relevant users without blasting everyone... It also depends on how much time you want to spend working on the site and how customizable it is - ideally you'd be able to expose certain messages / content to certain segments only, with throttling to ensure you're not bombarding users every time they log in.
Perhaps this is a bit too much that might not be relevant to you, but this kind of thing is part of my day job, happy to continue the discussion if any of this is useful! "
That is excellent feedback, thank you!
Too funny, I could have used this article a few weeks ago! I just figured this out and it has been so helpful!
@huw, is there a way to create a collection list for animals like Bricklink does? It’s embedded in their parts list at the bottom for animals with multiple pieces, and in separate categories for air, land, sea and dinosaur species. It would be very helpful and hopefully not to crazy to add since the data is already set up in Bricklink.
Would it be possible for the checkboxes to have an optional confirmation tag before unchecking.
I normally sort by 'order added to your collection' and have occasionally cursed accidentally unchecking (and then re-checking) the 'owned' checkbox which then, of course, resets the 'added to collection' order.
(not really an issue on a computer, but easy to do on a tiny mobile screen!)
For a sec I thought there were more options for tags , other then the existing 8, but alas…
I use this as you suggest, to mark of sets my kids own. Great feature.
Thank you for this! Now I can add all the sets I have with no minifigures...if I can remember them all.
Is there something we can do for Build a Figs at Lego Stores? I have many more figs than the site claims but I don't have a proper place to count them
These features are super helpful and I had no idea they existed!
These flags are great, but functionally useless if we can't individually filter them. If I have Flag 1 set for "Built sets" and Flag 2 set for "In storage", there's no way to only see my sets marked with Flag 1.
I've been using this for a while and it's awesome - I personally created "no box", or "damaged box", or also "my wife's collection" (she owns a few sets and I wanted to keep in mind which are hers).
I only wish I could more precisely tag or label, when I have for example 3 times the same set, but only one is missing the box for example... It must be tough to do, I realize that, but in case you want suggestions, that'd be mine!
I too enjoy the functionality of the flags. Of course using the "Owned" and "Wanted" flags, i customize the others for those which belong to me "Mine" and those which belong to each of my kids, "[Kid's Name]". With my remaining openings, I have a "QR Code Scanned," a "Still in box - not gifted," a "Still in box - gifted," and a final flag for those sets my sister gave me from her kids' collection which i have yet to go through and make sure are complete.
@lupia13 said:
"These flags are great, but functionally useless if we can't individually filter them. If I have Flag 1 set for "Built sets" and Flag 2 set for "In storage", there's no way to only see my sets marked with Flag 1."
There is: 'Built sets' should appear in the 'My collection' drop down of set listings and also as a link on the My Sets page.
If you want to list sets that are built *and* in storage you can write an advanced query to do so.
@Huw said:
" @lupia13 said:
"These flags are great, but functionally useless if we can't individually filter them. If I have Flag 1 set for "Built sets" and Flag 2 set for "In storage", there's no way to only see my sets marked with Flag 1."
There is: 'Built sets' should appear in the 'My collection' drop down of set listings and also as a link on the My Sets page.
If you want to list sets that are built *and* in storage you can write an advanced query to do so."
The ability to create a Query is another of the (incredibly useful) features of this (peerlessly useful) site which is probably underused.
I think I remaxed-out my flags on the day they got upped from four to eight (it was a great day - thanks, Huw!) so now use Queries as additional pseudo-flags.
Genuinely, learning to use Queries is absolutely worth your time; it's satisfying & actually fun!
One small quality of life improvement I'd love to see is a way to change the default value for "I own this set." Currently it defaults to 1 new and when I add old sets in my collection it can get rather annoying to have to change the two input boxes each time. Would love to at least see the ability to decide if it defaults to new or used. Ideally the default behavior would be marking the set as used if the set is older than 5 or 10 years and new if it is younger than that.
Over the years of using Brickset I've learned about most of the features, including this one.
I actually have quite a few markers now. And I've even changed the colour of the "I own this set" and "I want this set" markers to my favourite colours!
My tags:
-from kid 1
-from kid 2
- my sets before 2012
-my sets after 2012
-star wars
-from girlfriend, duplo, other
-cmf, polybag figs, magaxine figs
-sealed
I hear your requests for more flags, but how many would satisfy you, and how many people actually need more than a couple?
Unfortunately because of the way they are implemented it's not possible to have an unlimited number.
@Huw said:
"I hear your requests for more flags, but how many would satisfy you, and how many people actually need more than a couple?
Unfortunately because of the way they are implemented it's not possible to have an unlimited number."
10 or 12 would suffice, for me. Too many would mean a lot of scrolling down.
@Maxbricks14 said:
" @Huw said:
"I hear your requests for more flags, but how many would satisfy you, and how many people actually need more than a couple?
Unfortunately because of the way they are implemented it's not possible to have an unlimited number."
10 or 12 would suffice, for me. Too many would mean a lot of scrolling down."
Exactly. There comes a point when they become unmanageable!
Hi Huw, I would love an article called "The best queries on brickset!"
I love the queries functionality and use them so much. I have written some that are so extensive they take an entire screen.
I consent to use mine as example if you ever post such an article here on the site. Thank you,
@ha21 said:
"One small quality of life improvement I'd love to see is a way to change the default value for "I own this set." Currently it defaults to 1 new and when I add old sets in my collection it can get rather annoying to have to change the two input boxes each time. Would love to at least see the ability to decide if it defaults to new or used. Ideally the default behavior would be marking the set as used if the set is older than 5 or 10 years and new if it is younger than that."
Same here, 99% of the sets I add are "Used", since they are unsealed, built, disassembled and sorted to my warehouse. It would be nice to have an option to default "Used" when checking the Own box.
Also, when this feature was enabled, all my existing sets turned into "New". So I have now four-digit number of sets incorrectly marked. :(
@Huw said:
" @Binnekamp said:
"This is a very useful article! I had no idea these features even existed :D"
That worries me given the length of time you've used the site. These features, and many others, must not be signposted clearly enough, so are not being used. Do you have any suggestions as to how that might be improved?"
Maybe have a "more options" link in the checkbox area that links to the Collection checkboxes area of the user profile?
Didn't read all the comments, so this may have already been suggested.
I am very happy for the "No fig option". Just the other day I added a set that had no figs to it.
Now if only I could figure out how to use it....
my dog chewed(ate) pieces of set...
(ate) like my dog ate my homework
@Huw said:
"Do you have any suggestions as to how that might be improved?"
Include an option to add and select a new collection label with the other non-customized options whenever they are shown. It will prompt new or unfamiliar users to the function, and make it easier for active users to add new options for collection management.
IMO it wouldn’t clutter the display excessively, just one more line in the box. You could even make the blank a feature you turn on or off in the profile settings, so well oriented users can “excuse” the prompt. I mostly use Brickset on my phone so I’m sensitive to display issues. (Rarely any to be found here!)
"Used to own" is nice to have. Also, "No Miniigures". Frankly I do not see the need for "Ordered" because it requires kind of short term follow up action, but I guess some of us feel the need.
@Huw said:
"I hear your requests for more flags, but how many would satisfy you, and how many people actually need more than a couple? (...)"
I don't think we necessarily need any more flags; as you say, most regular users don't even use the already-generous eight.
Anyone needing more than eight just likes to really granulate their collection (ask me how I know...). At that level of using Brickset, we should just learn Queries.
On that note, I forgot to mention before another couple of ways of using Queries which are incredibly useful:
1. You can add individual Queries to 'My Menu'. Once done, it's actually QUICKER to access that Query from your menu than it is to go to 'My Sets' and click on the link for your flags.
2. It is very possible to argue that generating Queries is slower than simply checking a flag tickbox, and that is true, but if you run out of flags, consider using your Notes! The textbox for Notes is easy to access from most places where the flags also appear and I use it to detail when bought, where, how much it cost, etc. as I'm sure many people do too.
BUT...
The Note box has hidden powers when combined with Queries!
In a Query you can add a search term that searches for a particular word or phrase WITHIN YOUR NOTES :-)
For example, I've run out of Flags, but need another category to collect together all the sets currently residing in a job lot of Star Wars sets I bought. I mark these sets as owned, and in my Notes for these sets add the phrase "star wars jumble" (quotes not needed).
Over in Queries I make a new Query with the terms:
'My notes'
'Contains'
'star wars jumble' (no speech marks)
Save that Query, and everytime I run it, it searches ALL the sets in the database and generates a page with those sets on.
Magic.
(N.B. Huw, are there any implications for computing power is everyone suddenly starts running database-spanning queries all the time...?)
Honestly, try the Query function today; it's so fantastically useful and really sets this amazing website apart.
@bananaworld, That's a great way to use queries and 'my menu' to find what you're looking for easily. Thanks for posting the tip.
There won't be much of an impact on performance as we won't all be running them at the same time.
@Huw,
1 - I think at least part of the issue is that some related settings aren't always on the same place and difficult to find:
For instance,
https://brickset.com/profile/flagpreferences contains the flag's labels, but
https://brickset.com/profile/listpreferences contains the flag's colors.
There are certain places where it helps if the above configured from a single page. A gear icon can then be added on the following places to access said page, e.g. on
- Set page > COLLECTIONS pane (e.g. on https://brickset.com/sets/10326-1/Natural-History-Museum)
2 - Minifig missing flag: It will help if this flag is separate from the other flags and always enabled (it might be confusing to some users on its current location).
That way it can be directly below "I own this set" and appropriately named, with a (?) icon to an FAQ page on how single missing minifigs can be handled.
3 - (Read with 1 above) It will be useful if https://brickset.com/profile/flagpreferences or listpreferences have a separate options to select whether a specific flag should be shown on the list / gallery / table view. This will be especially useful on the table view.
4 - There should be an option to view (and edit) the number own/wanted/new/used/priority on the table view (the tickmark can then be derived from the number), as this will make management a lot easier over a number of sets.
@raven_za ,
1 and 2 are as they are for historical reasons. Functionality has been added over time organically, in the best way possible at the time, which might not be the best way as more is added.
3. Good idea; the table view, and the buy listings, do get crowded when all 8 are shown.
4. I do wonder how many people acutally use the table view, which is why I've not really enhanced its functionality much.
@Huw said:
" @raven_za ,
1 and 2 are as they are for historical reasons. Functionality has been added over time organically, in the best way possible at the time, which might not be the best way as more is added.
3. Good idea; the table view, and the buy listings, do get crowded when all 8 are shown.
4. I do wonder how many people acutally use the table view, which is why I've not really enhanced its functionality much."
Personally -
- I use the gallery view to jump to a set quickly, or view what I've got at a glance. I usually hide the collection statistics here so only the image and set name is displayed. However, I've at times wished there was a way to hide the set number, theme and year as well for a more compact view (showing only the image and name) so I can show people my collection at a glance)
- I use the list view for designer bricklists, as it is the only view that displays "Bricklist notes" (this isn't obvious if you don't know it)
- I use the table view if I want to check details: usually number of pieces and minifigures. But it can potentially be an easy way to maintain data.
Lastly, it would be very useful if custom queries' sorting could be changed in the results view (I often switch between sort by year and sort by pieces).
NB - Amazon.co.za launched recently. In case you wanted to add links.
Wow I never even knew all of that functionality existed. This might definitely help me in the future to better organize my collection.
I think this site is absolutely awesome and don't know what I would do without it to keep track of my collection. That said, one thing I have never liked is how some minifigs count as "sets". I understand collectible minifigs for example include a few pieces, but I've never considered them a set. To override them from being counted as sets I have always clicked the minifig itself and added it to my collection as owned, and not the minifig "set". Besides that the site couldn't be easier to use. Thanks for all the hard work.
No feature requests from me, just another hearty thank you to add to the list here.
Since most sets have numerous extra tiny pieces, could those be included in each set by default, with a flag to say "missing extra tiny pieces"? When I do my spreadsheet I can get the official number of pieces from here but I have to go to Bricklink to find the number of extra tiny pieces to do a full parts count.
If we could also register bulk and PaB lots, just by number of pieces, then that would allow the total size of our collections to be logged, and the same as a community. It could be seen what proportion was in sets and what proportion was in bulk. I have more bulk and PaB than parts in sets. In my spreadsheet I record the number of parts from all PaB and bulk purchases, as a similar indicator of value to sets, with cumulative totals over the years.
This is a great feature, and great article, I'm using "no minifigures" flag for a few years now. Never have I ever had the need to use something else, the notes are just enough for me. :)
I have another suggestion for collection management - is there any way possible to include minifigure accessories from collectable minifigures owned as sets into part collection count?
Right now it counts the minifigures as owned, but not their in-hand items and black tiles. I think maybe it's because the link "View inventory at BrickLink" which I see when I click on the 8684-16, for example, then go to Parts, is broken, it leads to 404 here, and if I try to fix the link in the browser, then I get 404 on BrickLink.
The problem is that I really need to see the parts I get with the minifigures, because I'm using my part collection here to locate parts I need for my small builds (the parts are in the owned sets). It also really would help me to keep track of some parts I collect. For example, I have 71022-23, which includes Cho Chang with the unique owl - 6233327: OWL, NO. 5. The owl is not listed in my parts collection, which is not good, because I collect owls (some are not listed yet, but I hope to find some time to finally add all my loose parts and their place to my collection here).
I have 320+ collectable minifigures (some are owned loose, but most have all their items), it would take a lot of time to add their items manually. :(
@Huw said:
" @raven_za ,
......
4. I do wonder how many people acutally use the table view, which is why I've not really enhanced its functionality much."
... that's the kind of thing I'd have thought you would be tracking :) You seem to have Google Analytics installed, can't you see activity on the table page? Or database queries, for that matter, if you have access to the back end.....
@Brick_Master said:
" @Huw said:
" @raven_za ,
......
4. I do wonder how many people acutally use the table view, which is why I've not really enhanced its functionality much."
... that's the kind of thing I'd have thought you would be tracking :) You seem to have Google Analytics installed, can't you see activity on the table page? Or database queries, for that matter, if you have access to the back end.....
"
It's the same page url and database query for all the views, unfortunately.
Could these additional checkboxes be added to minifigs, so they work in the same way as they do for sets?
@Minifig_Jez said:
"
Could these additional checkboxes be added to minifigs, so they work in the same way as they do for sets?"
It's still on my to-do list!
Thank you for the article, Huw. I think there were only 3 flags back when I set mine up, and I did not realize that had expanded to 8.
The online documentation here is better than a lot of sites I have visited. Getting people to read documentation is a challenge. My software company published documentation for our food distribution package 30 years ago, and so far only one user has confessed to reading it all, out of hundreds of users at over 100 sites running the package.
@Huw said:
" @Minifig_Jez said:
"
Could these additional checkboxes be added to minifigs, so they work in the same way as they do for sets?"
It's still on my to-do list!"
GREAT !
I knew you wouldn’t have forgotten me !
;)