Import your collection

[Antron007]

At one time I had a spreadsheet I was using to manage my collection. Not as elaborate as the one we get from the export function but it got the job done. (It got lost in a computer disaster.) And I know from doing some programing and database work in the past that there would have to be some format and structuring guidelines and minimum requirements. (series [energon,cybertron,armada,prime,ect]  class [deluxe, scout, ect] and name, at least) Maybe a page similar to the Photo guidelines page.

And probably some clean up on the users end. (double entries due to weapon and package variants, ect)

That's probably an easier solution than the risk of missing an entry. I'm just assuming some people wont have alot of the details. You always have to plan/program for worst case scenario.

But I think it would encourage more users to join. Some people have some huge collections and I imagine some of them are managing their collections with spreadsheets or databases of some sorts. And it could be daunting to enter all of them. I had less than 200  when I joined it it took me some time to enter and then verify some entries. (w/ dvd vs wo/dvd, weapon and package varients, ect)

And I know tasks like that aren't easy but i'm just putting the idea on the table. I'm a bit rusty in my programing and such but I may be able to help in some way if you want to pm me.

[shmax]

At one time I had a spreadsheet I was using to manage my collection. Not as elaborate as the one we get from the export function but it got the job done. (It got lost in a computer disaster.) And I know from doing some programing and database work in the past that there would have to be some format and structuring guidelines and minimum requirements. (series [energon,cybertron,armada,prime,ect]  class [deluxe, scout, ect] and name, at least) Maybe a page similar to the Photo guidelines page.

And probably some clean up on the users end. (double entries due to weapon and package variants, ect)

That's probably an easier solution than the risk of missing an entry. I'm just assuming some people wont have alot of the details. You always have to plan/program for worst case scenario.

But I think it would encourage more users to join. Some people have some huge collections and I imagine some of them are managing their collections with spreadsheets or databases of some sorts. And it could be daunting to enter all of them. I had less than 200  when I joined it it took me some time to enter and then verify some entries. (w/ dvd vs wo/dvd, weapon and package varients, ect)

And I know tasks like that aren't easy but i'm just putting the idea on the table. I'm a bit rusty in my programing and such but I may be able to help in some way if you want to pm me.

Interesting, but I really can't see it being of use to enough people to warrant all the work. As you say, I couldn't support all of the infinite varieties of custom formats people come up with--I would have to insist on some kind of strict CSV format, and even then it would be nigh-impossible with all of the duplicated item names (ie. hundreds of "optimus primes"). I would have to run searches on our database for each item in their list, and come up with some kind of interface for picking the correct matches for each search, which might wind up being more tedious than just adding them one-by-one the old-fashioned way.

A more realistic approach might be to let people take their shmax collections offline somehow, let them edit their data with some kind of desktop application, and then re-sync later on. But even that seems like an idea that would have made more sense in the 90's, and less so now that everybody has constant online access.

I think the development time would be better spent working on a phone app, so you wouldn't have to download your collection to go to the store with it--you would just have the whole thing available at all times. If you're interested in working on a phone app we can talk about it.

[Antron007]

As far as the android sdk goes Ive gotten as far as MyFirstApp. lol. I've messed with it a little and have it all installed on my computer but really have not done anything with it? I put it on there in case i came/come up with  the idea for the next "Killer App" and wanted to be able to just jump in while the iron was still hot, and not risk loosing my thunder haveing to get it all set up. I'm a quick learner and have a natural aptitude towards programming so if you want to point me in a direction I'll at least make an attempt. I Just really wouldn't know where to begin.

Have you started the app yet? I like the idea but I've been happy to just log in to the site with my phones browser. The only reasons I use the IMDB and ebay apps are because they are faster than the websites because there's less data but even with the IMDB app it just seems to be a slim version of the website.

Ive seen alot of apps that are basically just shells for the website. The browser with no buttons. There's a game called algadon that works that way. It just basically displays the mobile version of the website in a featureless browser. (last time I checked. its been about 6 months since I've played it. moved on to different games)  There are some quicklinks for control buttons and thats it. You can go to algadon.com in your phones browser and it's the exact same thing minus the quicklinks.

I really appreciate what you done here and just want to offer any assistance I can.
Thanks again for all of your hard work and efforts.