Adding records in v5

[mmchugh]

Hello,

I just upgraded to version 5 of the pedias I own (book, cd and dvd).

I am VERY frustrated with the "new" search engine - trying to enter Cds by code or books by ISBN fails; nowhere is this mentioned in the release notes. The Cd I just tried to enter was not found by the system and tests with a number of my books also failed ... they return laughably bad results ...

I am also VERY unhappy about the new process to initiate Amazon searching. It seems that you can only access this if you have a website (since you need to enter a url to get an associates tag) ... or am I missing something?

This is hardly a seamless "upgrade".

Mike McHugh

[Nora]

It's true that most of the new search sites work best with titles or authors/artists for searches instead of UPCs or ISBNs but it each site has different strengths. OpenLibrary for example provides searches specifically by ISBN so that's a good option for searching in Bookpedia.
Doghouse, the Pedias own database, is still growing since it is user built and will grow as users start contributing their databases. Then the search by ISBN and UPC will strengthen again as well.

The reason we've moved the Amazon searches to be a sign up option rather than an incorporated one is because we've had several issues with their services in the past, most importantly regarding our iPhone app which we had to remove from the App Store twice because of complaints from Amazon. With this new system, those issues will hopefully be taken care of for good.
Another reason for this is also that users now get the commissions on sales made through Amazon instead of us since it's your associate ID in the program and not ours.

To sign up for the associate ID you could use anything, even a Twitter feed.

[mmchugh]

I'm sorry, but the the Amazon sign-up process is just not satisfactory - I don't have a website, and I wouldn't know a Twitter feed if I fell over it ... that being the case, is there no way for me to access Amazon?

As I mentioned, I did try keyword searching - the CD I just bought was not found, nor were the books I tried.

ISBNs and UPCs are by far the easiest ways to enter new acquisitions; I have over 5000 books and Cds, and I doubt if I have ever had to add more than 10 manually. If I cannot access Amazon sites then this update is useless to me. I would rather go back to the old version ...

I am sorry to be so negative, as I am sure that you have put a lot of work into version 5 ... however, to remove what I consider a basic functionality - the ability to search by ISBN and UPC codes - really is puzzling.

Mike McHugh

[Nora]

The reason we've moved the Amazon searches to be a sign up option rather than an incorporated one is because we've had several issues with their services in the past, most importantly regarding our iPhone app which we had to remove from the App Store twice because of complaints from Amazon. With this new system, those issues will hopefully be taken care of for good.
Another reason for this is also that users now get the commissions on sales made through Amazon instead of us since it's your associate ID in the program and not ours.

What CD were you trying to add today?

Of course if you'd prefer to downgrade to version 4.6.8 you may obviously do so. Here is the download link.

[mmchugh]

Hello again,

The CD was "My Halo at Half-Light" by Snakefarm. I also could not add the (old) book "Netherland" by Joseph O'Neill.

Mike McHugh

[Spacemodeler]

Just tried to get an Associates Tag at Amazon but I'm out of luck as I live in Colorado!
Any suggestions other than reverting back to version 4!

[Nora]

@mmchugh - Thanks for the examples Mike. You're correct that "My Halo at Half-Light" is not in any of the databases yet that CDpedia has access to, probably because the album was only released recently and sites like Wikipedia and Freebase haven't picked it up yet. (Amazon does have the data since they sell the album.) I've added the entry manually to my collection and contributed it to Doghouse so the album will be found there now.

The whole idea behind the Doghouse is to get passionate users like you to help us make it the greatest online repository for all Pedia users. To this end, we need detailed and well-researched entries so that every single user can benefit from it. Those who went before will not only have the eternal gratitude of the community but will know that they helped forge the future of our software.
Currently, user submissions are not public, but we could change that as an incentive for users to contribute more and better entries into Doghouse.

"Netherland" I found without trouble on several different websites, including Doghouse, Freebase and Wikipedia. (I did a search by title since I didn't know the ISBN.) The ISBN on Doghouse is for the British edition but Freebase has the US hardcover edition, with ISBN.

@Spacemodeler - Unfortunately if Amazon doesn't allow the Associate program in your state there's not much we can do about that. You could try using a placeholder text as the only IDs that are validated seem to be the Access key and Secret key.

Have you tried some of the other search sites though? Click on the magnifying glass in the search window to select a specific site and if it has a limiter (the 'Limit To' menu at the bottom of the window) make sure you select one to fit your needs, such as Title or Author.



At the top of that search window you can see which site is currently being searched, in this screenshot for example it's Freebase.

[fulips]

Unfortunately, I feel that v5 of CDPedia and BookPedia are significant steps backward. Overall, the new search functions are failures no matter how you want to rationalize them. What were once time savers are now extreme time wasters. I will discontinue using them until there are improvements. And I paid for these....

[Nora]

I'm sorry to hear you feel that way. Of course you're welcome to get a refund for the update and return to version 4. Just send us an email with your name and/or email address.