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brontoceratops's picture
brontoceratops
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Joined: 12/13/2015 - 19:12
Posts: 115

Just thought of a feature I'd enjoy: being able to see a gallery view of my "Wants".

(Even better if we could code our Wants as "Strong" or "Weak" ;)

CHawkins's picture
CHawkins
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Joined: 04/17/2009 - 11:44
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So, something like a Priority rating (low, med, high)? Or just a flag that says "I really want this one"?

brontoceratops's picture
brontoceratops
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I expect three degrees of "desire" would be totally adequate for my purposes, and probably be more than sufficient for most folks.

I would use the degrees for distinctions like, High = "This is excellent & I must have it!", Mid = "This is quite nice, but I have no real use for it.", & Low = "I can see a potential use for this, but it's not a good enough figure to tempt me till I need it" (or perhaps, "I would buy a dozen of these if they weren't so blasted over-priced!").

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brontoceratops
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Joined: 12/13/2015 - 19:12
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The "how bad I want it" idea would be (possibly) handy for personal use ("Show me all my 1st-priority Want figures...").

Possibly of more use to people, would be a way to rate or comment on miniatures.

Maybe a 5-star rating, either overall, or in categories such as Paint, Sculpt, Pose, Utility, Coolness.

Or possibly brief comments, such as "Looks much better in hand than the pictures suggest."; "Base tends to be warped/figure tends to lean."; "Paint tends to chip/rub away."; "Sword is never straight."; "Picture doesn't show how poorly painted it is."; "I was pleasantly surprised"; or "These can be used excellently as bloated zombie bison!" (or what have you).

Perhaps require one to have the mini in his Collection in order to rate/comment.

And certainly not have Ratings/Comments be the default setting when viewing: have one need to check "Show Comments?", or hover over a Rating icon, or something like that.

(And, again, I would point out that most of my Suggestions are "in a perfect world" ideas: things which probably would not produce enough "bang" to justify the amount of work needed to implement them. ;)

(If I had the slightest coding skill, and could therefore offer to aid in the work, maybe I'd push one or two ideas more strongly. But alas!)

(ahh...I see I've said approximately exactly the same suggestion earlier in this thread...My apologies!)

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CHawkins
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Joined: 04/17/2009 - 11:44
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No, it's good. Keep the suggestions coming! I've been laid low with pneumonia these past few weeks, but I am making progress behind the scenes. Slow but sure. :-)

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ALEXOFMACEDONIA
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Joined: 06/01/2017 - 12:01
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Terrifyingly yes...... "I've got enough minis to make it across Doak Campbell Stadium." This would be the cringe number, similar to Steam's "Civilization 6 - Hours played 1,200"

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CHawkins
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That many minis seems perfectly reasonable to me :)

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ALEXOFMACEDONIA
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Joined: 06/01/2017 - 12:01
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I'd like the ability to pull a list - for instance Rise of the Runelords - I have 22 of 65. I'd like to know which 43 I am missing so I can go and pick those up or at least watch for them on one of several auction / trade sites. Anyway of easily doing this? Perhaps in the figure finder having a flag for owned or not owned when searching by set

Perhaps even a .csv export ?

Thoughts?

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CHawkins
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Joined: 04/17/2009 - 11:44
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Funny you should mention. I'm putting the finishing touches on some enhancements to the set galleries should help. Hoping to have them up by early next week, so stay tuned.

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CHawkins
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Joined: 04/17/2009 - 11:44
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I had some time this morning, so I was able to get this out a little earlier than expected. Now, when you view a set gallery there's a visual indication of whether you are collecting a given miniature, and whether you have that miniature in your collection. Haves and wants are listed as part of the mini's information in the grid. There are buttons that allow you to hide this information, as well as buttons that filter the gallery based on your collection information.

The collection information displays on the figure finder as well, but I don't have a good way to implement the filtering yet. Still working on that part.

I'd love to get some feedback on this, so please check it out and let me know what you think.

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mikecy
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Joined: 09/30/2016 - 08:59
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Awesome job on the new update! I love the colored border visual ownership indication (CBVOI for short) in the gallery. Adding haves and wants to the gallery filters is great, too. Honestly, where is your "donate" button? Seems only right...

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mikecy
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Joined: 09/30/2016 - 08:59
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Not sure if this is possible, but shift-clicking (e.g.) on a figure in the gallery opening a new browser window to an Ebay search for that figure (using its name and set name should be sufficient) would be pretty sweet (not nearly necessary, but could be cool)...

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CHawkins
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Thanks! Ebay links are in the works, actually. I just need to figure out how to dynamically generate the affiliate links (which doesn't look all that complicated; I just need to make the time). That alone might be enough to make the site pay for itself, so no donate button would be necessary. :-)

brontoceratops's picture
brontoceratops
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Joined: 12/13/2015 - 19:12
Posts: 115

I am delighted with the new feature.

Thank you, as always, for the immense work you do, and the enormous contribution you make to our community. :D

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CHawkins
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You're very welcome. More good things are on the way!

Eric.In.Pcola's picture
Eric.In.Pcola
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Joined: 07/22/2017 - 11:54
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I searched this thread and didn't see classes mentioned. I would love to see the class field added to the database. This way, we could search for a class, like ranger, and find all minis that were rangers; rather than searching just the name for the word ranger. But just to be sure you know this, your site is amazing, useful, powerful, and I love it just the way it is. :)

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CHawkins
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Joined: 04/17/2009 - 11:44
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Thanks!

You've actually hit on something of a philosophical issue in the way figures are tagged. Originally, my goal was for tagging to be completely objective. That is to say, if a figure had a sword and shield, he would be tagged with "sword" and "shield" because those are objective, indisputable elements of that figure. But just having a sword and shield doesn't really give you enough information about how that figure might be used. He might be a paladin, a town guard, a boss-level villain, a raider, a thug, a pirate, and so on. Figures aren't currently tagged with these roles, because the roles are largely in the eye of the beholder (no pun intended), and are thus very subjective.

So the question (and one I've been struggling with a bit) is whether to include subjective "roles" in a figure's tagging scheme. In the back of my head, I've thought that the best solution would be a second set of tags for "role" that would hold these tags. That way, a user could search for, say, a figure with sword and shield (tags) that could work as a paladin (role).

My approach so far hasn't been entirely consistent, though. For example, there are tags for "pirate" and "townsfolk", even though these are subjective tags better suited to the separate "role" field. If I were to implement the new field, I'd have to move these tags over as well.

Needless to say, this would be a ton of work to implement, so if I go this route, I might be asking for volunteers to help with the tagging. Either way, I'd love to know what everyone thinks of the idea.

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Eric.In.Pcola
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Joined: 07/22/2017 - 11:54
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[quote=CHawkins]Thanks!

[snip] Needless to say, this would be a ton of work to implement, so if I go this route, I might be asking for volunteers to help with the tagging. Either way, I'd love to know what everyone thinks of the idea.[/quote]

I would be more than willing to help with that, if it can be done. Thanks!

brontoceratops's picture
brontoceratops
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Joined: 12/13/2015 - 19:12
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I've definitely found the lack of some types of subjective tags to be a hindrance in some searches.

But I've quite understood the current concrete tag approach.

Not everyone would agree with each subjective tag choice, and that could be a nuisance in some searches. Also, there always comes a point at which you're not sure just how far to stretch a given tag... (Do Dragonborn get a "dragon" tag? Do we add a "dragonlike" tag? Do dragons then get the "dragonlike" tag...? And so forth.)

I could personally use a "sea devil" tag, which would apply to anything "deep-one-like": sahuagins, kuo-toa, bullywugs, skum, ulat-kini, the Creature from the Black Lagoon, boggards, Mage Knight fish-men, etc. But who else is gonna want that, or guess it's even a tag, and surely there will be some disagreement about what's included...and since sahuagin commonly employ sharks, do sharks get so tagged? How about eels? Or really eel-like nagas...

So, the work plus the headaches have kept me politely refraining from suggesting such subjective tags.

But, for what it's worth, I've considered offering my services in further tagging. I just wish I wasn't less computer-savvy than the next guy. ;)

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Eric.In.Pcola
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[quote=brontoceratops] [snip]

So, the work plus the headaches have kept me politely refraining from suggesting such subjective tags.

But, for what it's worth, I've considered offering my services in further tagging. I just wish I wasn't less computer-savvy than the next guy. ;)[/quote]

Yeah, I didn't consider the big picture when I made the request. I was thinking only of those miniatures that actually already had classes (many of the playable races have classes listed on their RPG cards). I agree it would be a lot of work, and it would only apply to probably 20% of the minis. Alas.

I will be glad to help with pretty much anything. :)

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CHawkins
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Well, just because it would be some work doesn't mean it can't be done. If we were to go with a "role" category, the options would be much more limited than the free-tagging system currently used for "tags". If we could keep it to, say, 30-40 options it wouldn't be so unwieldy. Major character archetypes like rogue, warrior, spellcaster would probably work better than more granular classes like assassin, sorcerer, illusionist, and so on. Creatures/monsters could also make use of this (brute, cavalry, artillery, boss, etc.) Other roles like Townsfolk, ninja, samurai, pirate seem likely. Maybe another role that's all-encompassing for PC-types. There's bound to be some disagreement on which roles go with which figures, but that's something we can take on a case-by-case basis. I'd also need to give some thought as to how non-D&D-type minis would use this field, or if we'd need multiple fields to apply to multiple types of figures (one for sci-fi, one for fantasy, one for ships, and so on.)

So, yeah. It's doable. It's just a matter of effort and approach.

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harneloot
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Joined: 08/22/2017 - 09:04
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I would like to have some *role* tags applied to the minis, but I agree broad ones might be best. Is there a way to see ALL the tags that have already been applied so we even know what it is possible to search/filter for?

Thanks, and again, GREAT site you have put together!

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CHawkins
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Joined: 04/17/2009 - 11:44
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There's not a listing of tags yet. That's something I hadn't considered because there are so many of them (almost 1400!) But it can be done.

In the meantime, if you're on the figure finder page and start typing a word in the tag field, it should auto-suggest tags that contain that word. So if you type "armor", you'll see tags for "plate armor" and "leather armor" and so on.

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harneloot
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Joined: 08/22/2017 - 09:04
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Wow - did not realize there were that many tags!!!! Thanks for the instructions and for setting this all up for everyone's use!

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ShadGray
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Joined: 11/24/2017 - 00:29
Posts: 9

A few thoughts:
1 - When selecting "Set" in Figure Finder, a list of check boxes might be better than the drop-down menu. As someone who came to this site for D&D, I have no need for Star Wars minis to show up in any search. But being able to keep Pathfinder, Icons of Realm, and Attack Wing (or whatever ones I choose) checked and deselect the rest would be perfect. This would replace the drop-down menu which only gives an option for "all or one".

2 - In "My Collection", thumbnails of the minis in my collection/want list would be helpful (Or the ability to generate a gallery of the mini on my lists). The galleries are amazing and super helpful in putting together a list of minis Im trying to buy, but once in "My Collection", Im back to just text titles and sets and can only see the minis when I open them up.

3 - Speaking of text lists... Im hoping for a "Printable Version" button that would convert my collection page to a file that is easy to print. I can hit "print page from my browser right now, but would get a lot of extra crap in my print. Id also have to print every page of my collection separately with would be a huge pain. The ability to print would be a HUGE asset to me as I cant exactly share my want list with others without giving them my log-in. The other option would be to generate links to our Want lists that do not require a log-in.

4 - I love the idea of a link to ebay, but you might also consider something a bit more advanced. You could show listings for trollandtoad.com, miniaturesmarket.com, popularcollections.com, paizo.com, auggiesgamestore.crystalcommerce.com and more. Any site willing to set up an affiliate link with you would benefit what you are doing, while helping bring people to your site because it would make mini shopping easier without becoming a retailer yourself. Minicollecter.com could grow into a major hub for people looking for new sites to shop from and great deals. Being able to see different sites, compare prices, know if they are in stock - all would be helpful beyond belief.

Cant wait to see your site continue to grow. Its really awesome and Im excited to find out what you decide to do in expanding the oh-so-helpful tags!

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CHawkins
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Joined: 04/17/2009 - 11:44
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Great suggestions! Just very quickly, one by one...

1) This might be difficult from a technical standpoint, mainly because of the way set hierarchies are handled, but I will look into it.
2) The want list tab under My Collection needs some work, and is part of the usability improvements I mentioned in the Welcome thread, so look for some changes here soon.
3) Pretty much the same as #2. So many ideas, so little time... :-)
4) Once I get past the usability stuff, the next goal is to get the site to the point where it pays for itself. Affiliate and eBay links are on my radar, along with hosted ads from Google and Amazon (though I'm very reluctant about those last two).

Keep the ideas coming. Progress has slowed a bit these past few months, but there are some exciting things coming soon (including one in particular that I think will really help us stand out.) Please keep spreading the word in the meantime!

Thanks!

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CHawkins
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Joined: 04/17/2009 - 11:44
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Also, I forgot to mention that, on the existing want list and figures tabs under My Collection, there's an icon to the left of the figure name. If you click on this icon, a thumbnail image of the figure will display in an overlay.

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ShadGray
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Joined: 11/24/2017 - 00:29
Posts: 9

Thanks so much. I totally missed that. Thats super helpful!

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ShadGray
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CHawkins
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Good catch! I'll take a look.

Thanks!