Mad Props!

Anyone interested in trying out a (feature-limited) preview of the next version of Comicster, if I make one available?

 I'd be happy to test it out.

Excellent. I'll publish something soon(ish) then. Probably this weekend.

It's a very limited version right now. For example, you can't edit the cast or crew of an issue. But it's an indication as to the visual direction I want to take Comicster.

Once it's up I'll post back here (and presumably also on my blog).

 Awesome.  I'm looking forward to the Comicster to be.

http://comicster.net/Get/3/

Very feature-limited right now. In fact, it won't even open your existing collection without an add-in, which I can make available if anybody's interested. The sample collection is there, though, so it'll give you an idea of what I'm trying to achieve.

Leave a post here with your thoughts (or if you want the .cmx file reader).

 I really like it.  I can't wait to see it fully functional.  I think part of what I love about the current comicster is I feel like I had a hand in making it function the way it is today.  I hope the new comicster can bring that feeling from others as well.  It really is my facorite collection program.  Again, I can't wait to see it with more funcationality.  I'll probably play with it more as I have time.

 

Lucien17

Yeah, the community (small as it may be) has been a real strength of Comicster, and I'd like to see it continue as I build out the new version. I've not put a whole lot of time into it because, frankly, the current version is suiting people's needs and I get easily distracted with other things, but if I get feedback from people it's quite motivating.

If you play with this new version preview and think of something you'd like to see, speak up!

mabster:

...and I get easily distracted with other things...

A brave admission! I still believe the Comicster Preview has great browsing and cataloging potential. I am sooo tempted to spend an afternoon going over the current Comicster and the Preview in order to start throwing out crazy mad feature requests. However, time is limited and the muffler literally fell off of my car today... you know how it is.

Definitely let me know what you'd like added to the new version first. I know I need to add cast/crew management - it's pretty useless without it. Other features that exist in the current version but not in the new version I'll prioritize as people request them. Some of them I'd like to implement as plug-ins.

Hmm, this plug-in thing you mention sounds very juicy to me. Are you envisioning a "basic" Comicster as the base install that can then be selectively expanded depending on which features (plug-ins/plug-in packs) a person desires? (I could imagine a Loan Manager plug-in).

I'll let you know if I come up with any feature requests.

Yeah. Right now this new version supports plug-ins for online database providers (I'm working on one that can read from comicvine.com) and file formats (I have one that can read .cmx files). You drop a DLL file into My Documents\Comicster and next time Comicster runs it has new features.

Eventually it'd be cool to have plug-ins that add new menu items etc. I'm thinking, for example, that "add range of issues" could be a plug-in rather than shipping with the base product, if only to get people interested in the plug-in system.

Wow, that is very exciting (speaking personally).

I promise that I am thinking about feature requests. Oh, one thing: does the Preview install seperately so that I can run both the stable and the preview on one computer? I don't have the Preview installed on this particular machine, thought I should ask before I screw something up.

Definitely - the preview is an entirely separate code base. It installs as a completely separate program and it's totally fine to run both on the same machine. I do! :)

They can co-exist, it appears. Although the install of the preview version co-opted my shortcuts in the Start menu.

There are definitely a few new things since the last preview version I tried like 8 or 10 months ago. The font rendering still looks awful on my CRT monitor. :P

I'll give it a whirl for awhile.

Weird ... I think my machine at work has both shortcuts co-existing.

You're right about the font rendering. I hear that Microsoft have finally addressed that in version 4 of the .NET Framework due out early next year. I think the 1.0 release of this new Comicster will probably coincide with that, so by then it should be nice and readable.