News items. General trends, new issues, new policies etc. **Whatever** you like. WORLDWIDE. Start a new thread on your question. Please do not discuss ebay in THIS forum as we have a separate and popular Forum for that discussion.
Just decided to release the world Collector software for free.
All data in the database will be exportable and the source code will eventually be in the public domain.
I have simplified data on 200,000 plus stamps which will be in the database.
So far the programme has:-
Stamp image recognition
Album page production
Will mimic any stamp catalogue (After numbers and series entered)
Produces Collection valuations based on any catalogue values entered
Produces wants lists either as text or in image format with catalogue numbers
Allows users to swap album files
Allows users to swap catalogue files to ease data input
Early stages yet but I hope to get as much stamp data as possible into the database.
Anyone interested in helping please contact me by PM
I am at the moment just updateing my website with the new programme and downloads. Should be ready in a few days. This will outline as much as possible what help I need.
Basically the data I have takes me up to 1999 in most countries so help in adding more data will be appreciated or even adding and correcting the data, for example stamp size information. This is simply download the csv file of the country you can help with then add your data or corrections either in Exell or OpenOffice, I prefer OpenOffice and post back to me.
Another area is catalogue entries. The programme can mimic any stamp catalogue but this requires typing in the catalogue data. This does not need to be done by just one person but can be a joint effort as these files can be exported and imported without affecting the base data.
Other areas are adding images to the data, I have some which I will post but these take up quite a lot of bandwidth so if anyone has space to spare and can host images for the application and allow either myself or other users to upload images for others to download that would be great.
Most will become apparent when the website is done and uploaded.
I would also like to use this thread for questions and answers by placing a link on my website. If any moderators read this will that be Ok?
At the moment, it would be great to have a couple of experienced stamp collectors with a little computer knowledge to test and suggest to improve the application.
Lots of help needed as you can see will post here again when website uploaded.
collectordave wrote:
I would also like to use this thread for questions and answers by placing a link on my website. If any moderators read this will that be OK?
Any member with ANY kind of stamp website that does not add a link, and confirm that on thread below, is costing themselves a TON of future free traffic -
A quick search on Google gave the following possibility, especially as it has a link referring to this thread on Stampboards for the discussion about it: http://www.worldcollector.eu.
So my two cents: it is the correct link 8)
Kind regards,
Jan
Collecting: Netherlands, pre-decimal New Zealand, Canada
Special interest areas: Canada Admirals, NZ Adsons, Antarctica, E.H. Shackleton
To start you off, its "kangaroo" NOT "kangeroo", you may want to look into a spell checker to sanitise your data as contributors will make mistakes. Something like Ispell or Aspell perhaps.
My advice is to remove the stamp values from your database - these keep changing every year and to update such large database every year will be very time consuming. Big catalog producers do this and change/add a few catalog numbers too each year because they sell their catalogs and can hire a lot of people. Besides you will need permission from catalog producers to use/quote their numbers (which is seldom given for free net catalogs).
While I applaud this new project, I have my concerns.
How is the data quality controlled? Will the same listing criteria be applied across all countries, as different countries follow different collecting habits? Will you allocate a person to be in charge of each country or each period within a country?
As I said I applaud this project, but if these problems (and others) are dealt with earlier it will make this project so much more useful to all.
Thanks for the replies. I have other queries sent by email which I will answer after this reply.
Spell checker
All data in the database is held by me in CSV files. To edit these I load them into openOffice which does have it's own spell checker. I have just not had the time to run a spell check on all 200,000 or entries as yet but will be doing so in the near future.
Data quality
First please see above, spelling will be given a priority.
I have found that it is not just all countries have different collecting habits but all collectors!
With stamp data in a database it is the ability to identify any stamp from collected or wanted. This requires two pieces of information the first being the country of issue and the second a Catalogue number. The catalogue number is the big problem, not all catalogues list all stamps and some catalogues list stamps with all varieties but then do not assign numbers to them! Some catalogue publishers also object strongly to their numbers being used at all.
To overcome this all individual stamp data in the database has a WC number assigned as explained on the web site. This will also manage with the future expansion of the data into the varients and errors area.
The second part of data quality is the content of the individual fields, spelling mentioned, so a field labelled "Description" should only describe the stamp and a field labelled "Perforation" should only describe the perforation of the stamp etc etc.
To maintain this, at present, I will scan any data submitted checking each field as appropiate.
My hope is that some clubs or individuals will take up countries and control the data entry, of course all credit will be given to that society etc, but I feel it is not for me to assign anyone. However as anyone adds data it will be in the public eye for scrutiny which is one of the best methods of quality control.
As an example if there is a society dealing with the Australian stamp issues and this society takes on the listing of all Australian stamps then I will share my listing so far and the programme to add this to the database.
One major benefit here is that the more societies etc that participate the more future proof the database becomes.
Catalogue numbers and values
A very tricky subject.
Only the WC numbers are distributed as part of the actual programme no other publishers numbers or values are being distributed with just two exceptions. A few numbers from Stanley Gibbons and Afinsa will be distributed (Not with the main Programme) to illustrate how the programme deals with catalogues in mimicing these catalogues with the data.
The programme in common with all spreadsheet, word processing and other document formats does allow individuals to share their knowledge of catalogue numbers and values.
As to entering the catalogue data I have not found it overwhelming, for example I collect to the Stanley Gibbons and Afinsa catalogues and now after entering lots of data I find adding just a little more each year is not a chore. The only thing these are used for is in identifying stamps in my collection and providing me with a base line for valuation. Of course I can share these with my stamp collecting colleagues.
I do however support all catalogue publishers and any publisher that informs me that they object to collectors using their catalogue numbers in this way then I will issue a warning on my website to such effect.
Thank you for the posting it certainly has an effect, over a hundred hits in the last twelve hours and several downloads.
Several emails from hits on the site so may I take the opportunity to answer the main questions asked here?
1. Is it really free?
The answer is yes it is not just free to download but free to use as you see fit. Use just the data, the albums or the programme.
2. Where are the manuals and help files?
I am writing these as fast as I can but to my suprise the programme is larger and more complex than at first sight, so this may take a week to get to a first draft. At which time I will upload to the web site ready for downloading.
3. The PDF albums available are from some weird countries can we have more?
Checked and yes the PDF albums reflect my collecting interest, Portugal and colonies with a couple titled test and new Album where I was testing the functions. Other albums can easily be produced. I have replied to two or three but I am reposting the instructions here. They will appear in the manuals when ready.
So here we go producing an album for Canada:-
1. Start world Cololector
2. Click the magnifying glass just under the menu. This will show the search window. Do not change anything just locate the Country selection and click the down arrow to the right of the box this will show a list of countries in the database. If you then click inside the box at the top of the list and press C on your keyboard the selection will move to countries begining with the letter C. You can then scroll down or up to find Canada, once found click canada with your mouse. This will load all stamp data associated with Canada.
3. Ok. You have now selected the stamp data, my copy shows 1 Of 2924 selected . On the menu click the option |Albums| this will show a small drop down menu. On this drop down click the |Use Selection| option. This will show the new Albums window.
4. Enter "Canada" In the title of new album box and click the Ok button.
5. Wait a few moments and the Album designer will appear filled with the data you have selected.
6. Click the icon that looks like an album page to start the generation of the album.
7. You will see a window telling you that some size information is missing and asking if the programme should use default stamp sizes. At this time click the No button.
8. After a short while your album will appear as a PDF document which you can print.
There is your first album produced.
If you do not wish to print it at this stage simply close the window displaying the album pages.
To get back to the album start world collector and click the |Albums| option then click |View/Print| this will show all albums stored in you Home Folder Canada will be there, it is also where all the album PDFs need to be placed for your future use. Simply selecting Canada.pdf and Ok will show your album again ready for printing. The album definition has also been saved so you can load this at a later stage.
Please remember this is produced with standard options such as A4 paper and Margins set at 15mm. These can be altered to suit yourself start the Album designer and load the canada album. Then check out the |Options| menu selection. Experiment with options changing fonts etc then regenerate the album to see the effects.
You can now produce albums for any selection you make from the database.
Just a few questions so far but I can direct users to this topic to gain some answers.
I have made a start at using the new World Collector stamp album page generator and it seems to function well on my Windows 10 computer. I have yet to come to grips with editing the standard pages but expect this will work out well.
One aspect people should keep in mind is that all older versions of World Collector should be deleted from your computer or at a minimum renamed. There can be problems if two versions of the software are on your computer.
I encourage people to assist the author in what is a very large undertaking. There may be minor errors in the data. I am very confident these can be very easily be fixed by the user and I am confident the software author will take these on board.
Last edited by Global Admin on 08 Feb 2018 20:27, edited 1 time in total.
Reason:Added pars and spacing and "air" to UNJAM it all - always a great idea on all posts on Bulletin Boards!
Once you have downloaded the zip file open it and you will find Gtreat Britain as a folder simply copy this whole folder to the Images folder where you have installed World collector then the images will be displayed when you look at the data for the British stamps for which I have images.
If anyone would like me to concentrate on any particular country please leave a message here.
Manual now available in download and programme along with help files etc.
Fantastic work and tremendous initial data collection.
Thank you very much.
I hope that many will help to fill in data for areas that they collect, I might.
The database is already a great resource finding lists for relatively obscure topics.
For example:
Say one wanted to find some stamps showing hedgehogs - a quick search of the data instantly finds 28.
Or perhaps bagpipes - there's 15.
I get 26 for sponge.
(Fairly obviously: ) Description detail determines how thorough and effective it will be for this use.
figmente wrote:
(Fairly obviously: ) Description detail determines how thorough and effective it will be for this use.
Hi all that does hit the nail when looking at data quality. I am a traditionalist where databases are concerned so a field labelled description describes the stamp. The better the description the more uses it can be put to. (Spelling mistakes aside).
The series and description fields are partial search fields. This means that you could enter just "hog" and pick up all the hedgehog stamps as well as any more where hedhe is spelt wrong etc. Gives lots of possibilities.
I hope themes will take over some of the work but I am very wary of over use of themes. If there are thousands it makes selection difficult I would like to see maybe 30 or 40 themes of a general nature. One such as "Buildings" I think maybe Ok so any stamp with a building can be assigned then in searches the theme can be selected and of course using series and description as well narrows it down quite well. If anyone can suggest such themes I would be gratefull.
Adding and updateing data is quite simple just add data and send email (with Attachment). I am writing some detailed instructions to include in the manual hopefully ready this next week.
I am starting to add my collection into the database.
if anyone collects Portugal and colonies using the Afinsa catalogue and wants to use the programme please contact me. We can collaborate on adding catalogue numbers and values.
To moderator not sure if this should be here or to start a new thread?
Some collectors allready using the programme. Thankyou for the help so far as well.
Moving forward i am now designing the database to take specialist data such as watermark, perforation etc and adding the stamp data.
Just one question. At the moment only stamps are in the database. Should formats be included such as miniature sheets etc? If included they will be part of the search procedures so for example a user could specify on the search to return only miniature sheets.
I can include these at this stage quite easily.
If anyone thinks they should be, which formats should be included?
My thoughts are just:-
Miniature Sheets
Booklets (booklet panes included anyway)
Dave did anyone at Colnect get back to you about synch issues? I use Stamp Mate as my inventory software and it too has occasional synch issues with Colnect esp for updating information that you had previoulsy downloaded.
Colnect is useful in that it does a ton of the basic data entry work for you, but I know that for my purposes with my inventory I still have to do quite a bit of editing afte r the initial data import. Can only imagine it would be even moreso with album page creation.
Yes I was in contact with colnect and even had the world collector running with Colnet as a backend database which I think is the best online DB offline prog.
Specialist character support added. Now you can easily select those annoying characters that are not on your keyboard.
Stamp examiner added. You can now scan in your stamp and zoom in out checking for errors flaws etc.
More stamp data added to database.
Some catalogue numbers added for illustration purposes only.
Update checker added. This allows you to simply check for updates and download and install them as they are produced both for the programme and database additions.
Where helping is concerned, anyone wishing to help with data entry simply contact me. I will supply the latest OpenOffice spreadsheet of the country you wish to support. Add data to this spreadsheet and return to me it will then be added to the main database for download.
Link on Homepage to 'Main database' is broken, unless the main database hasn't been loaded yet.
Ian Billings - Norvic Philatelics - clearing Machins stock before Royal Mail burn them all, singles, booklets, booklet panes, regionals - lists here: or email/DM your general needs and I'll let you know whether it's worth sending a wants list.
More stamp data included. Started to add specialist data.
You can now define your collection by country and by the format of the issue ten categories are defined.
All images are now referenced by a unique number. Images can now also be downloaded from dropbox. I have added images for countries start with the letter A. Access these from the downloads page. Just click the country you are interested in and a dropbox download will be started.
After download copy the country image folder in the self extracting zip into the images folder where you installed world collector.
The programme download is also now a self extracting zip to make it a litte easier to install.
Moving on to a MAC version very shortly.
This is a very new programme so any problems please post here.
MAC Version
MAC version now working but needs testing. Are there any collectors using the forum that use a MAC willing to test the app? If willing to test email me and I will provide a download link to a DMG file.
Help
After some abortive attempts to use CSV files for data exchange I have settled on using an OpenOffice spreadsheet format. My apologies to those that tried, I did not realise there were so many programmes out there that are not UNICODE compatible.
Anyone wishing to help please contact me and I will supply an OpenOffice spreadsheet for the addition of data etc. Please also post on the forum to show all who is helping with which country etc.
I visited your web page. If I understood correctly, your program is available only as the 64-bit Windows version. Any chances to have it as a 32-bit version?
The programme is highly customisable which means you can remove countries you do not collect from the search screens etc. These can be brought back at any time.
Please try this.
Start the programme. On the menu there is an option |Stamps| click this option after which a drop down menu appears on this menu select |Options| and then |Collection| after selecting this the collection options screen appears.
This has a lot of check box selections and two lists of countries.
Firstly the check boxes. If a check mark appears in a box then those items are selected no check mark means not available in the programme. So for example if you do not collect Mini Sheets ensure the mini Sheets check mark is blank then youre searches will not find any Mini Sheets in the database. You Can select them again at any time and they will appear.
Now Countries. The list on the left is countries which are available in the database which are not selected. The list on the right are the countries selected as your collection.
I suspect Aaland is at the top of the left list. Click Aaland once so it is highlighted then click the top button with the right facing arrow. Aaland will disappear from the left list and appear in the right hand list.
You can move the countries around as much as you like. When done click the Ok button and after some time your database will be reconfigured to show Aaland.
Clisk the search icon and aaland will appear in the countries selection list on the search form.
Hope this helps.
Remember to extract the Aaland images into the World Collector\Images folder.
Your second question. I would like assistence in two ways.
This is a new programme and as such may have a few quirks that need ironing out. As you use the programme please tell me of any quirky things which do not work etc.
A second part of this is of course I am just one collector and the programme is centered around my collection so if you feel the programme would benefit from more options again please tell me and if possible I will add them.
The second way is due to the fact that my collection of data is quite limited so any data that can be added is great, it will be made available to all.
Ideally a collector could adopt a country and enter data into a spreadsheet for inclusion into the database. This collector would need to announce this on the forum so all questions regarding that country can be directed to the collector adopting that particular country. I can supply OpenOffice spreadsheets of the data to start this off (Not CSV).
A simpler way is to use the programme to enter missing details such as issue dates or perforations etc. Once added the selection can be exported as a CSV file and sent to me as is and I will format the data and include in the database.
The most help is in entering simple stamp data for the years since 1999. Up to 1999 I have allready entered most data just some missing details.
If you can 'adopt' a country I will send you a spreadsheet of the data and then an explanation of the fields. It is easier to enter data on a spreadsheet.
Specialist data can be entered later of course.
Contact me by email with your choice of country then after you are comfortable we can take it further.
Will soon be posted on the website will leave note here when done.
Just a little question. Is there any demand for a LINUX version of the programme. Just a few positive replies here and I will start on a LINUX version.
Data on another 60,000 stamps added now holds data on over 300,000 stamps so moving on.
Contacted with a question on editing album pages. The pages produced are PDF format not editable. However if there is a need to have editable pages it can be done not for commercial programmes though. If needed let me know.
Phillipines(Republic) data now being added complete to 2012 a few more days and complete.
Also World Collector for the MAC is now programmed so here is an appeal for some help. This is my first foray into MAC programming so if anyone uses a MAC and is willing to spend some time testing before general release please contact me. I will package the whole thing into a dmg file and send you a link.
Image recognition now added with a little bit of image editing to improve the quality of any image you scan in before searching. Th algorithm is a little naive at the moment but I will keep searching for a better one that works with windows and MAC.
