Freebie tutorials

WillowRavenWillowRaven Posts: 3,787
edited May 2012 in Freebies

I was asked to start this thread due to people finding the new Itemized Order History on the new DAZ site a cumbersome tool. Someone suggested a spreadsheet, and I decided to try it. It helps me keep my sanity, and I suggested it to others. They in turn asked for a little tutorial as a PDF offered here, so others can find it later.


IOH spreadsheet tutorial: http://www.sharecg.com/v/62219/view/3/PDF-Tutorial/IOH-spreadsheet-tutorial


I gave this thread a general name hoping other tutorials will find their way here, as well.


:D

Post edited by WillowRaven on

Comments

  • IanTPIanTP Posts: 1,329
    edited December 1969

    Thanks so much for this :hug: :-)

  • IanTPIanTP Posts: 1,329
    edited December 1969

    As a total bonus, I copied and pasted into Libre Office and it kept the links to the order number and the reset option, how cool is that!! I can click on the order number, say of a bundle and see at a glance what was in it and of course copy and paste thier individual information into the sheet!! Thanks again, this is awesome!!!!

  • WillowRavenWillowRaven Posts: 3,787
    edited May 2012

    As a total bonus, I copied and pasted into Libre Office and it kept the links to the order number and the reset option, how cool is that!! I can click on the order number, say of a bundle and see at a glance what was in it and of course copy and paste thier individual information into the sheet!! Thanks again, this is awesome!!!!

    I'm glad you re finding it helpful. I mentioned the links carry over in the doc, but forgot to mention it in the post. I'll edit the description to let people know how to record their bundles, too. Thanks for adding that tip :D

    My favorite part is I can reset straight from the spreadsheet. :D No messing with that annoying IOH other than updating the spreadsheet after purchases.

    Post edited by WillowRaven on
  • WillowRavenWillowRaven Posts: 3,787
    edited December 1969

    As a total bonus, I copied and pasted into Libre Office and it kept the links to the order number and the reset option, how cool is that!! I can click on the order number, say of a bundle and see at a glance what was in it and of course copy and paste thier individual information into the sheet!! Thanks again, this is awesome!!!!

    How are you seeing what's in your bundles? Are you resetting the item, or is there something I'll not doing in the order/invoice page?

  • JaderailJaderail Posts: 0
    edited December 1969

    I'm going to do this one also. Thank you for the info. And I also wish to know the Bundle tip.

  • Miss BMiss B Posts: 3,071
    edited May 2012

    I'm glad to see I'm not the only one who likes using spreadsheets. ;-) Fortunately, I set up my spreadsheet in Excel "before" the old store closed, so I was able to get it in descending date order, which is the way I prefer to access it. Now it's so nice and easy to check if I've already purchased something, at least until they get the "you've already purchased this" fixed in the store.

    Post edited by Miss B on
  • IanTPIanTP Posts: 1,329
    edited December 1969

    As a total bonus, I copied and pasted into Libre Office and it kept the links to the order number and the reset option, how cool is that!! I can click on the order number, say of a bundle and see at a glance what was in it and of course copy and paste thier individual information into the sheet!! Thanks again, this is awesome!!!!

    How are you seeing what's in your bundles? Are you resetting the item, or is there something I'll not doing in the order/invoice page?

    oops :red: i randomly clicked on a bundle order from the spreadsheet and the order page came up with lots of things on, however I had actually ordered a lot of stuff with the bundle. when i clicked on another order with a bundle it was just the bundle :red: However the Fun with Bundles thread is here in the old forum http://forumarchive.daz3d.com/viewtopic.php?p=2721808 ;-)

  • IanTPIanTP Posts: 1,329
    edited December 1969

    Jaderail said:
    I'm going to do this one also. Thank you for the info. And I also wish to know the Bundle tip.

    sorry dude, I boo boobed :red:

  • WillowRavenWillowRaven Posts: 3,787
    edited December 1969

    No worries, Ian. I figured out a way to access what files are included in a bundle. It's around my elbow to get to my ... apples ... but so is this entire mess, which is forcing us to get creative.


    I do a keyword search for bundle (or any other hot word,like extravaganza), I use the spreadsheet link to reset the bundle, which activates the list in my available downloads. I then select the row below the bundle's row in the spreadsheet and add a new row (this places a blank row right below the bundle row).


    Then, I copy/paste the files listed in my Avail Dwnlds into my spreadsheet. I the delete the undesired rows (for me, that's the mac files). I erase an rows I don't want, and am left with the file names and links of what I do want, and hit save.

    I'll be editing the tutorial later to show this new info. :D

  • IanTPIanTP Posts: 1,329
    edited December 1969

    No worries, Ian. I figured out a way to access what files are included in a bundle. It's around my elbow to get to my ... apples ... but so is this entire mess, which is forcing us to get creative.


    I do a keyword search for bundle (or any other hot word,like extravaganza), I use the spreadsheet link to reset the bundle, which activates the list in my available downloads. I then select the row below the bundle's row in the spreadsheet and add a new row (this places a blank row right below the bundle row).


    Then, I copy/paste the files listed in my Avail Dwnlds into my spreadsheet. I the delete the undesired rows (for me, that's the mac files). I erase an rows I don't want, and am left with the file names and links of what I do want, and hit save.

    I'll be editing the tutorial later to show this new info. :D

    Why didn't I think of that :-)

    But yes, it;s a pain in the butt all right. (can I say butt without a tag?) ;-)

  • DanaTADanaTA Posts: 13,209
    edited December 1969

    My favorite part is I can reset straight from the spreadsheet. :D No messing with that annoying IOH other than updating the spreadsheet after purchases.

    That's a good point. In my spreadsheet, I always deleted the column with the reset links...there was no need. But now, I regret that, with the current condition of the IOH. D'oh!

    Dana

  • IanTPIanTP Posts: 1,329
    edited December 1969

    DanaTA said:

    My favorite part is I can reset straight from the spreadsheet. :D No messing with that annoying IOH other than updating the spreadsheet after purchases.

    That's a good point. In my spreadsheet, I always deleted the column with the reset links...there was no need. But now, I regret that, with the current condition of the IOH. D'oh!

    Dana

    Also I can sort by order # or alphabetical, sadly not by date because of the format used by daz and i can't use format cells to alter it for some reason, but by order # gives me the same sort of order as date anyway :-)

  • WillowRavenWillowRaven Posts: 3,787
    edited December 1969

    I also discovered, quite by accident, if I use the spreadsheet link to download a file, vs the link in my IOH, it not only downloads faster, but is more likely to download the full file. I have yet to have one not give me the 'click, click, click' window when downloaded from the spreadsheet. It's is, however a problem I am having when downloading straight from the site. My downloads were not downloading all of the way.


    Doesn't make sense to me, but little ever does .. lol.

  • IanTPIanTP Posts: 1,329
    edited December 1969

    I also discovered, quite by accident, if I use the spreadsheet link to download a file, vs the link in my IOH, it not only downloads faster, but is more likely to download the full file. I have yet to have one not give me the 'click, click, click' window when downloaded from the spreadsheet. It's is, however a problem I am having when downloading straight from the site. My downloads were not downloading all of the way.


    Doesn't make sense to me, but little ever does .. lol.

    How do you do that?

  • WillowRavenWillowRaven Posts: 3,787
    edited May 2012

    Like I said, I found out by accident ... lol.


    I was resetting my bundled items so I could see what files were included in my available downloads area. I couldn't just select the column with the file names, so I just c/p the entire series of files and their info into my spreadsheet. As with the earlier series of c/p from with the IOH, the links copied hot, too.


    I erased what I didn't want, then out of curiosity, hit the file link to see if it worked, since I had to re-download the files for that bundle anyway. It opened a blank window and download started instantly. I still don't have the foggiest idea how big the files should be, so I can't confirm that the entire file downloads, but so far, I have not had to re-download to get it into install mode.


    I noticed it was faster, too. A 50+ MB file in less than 5 minutes. Last night it was taking 40 or more minutes to download a file half that size from the AD section..

    Post edited by WillowRaven on
  • IanTPIanTP Posts: 1,329
    edited December 1969

    Like I said, I found out by accident ... lol.

    I was resetting my bundled items so I could see what files were included in my available downloads area. I couldn't just select the column with the file names, so I just c/p the entire series of files and their info into my spreadsheet. As with the earlier series of c/p from with the IOH, the links copied hot, too.

    I erased what I didn't want, then out of curiosity, hit the file link to see if it worked, since I had to re-download the files for that bundle anyway. It opened a blank window and download started instantly. I still don't have the foggiest idea how big the files should be, so I can't confirm that the entire file downloads, but so far, I have not had to re-download to get it into install mode.

    I noticed it was faster, too. a 50+ MB file in less than 5 minutes. Last night it was taking 40 or more minutes to download a file half that size from the AD section..

    oh, wow, that's cool and definitely worth knowing, I'll be resetting all my downloads when we move to the new platform independent zips as at the moment I have to download PC and MAC versions for each product which is a pain, having the links to the zips in the sheet will defo be a time saver :-)

  • jakibluejakiblue Posts: 7,281
    edited December 1969

    i was thinking....the extra columns could be used for adding notes, instead of deleting them. Like, if a file name doesn't specify which figure it was for, you could put M4 or Generation 4 in a column next to it.....or if it's a texture add on, write the name of the original base outfit next to it....or even write "total crap, why did i buy this/??" *heh*

  • DanaTADanaTA Posts: 13,209
    edited December 1969

    DanaTA said:

    My favorite part is I can reset straight from the spreadsheet. :D No messing with that annoying IOH other than updating the spreadsheet after purchases.

    That's a good point. In my spreadsheet, I always deleted the column with the reset links...there was no need. But now, I regret that, with the current condition of the IOH. D'oh!

    Dana

    Also I can sort by order # or alphabetical, sadly not by date because of the format used by daz and i can't use format cells to alter it for some reason, but by order # gives me the same sort of order as date anyway :-)


    Really? I don't have any trouble sorting by date in my spreadsheet. I do notice that I have to change the formatting after I paste.
    Generally:
    change the alignment to general

    uncheck wrap text
    change the format to date, and specify the display style you want


    That works for me. I've done a bit more. I have a cell that is for a search word, and a column that is numeric and receives a 1 if there is a match and a 9 if there is not. Then I highlight the entire block (except the colum that has the search cell) and order by that column (asc) and all the matches are at the top. Otherwise I sort by order date (desc) and then title.


    Dana

  • jakibluejakiblue Posts: 7,281
    edited December 1969

    i can't sort by date order either. (I'm using LibreOffice). But then,I am an absolute newb at spreadsheets, having never used them before, so I have NO idea if you can search for a product there, or how to do anything. LOL.

    Is it possible to change the dates? They're written in American format - month/day/year - we use day/month/year here in Oz, short of retyping them, can you do something that will change the formatting on them? Also some of the dates in the purchase history read as two digits for a single day/month, and some are one digit - IE 3rd is sometimes written as 03 and sometimes as 3. I prefer the zero in front. I went to formating and changed it to DD/MM/YY but nothing seemed to change.

  • DanaTADanaTA Posts: 13,209
    edited December 1969

    I'm not familiar with Libre Office. I use MS Office 2007, which means I use Excel 2007. It sounds like maybe it's not importing as a date. You can't change the format of the column to a date format? It should change from a string or character to a date format. After that, you should be able to use the date formatting specifier that you desire/need.


    I understand that OpenOffice supports MS Office documents, so the formatting options should be the same, or at least similar. That is also a free product.


    Dana

  • jakibluejakiblue Posts: 7,281
    edited December 1969

    DanaTA said:
    I'm not familiar with Libre Office. I use MS Office 2007, which means I use Excel 2007. It sounds like maybe it's not importing as a date. You can't change the format of the column to a date format? It should change from a string or character to a date format. After that, you should be able to use the date formatting specifier that you desire/need.


    I understand that OpenOffice supports MS Office documents, so the formatting options should be the same, or at least similar. That is also a free product.


    Dana

    the column is in date format. I click on the top of the column which highlights everything in it, right click and choose "format". I go to the "numbers" tab, check "date", and in format I choose "31/12/99" which shows in the format code as "DD/MM/YY". Then click ok. but the dates are still written as MM/DD/YY. And I can't work out how to sort everythign by date, isntead of alphabetically as it is now. Maybe it's a quirk of Libre? I also have openoffice. (libre is EXACTLY the same as openoffice i have noticed)

  • DanaTADanaTA Posts: 13,209
    edited May 2012

    Have you checked the status of "Wrap"? I found it was checked...in that special 3rd state. I had to click it twice to totally un-check it. I then changed the display format and sorted by that column and it worked for me.


    Dana

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    Post edited by DanaTA on
  • DanaTADanaTA Posts: 13,209
    edited December 1969

    Of course, now I find another issue...it no longer has the Product ID column! This system is just making things harder and harder to deal with! :-S


    Dana

  • jakibluejakiblue Posts: 7,281
    edited December 1969

    but at least with the spreadsheet, we can find things easier rather than having to go through page after page looking for a product :-)
    i was looking at the fun with bundles page last night, wondering if i could get up a spreadsheet with that one, but i think i'd have to past and copy each separate bit, instead of the whole thing

  • MiloMilo Posts: 511
    edited December 1969

    I had been doing spreadsheets from the old method. Now I find the new system pretty useless. If you order say 5 new items, they show up in their magical title sorted list. Its useless when you get new products to add to your spreadsheet without a lot of work. The old system sorting by order date made it rather easy to update your spreadsheet as you wanted. The new site nullified Orca's scripts which made using programs like 3dLibrary a snap. I wonder if I could get through to the president of Daz to talk to him. This isn't growing pains or 'new' site issues. This is poor management and thought process.

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