FAQ - MEDIAMAN & MEDIAMAN LIBRARY FEATURES AND USAGE

Frequently asked questions, quick answer to common problems

Question Index

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  • How do I create more categories?
    In the category pane, select a category then right click, choose "Create Category". Type-in the name and press enter.

  • How do I create tags?
    Switch to the tag mode by clicking the third icon on the bottom left of the category pane. Pick any of items, click "Edit" on the toolbar to enter edit mode. Click "Reveal All" on the top of the detail pane. Find "Tag" and click it, enter the name of the tag. You can enter multiple tags separated by the return key. Click "Save" on the top of the detail pane to commit this change. The tag will appear in the tag view. Repeat these steps to create new tags. If you want to assign items to existing tags, drag it to the tag in the tag view until the tag is highlighted in red, and drop it.

  • How do I mark an item as borrowed or rented?
    This process is called "flagging" in MediaMan. Right click an item to bring up the context menu, on the right of the toolbar, click the flag button, and select any available flag. You can also click "Advanced..." to assign the date and person involving this flag.

    In MediaMan Library, this process is done with the advanced copy management feature. Click "Copies" on the bottom of the HTML detail pane for the options to track check-out and returns on a per-copy and per-contact basis.

  • How do I use the Play Music and Play Video function?
    MediaMan requires you to specify files and attach them to items before they can be played. To accomplish this, select an item, and go to the Extra tab (on the right side of Details, and Images), choose Attach to a Folder, and select your folder of files. After this setup, the item will be available for playback in the Play Music or Play Video feature, depending on the type of files you attached.

  • MediaMan is very slow on my computer, can I improve it?
    MediaMan will require more computing power as the size of your collection grows. If you have a large collection and do not have enough RAM or CPU, the performance is going to suffer. The workaround is to use Expanded View mode or Detail View mode more often. Alternatively, you can zoom out virtual shelf for smaller icons. This way, MediaMan will require less RAM and computing power. A modern hardware configuration that features at least 2GB RAM and an dual-core processor can handle more than 8000 items* concurrently, and renders all of them in virtual-shelf in less than one minute.
    It's also possible that a broken collection file can cause performance drops. Click here for instructions to check and repair your collection file might improve the performance.

  • MediaMan is unable to perform import, it always says "Searching ..." and never returns, what do I do?
    This is most likely to be caused by the firewall program on your computer, that's blocking MediaMan's Internet access. Usually, the firewall program will prompt you as whether to allow access or not. You need to check firewall settings and make an exception for MediaMan.exe if it didn't prompt you. If you need proxy for Internet access, make sure that you have correctly configured it in Internet Options in Internet Explorer. In other cases, the web server MediaMan tries to connect or your ISP might experience technical problems. In which case, you just have to try again later.

  • I can't seem to find an appropriate field to store my information. Would you add this field in the future?
    We suggest that you use Custom Fields to do that. Click "Custom Fields" on the top of the detail pane when editing to see this option.

  • MediaMan can't find certain items on Amazon, can I still import them?
    Amazon has a rich catalog of products but they don't have everything. For things you can't find, you might want to first click the "Amazon U.S." link on the bottom pane to choose a different site. If it still can't be found. You'll have to enter it manually. This can be accomplished by choosing "Import by Typing-in" from the drop-down arrow of the import button on toolbar. Alternatively you can right click an item and choose "Duplicate" to use it as a template.

  • Oh my, I must've done something wrong, I can't see the categories, where are they?
    You can customize MediaMan's user interface by dragging the part between the list pane and category pane to resize it. If you drag it very close to the left window boundary, MediaMan assumes you don't want to see it, and snaps it to the left boundary. If you want it back, just place your mouse cursor close to the left window boundary then drag it to the right.

  • How do I configure program options in MediaMan?
    Press Alt to activate the menu bar, and choose Tools->Options.

  • Where can I find some statistics of my collection?
    The statistics feature is located in the home screen. You need to choose "My Collection", the root category to see the home screen.

  • I bought MediaMan, but I can't find my registration key, can I get it back?
    You can click here and enter your email address to retrieve it. If you can't use your original registered email address, or forgot it, click here to contact the author for help. In this case, you'll need to provide your full contact details.

  • I've got two or more computers. Can I access the same collection file simultaneously?
    It's possible for multiple instances of MediaMan to access the same collection file placed on a shared network location simultaneously. However, we recommend that you only do this for reading/browsing. Modifying the collection can result in inconsistency and even corruption of data. For a full simultaneous access solution, check out MediaMan Library.

  • MediaMan reported the collection file might be broken. I experienced weird issues and lots of crashes. What should I do?
    If you are using the collection file on a removable USB flash drive. Remember that you always need to use Safe Hardware Removal. Otherwise the collection file might be corrupted. Other factors such as Windows crash, hard drive problems, or accidental power-loss can also cause collection file damage. In such cases, download the collection file repair tool here to repair this problem. Please understand that the damage might not be recoverable.

  • MediaMan says it doesn't recognize my collection file, what should I do?
    MediaMan 3 can read and upgrade collection files produced by MediaMan 2.33 and above. It doesn't support reading or upgrading from earlier versions. If you would like to upgrade, send your collection file to support@imediaman.com via www.sendthisfile.com and leave a note saying you would like to upgrade the collection file for MediaMan 3. Make sure that you've entered your return email address correctly, do not send as an anonymous guest.

    If this isn't the case, then your collection file is broken. And we are sorry to tell you that at this moment, such files can't be repaired.

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