Z Link Library

Version 1.00

Platform: Windows XP/Vista

FREEWARE

By John Zealey (see full credits below)

Download

Contact for limited tech support and distribution enquiries:

contents:

Introduction

How do I add a link in ZLL (Z Link Library)?

Managing groups

Searching by tags or keywords

Adding your own artwork

Credits & contacts

Introduction

PLEASE NOTE: This software is not connected with Spotify, or any other company, or existing software. This software is freeware and contains no spyware, but it does contain permanent links to my music on Spotify.

Bookmark play lists and files.
Add URL’s for online play lists.
Add links to files on your system.
Add links to website URL’s and online files.
Add artwork/slideshows from the internet or from your system.
Add entries to multiple groups for easy searching.
Search entries by keyword
Create custom groups
Add additional information, descriptions and tags for easy searching
Select an entry at random
Backup your entire library or export single entries to share with friends

I made Z Link Library as a way of organising links to websites, playlists and files. I’m a massive fan of Spotify (I think it’s one of the greatest inventions of the 21^st century) and wanted to find a better way to organise my playlists and albums. I’m sure that as time goes by, the playlist manager in Spotify will be improved and my software will become redundant, but in the meantime, I wanted to be able to search my lists easier, adding extra info to the entry, adding them to multiple groups, create custom covers for my compilations (Just like we used to when we made cassette compilations in the old days!), and then be able to share the entry with friends.

You can use this software to link to any URL on the net or file on your system. If you love online gaming, you may want to build a library of your favourite games. You may want to organise your play lists for other media players on your system. It also means that you can have play lists for different media players all in one place.

This software is freeware and not crippled in anyway, however, it does contain permanent links to some of my own music on Spotify. I am a one man show with limited time, but hope this software does what you need it to do. Please let me know if things are not working correctly, or if there are features you’d like to see added. I will do my best to update it when I can.

How do I add a link in ZLL (Z Link Library)?

First you’ll need to grab the URL or path to a file. (In Spotify you can right click on an entry and get the ‘Spotify URI’.) You can right click on any file on your system and grab the path. Copy the path to the clipboard. Or you can drag the file into the field that’s marked ‘playlist URL’ in the editor window of ZLL. This will add the path to the file automatically.
Click on the button that says ‘open editor’ on the bottom right of the ZLL interface.
Right click in the field that says…yep you’ve guess it…’playlist URL’ and paste the link. Or (if you are linking to a file on the system) you can drag the file into the field. This will add the path to the file automatically.
Add a title for your entry. If you are adding a file that’s on your system, dragging and dropping the file into the ‘title’ field will add the name of the file.
Add any additional info you like. Remember, the more info you add, the better the search results. You can also add your entry into up to 3 groups. (See the section about groups for more info)
Click the ‘add entry’ button and close the editor.
Double click on the entry to open the file or URL. Your browser, or whatever default software you use will start.

Managing groups

You can put entries into a maximum of three groups. You can also add your own custom group names and delete any you don’t use in the group search list.

To assign a file to a group

Select the file you want to edit.
Click on ‘open editor’.
Click on ‘open group options’.
Select a group from the drop down list.
Press one of the three ‘apply’ buttons.
To remove an entry from a group, tick the ‘remove’ box and click the ‘apply’ button for whichever group it is you want to remove.

Any changes made in the group editor are applied immediately.

Searching by tags or keywords

Any info you add to an entry becomes available to search. You may want to add a list of artists to the tag field or add a detailed description. To search for any entries that contain a particular word, just type what you want in the field next to the button marked ‘search’. Case is ignored but the search does require a whole word. Any entries containing the word will be listed.

Adding your own artwork

Artwork can be added from your system or as links to images on the internet. You can assign more than one image to your entry, creating a slideshow. (Some albums have more than one cover, and I wanted to able to view these different versions.) You can also create you own custom artwork and then upload it to an image sharing site. This means you can share an entry with your mates. These slideshows can be viewed using the various ‘views’ that are available by clicking on the artwork on the top right of the interface. Remember that images from the net will take a little longer to load at the start of a ‘view’.

For best results, artwork needs to be square, between 400x400 and 600x600 pixels in size. Any other sizes will be resized to fit. Remember that large files will increase loading times, and may slow down some of the more CPU hungry views.

When you’ve got your lovely artwork sorted, you’ll be able to minimise the app you are using to play the tunes and use the visuals you’ve created from ZLL.

To add an image to an entry

Select the entry you want to add artwork to, or go straight to the editor to create a new entry.
Copy your path to the clipboard, or drag the file to the field marked ‘artwork URL’ to create the path.
If you are updated an existing entry hit ‘update entry’ or ‘add entry’ if you are creating a new one.
This is now the default artwork for this entry.
To view your cover fullscreen, click on the artwork in the top right of the interface. You have various views available to you.
To exit a view, just click anywhere.

To add more than one image (Create a slideshow)

Click on the artwork in the top right hand of the interface.
Select ‘create a slideshow’ from the dropdown menu.
Copy your link to the clipboard, or drag the file to the input field at the top of the ‘slide show maker’ editor. You can also use the browse button to search your system for files.
Click ‘add’ and repeat as many times as you need to, bearing in mind that the more files you add from the net, the longer the shows will take to fully load.
You can sort the order of the files by using the buttons on the right.
All changes are automatically saved when hitting ‘close editor’.

Credits & contacts

Conceived and written by John Zealey (www.zealey.co.uk)

Part of the code for this application was written by Flavien Clermont.