Recent enhancements to the website
Posted by Huw,
October and November are traditionally the months when I do the most development work on the site: Summer has ended, and we're not quite into the busiest time of year for website traffic.
The latest improvements include:
- We are now Amazon.pl associates so if you're in Poland the Amazon link on then home page sidebar and in set listings will lead directly to the appropriate page at Amazon.pl. We will be able to commence Bargain Watch alerts once we've generated some qualifying sales.
- The collection valuation report has been improved and now includes the ability to filter by theme and year. To get the most out of it you need to enable the additional input fields in the set list preferences page.
- Launch and exit dates added to set listings, exports and the advanced query builder.
You can view all changes on the change log. Many of those made are as a result of user requests, so if you have ideas for improvement please add them to the suggestion box, where you can also see what others have proposed and add your support.
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33 comments on this article
Its already in the suggestion box and has been since it opened, but can I also ask here that we PLEASE be able to add tags to more than one piece at a time. The current system for adding tags to parts is so painfully slow, and I suspect that's a big reason why there are huge swaths of untagged minifig parts.
How would you envisage that working in the UI?
I've been meaning to ask: where is the retirement info being sourced from? It seems that this info was revealed for a fairly large number of sets across a number of themes all at once. I thought it was just rumours and speculation from other fansites, but the fact that Brickset has this information listed now suggests that it's official from LEGO themselves (subject to change), since Brickset doesn't usually list speculative data. I've only heard about LEGO making official statements for specific themes such as Mario persisting through 2024 and DOTS through 2023. What did I miss?
It's from an official source that I won't reveal here but I'll PM you.
By the way, is there any chance or actual functionality about saving a wanted parts list?
You can export a BrickLink XML file https://brickset.com/export, but will have problems with part numbers I suspect because Bricklink does not use LEGO's numbering system for its primary numbers.
Thanks as ever for the work you've put in, @Huw I noticed the exit dates recently and didn't even know I wanted that info, but I do!
No improvement suggestions from me as I expect I haven't even discovered half of the functionality of your site yet ;)
I LOVE the exit dates, very useful for prioritizing set purchases. Thanks for the update!
The option to list sets as used for the valuation listing is really nice. Is it possible to switch all of the sets I own from new to used in a batch, or do I need to update each set individually?
What happened to the option to filter set types eg normal, random, collection, other etc? I used to use that option a lot to filter out the polybags and magazine gifts within a specific set but now it's gone.
I love this site. The continuous improvements to an already great site is the cherry on top. The fact that I cannot think of anything to add at the moment must be another positive.
I come here every single day, without fail. Thank you for everything you all do for us.
These exit dates will make a fine addition to my collection!
@The_Sly_Fox said:
"I love this site. The continuous improvements to an already great site is the cherry on top. The fact that I cannot think of anything to add at the moment must be another positive.
I come here every single day, without fail. Thank you for everything you all do for us. "
+1000
Couldn't have said it better.
@datsunrobbie said:
"The option to list sets as used for the valuation listing is really nice. Is it possible to switch all of the sets I own from new to used in a batch, or do I need to update each set individually? "
There are links on https://brickset.com/mycollection, 'mark all my sets as new' and 'used'.
@Pekingduckman said:
"What happened to the option to filter set types eg normal, random, collection, other etc? I used to use that option a lot to filter out the polybags and magazine gifts within a specific set but now it's gone."
I removed it from the UI a while ago mainly because it was getting a bit busy. You can however still filter manually by adding /category-normal to the URL.
Brickset really does have an amazing amount of features under the hood. I feel bad I don't use most of them but I'm always glad when I encounter some new feature so thanks for continually updating the site.
Glad to see my suggestion got approved! Now to go look at the value of every theme I own!
I am not good in locating info, so I am not sure if it is already there.
Is there a way to search for sets that are coming soon on a particular date (or month)?
The collection valuation report doesn't seem to be working correctly. The values that come up don't correspond to anything listed on Bricklink when I click on the links. A few sets haven't sold in the last six months so they shouldn't have a six month average, yet a value is listed. And a few links to the wrong set on Bricklink. Also only new values are listed, no used values are populating my list.
@LusiferSam said:
"The collection valuation report doesn't seem to be working correctly. The values that come up don't correspond to anything listed on Bricklink when I click on the links. A few sets haven't sold in the last six months so they shouldn't have a six month average, yet a value is listed. And a few links to the wrong set on Bricklink. Also only new values are listed, no used values are populating my list."
The prices are obtained from BrickLink's API when users view set details pages. If a set has not sold at BL for 6 months then any previous value gathered is retained. If a set has not been viewed for a while then the value can be out of date, although the vast majority are updated weekly if not daily.
If you have not indicated whether the sets you own are new or used then new is assumed so only new values are shown. See the comment above about marking all of your collection as used, if that's appropriate.
@Huw, didn't you also add the colour changing "thumbs up" recently. I know I put in a suggestion for it because I don't think it was there. One of my favourite (new) features.
The retired dates have also been surprisingly useful.
Thumbs up colour has not been changed!
Could use more tiers for the wanted priority setting. Right now, it's at 4, but 8 or 10 would be more useful.
I recently got notified that my suggestion to prevent the new commenter tag system from messing up the common abbreviation for Shop-At-Home finally got implemented, but noticed that instead of leaving “S(a)H” alone, it now changes it to “LEGO.com”. It’s not really what I was hoping for, but I guess it’s better than nothing. At least it’ll keep the comments from linking to some fictional user named “H”.
@PurpleDave said:
"I recently got notified that my suggestion to prevent the new commenter tag system from messing up the common abbreviation for Shop-At-Home finally got implemented, but noticed that instead of leaving “S(a)H” alone, it now changes it to “LEGO.com”. It’s not really what I was hoping for, but I guess it’s better than nothing. At least it’ll keep the comments from linking to some fictional user named “H”."
It was the best I could do I'm afraid without a lot of messing about. Shop at Home no longer exists as a brand/service mark now anyway!
@Huw said:
"It's from an official source that I won't reveal here but I'll PM you."
I also noticed these and was very interested in the source. If you don't mind, would you also PM me as well?
@Huw said:
" @datsunrobbie said:
"The option to list sets as used for the valuation listing is really nice. Is it possible to switch all of the sets I own from new to used in a batch, or do I need to update each set individually? "
There are links on https://brickset.com/mycollection, 'mark all my sets as new' and 'used'."
Thank you @Huw! You already had the bet LEGO site on the internet, and it just keep s getting better!
The addition of the exit dates is great. I hope they prove to be acurate.
@Huw, thanks for an ever more invaluable resource!
On the subject of retirement dates, do you know how locked in they are. I.e. are they flexible due to the success or failure of a product (or is the data too new to have enough history to tell)?
They are of course subject to change and I will be re-importing them monthly or so.
Is there a way to mark large groups of sets in the ACM as New or Used instead of going into each set and updating? for instance, a list to check on used or new or update of sets new or used? (I hope that made sense)
Not in the ACM, no.
Now that we have retirement dates on the site, is there a way to filter sets to see which ones are retiring this year?