episodeManager
episodeManager is now available.
You can download the first public beta here
Why do I need episodeManager?
Do you have difficulty keeping up with which episodes of Poirot you have seen?
Or Primeval, or Doctor Who, or Being Human or....
Do you have difficulty juggling which showing of your favourite programs you can watch when another of your favourites is on another channel at the same time?
These days when programs are often repeated at different times or on different channels, particularly "+1" channels episodeManager can help you with this juggling nightmare.
What is episodeManager?
episodeManager is exactly what it says on the box. Using data downloaded from Schedules Direct, it keeps track of the different showings of episodes of Television programs. You tell it which ones you want to watch or record and it keeps a record of those decisions. If the same episode comes up again in the future, it tells you that you have already seen it!
But it’s much more than this....
- You can mark your favourite programs and will will tell you when an episode is coming up.
- It is also a powerful search tool. You can add keywords and search criteria and any programs which match these will be highlighted.
How do I get the most from episodeManager?
Firstly, give it chance! The idea behind this program is probably completely different from anything you have seen before.
You need to teach it what you like and what you don’t like. It may take you a couple of weeks to get past this stage. Use the search facilities on the Listing tab and ...
- Think of the programs you like to watch, search for them and mark them as Favourites.
- Think about why you consider programs to be Favourites. Create keyword searches which would have found these program had you not already known about them. Saving these searches should find similar programs in the future.
- Over the next week or so, think about other programs you are watching; why do you like them? turn these thoughts into searches.
Once you have taught episodeManager your ways, it’s really just a matter of visiting it regularly and keeping on top of the decisions you need to make
- Use the Review tab to see the suggested programs and mark them for watching or recording, or not.
- Each program clears from the list once decisions have been made on all its episodes.
- Use the Decisions tab to see the programs you have chosen to record or watch. You may want to print this out to keep handy.
- You should not normally need to go to the other tabs on a regular basis.
- You may need to go to the Listing tab, for instance, if you see a trailer for something, or a friend tells you about a new show, and you want to search for it and mark it as a Favourite.
- You should perhaps go to the Filters tab from time to time to ‘housekeep’ your Keyword Searches, Favourite Programs and Excluded Programs
And that is it. Just remember..
- Don’t go too far out into the future. Schedules Direct has listings for 2 weeks but those for programs more than a week out tend to change. Particularly the episode information.
- The information is only as good as the data it receives. Don’t blame the program if that is incorrect!
- Visit regularly. Start with 2 or 3 times a week and see what works best for you. Try and settle on regular days, say Tuesdays and Saturdays, to open the program, work your Review List, print your decisions, and get on with your viewing
- If you have a holiday coming up, you can always turn the numbers of days to download up to say 15 days and set up your recorder to record all your favourites for viewing on your return
- For further tips to get the best out of this see the help section
Schedules Direct
Please note all data is received from the Schedules Direct and is subject to their conditions
“In accessing this XML feed, you agree that you will only access its contents for your own personal and non-commercial use and not for any commercial or other purposes, including advertising or selling any goods or services, including any third-party software applications available to the general public.”
