CatalogIt Quick Tips

Using the Search Function

Below are some helpful tips to execute more precise searches in CatalogIt. Soon CatalogIt will support “structured search” which will allow much greater precision in querying your collections-- in the interim these tips should provide a good boost.

• Use quotes around a string of words to find Entries that include that exact string. If you are looking for that blue glass jar, for example, type the phrase enclosed in quotes, like this, “blue glass” and your results will only include items that have the exact phrase “blue glass.” You can be as specific as you wish, for example, “blue glass jar" and if that exact phrase is used in an Entry, it will appear in the search results.

• Use the + symbol between words to find Entries that include all of those words. If you type in blue+glass, your results will only include the entries that include the word blue AND the word glass. You can string together several words this way to narrow a search.

• Combine quotes and the + symbol. A search for “blue jar”+tin will result in entries that include both the exact phrase “blue jar” as well as the word “tin.” You’ll find the blue glass jar with a tin lid.

• Use the - symbol to exclude terms. A search within your "All Entries" of -wood would result in all of your Entries that did not include the word "wood."

• Use the + and - symbols together. A search of basket + -willow will result in all of your baskets that did not include the term "willow."

• Use the * symbol as a "wild card" suffix. A search of harris* will result in entries that include the name Harris, as well as Harrisville, Harrison, Harrisburg, etc., any other words that start with "Harris."

Creating Tags

Tags are a special class of Profile that can be thought of as "post-it" notes which you can attach to your Entries. Some useful tags might be, "Needs more photos" or "Needs dimensions."

To create a Tag while editing or creating an Entry, follow these steps:

• click on the "tags..." icon in the upper right corner
• click the + button in the Edit Tags popup screen
• give your Tag a name and if you wish, a description
• click Create

Once you've created your Tags they will be available to you when you are creating or editing your Entries.

This soundless video demonstrates the process of creating a Tag.

Creating a Report from Profiles

Generating reports from your Profiles, such as a list of all of your records related to a particular Person or a Location, can be very handy. It is easy to do. Here's how:

• From your Main Menu, select "Profiles"
• Using either the "Frequently Used" icons or the search bar, navigate to the particular type of Profile (Person, Location, etc.)
• Select the specific Profile record you are looking for
• Click on the three dots in the upper right (the Actions Menu) and select Usage Report

From there, you can select the specific fields you'd like to appear on your report.

Editing a Profile

You may find that a Profile you've used has a typo or that you'd like to add additional information to it. It is easy to edit a Profile. Here's how:

• From the Main Menu, select "Profiles"
• Using either the "Frequently Used" icons or the search bar, navigate to the type of Profile you'd like to edit (a Person, Place, etc.)
• Search for the record you'd like to edit and select it
• Click the edit pencil in the upper right corner and make any changes you'd like
• Click "Save"

Here's a quick video that shows the entire process (note: this video does not have sound):

De-duplicating and Consolidating Profiles

It is very common to have multiple Profiles (i.e Person or Place) that represent the same entity but have different spellings and need to be consolidated into a single representation. The "Replace" feature is designed to de-duplicate and consolidate multiple Profiles into a single Profile.

From the appropriate Profile list page:

• click and view the Profile you want to eliminate
• select Replace from the "Actions" menu
• find and select the replacement Profile and click Replace
• edit and delete the unwanted Profile

Here's a quick, soundless video that shows the entire process:

Changing a Person Profile to an Organization Profile and Vice Versa

You may find that an Organization Profile was incorrectly created as a Person or vice versa. It is easy to fix that! Here's how:

• Click on your Main Menu and navigate to Profiles
• Search for "Person or Organization" (this is a special type of Profile that is essentially like the "parent" of Person and Organization Profiles)
• From within "Person or Organization" you can search for any Person or Organization Profile- search for the Profile you'd like to change
• Select the Profile and click the Edit pencil
• At the top of the Edit page you'll see a drop-down menu- click on it and you'll see that you can change the type
• Be sure to click "Save" in the upper right corner when you are done

Here's a brief video showing the process (Note- this video has no sound):

Downloading your Original Image

CatalogIt stores your images for you in their original format, unaltered. You can download them to any device by following these steps:

• Select the Entry to which the image is attached
• Click on the image you would like to download
• Click the "Download" icon in the upper left corner

Here's a quick, soundless video- take a look!

Using the Hierarchical Category Profile

You can use the Category profile to create your own, customized hierarchical categories within your collections. Here's how:

• While editing or creating an Entry, at the "Category..." property, click the "+" button at the right
• Give your new Category a name, and if you wish, a description and even "also known as"
• Attach it as a "Subcategory of..." a "parent" Category you'd previously created, or create the new Parent category
• Click "Create" in the upper right-hand corner.

Here's a short video demonstrating the process- take a look!

Creating Hierarchical Places

CatalogIt enables you to capture and display places hierarchically, for example, a town, in a state, in a country, and in a continent. Creating the hierarchy is simple- just follow these steps:

• While editing or creating an Entry, at a "Place..." field (place made, place published, related place, etc.) type in the name of your place
• If it doesn't already exist in your list, select "Create"
• CatalogIt will prepopulate the name of your new Place from your search.
• In the "Place Type..." field, select the appropriate type of Place (city, state, country, etc.)
• In the "Located In..." field, select the appropriate place of which your new place is a part; for example, the country a state or province is located in.
• Click "Create" in the upper right-hand corner.

Here's a quick, soundless video showing how to create hierarchical places- take a look!

Duplicating Entries

Do you sometimes find yourself documenting several nearly identical things, or even cataloging an item that is nearly identical to something you or a colleague had documented earlier? CatalogIt has a neat feature that can save you time and effort. Here's how to use it:

• Find the Entry that has already been recorded
• From the Entry view mode (not in “Edit”), click on the Actions menu (the three dots in the upper right)
• Select “Duplicate”

This generates a new Entry that is nearly identical to the first one- you’ll need to give the new Entry a name and add its own images and condition assessment. If your account has auto-numbering enabled (either Accession numbering and/or Entry/Object ID numbering), CatalogIt will auto-assign the next number for this new Entry.

Adding Users to your Account

CatalogIt Personal Accounts include up to three users; Museum, Organization, and Conservator Accounts include eight users. To add users up to the amount included in your Account, simply send an email to support@catalogit.app and let us know the email addresses of the users you'd like to add.

If you have already subscribed and would like to add users, here's how:

• Log in to your CatalogIt account from a computer (this function is not available on mobile)
• Click on the Main Menu (the three bars in the upper left)
• Scroll down to "Settings"
• Select "Subscription"
• Select "Add Subscription" (you are adding a subscription for your additional users)
• Check "Additional Users"
• Add the number of additional users you would like. Here you can select whether you'd like to pay for them monthly or annually.
• Click Next and complete the credit card information.

Once you've finished, send an email to support@catalogit.app and let us know the email addresses of the users you'd like to add.

Here's a brief video showing how to add users (beyond the users included) to your existing subscription.

Process Templates

Download Sample Gift Agreement

Changing the name of your Account

CatalogIt defaults to naming an account with the email address of the user that created it. Giving your Account an "official" name is important if you want to invite others to collaborate in it, so they aren't accessing an account named with your email address. Additionally, if you will be publishing your account to the Web via the CatalogIt HUB, your Account name will be the title of your HUB page. The Account Owner (the person who created the Account) has the ability to change the name. Here's how:

• Log in to your account
• Click on the Main Menu (the three bars in the upper left)
• Scroll down to "Settings"
• Click on Name under Account Settings
• Change the name and click "Save."

Note: changing the Account Name won't affect your login credentials.