Z-Keeper

Quick-start guide

The 30,000-foot view: what Z-Keeper does, how to get started, and the rhythm of keeping your Zidoo catalog healthy.

Getting started

  1. Find your Zidoo. In Settings, let Z-Keeper scan your local network with the Scan for Zidoo button. Make sure the Zidoo is powered on — it will almost certainly be found on your LAN. (If not, you can enter its IP address yourself.)
  2. Add your movie folders. Also in Settings, add the root folder(s) of your video files — the same "sources" mapping you gave your Zidoo.
  3. Run your first Sync. Go to the Sync page and click Start Sync. This is where the magic happens. Your first Sync will be an adventure, especially for large movie catalogs.

Ongoing catalog maintenance

Once you're set up, keeping the catalog healthy is a simple loop:

  1. Make changes. Fix whatever needs tweaking — create NFO files, do a Zidoo rematch, rename files, build collections… Or maybe you've simply added new video files that the Zidoo has (hopefully) registered.
  2. Let the Zidoo scan. If your changes created NFO files or renamed files, have the Zidoo run a Scan on the sources so it ingests what you just did.
  3. Sync again. Run a new Sync in Z-Keeper — it walks you through seeing and approving (or fixing) the changes the Zidoo just made. If the only change was adding some new movie files, a Fast Sync is all you need.

One thing to be aware of

Z-Keeper currently behaves best when your PC has access to the video files your Zidoo sees. It works to a limited degree when the files are out of your PC's reach — such as on a HDD inside the Zidoo itself — but in its current state we wouldn't recommend using Z-Keeper that way. It rather misses the point of what the program is for.

Zidoo-centric and file-centric — both at once

Some people manage their catalog file-centrically: NFO files and images they curate themselves, perhaps with a tool like tinyMediaManager. Others manage it through the player. Z-Keeper does both, and keeps them in step.

Its Zidoo-centric half speaks directly to your players and walks you through seeing and approving every change they make. Its file-centric half is the Master Catalog — built from your source folders, knowing nothing about devices at all. That is the half that can do tinyMediaManager's job, and the reason Z-Keeper is useful before your first Zidoo arrives, or with none at all.

What a particular player should look like is kept separately, as that device's Blueprint. How it all fits together walks through the three layers with diagrams.

Demo mode

Want to explore Z-Keeper with a large movie catalog — no Zidoo or video files required? Turn on Demo mode in Settings. Your own data is kept safe and restored when you turn it off; while it's on, every action that would reach out to a Zidoo or the filesystem is simply turned off. Anyone can run it.

Questions?

Z-Keeper has a home on the official Zidoo forum, where the current beta's thread is the place for bugs, questions and feature requests. Or email support@z-keeper.com.