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User Collections

· 4 min read
Brian Pepple
Brian Pepple
Founder of the Metron Project / Code Monkey

I've spent the last week or so, implementing User Collections, a feature for Metron that lets you catalog, organize, and track your personal comic book collection.

What is User Collections?​

User Collections is a comic book collection management system.

Key Features​

📚 Complete Cataloging​

Track every aspect of your collection:

  • Quantity tracking for duplicate copies
  • Format support (Print, Digital, or Both)
  • Professional grading (CGC, CBCS, PGX) or self-assessed grades
  • Purchase details including date, price, and store
  • Storage locations to help you find your comics
  • Personal notes for each item

⚡ Bulk Operations​

Adding your entire collection is fast and efficient:

  • Add entire series runs in seconds with the "Add from Series" feature
  • Specify issue ranges to add specific portions of a series
  • Automatic duplicate detection prevents adding the same issue twice
  • Smart defaults for format and reading status when adding multiple issues

📊 Statistics & Analytics​

Get insights into your collection:

  • Total items and value tracking
  • Reading progress (read vs. unread counts)
  • Format breakdown with visual charts
  • Publisher distribution to see where your collection focuses
  • Top 10 series by item count
  • Series type analysis (ongoing, mini-series, etc.)

🔍 Smart Gap Detection​

Helps you complete your series runs:

  • Missing Issues list shows series where you own some but not all issues
  • Color-coded progress bars (red/yellow/green) indicate completion percentage
  • Detailed missing issue views list exactly which issues you need
  • Completion statistics help you prioritize which series to finish

⭐ Reading Tracker & Ratings​

Track your reading journey:

  • Mark issues as read with date tracking
  • 5-star rating system for personal recommendations
  • Quick rating via HTMX (no page reload required)
  • Filter by reading status to find unread comics

🔐 Privacy First​

Your collection is completely private:

  • Login required for all collection features
  • No public sharing (unlike reading lists)
  • Owner-only access ensures only you can view/edit your items

How It Works​

Adding Individual Issues​

Navigate to /collection/add/ and search for any issue using the autocomplete feature. Fill in optional details like grade, purchase price, storage location, and click "Add to Collection."

Bulk Adding from Series​

Visit /collection/add-from-series/ to quickly add entire series runs:

  1. Select a series
  2. Choose to add all issues or specify a range (e.g., #1-50)
  3. Set default format and reading status
  4. Click "Add Issues"

The system automatically skips issues already in your collection, making it perfect for cataloging longboxes or digital libraries.

Finding Missing Issues​

The Missing Issues feature (/collection/missing/) identifies gaps in your series runs:

  • See completion percentages for each series
  • Click "View Missing" to see specific issue numbers
  • Use these lists when shopping for back issues
  • Track your progress toward completing series

Powerful Filtering​

Find exactly what you're looking for with extensive filtering options:

  • Series name, publisher, or imprint
  • Grade and grading company
  • Format (print/digital/both)
  • Reading status and ratings
  • Storage location or purchase store
  • Combine multiple filters for precise searches

Technical Highlights​

Built on Django with:

  • CGC grading scale with 27 grade levels (0.5 to 10.0)
  • Money field support for accurate purchase price tracking
  • HTMX integration for seamless rating updates
  • Chartkick visualizations for statistics
  • Optimized queries with proper indexes for performance
  • Unique constraints prevent duplicate entries
  • RESTful API available at /api/collection/

Use Cases​

For Completionists: Use Missing Issues to systematically fill gaps in your series runs. Color-coded progress bars show which series you're close to completing.

For Investors: Track purchase prices and grades for valuable books. Monitor total collection value and maintain detailed records for insurance.

For Readers: Mark issues as read, rate them, and track your progress. Filter to find unread comics in your collection.

For Organizers: Use storage locations to keep track of where comics are physically stored. Perfect for managing multiple longboxes or storage units.

Mokkari​

A new release of Mokkari will be made this week with support for the user collections API endpoints.

Possible Future Enhancements​

More Import Options: When I get some time, I'll look at adding support for importing existing collections. If you track your collection elsewhere I'd be interest what export options you have, so please contact me.

Wish List: A logical addition would be to have the option for make a wish list of issues to purchase.

Pull List: Another closely related feature that could be useful.

Comic Value: It would be interesting to be able to provided estimated market values for issues.