Suggested workflow

Introduction

This tutorial is divided into two parts. The first part lists the tag fields that we recommend you work with and the second is a more detailed checklist that you can follow to make sure you get the most out of Helium Music Manager.
 
If you follow this brief workflow guide, you will really see the advantages of using Helium Music Manager to manage your music collection!

Please note that this workflow is a suggested starting point and you may well want to adapt it and add more steps as you become more familiar with how Helium Music Manager works.
 

Recommended Tag Fields

Helium Music Manager uses the information stored in your music file tags to form the basis of your database content.
It is therefore very important that you add at least basic tag information to your music files.
 
The more information you add to your tags, the more comprehensive your database content automatically becomes.
 

The basic fields

If you only plan to add a little tag information to your music files, you should at least make sure that your files contain:

• Current Track
• Artist
• Album
• Title
• Genre
• Release Year

This is the absolute minimal requirement. Helium Music Manager works OK when only these fields exist, but not optimally.
 

Adding more tag fields

Below follows a complete list of the recommended tag fields that should be used (where applicable) in order to get the most out of Helium Music Manager. These fields are exclusively used in one or more processes in Helium Music Manager.

• Current Track
• Total Tracks
• Current CD (Only needed if the album comes on more than one CD)
• Total CD (Only needed if the album comes on more than one CD)
• Artist
• Album Artist (Usable for mixed-CDs, where one artist has mixed the entire album but the tracks themselves come from various artists)
• Secondary Artists (where applicable)
• Album
• Album Subtitle (where applicable)
• Title
• Subtitle (where applicable)
• Remix (where applicable)
• Publisher
• Release Type
• Rating

Remember, the more complete the information you enter into your music file tags, the better the overall working experience in Helium Music Manager will be.
 
No matter whether you are working with the Tag Editor or the Tag Editor (Spreadsheet Mode), you should try and make sure that you work with at least the fields above.
   

Recommended workflow

If you haven't worked with Helium Music Manager before, it might be handy to have a suggested structured workflow to follow, so that you won't miss anything relevant, as this may result in Helium Music Manager not behaving as you expect - hence, this guide!
After you get more used to how Helium Music Manager works, you will probably find your own preferred optimal workflow (as Helium Music Manager's inherent versatility allows you to achieve the same results in a number of different ways).

1. Adding your files to Helium Music Managers database.
   For this suggested workflow, we recommend that you start your work from the Music Library. Select the Music Library by clicking from the Shortcuts bar.
   You can also select the Music Library by clicking View | Views | Music Library from the main menu or by simply pressing F8.
   
   It's now time to add your files to Helium Music Manager's database.
   Add your files to Helium Music Manager's database using the Add Files to Database tool.

2. Locating files to apply tag information to.
   For simplicity we will assume that the files you have added to the database were stored in a basic folder structure, i.e. one folder for each album/release.
   Since you are probably already aware of which albums you have added, as well as their current location on your hard disc, we will use the "My Computer" grouping to locate the files that you now want to correct tags for. Expand the node named "My Computer" (or with your regional name) and browse down to one of the folders of an album you have just added. (See the screenshot below for an example of how it might look).

   Browsing down to a specific path in the Music Library, using the "My Computer" grouping. This grouping allows you to browse your files in a mode very similar to the normal Windows Explorer. The main difference between this mode and the Windows Explorer, is that Helium Music Manager only displays folders which contain digital audio files, indexed into your database. This allows very quick browsing of all of your folders with digital audio files.

    
    

   When you have selected your folder, its contents will be shown in the Track List, directly to the right of the Music Library's window pane.
   
   In this example, we are now going to use the Tag Editor (Spreadsheet Mode) to tag your files, but there's one important point that needs to be performed before we can start applying information to the tags - the track list needs to be sorted by tracks (ascending order).
   
   To sort the track list on track, simply click the track column header, located above the track list.
   
   Note: It is only possible to sort the files in the track list if the files already contain track information. If track isn't yet present, you can often sort the files based on their filenames or in the worst case, manually re-order the files in the track list by using drag 'n' move.
   
   When the files are sorted, it's time to start the Tag Editor (Spreadsheet Mode). Start the Tag Editor (Spreadsheet Mode) by clicking Tags | Edit Tags (Spreadsheet Mode)... from the main menu, or simply press Shift+Ctrl+E.

3. Applying tag information to your files.
   You should always try to download tag information for albums/releases that are commercial (i.e. there's no need to attempt to download information for a collection that you have created by yourself, since it is unlikely be known on the Internet).
   
   It's also important that the album/release that you download information for is complete, i.e. it shouldn't be missing any tracks, or contain partially completed tracks (tracks that are for example shorter in length than expected).
   
   If the conditions listed above are met, simply go on downloading information as described in detail here.
   
   If the conditions above are not fulfilled, you need to apply the information manually to your tags. This process is described in detail here.
   
   Note: Even if you are able to download information for the album/release by using any of the available plug-ins you will generally need to adjust the downloaded results. The results may not be 100% complete and/or contain misspellings/information in the wrong columns and more.
   
   When you have adjusted your tags, simply press Finish to apply the new contents to your files as well as to the database.

4. Giving your files proper filenames.
   The next step in the workflow is to use the File Rename Wizard to give your files proper names as well as optionally moving them to a folder structure (fully handled by Helium Music Manager).
   
   This step is described in more detail here.

5. Completing new artists with more information in the Artist Browser.
   You have now added new files to your database, adjusted and corrected their tags and finally given your files proper filenames using the tag information. Well done!
   
   This next step is optional, but of course highly recommended.
   What we will do now is to work in the Artist Browser to complete any new artists and groups with more info such as their home country, URL's to their webpages, adding pictures of them and much more.
   
   Change to the Artist Browser by clicking from the Shortcuts bar. You can also change to the Artist Browser by clicking View | Views | Artist Browser or by pressing F9.
   
   Locate the artist you would like to add more information to from the list, right click and select Edit Artist Information from the context menu.
   
   For more information about how you use the Edit Artist Information tool, click this link.