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Spreadsheet or database record keeping?

BrewMeister

BrewMeister

The Titus Pullo of CP
Joined
Aug 8, 2005
Messages
1,732
Location
Traveling
Hello all,

I have just started my venture into cigars, and already I've concluded that the shear number and variations of sticks out there, will require me to keep some sort of a spreadsheet or database on my collection, and my likes and dislikes. I was attempting to develop a spreadsheet in Excel, and it dawned on me,
idea.gif
someone else better at Excel, may have already done this, and perhaps they'd be willing to share their work???

Any EXCEL experts out there willing to share their work?


TIA,
 
You're in trouble if you just started with cigars and already compulsively keeping detailed records of your holdings. It took most of months to get there.

For what it is orth, I use a crappy Excel spreadsheet I made to keep track. It just has a bunch of column headers with things like brand, name, vitola, box date, smoking notes, source, etc. The best thing about it is I can use the Sort feature to sort by box date, so I can tell what I should be smoking.

The problem with any tracking system is that it is only as good as the data you put in it. Or take out of it, i.e., every time you smoke a cigar, you need to decrement the inventory count for that stick by one.

JK
 
I just use a little notebook, allows me to make notes wherever and whenever i have a smoke.

And it is a true WSIWYG system, for under 5 bucks.

-K
 
kro77 said:
I just use a little notebook, allows me to make notes wherever and whenever i have a smoke.

And it is a true WSIWYG system, for under 5 bucks.

-K
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Me too, though my little book was a bit more than a fiver (not that much more). First, I tried an Excel spreadsheet, tried a Word document, and looked at "Cigar Briefcase"....

I ended up with a nice leather bound book with blank pages I got from the office supply store. I can tape the labels in it, and take it with me to write in or read whenever / wherever I am. By far, this works the best for me. Any log is only as good as the info you put in it, and I seem much more likely to write things in this book than I am to remember to enter the "data" in software.

For inventory - I just put a slip of paper in the mixed boxes in the cooler and can check off what's in there very easily. For non mixed boxes, a quick glance seems to work just fine.

It's whatever works for you, to be sure, but somehow smoking a gar and writing the "old fashond" way seem to go together.

Regards - B.B.S.

PS: ....it's "sheer" not "shear" when used in this context..... :cool:
 
I wish I had enough inventory to make record-keeping necessary...I end up smoking them as fast as my limited budget allows, so I usually don't have too many laying around, maybe 30 or 40...not much to record-keep there...lol
 
I have a little leather notebook as well. More like a journal. I got it as a "best man" present, and now I use it for cigar tasting notes. I tape the ring from the cigar to the page when I am done with it.

JK
 
I'm an Excel kind of geek, so I do have a spreadsheet I would be willing to send. PM me your email addy if you want it.

Jim
 
I use a mole Skin book, was 7.95 or 9.95 can;t remember

http://www.quincyshop.com/moljour.html

with the the grid paper, it even has a little pouch in the back so if I cannot glue the label in when i smoke it I can store it for later.

But I have always thought about build a web ASP type service where people could keep their notes. Something like mycigar journal which then could agregate peoples entries into a rating system. So rather then a rating system it would be a way for people to keep notes, and from that info it could grow into a rating system.

But i have been too lazy to bother.
 
I also use CigarBriefcase".
The program is a little cumbersome, but I like being able to have a picture of the cigar along with the inventory.
 
This brings up an interesting idea... What if we created a place on CP where members could upload their review spreadsheet and share with others?
 
That's not a bad idea. I always thought that it would be nice having a sort of tracking program that we could all log on, review or rate a Cigar and get an average score from everyone. That would interesting.
 
My Idea was beyond just the review part, but almost like a personal blog/DB on a website. Atleast that is the idea so it would get populated that way. Users would come in and see their smoke history, notes, as well as keeping track of price, and everything else. Then with that data you could build the traditional review site. One of the weaknesses of review sites I find is that once you read the reviews you are done, there is often much of a compelling reason to add your review because you do not get anything back. But if we were to build it as a personal cigar journal I think many more people would use it. In addition I think photos could be incorporated as well, but space then becomes an issue.

Oh well, just another dream...
 
I'm working on a Filemaker database at the moment. You will be able to put in pictures, notes, etc. I'll post in here when it is done if anyone is interested.
 
mrjinglesusa said:
I'm working on a Filemaker database at the moment. You will be able to put in pictures, notes, etc. I'll post in here when it is done if anyone is interested.
[snapback]214050[/snapback]​
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I have not heard of the Filemaker database. I am guessing this is not specific to cigars.
How much does the program cost? (and yes I am interested) :)
 
Rod said:
This brings up an interesting idea... What if we created a place on CP where members could upload their review spreadsheet and share with others?
[snapback]214001[/snapback]​
Click to expand...

What would it take to write a members personal humidor page into CP, along with a review page? You can offer the option to make the humidor page public or private.
 
preembargo said:
Rod said:
This brings up an interesting idea... What if we created a place on CP where members could upload their review spreadsheet and share with others?
[snapback]214001[/snapback]​
Click to expand...

What would it take to write a members personal humidor page into CP, along with a review page? You can offer the option to make the humidor page public or private.
[snapback]214054[/snapback]​
Click to expand...

I appreciate all the input, I am a keyboard versus stubby pencil kind of guy. SO I think some sort of spreadsheet/database will work best for me.

I also really like the idea of a "Personal Humidor" page... no concept as to how difficult that would be to construct.

Trying the Cigar Briefcase program now, a bit clunky and doesn't look like its been updated for a year or two.

Thanks again,
 
I wouldn't mind upgrading to a larger server if space/bandwidth was an issue. However, I can't do the back end programming; we'll need people to volunteer to do that. If anyone is truly interested in programing let me know. Don't bother emailing me if you don't plan on getting the job done. I've had people in the past volunteer for stuff and they never follow through, so please only volunteer if you actually have the time and knowledge to do so.
 
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