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More flexible playlist/libary view layout + play only search

Posted: Wed Jul 25, 2012 1:03 pm
by enteon
Hello.

I think both my requests have to be considered together since they only make sense if both are implemented in either 'library view' or 'playlist', not one in 'library view' and the other in 'playlist'.

Did you every try Amarok 2?
It has a good (though not very good) ability to customize what is shown in the playlist and most importantly where.

For example the layout I used to use is in the attachment.

This does not save space but shows even fairly long artist/album/track names completely without hogging more than half of my widescreen. Artist/album is only mentioned once until the next artist/album -> no useless repetition.
This makes it generally very nice to browse.

Of course no two people like the same layout, so how about sort of cloning Amarok 2's layout editor?

But here comes the catch:
I like to select what music should be played next by simply typing the artists name or something into the search box.
Gua then shows every result just as it should.
But then I have to clear playlist, mark search result, hit play, hit randomize.
Amarok did all of this automatically because in Amarok I did not search the library but the playlist (had everything in one playlist). Gua can't do that.

As a conclusion I see several solutions to this:
-Add a feature that (randomly or not) plays only the songs visible in library view. Make library view layout customizable.
-Make playlist searchable just like library view (just as fast too). Make it possible to play playlist randomly without shuffling the entries and thus distorting the layout. Make playlist layout customizable.
-Do nothing. Bad option IMO ^^

Of course customizable layout would be optional in all solutions (search result playback is much more important!), it just wouldn't make any sense to mix solutions.

I hope all this makes sense to anybody else. I could test SVN with daily usage once you start implementing this :)

Thank you.

PS: In whatever GUI element gets the role of selecting music fast, there should be an option to hierarchically sort by different tags just as seen in the upmost part of the attachment. This is just a note to keep in mind. This will have to become a request of its own.

More flexible playlist/libary view layout + play only search

Posted: Sat Jul 28, 2012 8:00 am
by kinggo
Guayadeque has 9 options to sort your library. You can set the ones you want. Also, in tree view you can set your own filters with 8 different parameters to combine a desired filter.
Playing a file from a search field without any additional action is IMO example of a bad design. Guayadeque shows all that is found in all fields you have set in your library field. Double click on any of those results will clear the playlist and start playing what you have just clicked.

Playlist is just a text file with different information that let's you quickly play some predefind music. If you mess with it all the time then you don't need a playlist.
Having all songs in one huge playlist is wrong approach and totally unnecessary in guayadeque. All that you want is already here, but you have wrong approach. :) Guayadeque is very powerful and very customizable player but it's not that much straight forward and easy to use with all that options. But once when you do get familiar with it you will never look back.

More flexible playlist/libary view layout + play only search

Posted: Mon Jul 30, 2012 3:12 am
by enteon
I can only obviously sort by one tag at a time. The problem that remains is that the information is displayed side by side and repeating all the time. Thus cramming my monitor and cutting off long names.

The additional action would be to check an option in preferences.

That's the problem: I have to -move mouse- -click several times- or -click- and -hit return-. Unnecessary repetitive work a machine is supposed to do.

I was just referring to the GUI element named "playlist" or "now playing".

All in all what I want is _not_ implemented in Guayadeque. I would love to have options to change that. They don't have to be default therefore changing nothing for people who like the current design, which I admit is very common. But that does neither make it the best design for everybody nor different thoughts wrong.

More flexible playlist/libary view layout + play only search

Posted: Mon Jul 30, 2012 8:38 am
by kinggo
I'm afraid that I don't understand you. I'm looking at your screenshot and apart that you have album name in the playlist which is what guayadeque has in player itself (right of the cover art).
I don't get it why would you want to do anything inside the playlist. The whole idea behind the playlist is exactly quite opposite of that.

this is my layout and most of the time all I have to do is double click on any of those 4 fields in upper part. Shuffle would be another click.

More flexible playlist/libary view layout + play only search

Posted: Mon Jul 30, 2012 9:36 am
by enteon
Well nice of you to try anyway ^^

My first request is simply:
- Have a list of all my music. Check.
- Have a search field. Only songs matching the input in any tag are still displayed in the list. Check.
- Type in for example "pla batt" and automagically the next song will be from Placebo's album Battle For The Sun. The song after that will still be from that album as long as I do not change/remove what I typed into the search field. Not possible in Guayadeque. I would have to double click on the album. That is exactly one mouse movement and two clicks more than necessary.

That is one feature I request. Whether this feature is implemented in what Gua calls 'library view' 'tree view' or 'playlist', I don't care. It just so happens that in Amarok the only way to achieve this behavior was with a 'playlist'.

Now this feature for itself is not too hard to implement and wouldn't require a change in UI.

But here comes feature request 2:
- Have the possibility to change 'library view' OR 'playlist' (or 'tree view' for completeness sakes) layout such that it resembles something as shown in my screenshot. Meaning no table layout with customizable columns but sort of a stack layout with customizable columns and rows. The current 'playlist' layout is an improvement over 'library view' because it uses two rows for song info, but not customizable.

The only reason why I put both of these requests into one is because if request nr. 1 is implemented in 'library view' it would make no sense to implement nr. 2 in 'playlist' and vice versa. For me they only make sense together.
I wanted them to be considered together for people (and mainly the dev, of course ;) to think about other ways of solving a problem (play the right music fast) and how to adapt the GUI to make these ways possible.

And you are right, I actually rarely need a playlist or visible queue and would thus be happy to remove the 'playlist' UI element as soon as feature nr. 1 was implemented (in library view I suppose).

Feature nr. 2 would only make 'library view' nicer to look upon. I can live without that. Just, not having nr. 1 is really annoying.

Too bad I can't edit my initial post ^^

More flexible playlist/libary view layout + play only search

Posted: Mon Jul 30, 2012 10:59 am
by kinggo
well, I'm getting there. But, NHF in feature #1 you are bugged with additional clicking and in feature #2 you are requesting something that requires additional clicking to see different informations.
Well, different users, different usage patterns. I'm quite fine with double clicking and really pleased that I don't have to click or switch or whatever to see informations that are relevant to me.
But maybe someone else knows more about this. Maybe it's even implemented or something similar can be done already. As I sad, guayadeque is very powerful but not all features are so straight forward. I didn't know how to play songs from only certain year in certain genre. And it was already there. :)

More flexible playlist/libary view layout + play only search

Posted: Mon Jul 30, 2012 12:31 pm
by enteon
No, no clicking in #2. Not for daily use. Of course If you wanted to see the comment tag or something that is not in your current layout you'd have to open 'songs editor' or change your layout. But who on earth has all columns of 'library view' enabled at the same time?
Resorting 'library view' fast could be achieved by keeping the column titles where they are now, although they wouldn't be columns any longer. However, I prefer not so sort but to search.

Anyway my screenshot is just an example of how I like things. I basically "only" want the ability to change the strict table layout into something more complex. Which would of course be hard to implement.

Yes I've already come to know that feeling of being blind ^^