PL/ML feature request/question

[Inthewoods]

OK I have an idea and it's just that...here goes: I think it would be really neat to integrate the playlist and media library into one, The "media library" would essentially become an extension to the playlist on the left side, accessible by something like "Show Library". This extension would essentially be the left pane of the current ML. Then, the right pane of the ML, instead of being similar to a playlist, would actually be the current playlist.

Perhaps I'm over simplifying, but it seems now there's quite a bit of redundancy between the ML and PL, and things are not easy to synchronize, what with "add files to library", "add files to playlist" etc...along with "send to player", "play selection" etc in the ML. It just seems like music management would be a lot simpler if the two functions were merged. For those "purists" who dont like the ML, there could be a "disable ML features" checkbox to hide the left pane extension button.

Any thoughts?

[Shadowraven]

I agree. I like this idea very much. I've been feeling the same way about it too.

[reuben]

It could not be different. And as much as I understand, it is what Matt and Paul intent.

[Willow of Oz]

hmmm, I'm tending towards no.
I think the two really have different purposes.
I can see a lot of stuff happening in both that is distinct and separate. The ML is a central repository for organisation and the generation of playlists. The playlists, well, they're just the playlists.
I think as we become more familiar with the two we'll see that they are in fact distinct species.
Stand up for your rights !! Say NO to merger 402 !!!!

[dd01]

If I understand correctly, you want a playlist just like the old and ***** Winamp3 ? The right side will be with the names of the playlists, and when you click them, it will appear on the left side the content of selected playlist ?

Sorry for my bad englishright now. I celebrate my birthday ;)

[acehole]

Happy birthday dd01.

I think the playlist and ML should be kept seperate, but a slightly closer integration would be good, e.g. if I have sent songs of a certain album to the playlist, those songs should be reflected/indicated in the ML, or at least the currently playing song.

[Aaron]

I hope this is on-topic as we are talking about the playlist and media-library and how they interact.

At the risk of sounding like a traitor I've been using musikCube (www.musikcube.com) a fair bit recently. The main reason is that it is open-source and there is a linux version under development (I plan to be fully Windows free by the end of the year). I know you can run QMP sortof with WINE but I've been on the lookout for something a bit more "native".

While not as feature rich yet as QMP it does have some nice aspects to its Media Library I really like.

The main thing for me is the "Dynamic Playlist" feature where you can use SQL to generate an automatic playlist very flexibly?

Perhaps this is an advanced feature that could be looked into for QMP?

Aaron

[Qaz]

The main thing for me is the "Dynamic Playlist" feature where you can use SQL to generate an automatic playlist very flexibly?

Perhaps this is an advanced feature that could be looked into for QMP?

Isn't this what Gracenote Playlists are doing already?

[Aaron]

Isn't this what Gracenote Playlists are doing already?

I may have missed something.Is it possible for the user (e.g. me) to enter the SQL string of what I want directly?

Aaron

[Darin]

I thought this same thing before I actually tried the new Beta versions. I didn't like the idea of having a Playlist seperate. But now I understand it, and really like the way it's set up.

The only thing I would change is adding files and stuff a bit more easy, or "out there". More blatant. It's a little confusing to have to click on an artist/album, then right click, or select it, then hit Player, THEN select add to player.

I also think "Add to player" is a bit confusing... shouldn't it be "Add to Playlist"? I would like there to just be a "Play" and then "Add to Playlist" button on the Media Library at the top.

I also wouldn't mind in the right hand column to have a "Select All Tracks" button.

I also think (now that I look at it), that the Media Library is too different from the rest of the components. If you look at the actual player part, and Playlist, you see the small text with the triangles. Menu, Plug-Ins, etc. They look like Drop-down menus. But when you look at the Media Library, they look like big buttons. I think they should be labeled better, like "Library Menu" and all that.

But I'm getting way off subject here. I would like to see some changes, like the ability to Select All in the right hand... but I think the other changes I suggested are all capable with skinning.

BACK to the original subject (sorry)... I like the way they are seperate now that I've actually used it.

- Darin

[Qaz]

I may have missed something.Is it possible for the user (e.g. me) to enter the SQL string of what I want directly?

Aaron
I haven't tried Musikcube so I don't know exacly how it works but if you choose "My Auto Playlists" and then click New from bottom you get the following dialog.