Vertigo-1
11-08-2005, 07:56 PM
Didn't know where else to drop these ideas, so I thought here would be the best.
First and foremost, yes I know the ML has been rewritten for build 105. I just wanted to address some issues with the existing ML and see if these are making it into the next version and general thoughts.
Now I'm going to use Windows Media Player as an example here. I'm neither condoning it's use or claiming it's better in any way. I do, however, like the ML setup (it has its own set of issues, however) and it's nice to be able to look at something when someone speaks about it.
Monitoring (aka AutoUpdate). The existing QMP ML lacks this feature. When you add a folder to the ML, it never rescans it to see if files have been renamed, moved, deleted, added, etc. I think this is a much needed feature. I'm constantly renaming/tagging/deleting and/or otherwise updating my collection of music. I know there is a Watch Folder setting for QMP, however I don't think that relates to the ML. It seems to change the current playlist. While this would work, in a way, it's not the best solution.
Sorting Categories. WMP has several categories by which you can sort which music you're looking at (from the tree view). Much more than the few that the QMP ML has. It has those such as Year Released, by Rating, Contributing Artists... well, you get the idea. Some more categories to sort by would be awesome. I usually go straight for Album or Artists view, but there are times I've used the others. Oh and, it's got a sort for Video files, too. I don't currently have any videos in my QMP ML, so I don't know if QMP would sort them seperately from music.
Tree View. This is an issue I have with the TreeView itself. Double-clicking one of the afforementioned Sort Categories doesn't do anything. It should expand (or collapse) them. Instead of me having to click the little arrow. I know this may be nitpicking, but to me the first and most logical choice is to double-click to expand. Double-clicking artists or albums themselves, however, makes QMP play all the tracks in the album or by that artist. Confusing!
Searching. This is my biggest peeve, with the Monitoring coming a close second. Maybe they're tied. I don't know. The search doesn't work at all the way one would expect. It just searches within the current set of media you're viewing. WMP's ML search works differently. When you enter a search term, it searches the entire library and displays all matches in a "search results" view off of the tree view. I think that's better than just searching the current artist or album or genre I'm viewing.
I might have other issues, but they don't seem important. I hate having to use WMP, I just don't like it. However when you have nearly 12,000 songs (I have easily 700+ CDs and I'm trying to get them all on the computer) a fully functional ML is so very important. I understand that this is also the first implementation of the ML into QMP so it's going to be buggy/twitchy/lacking and whatnot. I'm not whining or demanding anything, just bringing my issues to light.
With all that in mind, Paul -- thoughts or updates on what you've done with the new ML? Maybe instead of builds you could post a blog-type thing or something with all the fixes/additions/changes you're making as you go this way we can see what's going on?
Anybody is free to comment or add your own thoughts or suggestions. I'd love for a totally awesome ML!
First and foremost, yes I know the ML has been rewritten for build 105. I just wanted to address some issues with the existing ML and see if these are making it into the next version and general thoughts.
Now I'm going to use Windows Media Player as an example here. I'm neither condoning it's use or claiming it's better in any way. I do, however, like the ML setup (it has its own set of issues, however) and it's nice to be able to look at something when someone speaks about it.
Monitoring (aka AutoUpdate). The existing QMP ML lacks this feature. When you add a folder to the ML, it never rescans it to see if files have been renamed, moved, deleted, added, etc. I think this is a much needed feature. I'm constantly renaming/tagging/deleting and/or otherwise updating my collection of music. I know there is a Watch Folder setting for QMP, however I don't think that relates to the ML. It seems to change the current playlist. While this would work, in a way, it's not the best solution.
Sorting Categories. WMP has several categories by which you can sort which music you're looking at (from the tree view). Much more than the few that the QMP ML has. It has those such as Year Released, by Rating, Contributing Artists... well, you get the idea. Some more categories to sort by would be awesome. I usually go straight for Album or Artists view, but there are times I've used the others. Oh and, it's got a sort for Video files, too. I don't currently have any videos in my QMP ML, so I don't know if QMP would sort them seperately from music.
Tree View. This is an issue I have with the TreeView itself. Double-clicking one of the afforementioned Sort Categories doesn't do anything. It should expand (or collapse) them. Instead of me having to click the little arrow. I know this may be nitpicking, but to me the first and most logical choice is to double-click to expand. Double-clicking artists or albums themselves, however, makes QMP play all the tracks in the album or by that artist. Confusing!
Searching. This is my biggest peeve, with the Monitoring coming a close second. Maybe they're tied. I don't know. The search doesn't work at all the way one would expect. It just searches within the current set of media you're viewing. WMP's ML search works differently. When you enter a search term, it searches the entire library and displays all matches in a "search results" view off of the tree view. I think that's better than just searching the current artist or album or genre I'm viewing.
I might have other issues, but they don't seem important. I hate having to use WMP, I just don't like it. However when you have nearly 12,000 songs (I have easily 700+ CDs and I'm trying to get them all on the computer) a fully functional ML is so very important. I understand that this is also the first implementation of the ML into QMP so it's going to be buggy/twitchy/lacking and whatnot. I'm not whining or demanding anything, just bringing my issues to light.
With all that in mind, Paul -- thoughts or updates on what you've done with the new ML? Maybe instead of builds you could post a blog-type thing or something with all the fixes/additions/changes you're making as you go this way we can see what's going on?
Anybody is free to comment or add your own thoughts or suggestions. I'd love for a totally awesome ML!