Redwing asked me some months ago for starting a post for speaking about proposals for making MB simpler and more consistent between its different areas and in relation with standard usual software in windows, so here it is. Feel free to add any +1,0,-1 saying why, for any new proposal adding a number for easy commenting. Here are some:
1) Hotkey for editing Now playing track. That would be useful when want to fix mispelled or add new tags from the theatre mode. Or change the behavior of the hotkey for selected tags for editing now playing track when no song is selected or MB is in TM at full window/screen
I'm in theater mode and i see a tag which needs to be fixed, would be nice a hotkey instead of coming back to main windows and search for the playing song, select it, right click menu, edit
2) Miniplayer, hability of removing stop button and volume slider. As shown in this mockup, also added some extra mockups for simplicity for seeking:
3) Alternative mini player option. A new option for showing the actual player in the main view in place of miniplayer. So if we are using a customized xmlc file, the miniplayer would be customized too.
Then i could have my usual player controls with its tricks/shortcuts and the behavior i'm used to as the miniplayer:
4) Hability of choosing the skin from the shift+click execution of MB
& 5) Also would be nice an easy way for testing MB with the default settings from the Shift+click execution. Or maybe a selection of the last saved each two days. With that we could do better betatesting.
6) Stablish where and when use Now playing, now playing list, and playing track terms for avoiding mistakes.
7) Easier switching between Playing track panels modes. Currently is complex doing it. Enabling the one at the bottom is easy, but now change to one in a tab (which is not as easy as clicking one entry in the browser panel), and again try to use the one at the bottom. Very complex, the button at the bottom has dissapeared, doesn't matter if you close the playing track in a tab or not.
8.) Layout: More than one year with MB, and still find this confusing, the moving navigation buttons depending on left panel. It also makes the address bar too small with a normal window when you have some custom buttons. Navigation bar should occupy the full width of the windows, and don't change depending in side panels.
Mockup proposed: Navigation arrows always at left border, search box always at right border, address box not shrinking. Also moved tabs to the left
9) Internals: The function for editing files, if there is one
I wonder if the internal function could ask for confirmation as default. And Steven shouldn't have to remember enabling the confirmation, but instead would have to remember disabling it.
Just imaging/guessing: edit(file, id3.2, year, new value, no confirmation)
So if edit(file, id3.2, year, new value) is used it should automatically ask for confirmation, and is safer forgetting not removing the confirmation than forgetting not adding it.
10) Lyrics: I use minilyrics for showing lyrics and editing/storing them in an external file. I miss an easy way to telling MB to forget about searching/showing any lyrics panel because i'm using an external plugin for them.
11) Hability of phisically deleting a file when being in the Now playing tab, not only removing it from the playlist.
Edit: As Scampbll pointed out is possible to do it pressing shift+delete, i'm asking from the right click menu, like it happens in the other tabs.
12) Teather mode, end the screen size fragmentation. Newer TM could add the size of the screen for which is designed, and MB could resize it to look the same way in smaller or bigger screens
13) In the player controls at the main window, all the buttons has some tooltip showing some info. When hovering over the playing track text it could show the bitrate info, or the complete title if it isn't shown completely.
14) Bookmarks inside library, while MB has a browser the first thinking i have is for showing a web in a tab, but its a fragment of a track. Suggest renaming them to
Audio bookmarks to dissipate any doubt.
& 15) Would be nice the possibility of adding real web bookmarks to the browser panel. Something like
www.discogs.com/search?type=release&sort=year&sort_order=asc&artist=<Artist>&title=<Title> would be more convenient there than inside the playing track panel for some reasons: bigger screen, possibility of copying/editing the current address
16) Rating for no stars clicking in the edit panel is different than clicking in the main panel, it shows 0 stars and requires another click more for no stars
NOTE: If you really would like any of the proposals shown in this tread to get done, feel free for opening a new thread and asking for it, as a big post like this one is really not a good way for getting them done