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Support => Questions => Topic started by: cborn on June 10, 2015, 09:09:54 PM

Title: Sorting albums released the same year by same artist
Post by: cborn on June 10, 2015, 09:09:54 PM
A few of my albums were released the same year by the same artist. I like to keep my albums sorted chronologically, so this is problematic as they get sorted alphabetically after that. I've tried fooling around with custom sorting options to no avail. Does anyone know of a solution?

examples
http://i.imgur.com/SaQyCWb.png
Mesmerize - May 17th 2005, Hypnotize  - November 22nd 2005

http://i.imgur.com/2KWqPT5.png
This one is a weird exception. Nothing Like the First Time and Live! From the Troubadour were both released in 2012 (Nothing Like the First Time was the earlier release). Even though I can't find anything abnormal in the tags, it's still sorted correctly and not in alphabetical order.
Title: Re: Sorting albums released the same year by same artist
Post by: Ricky Roma on June 17, 2015, 01:01:00 PM
You can add the month of release to the year field, or if you don't know that then just put in 01 for the album you know was released first and 02 for second etc.

for example-

1978-01
1978-02
Title: Re: Sorting albums released the same year by same artist
Post by: Alumni on June 17, 2015, 01:53:18 PM
You can add the month of release to the year field, or if you don't know that then just put in 01 for the album you know was released first and 02 for second etc.

for example-

1978-01
1978-02

Yeah. Or if you prefer you can put the month before the year, separated by a hyphen.

I also made a virtual tag to read the entire month/year value, but to display only the year itself. I use this for the track details view.

Here is the formula:
$Right(<Year>,4)
Title: Re: Sorting albums released the same year by same artist
Post by: psychoadept on June 17, 2015, 03:20:22 PM
I also made a virtual tag to read the entire month/year value, but to display only the year itself. I use this for the track details view.

Here is the formula:
$Right(<Year>,4)

Doesn't <Year (YYYY)> already do that?
Title: Re: Sorting albums released the same year by same artist
Post by: Alumni on June 17, 2015, 04:55:16 PM
Doesn't <Year (YYYY)> already do that?

Yes, I actually forgot about that field.
Title: Re: Sorting albums released the same year by same artist
Post by: a2a on June 17, 2015, 10:12:38 PM
Have exact same dilemma as OP...

As I make a lot of my DJ mixes I have a fair few albums put together/recorded in the same year. Since I started using MB I've looked to better tag my library and can't recall what months stuff was recorded, thus the YYYY MMM solution - whilst a good idea - is not going to be accurate for me.

What I have done however, is put a disc number on each....

My MB browser is navigated by 2-columns; Album Artist and Album Year. It works v.well, but essentially what I'd like to do is sort the Album Year column by year THEN disc no, is this possible and if so I'd be grateful for any recommendations?

Cheers :)
Title: Re: Sorting albums released the same year by same artist
Post by: psychoadept on June 17, 2015, 10:41:00 PM
essentially what I'd like to do is sort the Album Year column by year THEN disc no, is this possible and if so I'd be grateful for any recommendation

In the Sort By... menu (which is under the little squares at the top right of the main panel) you should see an option to set a custom sort order.  In the screen that comes up from there, you can configure a sort order like Album Artist/ Year/ Disc# (or whatever you want).  This can be applied regardless of what columns are showing in the main panel.  Just beware that your whole library will be sorted this way, so if you have actual multi-disc albums, it might have weird results.
Title: Re: Sorting albums released the same year by same artist
Post by: a2a on June 18, 2015, 09:43:09 AM

In the Sort By... menu (which is under the little squares at the top right of the main panel) you should see an option to set a custom sort order.

I'm having trouble locating this, do you mean to ultimately get to the "Sorting/Grouping" preferences dialog box?

Irrespective, I can't find a way to apply sorting/grouping without affecting the library navigation layout :s

Also, just had a thought... The "album year" tag I'm using is customised (through all the help and support here :)); would it be possible to build in to its formula an IF statement to process something along the lines of 'if same year exists, sort by disc no' - or is that mixing apples and oranges?

Thanks again :)
Title: Re: Sorting albums released the same year by same artist
Post by: Bee-liever on June 18, 2015, 10:48:42 PM
Also, just had a thought... The "album year" tag I'm using is customised (through all the help and support here :)); would it be possible to build in to its formula an IF statement to process something along the lines of 'if same year exists, sort by disc no' - or is that mixing apples and oranges?

You can set up a virtual tag with that $If statement for sorting.

If using the 'Album and Tracks' view you could use it with the sub-grouping header (http://getmusicbee.com/forum/index.php?topic=11990.0)

If using the 'Artwork' view, you can use it in one of the custom sorting slots available
Title: Re: Sorting albums released the same year by same artist
Post by: a2a on June 20, 2015, 01:18:19 PM
Thanks for sharing that :)

I couldn't get your virtual tag to work from the code provided; the text seems to contain a butter point?
Title: Re: Sorting albums released the same year by same artist
Post by: psychoadept on June 20, 2015, 08:19:20 PM
Which virtual tag are you trying to create?  If it's the tag for four digit year, that's already built in.  Just look in your list of available tags.
Title: Re: Sorting albums released the same year by same artist
Post by: a2a on June 20, 2015, 08:43:17 PM
This tag from Bee-liever's references post:

Sub-Header [variable]

Code:

$If(<Disc Count>>1,$IsNull(<Set Subtitle>,"• Disc "<Disc#>" •","• Disc "<Disc#>" • "<Set Subtitle>" •"),$IsNull(<Set Subtitle>,,"• "<Set Subtitle>" •"))



My objective is to sort a disc number if there's an album from the same artist released in same year. Otherwise, I just want to be able to do it via a navigation view somehow?
Title: Re: Sorting albums released the same year by same artist
Post by: psychoadept on June 20, 2015, 08:55:48 PM
Unfortunately, one thing functions can't do is compare tags from one file to another file.  However, if you marked your DJ mixes with a particular genre or grouping or custom tag, you could use that tag to write a formula that would be applied to those files, but not your other albums.

i.e.

Speical Sort Tag = $If(<Grouping>="DJ Mix",<Album Artist> <Year> <Disc #>,<Album Artist> <Album>)

That would create a sort order where DJ mixes were sorted by Album Artist/Year/Disc#, but other albums are sorted by Album Artist/Album.  Obviously you can tweak it as desired.

Once you like the formula, you'll still need to put in the main panel or (probably better) use a custom sort order.
Title: Re: Sorting albums released the same year by same artist
Post by: a2a on June 22, 2015, 11:46:15 AM
Thanks Psychoadept - appreciate the help and response.

I'm not too good at using custom sort order - I always seem to be mess the layout of my library.

Given that this scenario is only affecting my own collection, I think having another formula just to cater for a minority issue is not worth it.

Instead I think it's best to add the months - along side the year - to add further info to help the sorting, would you agree that best? I mean, I'm also trying to add full release dates to most stuff these day's since the information is becoming more helpful. Originally, it would've just been the year...

How is best to tag the mixes with a full date (what ID3 field) ?

Thanks agai :)
Title: Re: Sorting albums released the same year by same artist
Post by: a2a on June 22, 2015, 03:27:04 PM
Would putting the full date in "RELEASETIME" work?
Title: Re: Sorting albums released the same year by same artist
Post by: psychoadept on June 22, 2015, 07:00:25 PM
You can put a full date in Year. It shouldn't cause any sorting problems.