getmusicbee.com
Support => Questions => Topic started by: sleepless on February 25, 2016, 04:35:31 PM
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Probably a dumb question but is it possible to lock a tab so it can't be changed? I mean not just preventing it from closing (as the lock function seems to do) but preventing navigation to other areas from within that tab itself, by automatically opening new locations in a new tab. I have a terrible habit of navigating out of tabs I don't wan't to lose. I've tried getting in the habit of right-clicking>new tab, but I constantly forget.
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Try the latest beta version, a new feature called pinned tabs was added.
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The only thing pinning appears to do is lock the position of the tab. It has nothing to do with navigation.
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why not just collapse the left sidebar? then you cant navigate away so easily
However the definition of Tab Pinning is not defined yet and may change. I am 50/50 whether it should just collapse the left sidebar automatically
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Wouldn't it be possible to have a pinned tab also remembering if the left sidebar was opened or closed?
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Wouldn't it be possible to have a pinned tab also remembering if the left sidebar was opened or closed?
It's already supported.
why not just collapse the left sidebar? then you cant navigate away so easily
However the definition of Tab Pinning is not defined yet and may change. I am 50/50 whether it should just collapse the left sidebar automatically
I am confused. Is that because you don't know how to implement the way web browsers do for pinned tabs except completely disabling left sidebar? If that's the case, I think we must accept it. But if it's technically possible, I'm not sure why you don't like it. Do you have any better idea or a different notion of "pinning tabs"?. Currently the feature is not pin tab as a pinned tab soon gets unpinned (by being replaced with another node) as soon as you select another node.
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Wouldn't it be possible to have a pinned tab also remembering if the left sidebar was opened or closed?
It's already supported.
In that case I think the left panel should not auto-hide.
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Wouldn't it be possible to have a pinned tab also remembering if the left sidebar was opened or closed?
It's already supported.
why not just collapse the left sidebar? then you cant navigate away so easily
However the definition of Tab Pinning is not defined yet and may change. I am 50/50 whether it should just collapse the left sidebar automatically
I am confused. Is that because you don't know how to implement the way web browsers do for pinned tabs except completely disabling left sidebar? If that's the case, I think we must accept it. But if it's technically possible, I'm not sure why you don't like it. Do you have any better idea or a different notion of "pinning tabs"?. Currently the feature is not pin tab as a pinned tab soon gets unpinned (by being replaced with another node) as soon as you select another node.
the way its implemented now is how it works on firefox. As far as i can tell the only thing firefox does is reduce the tab to an icon and places no restrictions on the location after that.
My own view is pinning should also lock the tab to the pinned location and hide the left sidebar. But then entirely locking a tab then puts an artifical restriction on doing global searches. So as you (i think, not sure) are suggesting, perhaps MB should just allow the user to navigate anywhere but on restart the tab always revert back to the pinned location
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the way its implemented now is how it works on firefox. As far as i can tell the only thing firefox does is reduce the tab to an icon and places no restrictions on the location after that.
No, it's not. It only allows to navigate within the site. Pin Wikipedia. You can navigate anywhere within the site. But as soon as you click on an external link, you get moved to a new tab.
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not for me - i can go anywhere in a pinned tab and on restart it will be at the new location. I dont recall changing any firefox settings around this
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No, it's not. It only allows to navigate within the site. Pin Wikipedia. You can navigate anywhere within the site. But as soon as you click on an external link, you get moved to a new tab.
I can't test Firefox right now, but I can navigate anywhere with a pinned tab in Chrome.
I think the issue of an easier way to open a new tab from the left navigator is important, though. MB is a very different beast from a web browser, and making the tab fixed seems more useful here.
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perhaps MB should just allow the user to navigate anywhere but on restart the tab always revert back to the pinned location
Not on restart but when you get out of the pinned tab to another tab. Would it be possible? Then I think that could be a compromise if you don't want to add the suggested way.
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not for me - i can go anywhere in a pinned tab and on restart it will be at the new location. I dont recall changing any firefox settings around this
I don't know if it's a setting. But that's not my firefox is working.
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MB is a very different beast from a web browser, and making the tab fixed seems more useful here.
Very true.
I just checked the FireFox pinning option. Only now I understand where the idea of having only an icon showing in a very narrow tab came from.
But that only works in a browser where almost every website has it's own icon.
But that doesn't work for MusicBee.
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I can't test Firefox right now, but I can navigate anywhere with a pinned tab in Chrome.
I just installed Chrome and checked this, and you're right. It allows you to navigate even to external sites and remembers last visited web page when re-opened. I can see this way (current MB) has some merits in that it will ensure your last visited node won't be accidentally closed and will persist when reopened. So in that sense, they are certainly "pinned."
For Firefox, on the other hand, "Links to other websites open in a new tab so that your Pinned Tab doesn't change".
https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/pinned-tabs-keep-favorite-websites-open#w_how-are-pinned-tabs-different-than-normal-tabs
This way guarantees you will always have access to pinned (favorite) nodes even when you're frequently navigating to different nodes within a pinned tab (because you will get moved to a new tab). Though Chrome's way has its own merits I think Firefox's way is more suitable to MB's pinned tabs especially to make them serve as an alternative means to left sidebar.
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I think Firefox's way is more suitable to MB's pinned tabs especially to make them serve as an alternative means to left sidebar.
+1
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Would it be possible to have pinned tabs also remembering the opened state of the docked edit panel?
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for the next update i have made the following changes:
- tabs can be pinned as: Icon Only; or Icon and Text
- if Icon and Text is chosen and the tab is not active, the tab will display with the usual text but at a minimal width. Except for the Podcasts or Inbox node which show the counter as the text value
- if a tab is active, the current behavior is the same as now ie. the tab is shown at full width and with the usual text
- when a tab is first pinned, the left sidebar will be hidden but there are no restrictions afterwards eg. it can be re-opened and you can navigate to a different node which is remembered on restart
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http://musicbee.niblseed.com/V3_0/MusicBee3_Patched.zip
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- when a tab is first pinned, the left sidebar will be hidden but there are no restrictions afterwards eg. it can be re-opened and you can navigate to a different node which is remembered on restart
Then I don't really get why one would pin a tab. What's the benefit?
Try the current lock tab feature. It does the same thing - prevents it from accidental closing and remembers last location on restart (just like all tabs in MB for the second). It's rather better as it doesn't arbitrarily hide left sidebar when first set up.
You never explain why you don't like Firefox's way of pin tab feature though I elaborated why it's more suitable to MB.
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i am fine with the idea of opening a new tab if the user clicks on another node.
What i wasnt comfortable with was how the handling for custom and global searches would be done. However now i think i feel ok with restricting the searches so only the current pinned node is searched so i will look to implement that in the next few days
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When this topic was first raised I mentally shouted, "You beauty!"
I thought it was the first step in moving towards hiccup's request of configuration presets.
I had a vision of pinned tabs holding those presets and being able to quickly access them from a drop down window
icon for pinned tabs
(http://i.imgur.com/4PohioL.jpg) (http://imgur.com/4PohioL)
icon pressed
(http://i.imgur.com/FoJBUP5.jpg) (http://imgur.com/FoJBUP5)
But sadly, the pinned tab is basically the locked tab by another name.
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i am fine with the idea of opening a new tab if the user clicks on another node.
That'd be great!
What i wasnt comfortable with was how the handling for custom and global searches would be done. However now i think i feel ok with restricting the searches so only the current pinned node is searched so i will look to implement that in the next few days
I'm not sure I understand the search issue. If the user performs global search within a pinned tab, can't you instantly move it to a new tab as well? And when the user closes the search results node tab or clears search term in the search box, return focus to the original pinned tab.
If it's not possible for some technical reason, maybe we should accept the limitation.
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I had a vision of pinned tabs holding those presets and being able to quickly access them from a drop down window
I think we're moving to that direction (except the dropdown part). hiccup's proposal probably needs new implementation of custom layouts (like custom views). Then we could apply to each tab a custom layout for whole panel config and then a custom view for the main panel, if implemented that way. Then each pinned tab could retain a completely customized layout for selected node.
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I think we're moving to that direction
I hope so.
the pinned tab is basically the locked tab by another name.
I'd be more than happy to be proven wrong :)
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@Bee-liever, i havent eveen considered hiccup's suggestions for saved configurations and i think it requires some thought and should be outside the scope of whats done for tab pinning. Its not something i would do for v3.0
I'm not sure I understand the search issue. If the user performs global search within a pinned tab, can't you instantly move it to a new tab as well? And when the user closes the search results node tab or clears search term in the search box, return focus to the original pinned tab.
If it's not possible for some technical reason, maybe we should accept the limitation.
i think that would be a bad user experience for a new tab to be opened when doing a search.
I will go with the idea of always restricting searches to the pinned tab
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@Steven - I know that the pinned tab option is evolving, but I'd like to understand pinned tabs vs locked tabs. Is pinned going to replace locked? If both will exist, what are the differences? What is the behavior of each and why use one over the other? Thanks.
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I'm not sure I understand the search issue. If the user performs global search within a pinned tab, can't you instantly move it to a new tab as well? And when the user closes the search results node tab or clears search term in the search box, return focus to the original pinned tab.
If it's not possible for some technical reason, maybe we should accept the limitation.
i think that would be a bad user experience for a new tab to be opened when doing a search.
I will go with the idea of always restricting searches to the pinned tab
Then how can you do a global search when you're in a pinned tab?
Open a new tab, search there and then close the tab and return to the original tab?
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@Steven - I know that the pinned tab option is evolving, but I'd like to understand pinned tabs vs locked tabs. Is pinned going to replace locked? If both will exist, what are the differences? What is the behavior of each and why use one over the other? Thanks.
a locked tab just disabled the close icon. I have removed that option/ functionality to reduce confusion
Then how can you do a global search when you're in a pinned tab?
Open a new tab, search there and then close the tab and return to the original tab?
yes
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@Steven - I know that the pinned tab option is evolving, but I'd like to understand pinned tabs vs locked tabs. Is pinned going to replace locked? If both will exist, what are the differences? What is the behavior of each and why use one over the other? Thanks.
a locked tab just disabled the close icon. I have removed that option/ functionality to reduce confusion
Thanks Steven. I'll have to find something else to blame the next time I get confused. :)
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Then how can you do a global search when you're in a pinned tab?
Open a new tab, search there and then close the tab and return to the original tab?
yes
Then why should one have to do all those manually when it's possible to automate the process? How could that be a better user experience?
Also it's logical and consistent to move it to a new tab because you're already in a different node (search results node) when you're doing a global search.
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my mind is made up on this point. Just to be clear it only applies to the text search. Using middle mouse button click or Ctrl-F custom query opens the search results in a new tab
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@Bee-liever, i havent eveen considered hiccup's suggestions for saved configurations and i think it requires some thought and should be outside the scope of whats done for tab pinning. Its not something i would do for v3.0
OK. Thanks for letting me know.
I will hold off on the critique and see how the pinned tabs evolve :)
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changes as described above:
http://musicbee.niblseed.com/V3_0/MusicBee3_Patched.zip
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Was the behavior changed intentionally for playlists and filters to open in a new tab, if the current tab is pinned?
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my mind is made up on this point. Just to be clear it only applies to the text search. Using middle mouse button click or Ctrl-F custom query opens the search results in a new tab
You sound like you're done with improving this feature. Then I leave the following responses just for the record.
Current implementation of searching within a pinned tab is anything but consistency and user-friendliness. Here's why.
- Whether to open in the same tab or in a new tab should depend on whether the content is confined in the same node or not. That's why clicking on another node within a pinned tab opens a new tab and moves focus to there.
- Then the same should be applied to search actions too. Middle mouse click search is working globally, so it's consistent to open the search results in a new tab. What about custom search? If that's local then in the same tab, If global then in a new tab. But currently local custom search results show in a new tab whereas local text search results (consistently) display in the same tab. Why?
- Doing a global search (both text and custom) in a pinned tab is a real pain since it's disabled. You need to open a new tab and search there, but that tab is set to local search (because you're opening a new tab from a local search set tab) so you have to first change the setting to global search. After done, close the tab and return to the original tab. Now I'm not sure it's worth it to pin tabs as I'm doing global search a lot.
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Was the behavior changed intentionally for playlists and filters to open in a new tab, if the current tab is pinned?
Playlists yes. Filters i will fix for the next update
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@redwing, i will at least remove the disabling of local/ global text search. I will probably default it to local though when the tab is first pinned.
If global is enabled MB would open a new tab as with middle mouse click/ custom search
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http://musicbee.niblseed.com/V3_0/MusicBee3_Patched.zip
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@redwing, i will at least remove the disabling of local/ global text search. I will probably default it to local though when the tab is first pinned.
If global is enabled MB would open a new tab as with middle mouse click/ custom search
Thanks for the change! It's working much better.
Was the behavior changed intentionally for playlists and filters to open in a new tab, if the current tab is pinned?
Playlists yes. Filters i will fix for the next update
I noticed pinned library filter tabs are no longer locked to their original location. I don't think this is good for the following reasons:
- It's inconsistent with clicking on other nodes that opens a new tab. Also filters and (auto)playlists are basically same thing. Then why treat them differently?
- This means basically you're encouraging people use only one pinned tab for music library node (because it keeps changing). Then people have to use left navigator every time they want to select another filter.
- People have all kinds of filters, each of which would work best with its own column sets and layout that can be (partly) achieved with custom views and tab override settings. So pinning those filters and locking them to the original node would allow people to quickly access their favorite filters with its own layout without using left navigator.
As a few members have suggested, you might want to consider allowing stacking of pinned tabs that would open a drop-down menu upon clicking.
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Thanks for implementing these changes. Very much appreciated.
As a few members have suggested, you might want to consider allowing stacking of pinned tabs that would open a drop-down menu upon clicking.
That would be amazing!
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When pinning the podcasts tab (displaying icon and text), it displays the number of podcast tracks as the text. So instead of my tab reading "podcasts", it reads "953".
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When pinning the podcasts tab (displaying icon and text), it displays the number of podcast tracks as the text. So instead of my tab reading "podcasts", it reads "953".
That's as intended. The Inbox is the same.
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Am I the only one who can't stand this inconsistency with filters that keep changing? Everyone else is happy with it?
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As of right now, it's not really a problem for me. I kind of see it as being similar to the playlists tab, where a new tab isn't opened for each new playlist. I see your point though, and I really do like the drop-down menu idea, although that's unlikely to be implemented for some time.
When pinning the podcasts tab (displaying icon and text), it displays the number of podcast tracks as the text. So instead of my tab reading "podcasts", it reads "953".
That's as intended. The Inbox is the same.
Could someone tell me the reason for this? I mean what's the point of editing the text for a tab if it doesn't display that text? A tab labelled "953" just seems wrong to me. I mean why isn't the music tab labelled "8650", or playlists called "77"?
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Am I the only one who can't stand this inconsistency with filters that keep changing? Everyone else is happy with it?
are you refering to the behavior that when you have the music node selected, clicking any of the library filters doesnt open the new filter in another tab?
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Am I the only one who can't stand this inconsistency with filters that keep changing? Everyone else is happy with it?
are you refering to the behavior that when you have the music node selected, clicking any of the library filters doesnt open the new filter in another tab?
Yes, I am as I pointed it out earlier:
I noticed pinned library filter tabs are no longer locked to their original location. I don't think this is good for the following reasons:
- It's inconsistent with clicking on other nodes that opens a new tab. Also filters and (auto)playlists are basically same thing. Then why treat them differently?
- This means basically you're encouraging people use only one pinned tab for music library node (because it keeps changing). Then people have to use left navigator every time they want to select another filter.
- People have all kinds of filters, each of which would work best with its own column sets and layout that can be (partly) achieved with custom views and tab override settings. So pinning those filters and locking them to the original node would allow people to quickly access their favorite filters with its own layout without using left navigator.
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For me, I feel that if the playlist tab is pinned, it shouldn't be opening a new tab each time an individual playlist is selected. I'm glad a new tab opens if I navigate to a completely different area (like music or podcasts), but it seems to me that individual playlists should all be opened from within the playlists tab. Likewise with filters. If someone wants a unique tab for each individual playlist or filter then they can do that by creating them seperately. I do see the inconsistancy problem though. I just happen to think that the playlist tab behavior should change. Otherwise I would have way to many tabs. It's not like you can collapse them all like is possible in the sidebar.
Is there any way it would be possible to allow local navigation within a pinned tab if the main node is pinned? So if Playlists is pinned, you can navigate to individual playlists without opening a new tab, but if you pin an individual playlist then a new tab will open if a different one is selected. Same with filters. If the music tab is pinned, navigating different filters is possible within the tab, but if a filter is pinned then selecting other filters would open a new tab. Not sure if that's possible.
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OK, I can see why some would prefer not opening a new tab for filters and playlists.
Then how about adding an option to tabs bar setting like "when pinned open a new tab for filters & playlists"?
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Off-topic : about tab layout.
Could you bring back the old "lock tab" setting as a 3rd option, please ? I really miss this feature and don't like how the tabs are handled when pinned :
- Icon only ? Tabs displaying library with differents filters = same icon
- Icon + Text ? I have the "show icon" option unticked because I want a clean layout with text only tabs. This setting make the option useless.
- dynamically resizing tabs ? Tabs are moving all around. I have few tabs set in stone. I know exactly where to click to open one of them.
- old "lock tab" setting : text only tabs, no resizing (unless you have too many tabs), disable AND hide the close button (yes, I like clean layout ;))
About OP: I don't use links so I have no opinion about this, but like some users, I'd really like locked/pinned tabs with their own settings (e.g.: column browser with 3 filters for one tab, but 5 filters for another one, etc.)
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Could you bring back the old "lock tab" setting as a 3rd option, please ? I really miss this feature..
+1
especially now with all the new tabs opening from pinned tabs, I'd like the option to lock a tab so I don't accidentally close it.
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i am planning to make the following changes:
- For pinned tabs, add a "Lock" option which will be the default for a new pinned tab. A new tab will always be opened when clicking on any other node (including other library filters)
- if "Lock" is disabled, you will be free to navigate to any other node in the Pinned tab ie. in this case the tab pinning just provides a way to reduce the space used in the tabs bar
- for tabs that are not pinned, the old "Lock" option will be renamed to "Disable Close" and not show the close icon in the tab
- for pinned tabs, the current behavior is to widen the tab and show the icon & text text (like when tabs are not pinned). I dont like how that causes the other tabs to move so i will probably remove that functionality ie. the pinned tab will show in highlight colours but wont widen
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i am planning to make the following changes:
- For pinned tabs, add a "Lock" option which will be the default for a new pinned tab. A new tab will always be opened when clicking on any other node (including other library filters)
- if "Lock" is disabled, you will be free to navigate to any other node in the Pinned tab ie. in this case the tab pinning just provides a way to reduce the space used in the tabs bar
- for tabs that are not pinned, the old "Lock" option will be renamed to "Disable Close" and not show the close icon in the tab
- for pinned tabs, the current behavior is to widen the tab and show the icon & text text (like when tabs are not pinned). I dont like how that causes the other tabs to move so i will probably remove that functionality ie. the pinned tab will show in highlight colours but wont widen
Great idea! Probably that could accommodate most needs from various use cases.
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First, thanks for this incredible piece of software. I am very impressed with the customization options in MusicBe.
I have my music in various folders grouped by their main genre (Blues, Jazz ...) So my main use for tabs are filters that separate the music according to their paths. Each tab is assigned to a genre of music (depending on the route), and I would like to have the ability to assign different icons on each tab representing its genre.
Would it be possible?
In other programs, the main library can be divided into "collections" (each collection is a node that can be asigned to a genre), but in MusicBee there is only one library, and I don't know if there is a better way to get this division that I'm doing with tabs.
PD: Sorry for my bad english, and thanks to Google translator.
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It seems what's being suggested is an all or nothing approach, which I disagree with. Meaning either all navigation opens a new tab or it doesn't. I still think what makes the most sense is for filters to be navigatable within the tab, while other nodes aren't. So the Music tab allows music filters but not Podcasts, Inbox etc...
- A Playlist Manager tab should allow individual playlists, while Music, Podcasts etc... are opened in a new tab.
- Playlists allows organization using folders. So a tab created for a playlist folder should only allow internal navigation for any playlists inside it. So a tab made for "Dance Music" allows internal navigation to all those playlists within the "Dance Music" folder, but Podcasts or Audiobooks should require a new tab.
*I also am not a fan of all the dynamic resizing of the tabs.
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- for pinned tabs, the current behavior is to widen the tab and show the icon & text text (like when tabs are not pinned)
I've grown to like it like this. I did have to move my locked tabs to the left, but I think it works very well now.
Hopefully you won't remove this functionality.
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... A new tab will always be opened when clicking on any other node (including other library filters)
Yes! I followed this thread until a few days ago and gave up on new tab behavior because you wrote you made up your mind on the tabs (in this thread). Now I see you incorporated this in the last patch! This is exactly the kind of behavior I was missing in the tabs. I didn't use the tabs because the old behavior made them almost useless for me. Now we can "bookmark" specific folders without the risk of navigating away from them.
Please keep it this way. Thanks Steven!
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Hi Steven,
EDIT: My ramblings below were due to a bug. Steven already fixed it!
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Have you thought about adding an option where the user can set a specific tab width? (fixed or minimum, not sure about that)
It seems several users don't like the dynamic resizing of the tabs. I'm one of them. I've been fiddling a bit with the tabs (since the behavior is much better now) but the resizing seems "random" and is quite unnerving/jumpy. If you have more than 5 or 6 tabs open, the text of many tabs is unreadable (only one, even a half (!) or no characters at all). The text of the selected tab disappears altogether.
That's why I think a fixed or minimum width (option) would be the best solution IMHO.
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may be a dropdown menu with the list of opened tabs will be useful. see tabmix plus extension for firefox.
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i am planning to make the following changes:
- For pinned tabs, add a "Lock" option which will be the default for a new pinned tab. A new tab will always be opened when clicking on any other node (including other library filters)
- if "Lock" is disabled, you will be free to navigate to any other node in the Pinned tab ie. in this case the tab pinning just provides a way to reduce the space used in the tabs bar
- for tabs that are not pinned, the old "Lock" option will be renamed to "Disable Close" and not show the close icon in the tab
- for pinned tabs, the current behavior is to widen the tab and show the icon & text text (like when tabs are not pinned). I dont like how that causes the other tabs to move so i will probably remove that functionality ie. the pinned tab will show in highlight colours but wont widen
this is done now as above but with the following slightly changed:
- for pinned tabs, you can select the following "Navigation Lock" options: Do Not Lock; Full Lock; and Partial Navigation (allow Playlists and Filters) which is the default
- i decided (for now) to keep the behavior that when a pinned tab is the active tab then it is widened. I dont really like that the other tabs are moved but the alternative of keeping it narrow and highlighted also doesnt work well in my view
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http://musicbee.niblseed.com/V3_0/MusicBee3_Patched.zip
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Great work Steven! Love it.
Bug below SOLVED thanks to the never ending limitless and superquick efforts of Steven ;-) Man oh man... You're the best!
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BUG ALERT (SOLVED): I just discovered the following: half of my screen width is now filled with tabs but even if I open up a dozen or so extra, they won't take up more space: the last tabs (even if it's a dozen or more) take up only about 20 pixels space all centered in the tab bar. In other words: they overlap all in the space of about one folder icon.
[Just reported this as a bug in the bug forum with a more thorough explanation: http://getmusicbee.com/forum/index.php?topic=17809.msg106286#msg106286]
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I started this reply with a complaint about the small tab sizes (when opened about 7 or more text tabs) but that problem seems to be (mainly) due to this bug...
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Thanks for the "Disable Close Button" setting.
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i am going to change "Disable Close Button" to use the full set of "Navigation Lock" options ie. you will no longer need to pin a tab to restrict the navigation.
If Full Lock or Partial Navigation is chosen the close button wont show
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For me, when I have the partial navigation lock selected for the Playlist Manager tab, it still auto-opens a new tab if I select any playlist.