Proposed (optional) changes for simplified layout

[mikebo]

For the status bar i am thinking of leaving it but only showing the buttons when the mouse passes over the status bar - the text would always display

That would just make the buttons harder to discover for new users. Wouldn't it be better to remove the status bar and display the text over the main panel with slight transparency like so

Panel visibility could be toggled in the View menu or by hotkeys.

i like redwings suggestion for the search box being used also for the location bar.

And how exactly would that work? BTW is the location bar even used for anything else than entering web addresses?

Regarding the proposed changes in the caption bar & toolbar area I don't think that moving everything to the caption bar is a good idea. That would make for a very cluttered look imo.

[redwing]

Regarding the proposed changes in the caption bar & toolbar area I don't think that moving everything to the caption bar is a good idea. That would make for a very cluttered look imo.

Good point. Especially toolbar buttons make it look cluttered. Maybe moving tabs only to caption bar while retaining header bar could be an alternative.

Regarding status bar, I'd just like to have "show/hide status bar" command under View menu to hide it when I don't need it.

[Steven]

for this layout the panel layout button and any custom buttons would not display in the caption bar. For MB to use the new layout, the skin would need to set a flag because of new colouring required. The vertical tabs layout would keep using the existing layout because it doesnt really fit in with the proposed changes. Skins that dont support the new layout would also keep using the existing layout.
I might get rid of the "Now Playing" bar in the first layout.
The Refresh button would need to be added as a custom tool button if its important to you but would get shown in the search box as in IE when vising web pages.
The search box doubles as a location bar in that if you entered "://" or ":\" in the text it would tell MB to open a web page or folder location




and for how it looks with the "Now Playing" header removed:

[Alumni]

I might get rid of the "Now Playing" bar in the first layout.

Personally I think the Now Playing bar makes the overall layout look more uniform, and I find the playlist duration display helpful.

[Steven]

Personally I think the Now Playing bar makes the overall layout look more uniform, and I find the playlist duration display helpful.

yes i agree - i think quite a few people would not like to loose the playlist duration and it also helps new users who dont know what the right panel list is. I am going to leave it in for both, and that way everything is consistent where only the tabs/ search box and navigation controls move to the caption bar for the 2nd. I will make the main panel and now playing header bar a bit narrower in height though

[Bee-liever]

I might get rid of the "Now Playing" bar in the first layout.

Can't the "Now Playing" header be dropped down so that it's aligned with "Library - MusicBee" header?
i.e.  The RH panel docks under the Location Bar - the same as the LH navigator panel does.

Layout icon moves to far right of Location bar in first example

[mikebo]

for this layout the panel layout button and any custom buttons would not display in the caption bar. For MB to use the new layout, the skin would need to set a flag because of new colouring required. The vertical tabs layout would keep using the existing layout because it doesnt really fit in with the proposed changes. Skins that dont support the new layout would also keep using the existing layout...

So how is this proposed layout better than the current one?

[Steven]

this is what i am planning on going with:



i believe it improves the current layout as follows:
- remove location bar which for the bulk of the use cases is not really needed and just duplicating information thats already available and especially when multiple tabs are open
- and because of that the header bar can be made a bit narrower
- back and forward buttons are located nearer the panel they relate to
- less wasteful of space when mutiple tabs are open when they are not docked in the caption bar

as mentioned this layout will only be used when the skin indicates it supports the new layout

[redwing]

Overall it looks fine to me. Though I disagree on some details, I guess that's not that important at this stage.
But one thing I'd like to ask is to offer the option of "Hide right sidebar header":
- Now left sidebar is located under the header bar, which is an improvement. But not for right sidebar. To me, that's inconsistency.
- If the right sidebar header is hidden and the header bar of main panel spans across the entire screen, it will provide more visual space.

[mikebo]

this is what i am planning on going with:

So i guess the top image is for tabs in header bar and the bottom on is for tabs in caption bar variants of this new layout, correct?
Why are the back/forward buttons and search box moved to the caption bar with the tabs, can't they stay in the header bar?
If the skin supports this layout will it be used exclusively or will there be options to choose the old layouts?

[Steven]

@mikebo, please make the time to read the thread as most of your questions have already been discussed
as to the back/forward buttons and search box, yes they could go into the main panel bar for the 2nd layout and i might still do that - especially as there would otherwise be a large gap.
but because the search box also serves as a location entry box it makes sense to have it on the left side of the panel

[mikebo]

@Steven: Optional, yes, it's in the title, sorry. But are these different layout options really necessary. With the current layout for example there are options for vertical tabs and tabs in caption bar to save vertical space that is lost with horizontal tab bar. In this new layout tabs are moved in the header bar so would there still be need for other tab placement options?

And how will people who haven't read this thread know that the search box doubles as location entry box?

[mikebo]

here is my take on this proposal


- hidden status bar (toggled in View menu) OR removed status bar (with a semi-transparent file info as proposed here)
- location entry box removed (URLs can be entered through File > Open File or URL)
- search box removed. (search is a separate node)
- header bar can also be hidden (for people who don't use tabs and can do without back/forward buttons. Configure layout button menu accessible through View menu)

with player on top


Search view

for the mockup i simply moved the search box into the search results view, but with this extra space we could do this even better with search filters easily accessible. It's worth pointing out that performing a search would still require only one click, as the search box would already be focused when opening search view.

[psychoadept]

I like your mock up, mikebo, but what about the ability to search within a particular node or playlist?

[mikebo]

Good question. Maybe Ctrl+F (which is used in web browsers to find text on current web page, so it would be familiar) could open the search bar from the search view mockup on any current node and let you perform a search in that node.