GUI changes for v3.0

[hiccup]

i figured out how to stop the flashing which is done for the next v3 update

You never give up ;-)

[hiccup]

A few header bars have already been slimmed down and tweaked pixel-perfect. These seem to be possible candidates for some remaining trimming:

[Steven]

I got this error when playing in the "Now Playing" tab. I see the artist doesn't have a picture.

that should be fixed for the next update

[HHM]

In Mini Player mode there is a setting bug: I wanted to turn off the spectrum visualisation. At first it didn't make any effect - with the option "show spectrum visualisation" unticked + apply & save the Mini Player still showed the spectrum.
Then I switched to the narrow mode and once again to the wide mode - and it turned out that the spectrum is gone, however with all other butttons and functions except the cover and rating fields. It looks like this:

[Citfield]

I got this error when playing in the "Now Playing" tab. I see the artist doesn't have a picture.

that should be fixed for the next update

Thanks for the hard work.

[Steven]

In Mini Player mode there is a setting bug: I wanted to turn off the spectrum visualisation. At first it didn't make any effect - with the option "show spectrum visualisation" unticked + apply & save the Mini Player still showed the spectrum.
Then I switched to the narrow mode and once again to the wide mode - and it turned out that the spectrum is gone, however with all other butttons and functions except the cover and rating fields. It looks like this:

thats fixed for the next update

[Steven]

http://musicbee.niblseed.com/V3_0/MusicBee3_Patched.zip

unzip into the musicbee application folder and run MusicBee3.exe
- fixes and changes as stated above

[redwing]

OK. Looks like there's been some improvement with the layout editor. But I'm not still convinced about its usability as it still looks way complicated for what it actually does.

- Where the selected element can go is now clearly guided (maybe the red indicators could immediately show up upon a click on any panel before dragging), but there's no visual cue about what elements can be dragged into a specific panel. Maybe clicking a panel could indicate movable elements with some visual cue, then people won't have to try every element.

- If you click on any of "available elements", that moves to the left. But hard to find out where it went. That moved element could be highlighted just as an indicator.

- How about replacing "Panel Settings" with an (gear-shaped) icon and removing "No Settings"? That would make things quite less complicated.

- I noticed now library explorer can be placed right to thumbnail browser, and column browser can't be placed left to thumbnail browser. Doesn't that conflict with their filtering hierarchy? I can see some people might enjoy that zigzag type filtering, but at least offer an option to filter from left to right like previous versions.

[sleepless]

Here's a thought for a couple of changes. I won't take it personal if you disagree.

-I feel the "playing tracks", as an element, should be called "playing tracks list" -it's just less confusing in my opinion. It is called 'now playing list' in [Preferences>Now Playing], (settings for this element are located here) and I think it should be called 'playing tracks list' here as well, for the sake of consistancy. Also in the 'elements' list in [Preferences>Panels Configuration] it should be called 'playing tracks list. I just feel consistancy in naming is important for learning and ease of navigation.

-In the 'Now Playing' panel, I'd like the 'track information' option to display the information from the 'track information' settings, instead of the fixed fields displayed currently.

-In the 'Now Playing' settings, I think the 'show track information' option should not be listed under the 'playing tracks' heading. It is a separate element and this doesn't make sense, imo.


 
Just my thoughts. I'm a fan of MB, but I'd like to see navigating the settings get a bit easier for beginners.

[fkm]

OK. Looks like there's been some improvement with the layout editor. But I'm not still convinced about its usability as it still looks way complicated for what it actually does.

- Where the selected element can go is now clearly guided (maybe the red indicators could immediately show up upon a click on any panel before dragging), but there's no visual cue about what elements can be dragged into a specific panel. Maybe clicking a panel could indicate movable elements with some visual cue, then people won't have to try every element.

- If you click on any of "available elements", that moves to the left. But hard to find out where it went. That moved element could be highlighted just as an indicator.

- How about replacing "Panel Settings" with an (gear-shaped) icon and removing "No Settings"? That would make things quite less complicated.

- I noticed now library explorer can be placed right to thumbnail browser, and column browser can't be placed left to thumbnail browser. Doesn't that conflict with their filtering hierarchy? I can see some people might enjoy that zigzag type filtering, but at least offer an option to filter from left to right like previous versions.

Agree with everything here. Layout editor doesn't seem the most intuitive compared to 2.5. I raised the issue of thumbnail browser no longer being able to be placed to the right of column browser. Not sure why this was done and why there isn't a choice. If you use Genre, Artist etc in the column browser, the thumbnail browser fitted perfectly on the right if I you used it to  display albums.

[Bee-liever]

Here's a thought for a couple of changes...

How about replacing "Panel Settings" with an (gear-shaped) icon and removing "No Settings"? That would make things quite less complicated

Agree with these suggestions.
But I can't help wondering, with all the time that MB3 has been in the alpha stage and all the work Steven has already done, why weren't these ideas forthcoming before now?

[Steven]

- Where the selected element can go is now clearly guided (maybe the red indicators could immediately show up upon a click on any panel before dragging), but there's no visual cue about what elements can be dragged into a specific panel. Maybe clicking a panel could indicate movable elements with some visual cue, then people won't have to try every element.

yes i agree and will implement that

- If you click on any of "available elements", that moves to the left. But hard to find out where it went. That moved element could be highlighted just as an indicator.

yes i agree and will implement that

- How about replacing "Panel Settings" with an (gear-shaped) icon and removing "No Settings"? That would make things quite less complicated.

not sure about this one - can you do a mockup? I am imagining it wouldnt look very good. I like the balance the current way has but equally i agree "No Settings" and a ... button isnt ideal.

- I noticed now library explorer can be placed right to thumbnail browser, and column browser can't be placed left to thumbnail browser. Doesn't that conflict with their filtering hierarchy? I can see some people might enjoy that zigzag type filtering, but at least offer an option to filter from left to right like previous versions.

i wont 100% rule this out but there are some problems with that

[hiccup]

i figured out how to stop the flashing which is done for the next v3 update along with a few minor tweaks to the panel arrangement dialog

Confirmed. It's getting better with every iteration.

Two other things:

- I think it would be good if the list of available elements on the right side of the panel would always sort alphabetically.
- It is possible to uncheck Command buttons, but they will display anyway.

[Steven]

-I feel the "playing tracks", as an element, should be called "playing tracks list" -it's just less confusing in my opinion. It is called 'now playing list' in [Preferences>Now Playing], (settings for this element are located here) and I think it should be called 'playing tracks list' here as well, for the sake of consistancy. Also in the 'elements' list in [Preferences>Panels Configuration] it should be called 'playing tracks list. I just feel consistancy in naming is important for learning and ease of navigation.

yes i agree

-In the 'Now Playing' panel, I'd like the 'track information' option to display the information from the 'track information' settings, instead of the fixed fields displayed currently.

it was intentional in order to keep the height minimal so the visualiser bar lines up in certain configurations. If i was to make it configurable, it would be its own configuration but not promising that

-In the 'Now Playing' settings, I think the 'show track information' option should not be listed under the 'playing tracks' heading. It is a separate element and this doesn't make sense, imo.

not sure i understand what you are looking to acheive with that

[sleepless]

Thoughts:

As a new user, I found all the "Now Playing" options to be confusing. I feel that "Now playing" should be used to describe the view/panel listed in the navigation panel only. The tab in the 'Preferences' list needs a name change ("Playback"?) and the 'now playing list' should be called 'playing tracks list', as should any other header/description for the 'playing tracks list' element.

I am tending to agree with the users above. I also think that it might be helpful to have an 'Elements' tab in the [Edit Preferences] list. Here could be the settings for all of the 'elements', i.e. 'playing tracks list', 'track information' etc... Too me, having one location to configure all the 'elements' would be much easier to navigate.



After about a month, I really like MB, I just find navigating the options (which I love having btw) somewhat confusing.