GUI changes for v3.0

[redwing]

How about aiming for more of a WYSIWYG configuration panel:

+1 That's a great idea!

And perhaps we could loose the 'stack' check boxes.

An option could be that if you drag an element on top of an existing element (instead of above or below it), it could get stacked with that element, displaying some 'joint' indicator:

Not sure that's better than the current tick box. Also there are two ways of stacking.
The limitation of the current stacking is you can't use different ways of stacking in different panels.
If there's a way with less visual clutter that supports different ways of stacking in different panels, that'd be great.

[hiccup]

And perhaps we could loose the 'stack' check boxes.
An option could be that if you drag an element on top of an existing element (instead of above or below it), it could get stacked with that element, displaying some 'joint' indicator:

Not sure that's better than the current tick box. Also there are two ways of stacking.
The limitation of the current stacking is you can't use different ways of stacking in different panels.
If there's a way with less visual clutter that supports different ways of stacking in different panels, that'd be great.

Good to have you back redwing!

Removing the stack check-boxes will indeed help getting a cleaner look, but also gain some valuable and well-needed pixel-estate for that panel.
The more advanced configuration of stacking could probably be reached by a configuration button, and, what I would prefer, also at right-clicking the header bar where the stacks are present.

[redwing]

The more advanced configuration of stacking could probably be reached by a configuration button, and, what I would prefer, also at right-clicking the header bar where the stacks are present.

Yeah, that could be one way.

Anyway, I really like your WYSIWYG layout. With that layout, people will immediately get the idea of what they're doing and how they'd like it to be configured.
Hope Steven will seriously consider your proposal.

[phred]

How about aiming for more of a WYSIWYG configuration panel:

Hell, v3 has been in alpha since October and personally I don't think it's fair to Steven to start requesting major GUI changes now that the public beta has been launched.  Especially since most of the people (myself included) have been using v3 since the beginning.

HOWEVER!!  This layout definitely meets the criteria of "a picture is worth a thousand words."  The layout is brilliant.  Even a first time user should be able to understand what's what.

[Joolee]

How about aiming for more of a WYSIWYG configuration panel:

Hell, v3 has been in alpha since October and personally I don't think it's fair to Steven to start requesting major GUI changes now that the public beta has been launched.  Especially since most of the people (myself included) have been using v3 since the beginning.

HOWEVER!!  This layout definitely meets the criteria of "a picture is worth a thousand words."  The layout is brilliant.  Even a first time user should be able to understand what's what.

You could remove the checkboxes in that view. Disabling an element is as simple as dragging it away.

[hiccup]

Hell, v3 has been in alpha since October and personally I don't think it's fair to Steven to start requesting major GUI changes now that the public beta has been launched.  Especially since most of the people (myself included) have been using v3 since the beginning.

HOWEVER!!  This layout definitely meets the criteria of "a picture is worth a thousand words."  The layout is brilliant.  Even a first time user should be able to understand what's what.

I could never have come up with this without everything Steven has already invented, accomplished and fine-tuned with the current configuration panel the last few months/weeks.
If you analyze this wysiwyg panel, and compare it with the current one, I think that almost all of the mechanics behind it are already in place, and now working quite well.

To me it feels like a logical step and moment to now bring it up one more level, from having great working mechanics, and transferring that to an even easier interface.

So I am assuming (yes, a dangerous thing to do), that this would be a less immense overhaul for Steven to do than you might think it is.

[phred]

If you analyze this wysiwyg panel, and compare it with the current one, I think that almost all of the mechanics behind it are already in place, and now working quite well.

To me it feels like a logical step and moment to now bring it up one more level, from having great working mechanics, and transferring that to an even easier interface.

So I am assuming (yes, a dangerous thing to do), that this would be a less immense overhaul for Steven to do than you might think it is.

Yes, all good points.

[hiccup]

You could remove the checkboxes in that view. Disabling an element is as simple as dragging it away.

I think the check boxes work well, and they also line-up well with the check marks with the non-removable elements in that panel.

Come to think of it, I should have added them to the 'available elements' too. I think it is quite smart that you can just click on them there, and MusicBee will then automatically place that element in a default and 'sensible' panel.

[syldub]

+1 for the WYSIWYG layout.
For the moment, the panel configuration lacks clarity and integrity. This will greatly help users to configure panels.

[hiccup]

Come to think of it, I should have added them to the 'available elements' too. I think it is quite smart that you can just click on them there, and MusicBee will then automatically place that element in a default and 'sensible' panel.

Added those:

[theta_wave]

Since the matter of confusing options is discussed here, there's something that bugged me for ages in the settings and I've been working around it. Sure, I could've experimented a bit and figured it out but I didn't want to mess about. It's the artwork storage settings. Here's what's unclear to me:

The "super-set" of options may be slightly different as the first option copies the picture to folder.jpg in one of MB's cache directories and the latter copies the cover to the album folder.  There are definitely use-cases for both.  As for the "link to the original picture," good question.  I initially thought that it automatically links to the cover in my albums folder determined by the "album cover search rules," but I have "link to original ..." unchecked.  Hmmmm.  Maybe it links to the cover art URL from cover art providers?

//Edit:
Below an example where auto resizing of the track information would be welcome

I think you meant you would like the panel to either ignore the aspect ratio of the cover (this could lead to ugly results) or detect the dimensions of the resized and place the information below accordingly.

[Steven]

Some things I noticed:
 - Why is the green encircled item there and not to the right, above the panel it refers to?

its a bug that will be fixed

- What is the difference between the green and the red items? They both refer to the same panel but link to different setting windows. Can't the red button be integrated in the submenu of the green item?

The Track Information header is there mostly for consistency. Its also possible other items will be added to its drop-down menu

- In the "Dark-Metro" skins at least, the red button has a little arrow to the right, indicating you get a submenu when you click on it. It links directly to a settings window though.

let the skin author know

- Can the "track information" panel be made to resize automagically so the Lyrics window always gets the most possible screen estate? (orange)

probably no

- The changing cursor to indicate you can resize the right sidebar is very unstable. You can click to resize over an area of about 10 pixels but the cursor only seems to change for a single pixel and most of the times, it doesn't change at all when I hover slowly over the area. Clicking to resize always changes the cursor though.

i cant reproduce any issue. Is it just the Now Playing panel this happens?

The "Stack" tickboxes (red) don't seem to get saved. Also, I don't really understand the green settings, but that might be because I can't test it.

I cant reproduce any issues. Infact the default config should stack the lyrics and artist bio

[Steven]

With "highlight playing track in the main panel" option enabled, if you switch from Tracks or Album &Tracks view to Album Cover or Artists View, the main panel doesn't highlight playing track unlike v2.5.

thats fixed for the next update

[Steven]

Since the matter of confusing options is discussed here, there's something that bugged me for ages in the settings and I've been working around it. Sure, I could've experimented a bit and figured it out but I didn't want to mess about. It's the artwork storage settings. Here's what's unclear to me:

copy to folder.jpg and the organise option are two different things. The default is "Cover.jpg" but can be any file naming template. It just so happens you have decided to change the template to "Folder.jpg" and hence duplicating the other option.
"link to original file" just means that any saved artwork will not be re-organised ie. any artwork added from the hard-drive just link to its original location. I am happy to change the text if someone proposes something thats more clear that i agree with

[Steven]

Dunno of it's a bug or intentional behavior:
in Now Playing tab I cannot edit files tags (sfift + mp3).
So when I am in this mode (and with MB3 I am there frequently as it looks very nice) and need to edit tags, I need to find a playlist containing the particular track. Quite inconvenient.

its working fine for me. Which Now Playing layout configuration are you using. It would probably help if you posted a screenshot or PM me your settings file (help/ support/ view settings)

I'd suggest adding this functionality + adding the option to edit tag by a doubleclick on a related tag field in column view (when you're in Now Playing tab + Playlist mode). I'd also be happy if the Playing Tracks (Now Playing tab, Right Sidebar, track details layout) fields were editable (right now there are only artwork, artist and title fields), so that it would be easier f.e. rate tracks from the album without switching any views or tabs (just by having Rating field visible in the Playing Tracks column). It would also be consistent with the regular MB's Playing Tracks options, in which you can set any tag field to be displayed.

i dont understand what you are asking for. Maybe when you post the screenshot i will see better what you mean

edit:
actually i see there is at least one bug where clicking a rating directly in the main Now Playing panel is not saving so i will fix that