Phred on the Lookout

[phred]

Phred on the Lookout is a blue skin for MusicBee 3+.

It is based on (some would say stolen from) hiccup's (nee jistme) Jistme on the Outlook.  I want to thank hiccup for doing the hard work of the original creation. And then he stepped up big-time to help me work through the various issues I ran into.  He is due a virtual bottle of red.

The font used in the Artwork View screen shot is Kabel and the font used in the Track Details view is Comic Sans MS. Both are  available free from many websites.

All comments are welcome.

Nov 20 2021 - made text on tabs a slightly bluer blue to improve legibility (thanks to sveakul)
Nov 18 2020 - corrected colors in forward and back arrows
Nov 03 2018 - added support for multi-line display
Oct 19 2018 - updates to controls/progress bar on bottom
Sep 03 2017 - tweaks to volume visualiser
May 08 2017 - added volume visualiser
Dec 18 2016 - fixed progress bar
Jun 04 2016 - fixed radio buttons
Apr 25 2016 - minor fixes
Mar 11 2016 - changed foreground color of A-Z Bar (thanks for the override Steven)
Feb 14 2016 - tweak to spectrum visualiser and search box
Feb 11 2016 - some Bee-liever inspired tweaks along with tweaks to dropdown menu borders & compact player; complete rewrite of mini-player & tag editor
Feb 02 2016 - slight color change to player controls and wavebar; removed separator line in Track Details & Now Playing panels
Jan 18 2016 - more main panel tab tweaks
Jan 16 2016 - changed color and layout of main panel tabs
Jan 06 2016 - Even less white; tweaks to in-line and vertical menu bars; new splash screen; added graphic for "No Cover Art"
Dec 13 2015 - Less white; more blue.  Color tweaks various elements including wavebar, control buttons, tag editor, scroll bars, tabs, buttons, and alternating color bars.  

Enjoy.

Download Phred on the Lookout from MediaFire

Artwork View:


Track Details View:
[/u]

[phred]

This skin, which I thought was finished many times, continues to evolve.  The latest update includes tweaks to the main panel tab colors and layout.  The download link on the first post has been updated with the latest (and last?) update.

Constructive criticism welcome.

[Bee-liever]

keeps getting better and better

would never have thought to combine alternating rows with the item separator, but it works very well on this

[phred]

keeps getting better and better

Thanks much.

would never have thought to combine alternating rows with the item separator, but it works very well on this

In all honesty that must be by accident because I don't know what you're referring to.  I mean I know what the alternating rows are but the only MB item separator I'm aware of is the semi-colon.

[Bee-liever]

In all honesty that must be by accident because I don't know what you're referring to.  I mean I know what the alternating rows are but the only MB item separator I'm aware of is the semi-colon.

Must be serendipity then, cause I think it looks great.

<element id="Content[AlbumAndTracks].ItemSeparatorLine" fg="238,238,238" /> (lines 84 and 104)
gives the pale blue line under each row.

[phred]

In all honesty that must be by accident because I don't know what you're referring to.  I mean I know what the alternating rows are but the only MB item separator I'm aware of is the semi-colon.

Must be serendipity then, cause I think it looks great.

Again, thanks.  That means a lot to me, especially coming from you.

<element id="Content[AlbumAndTracks].ItemSeparatorLine" fg="238,238,238" /> (lines 84 and 104)
gives the pale blue line under each row.

Ahhh ... -that- item separator.  Well, we need to thank hiccup (jistme) for that as it must've been in his Jistme on the Outlook, which I ripped off to create this.  And I never touched that element.  Although his skin doesn't use the alternating bars.  So I really don't know where that element came from. 

[phred]

Slightly updated version posted.  Link is in the first post.
2016-02-10 - minor color change to player controls and wavebar; removed separator lines in Track Details & Now Playing panels

@Bee-liever - I know you said the separator line worked well in this theme, but today, for whatever reason, it started bothering me.  So it's been removed.  I think it's part of my quest to eliminate as much white as I can from the skin.  I did however, leave it in Albums & Tracks but with a change from off-white to one of the blues used in the skin.

[Bee-liever]

a few suggestions (if I may)
take advantage of the new element
<element id="Content[TrackDetail].HeaderLine" bg="xxx,xxx,xxx" />
to replace the grey MB generated line (when using grouping in Tracks view) with a blue one

IMHO the white border of the scrollbar thumbs now looks out-of-place with the loss of the other white elements.  You might try a darker border.

I'm still undecided on the change.
Don't get me wrong, it's still good.  This is just more laid back and subdued, where the other version was bright, cheerful and in-your-face.

[phred]

a few suggestions (if I may)

Always. Yes. Please.

take advantage of the new element
<element id="Content[TrackDetail].HeaderLine" bg="xxx,xxx,xxx" />
to replace the grey MB generated line (when using grouping in Tracks view) with a blue one

Great idea.  I've never used grouping too much before, but I've been playing around with it recently and this line change really makes a difference.

IMHO the white border of the scrollbar thumbs now looks out-of-place with the loss of the other white elements.  You might try a darker border.

Nice find.  I completely overlooked the white there.

I'm still undecided on the change.
Don't get me wrong, it's still good.  This is just more laid back and subdued, where the other version was bright, cheerful and in-your-face.

I don't really think it was in-your-face before, but this is definitely more subtle.  Which is what I'm after.  I found the white separator line somewhat distracting today, which is what prompted the change.

Link has been updated with these changes.
Comments are always welcome.  Pro or con.  I consider it all part of the learning process.
Thanks.

[phred]

More fixes and tweaks. Plus some major changes.
See the first post for details and download link.
Thanks to Bee-liever and Alumni for the latest round of guidance.

[Bee-liever]

I'm still undecided on the change.

Really liking this latest tweak

I would suggest
<element id="Player.SpectrumVisualiser" bg="205,220,237" bg2="246,248,254" fg="145,171,201" fg2="205,220,237" bdr="145,171,201" />
to subdue the whitish background a bit

And with the plan to minimize white tones, don't forget the tabs when in caption bar too!

[phred]

I'm still undecided on the change.

Really liking this latest tweak

I knew you'd come around.  :-)

I would suggest
<element id="Player.SpectrumVisualiser" bg="205,220,237" bg2="246,248,254" fg="145,171,201" fg2="205,220,237" bdr="145,171,201" />
to subdue the whitish background a bit

And with the plan to minimize white tones, don't forget the tabs when in caption bar too!

Since my 'usual' layout doesn't include either of these two, I had overlooked them when modifying this skin.  Thanks for pointing them out.  The spectrum visualiser is now updated as are the tabs in the caption bar.

However, I now need help with two more elements:
- When I show tabs bar in the caption bar the panel configuration button stays white.  With the tabs bar below, it's blue. Where does that element live? 
- I have what I'm pretty sure is TabsBar.JoinLine looking as I want when the tab bar is below the caption bar, but can't find what will change that line with the tabs bar in the caption bar.

[Alumni]

However, I now need help with two more elements:
- When I show tabs bar in the caption bar the panel configuration button stays white.  With the tabs bar below, it's blue. Where does that element live? 

These should do the trick.

Code

	<element id="CaptionBar.HeaderControl.Default" fg="" />
	<element id="CaptionBar.HeaderControl.Disabled" fg=""  />

[Bee-liever]

- When I show tabs bar in the caption bar the panel configuration button stays white.  With the tabs bar below, it's blue. Where does that element live? 

besides the ones Alumni has already posted, you also have
<element id="CaptionBar.CommandButtonOverride" bg="XXXX" fg="XXX" />
<element id="CaptionBar.CommandIconOverride" fg="XXXX" />
for the toolbar buttons and icons to match

- I have what I'm pretty sure is TabsBar.JoinLine looking as I want when the tab bar is below the caption bar, but can't find what will change that line with the tabs bar in the caption bar.

the one for caption bar line is
<element id="TabsBar.TabInCaptionBar.BorderLine" bdr="XXX" />

[phred]

These should do the trick.

Code

	<element id="CaptionBar.HeaderControl.Default" fg="" />
	<element id="CaptionBar.HeaderControl.Disabled" fg=""  />

They did indeed.  Thanks.