Author Topic: Rename "Edit Playlist"  (Read 3086 times)

psychoadept

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"Edit Playlist" and "Edit Auto-Playlist" behave inconsistently. The first opens the playlist in a sidebar, and the second opens the settings, as they both used to do. I would like for them both to behave as they used to.

Maybe the current "Edit Playlist" could be called "Open Playlist" or "Add/Remove Tracks", something more descriptive of what it actually does?

If we can't go back to the original behavior of Edit Playlist, then please at least rename "Edit Auto-Playlist" to match.
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phred

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I would like for them both to behave as they used to.
+1
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Bee-liever

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+1

EDIT: Removed while I reconsider psychoadept's and Zak's arguements  :-\
Last Edit: August 11, 2020, 06:53:47 AM by Bee-liever
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Zak

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tldr; Is this really something that needs to be changed? What is the actual problem here?
Be wary of changing things without a good reason if there's a risk it could make things more confusing.


"Edit Playlist" and "Edit Auto-Playlist" behave inconsistently.

A Playlist and an Auto-Playlist aren't the same thing, so it's okay that these commands behave differently.

The first opens the playlist in a sidebar, and the second opens the settings, as they both used to do. I would like for them both to behave as they used to.

You've literally said both commands behave as they used to do, but you want them to behave as they used to.  :-X
I haven't noticed any recent changes around this and I've just tried 3.3.7165 which is about to have its first birthday. It worked the same then as it does now.
So what do you mean by "behave as they used to"?.

Maybe the current "Edit Playlist" could be called "Open Playlist" or "Add/Remove Tracks", something more descriptive of what it actually does?

Edit Playlist is already descriptive of what it actually does. "Open Playlist" sounds like it would start playing it, and "Add/Remove Tracks", while technically accurate, is really just another way of saying editing. The difference is that "edit" comes with decades of experience built in. People know what it means. For example, people don't say they're going to open a Word document to add and remove words. They edit it.

If we can't go back to the original behavior of Edit Playlist, then please at least rename "Edit Auto-Playlist" to match.

If anything must be changed it should be Edit Auto-Playlist where you not actually editing the playlist, you're editing the rules that populate it. So maybe that could be Edit Auto-Playlist Rules.

(Really it should be "Properties...", but MusicBee doesn't follow that standard elsewhere either)


As a side-note, one of the nice things about the current commands is that it's an easy way to tell a static playlist from an auto-playlist.
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psychoadept

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You've literally said both commands behave as they used to do, but you want them to behave as they used to.  :-X
I haven't noticed any recent changes around this and I've just tried 3.3.7165 which is about to have its first birthday. It worked the same then as it does now.
So what do you mean by "behave as they used to"?.

This is a misreading, although I agree the phrasing is ambiguous.  "The first opens the playlist in a sidebar" is one statement. "The second opens the settings, as they both used to do" is another statement. That change was made... longer ago than I thought it was: https://getmusicbee.com/forum/index.php?topic=20724.0

I almost always use auto-playlists, so I rarely fiddle with static playlists. And I never use the sidebar playlist editor. When I do something with a static playlist, I expect "Edit Playlist" to do the same thing as "Edit Auto-Playlist": open the settings.

It's true that, in the absence of other context, "Edit Playlist" would probably be clear enough. But a) it's inconsistent, and b) for the first 5 years I used MusicBee it meant something different. That my brain hasn't caught on to the change in 3 years is largely due to the continued inconsistency. It's an annoyance every time I run across it.
Last Edit: August 11, 2020, 04:20:36 AM by psychoadept
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Zak

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Having to remember a long way back, but I think the playlist editing was changed (partly at my request) so that the playlist and library could be displayed in MusicBee at the same time. Before that it was harder - especially on a single monitor - to curate a playlist.

-edit-
Gonna guess it was around the time of this request:
https://getmusicbee.com/forum/index.php?topic=10672.msg64136#msg64136

There may be more, but I can't remember everything from 7 years ago!

Quote
When I do something with a static playlist, I expect "Edit Playlist" to do the same thing as "Edit Auto-Playlist": open the settings.

Do static playlists have "settings"? Or do you just mean like in that older thread, you want Edit Playlist to show the playlist in a separate window? If so, I feel like that should be a configurable option "Edit playlists in separate window" (or a new command) rather than renaming or altering the existing command.

More generally, I also think there's a lot about playlist editing and the Playlist Explorer that could be improved. None of it is consistent or intuitive right now.
Last Edit: August 11, 2020, 05:29:18 AM by Zak
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psychoadept

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The addition of a sidebar editor happened just before the thread I posted, so late 2016/early 2017. That's when "Edit Playlist" changed to opening that panel, and Steven added (as mentioned in that thread) the "Playlist Settings" command to open the old settings. Which is still there, and I still use, very occasionally.

I have no objection to the sidebar editor per se. I don't happen to use it, but I see it's usefulness (actually, I might use it myself if you COULD open it in another window... but it doesn't matter enough for me to fuss about). It's just the change to the playlist commands that has bothered me. Yes, for three years... but due to school I haven't had time to work with my music collection very much again until now. It's been a little bit of a time warp, which no doubt is why that still felt like a recent change. It's like something you stub your toe on every once in a while, and you think you should move the thing, but you don't have the energy right then.

Don't get me started on the Playlist Explorer. :D I LOVE the Playlist Directory and have a whole tab dedicated to it. It was Steven's concession to my stringent objections to the Playlist Explorer, which to this day I don't comprehend.
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Zak

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...Steven added (as mentioned in that thread) the "Playlist Settings" command to open the old settings. Which is still there, and I still use, very occasionally.

Where is the Playlist Settings command?
I'm on the latest build (3.4.7527) and I don't see it anywhere.
Last Edit: August 11, 2020, 08:16:21 AM by Zak
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psychoadept

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It's just below Edit Playlist in the context menu
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Zak

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Not any more.

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phred

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Not any more.
It depends on whether you're clicking on an auto-playlist or a static playlist. Playlist Settings shows in the context menu for static playlists.
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psychoadept

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Not any more.

It's right there between "Edit Playlist" and "Send To >" for me. Maybe it matters where you're looking. I'm in the playlist directory. (In which case, that's an inconsistency that should definitely be fixed.)
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Zak

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Ohhhhhh!


Playlist Settings... only appears when you're using MusicBee's proprietary playlist format.

Soz. I should have thought of that earlier.  :-[

Now that we're looking at the same thing, I think simplest and clearest would be to rename Edit Auto-Playlist to Edit Auto-Playlist Settings.... That would would make this command consistent for static and auto-playlists, while keeping Edit Playlist as the command for, whelp... editing a (static) playlist.
Last Edit: August 11, 2020, 05:28:49 PM by Zak
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psychoadept

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Playlist Settings... only appears when you're using MusicBee's proprietary playlist format.

Right! Of course, lol.


Quote
Now that we're looking at the same thing, I think simplest and clearest would be to rename Edit Auto-Playlist to Edit Auto-Playlist Settings.... That would would make this command consistent for static and auto-playlists, while keeping Edit Playlist as the command for, whelp... editing a (static) playlist.

I could live with that (as mentioned in the first post). At least then I would get used to "Playlist Settings" instead of "Edit Playlist".
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