Change Default Behavior from 'Add' to 'Move' When Dragging Between Playlists

[Fazer]

When dragging tracks from one playlist to another, the behavior is currently set to "Add," which creates duplicates. For my primary use case, I want to avoid duplicates and simply move tracks between playlists. To achieve this it's required to delete the track from the current playlist after adding it to the new playlist. This process is cumbersome, especially when handling multiple tracks, and increases the risk of errors, such as forgetting to delete a track or deleting the wrong one.

My proposal contains two parts:

1) Implement a shift modifier key to change the drag behaviour from "Add" to "Move", this method would be used for exceptions on the rule. [DONE ]
2) For my primary use case, allow users to switch the default behavior in preferences:

FROM:
Add = Drag
Move = Shift + Drag

TO:
Move = Drag
Add = Shift + Drag

This final step is important because constantly relying on a modifier remains cumbersome for someone who rarely uses "Add".
Together these two would greatly enhance efficiency and accommodate various playlist workflows, covering all preferred ways of using 'Add' and 'Move'.

Thank you for taking my request into consideration!

[hiccup]

Doesn't seem unreasonable.
But to my estimation adding such complexity isn't justified, weighted against possibly confusing most users, and the (I am guessing) very small amount of users that may want to be able to have and actually use this feature.
So, no support from me on this one.

[BoringName]

This process is cumbersome

I think if you detailed why you are dragging songs between playlists, you might find someone has an automated method using Auto-Playlists which would remove the need for any dragging and this request.

[Fazer]

This process is cumbersome

I think if you detailed why you are dragging songs between playlists, you might find someone has an automated method using Auto-Playlists which would remove the need for any dragging and this request.

Yes, if this was for eg: genre playlists then using auto-playlists based on genre tags would be the proper way. (I think this is what you mean)

In this case I'm using playlists to prepare mixes before exporting the playlist to my dj software. First I drag a rough selection into one playlist, in this case 60 tracks. Then I will cut down to 24 tracks for a two hour mix, everything I don't want is moved to a new playlist for the next mix. This workflow is efficient instead of having to rebuild playlists from scratch each time, and it helps to avoid duplicates. Considering that I never want to add tracks, having to manually delete each track after dragging them into a new playlist becomes very noticable.

...
But to my estimation adding such complexity isn't justified, weighted against possibly confusing most users, and the (I am guessing) very small amount of users that may want to be able to have and actually use this feature.
...

I understand why the default behavior is add, and I see how this is useful for many users. However, outside of playlists, the default behavior for dragging items is usually move. For example, in Windows Explorer, dragging files between folders, or moving icons on your desktop, defaults to move. This behavior feels intuitive and the toggle description in settings could be straightforward as well. Many users are drawn to MusicBee because of its high level of customization. Considering that a significant number of DJs use MusicBee to prepare mixes, since DJ software isn't always convenient for making mix playlists, this workflow could be interesting to such user.

[BoringName]

This may or may not help depending on how you are selecting the songs, especially if you do it over multiple sessions or need to check the details of the songs before you select them.

But this might be a smoother workflow.

Create your playlist of 60 songs, lets call it "Shortlist"
Create an empty playlist, lets call it "DJ List".

Go through the Shortlist and ctrl+click the 24 songs you want. ctrl+click allows you to select non consecutive tracks. When you have the 24 songs you want, right click and select "include in playlist" -> DJ List.

This will copy all the tracks to the DJ List playlist and after it's completed, the Shortlist will be on the screen with all the tracks you just sent to the DJ list highlighted. All you have to do is hit the delete key and it will remove them from the list, no dragging required.

[Steven]

I have added Shift modifier key support to move files between playlists
https://getmusicbee.com/patches/MusicBee36_Patched.zip
unzip and replace the existing musicbee application files

[Fazer]

This may or may not help depending on how you are selecting the songs, especially if you do it over multiple sessions or need to check the details of the songs before you select them.

But this might be a smoother workflow.

Create your playlist of 60 songs, lets call it "Shortlist"
Create an empty playlist, lets call it "DJ List".

Go through the Shortlist and ctrl+click the 24 songs you want. ctrl+click allows you to select non consecutive tracks. When you have the 24 songs you want, right click and select "include in playlist" -> DJ List.

This will copy all the tracks to the DJ List playlist and after it's completed, the Shortlist will be on the screen with all the tracks you just sent to the DJ list highlighted. All you have to do is hit the delete key and it will remove them from the list, no dragging required.

The process involves listening to a track, deciding whether to keep or move it, and then repeating the process with the next track. Sometimes this happens quickly; other times, it requires listening to the entire song. Bulk selection, while reducing the number of inputs, demands remembering all decisions and applying them in one go, making it mentally more taxing and prone to errors.

I have added Shift modifier key support to move files between playlists
https://getmusicbee.com/patches/MusicBee36_Patched.zip
unzip and replace the existing musicbee application files

Great! Thank you  
It's partly working on my end: I drag the track on top of the destination playlist, I press shift, the tooltip changes from add to move, I release the mouse button and the track is copied over, however it is not deleted from the current playlist.

[phred]

It's partly working on my end: I drag the track on top of the destination playlist, I press shift, the tooltip changes from add to move, I release the mouse button and the track is copied over, however it is not deleted from the current playlist.

I think you need to hold down the shift key -before- you select and drag. Which is probably why it's -copying- and not -moving.-

[Fazer]

When holding down shift before selecting, it will select the track and all of the tracks above it. And it doesn't change the behavior to move, only the tooltip.

[phred]

When holding down shift before selecting, it will select the track and all of the tracks above it.

Hmm ... yes. That's my mistake. Try selecting the track > hold down shift > drag. Does that work?

[Fazer]

It doesn't work for me.

Can you try? I have my capslock remapped via the the registry edit, so I started thinking maybe I did something unintentional on my end. But it shouldn't be because my shift is unaltered, definitely my right shift is unaltered which doesn't work either other than changing the tooltip.

[phred]

It doesn't work for me.
Can you try?

Confirmed.
Selecting a track in a playlist, holding shift and dragging to another playlist -adds- the track to the destination playlist but does not -remove- it from the source. I tried from an auto-playlist to a static playlist; from static to auto; from auto to auto; and from static to static.

[tjinc]

It looks like this is working if you are using the Playlist Explorer but not if using the Navigator panel.

[Steven]

its now also done for the left navigator panel
https://getmusicbee.com/patches/MusicBee36_Patched.zip
unzip and replace the existing musicbee application files

[Fazer]

Thank you!