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[tzr916]

Some questions/suggestions (are any of these customize-able):

1. Way too many button presses to get to the Delete option and then too many options within Delete. If I am at a show, the "Watch" option is highlighted, from there it takes EIGHT button presses to actually Delete the show! If there are more than one shows in the Series and I just finished watching a show, press Stop, it goes back to the list of shows not the show I was watching, so it takes TEN button presses to actually Delete the show!

2. As described above, when a Series contains more than one show and I am finished watching one of those shows, I press Stop and it takes me back to the list of shows, not back to the show I was actually watching. Why?

3. If a Series contains more than one show, can there be a small icon on the cover art with the number of shows in that "folder"?

[Yaobing]

Can you describe your setup a bit?

If I am in Video / Shows / Series /, and I select a series, such as "America's Funnies Home Video", I get a list of shows.  I watch one.  Press Stop, The show is still selected.  If I now press OK button, I get to the details of the show, and "Watch" is highlighted.  "Delete" is right next to "Watch".  Pressing Delete leads to a confirmation dialog.  So after stopping watching the show, I need to press 5 buttons to delete (OK, RIGHT, OK, UP, OK), not 8 or 10.

[tzr916]

Can you describe your setup a bit?

I assume you are talking about Theater View.

If I am in Video / Shows / Series /, and I select a series, such as "America's Funnies Home Video", I get a list of shows.  I watch one.  Press Stop, The show is still selected.  If I now press OK button, I get to the details of the show, and "Watch" is highlighted.  "Delete" is right next to "Watch".  Pressing Delete leads to a confirmation dialog.  So after stopping watching the show, I need to press 5 buttons to delete, not 8 or 10.

Theater View. Nothing special in Video / Shows /Series except sort by date recorded.

Ya, I just tested that and you are correct on that. Just wondering why it goes back to the list of shows and have to press OK to go back to show details? Why can't Stop take me back to the show details?

Still, when there is only one show in the Series, and you press Stop, it does take 8 button presses to delete. Way too many. Delete should be right next to Watch and once in Delete too many options to get to DELETE.

[Yaobing]

Going back to the list has its own merit.  This is an implementation detail that could go one way or the other and there are always people who will like it or not like it.

When you stop watching, going back to the list is just convenient, since you can then select the next show to watch.  Many people do not delete a show right after they watch it (other members of the family may still need to watch it for example).

[CountryBumkin]

I don't delete Shows after I watch them. Someone else might want to watch it someday (guest, relative visiting, etc.) plus I have plenty of storage space now. However I can see if it was current NEWS or current events Show, there would be no reason to save that.

Would be possible to assign a key on your remote to give you "one button" delete capability. A button that could be programmed to bring up (i.e. jump to) the "Delete" option in MC.

[tzr916]

...Would be possible to assign a key on your remote to give you "one button" delete capability. A button that could be programmed to bring up (jump to) the "Delete" option in MC.

Ha, funny I was just going to ask this...

[CountryBumkin]

There is an MCC core command for "Delete" - see here https://wiki.jriver.com/index.php/Media_Center_Core_Commands.
But I don't know how to use those (never needed more than the "out-of-the-box" program).

[RoderickGI]

1. I manage deletions this way:

a. For News, Current Affairs, and any other regular show that is only important for a short period, I use the Retention settings in the Recording Rule to automatically delete the program after a number of days, or to retain only a specified number of programs. This works well. For example, I keep a week of a nightly News show, as I may wish to go back and watch a story for up to a week. After that, the News program is pretty irrelevant, so I have MC delete it.

b. For once off recordings that don't need to be kept, I watch them and then delete them immediately, through Theatre View. I don't find the process onerous to do so, since it is just one recording.

c. For Series I usually keep the recording for some time. At least for the whole Season, of not longer. For some Series I keep all Seasons until I no longer want them. Like CountryBumkin, I have the storage space. When it is time to delete them, I do it in Standard View, where I have better visibility of what I am doing, and I can delete a whole Season, or a whole Series, with one press of the Delete key, and then a confirmation. I consider this a maintenance process, so I just do it every now and then, and Standard View is the best way to do this.

2. I love it that MC returns to the list of shows in the Series/Season after I finish watching an Episode. I wouldn't want it any other way. I often watch more than one Episode of a Series, and I want to just press the Down (select the new episode), Ok (review the episode description), Ok (to start playback and watch the program) keys to watch the next one. Even if I don't watch the next episode, I might scroll down and review the description of the next one. The current functionality is convenient.

3. This may be a convenience, but honestly I just drill down from Series to Season to Episodes, and I can see how many recordings are in there. In fact, I don't really like that MC will jump from Series to Episode if there is only one Season recorded so far, since I don't step through the Seasons and therefore don't see the Season listed. But that is a minor issue, as I can see the Season.Episode number in the list of recorded programs.

A one button delete should be possible to set up on a programmable remote. Do you really want to have that power on one button though? I suspect you would still get a confirmation question though, so I guess it wouldn't be so bad.

This thread has reminded me of one thing I find annoying though, and that is scrolling through 16 Seasons of CSI, or 11 Seasons of Criminal Minds to get to the current programs. A reverse (Descending) sort of Season number would be better. . . Done. Much better now. Isn't MC so flexible! 

[tzr916]

Just doing these two things would decrease the number of remote pressed from 8 to 4:

1. Put "Delete" right next to "Watch" and move "Select" and "Tag" farther down? Does anyone ever use "Select" or "Tag" options when looking at Tv show details? example:
-Watch
-Delete
-Select
-Tag

2. Once you get into Delete, change the order so "Delete" is right next to "Cancel"? Does anyone ever use "Remove from Library" or "Recycle File"? example:
-Cancel
-Delete File
-Recycle File
-Remove from Library



Can any of these things can be done in the Theater View skin?

[RoderickGI]

That is mostly good ideas, but;

Does anyone ever use "Remove from Library" or "Recycle File"?

Definitely, yes. There was a big discussion about that not so long ago. On a keyboard, Shift-Delete defaults to "Delete File", while Delete defaults to "Remove from Library". Maybe you can use that information if you create a single button delete on your remote control.

But from within Theatre View, most people are probably just using "Delete File". Certainly I am. But I, and it seems many others, use the "Remove from Library" and "Recycle File" in Standard View quite regularly.

Can any of these things can be done in the Theater View skin?

Good question. I know that Theatre View skins can't change the functionality of MC, and can change the position, add and remove objects (i.e. Clock), but I don't know if they can change the position of menu items. There is a research project for you. 

PS: Note that sometimes MC will also show a "Watch All" option when an Episode is displayed, giving the option to play all Episodes. I think that is a carry over from audio functionality, where you may want to play all tracks in an album. But some people may also want to watch a set of programs one after the other.

Note also that when I display an episode that is part of multiple episodes in a series, then the menu items displayed are;
Back; Watch (highlighted); Delete; Select           -----> Note Delete right next to Watch

It is only when I display a single program, or a Series that only has a single Season and Episode in it, that the menu items displayed are;
Back; Watch (highlighted); Select; Tag; Delete; Add to Playlist; Find Artist

So people by deleting every program in a series as you watch them, you are actually making more work for yourself in that extra menu items are inserted. Most people who record series probably aren't seeing the problems with extra button presses that you are.

[tzr916]

...If a Series contains more than one show, can there be a small icon on the cover art with the number of shows in that "folder"?

What about simply doing a look for Tv series that's similar to audio? That is, like when an artist has more than one album, it has the "offset stack of cards" look.

[DeaneG]

I think the usual case is to delete after watching. Sure, sometimes you don't want to - so make it 5-8 button presses for that case and two presses for the most frequently-used one, not the other way around.

[RoderickGI]

I think the usual case is to delete after watching. Sure, sometimes you don't want to - so make it 5-8 button presses for that case and two presses for the most frequently-used one, not the other way around.

Maybe. I don't know. Perhaps a survey would shed some light. But I don't think those get a lot of support around here...