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[JimH]

We've done several "small change" request threads.  Here's the last one.
https://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php/topic,102992.msg715014.html#msg715014

The rules are the same and if you don't read them, you will find your post missing.

PLEASE READ THIS ENTIRE POST BEFORE POSTING
Long or complex posts will be removed.

In the Too Complex thread, we were told how unintuitive MC could be.

So here's the challenge for those who want intuitive software.

Suggest a change that will make MC easier to use (but NOT a feature request). 

If you can meet the following guidelines, we'll try to make the change.

A change needs to be:

1.  Easy to implement (less than an hour)

2.  Generally useful to most users

3.  Something that doesn't remove existing functionality and that isn't controversial

In other words, it must clearly be an improvement.

and

4.  Something that can be described in 10 lines or less (not complex to describe)

PLEASE don't post anything else in this thread (no "+1" posts or comments).  Start a new thread if it doesn't fit the requirements.

Thanks!

[MusicHawk]

New Tag Window: Allow moving of the division between left and right columns that governs the display width of field names vs. field data. The goal is to be able to see more of the text data in a tag field (col 2), while not also adding a bunch of empty space next to each tag field name (col 1).

IOW, let these two columns be resized same as view columns can be resized, rather than current proportions-locked-together mode.

This would also reduce the need to greatly widen the left nav/tag column just see more field content, which thereby shrinks adjacent view window width. 

(I already posted this separately as a Suggestion.)

Done  (build 67 or higher)

[MusicHawk]

In a view comprised of images (photos, cover art, etc), text under each image is specified via the view's Thumbnail Text... That works fine. BUT, all such text is the same font/size.

It would be wonderful to allow some degree of formatting of Thumbnail Text, perhaps by embedding simple HTML or (probably better) CSS. I would make displayed Captions more prominent (larger, bolder, perhaps in a color), show filenames as Courier (easier to read), and (if Formulas were allowed) parse Keywords into separate items or at least wrap the list within the photo width, and whatever else makes the photos view nicer to use. (In my family it is often desirable to wander through the photos library, viewing images perhaps by year or event or person tag.)

Of course the default would be what it is now, for users who are not inclined to do any customizing.

The controlling file (thumbnail-text.css or thumbnail-text.html, for instance) could be in the user's Visualizations folder, which is already where we go to alter Playing Now appearance when desired. So, it's just one more way that MC's display can be fine-tuned.

If the Thumbnail Text is rendered by the behind-the-curtain browser, perhaps this is straightforward to enable. But if not, perhaps it is too much work.

[Matt]

In a view comprised of images (photos, cover art, etc), text under each image is specified via the view's Thumbnail Text... That works fine. BUT, all such text is the same font/size.

It would be wonderful to allow some degree of formatting of Thumbnail Text, perhaps by embedding simple HTML or (probably better) CSS. I would make displayed Captions more prominent (larger, bolder, perhaps in a color), show filenames as Courier (easier to read), and (if Formulas were allowed) parse Keywords into separate items or at least wrap the list within the photo width, and whatever else makes the photos view nicer to use. (In my family it is often desirable to wander through the photos library, viewing images perhaps by year or event or person tag.)

Of course the default would be what it is now, for users who are not inclined to do any customizing.

The controlling file (thumbnail-text.css or thumbnail-text.html, for instance) could be in the user's Visualizations folder, which is already where we go to alter Playing Now appearance when desired. So, it's just one more way that MC's display can be fine-tuned.

If the Thumbnail Text is rendered by the behind-the-curtain browser, perhaps this is straightforward to enable. But if not, perhaps it is too much work.

You can already change the font size in the thumbnail.  I just added big "Hi there" text like this:

<font size="150%">Hi there!<//font>
[Name]
[Duration]

[Awesome Donkey]

I can honestly say for the first time with these topics I really can't think of anything meaningful to request! But, if you insist, there is one last loose end in regards to skinning with the new tag window...

http://i.imgur.com/yq4UWAg.png

See the purple hover/highlight area over Orchestra? I can't find anywhere (skin files or in Main.xml unless I completely missed it... which is possible) to easily change this - it's the same with every Modern Cards skins (and likely others). IMO, there needs to be a simple way to change this (under Main.xml). It'd be much appreciated!

Done

[marko]

In the new tag window editor, allow drag/drop of a field from one group to another. Currently, if you want to do that, you have to delete the field from its current group then re-add it in the new one.

[Matt]

I can honestly say for the first time with these topics I really can't think of anything meaningful to request! But, if you insist, there is one last loose end in regards to skinning with the new tag window...

http://i.imgur.com/yq4UWAg.png

See the purple hover/highlight area over Orchestra? I can't find anywhere (skin files or in Main.xml unless I completely missed it... which is possible) to easily change this - it's the same with every Modern Cards skins (and likely others). IMO, there needs to be a simple way to change this (under Main.xml). It'd be much appreciated!

Coming next build:
Changed: Skins can specify a highlight color for the tag window by filling: <TAGWINDOW> <Colors Selection="00FF00" /> with a value.

[MusicHawk]

You can already change the font size in the thumbnail. 

Matt, thank you, simple embedded HTML does the job. (Took me a sec' to notice the second / to delimit / in closing tag.)

Can anything else be put in Thumbnail Text that MC will interpret?

[apostos]

I’d appreciate the ability to block keywords from being downloaded. It would save me having to clean up the ‘Keywords’ column every few days. That list can get quite long…

Done  (build 67 or higher)

They aren't downloaded.  Please explain.  I may move this.

"Get movie and TV info" also scrapes keywords. I have to admit, I periodically clean mine out too as I don't find them of any value at all.

Get Movie & TV Info gives one the choice to "use image" or "use information." Keywords are part of the "information."

I don't see how the ability to prevent keywords from uploading to tags helps anyone. If you want to change them, then you are editing the tag either way and it is just an extra press of the delete key to remove them.

^ He means this:  When you do "Get Movie and TV Info" on a video file, it fills in many different Tags.  Description, Actors, etc.  One of the fields it fills in is [Keywords].  This gets populated with values like Drama, Action, Car Chase, Vampire, etc.  It also populates all kinds of weird keywords that were written by the person that wrote the entry at thetvdb or themoviedb .  Take a look at the keywords on some of your movies and you'll see some really strange stuff.

I started removing keywords manually a while back because they never seemed to mean anything to me and there were SO MANY of them.  ...and they all come from a source that you can't control.

So I agree that the ability to not download [Keywords] during Get Movie and TV info, would be a nice feature.

Brian.

Yes, but no.  It's not uncommon for a movie or TV episode to pull in 10 or 15 keywords.  Sometimes more.  So it's a lot of extra click click click click to uncheck each one.  When you don't even want this info in the first place, it's a bit of a pain to deselect 10 or more keywords every time you import a movie.

Brian.

Could be I use ‘Keywords’ differently than most folks. I have populated the field (perhaps unwisely) with descriptions and terms that I’ve found relevant to my use of the program. Descriptions I can base rules on. Podcasts and other media files tend to clutter this field with descriptors (sometimes excessively so), which can make the field unwieldy when searching or working in it.

[xpto]

A request to expand the search syntax of the New Tag Window.

At the bottom of the New Tag Window there is a Search field where you can type a string.

Example for the sake of simplicity:

Currently if I type "last" in the Search box I'll get "Last played" and "Last skipped" fields filtered.

I would like to be able to input a search string such as "last|image|name" so that I could quickly build an OR filter.

This way all the fields that match any of the search strings would be filtered.

xpto

Done

[RD James]

* When Media Server is enabled, the close button closes to tray and does not stop playback in all zones.
* Disable recent search history
* "Stop after X minutes" instead of "stop after a long pause (on/off)"
* Prevent [keywords] from being downloaded  Done]
* Do not update SACD (ISO) tags with the "update for external changes" auto-import option. It overwrites and changes you have made every time that it runs.

[xpto]

I really like the New Web Gizmo, thanks for the great work!

One request regarding the Playing Now page in the new Web Gizmo.

Currently at the top of the page the cover art for the song which is playing is displayed - which is great - you 1st need to click the cover art at the bottom left to get the cover art to the top.

However, if I scroll down in the list of songs in the Playing now page the cover art will scroll out of view...

The request is to keep the cover art static above the list of songs in the playing now page, i.e., not to scroll the cover art out of view once scrolling for the next song I want to play.

xpto

PS: Another option would be to allow for two areas: the cover art area and the list of songs area. Then allow that the cover art area to be resized vertically at the user's discretion. This would prevent that the list of displayed songs to be rather limited in number if the cover art occupies too much place at the top.

[fitbrit]

In the new Panel/WebGizmo navigation interface:

Have the next page and previous page buttons at the top as well as the bottom.
Allow us to see the links to the next 5 pages so we can advance several pages at a time.

Done

[RoderickGI]

I have been updating my Harmony Remote and MC Remote Control settings and will second tzr916's request, now here: https://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php/topic,112062.0.html

MC can see some additional IR Codes, but does not see many, just ignoring them. For example, it will see all the additional IR Codes from the Harmony "MCE Remote" Profile I think (still testing). But it won't see all IR Codes from the Harmony "Media Center SE" Profile. It sees IR Codes sent by the Harmony for Alt+1 to Alt+4 (I haven't tested past 4 yet) but it will not see Ctrl+Alt+0 to Ctrl+Alt+9, or Ctrl+Alt+A to Z. I am still testing what it can actually see.



I will add to tzr916's request three things that would make Remote Control setup so much easier.

1. Show what the Default Remote Control commands actually do in MC.

2. Show the IR Code that triggers the Default Remote Control commands in MC.

3. List all the Default Remote Control commands that MC actually recognises and responds to.


In the interest of keeping this short, discussion over here: https://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php/topic,112064.0.html

[astromo]

Enable user access to MC during an F6 copy.

I can work concurrently with an F6 move. Please provide MC functional parity on this point.

[Zhillsguy]

1. Add ability to export multiple playlists simultaneously. Currently only one can be exported at a time, and when multiple lists are selected the only option with a right mouse click is "Delete". Other options shown when selecting one list should be shown when selecting multiple if the actions apply.

2. When exporting playlists make the checkbox for "Store paths relative...." persistent.

Done

[mattkhan]

Allow the user to add an item to the convert format queue while conversions are taking place rather than blocking til the ongoing conversion is complete

[mattkhan]

(I am guessing this fails the "generally useful" test but I'll log it anyway)

use human readable/memorable URLs in Panel

e.g. instead of using the (view?) id, use the name

this would change http://jrmc:12345/Panel/#/browse/-1/2 to http://jrmc:12345/Panel/#/browse/-1/Video

I don't know what that -1 refers to but that seems like another candidate to remove from the URL too & the html5 history api makes for a nicer URL too instead of the hash history (and http://caniuse.com/#search=history seems like that is supported almost everywhere now)

ultimately it would be nice to make URLs like http://jrmc:12345/Panel/Video instead of http://jrmc:12345/Panel/#/browse/-1/2

[mattkhan]

cleanup Panel to remove items that aren't applicable to the current system

e.g. I have Settings/settings.html available but this seems to be an Id control screen

[franswilco]

After a reboot or relaunch, JRiver 'remembers' the last setting of the tree menu (IE: which sections were opened or closed). And JRiver remembers which playlist was opened / viewed last time.

Make the display for cover art "sticky" in the bottom left, so it remains in place, even when clicking the action window.

Make lyrics more easily accessible / better presentable.

[Listener]

Fix Panel so that long tag values aren't truncated (as early as they are now.)

You could provide an option for single column layout for cover art and tag values.

[robt]

Quick access to "Clean up time shifting folders".

Currently hidden in Tools>Options>Television>Advanced>Clean up time shifting folders

I bet loads have never even found it!

[rlebrette]

Add a new setting option for the timeout for the OSD, -1 could be no timeout (no hide).
Add a key binding  to hide the OSD  (backspace?)

Done

[Matt]

A request to expand the search syntax of the New Tag Window.

At the bottom of the New Tag Window there is a Search field where you can type a string.

Example for the sake of simplicity:

Currently if I type "last" in the Search box I'll get "Last played" and "Last skipped" fields filtered.

I would like to be able to input a search string such as "last|image|name" so that I could quickly build an OR filter.

This way all the fields that match any of the search strings would be filtered.

xpto

Coming next build:
Changed: Typing searches in the tag window search box will accept entering a pipe to or the test with other things (ie. genre|artist).

[Matt]

2. When exporting playlists make the checkbox for "Store paths relative...." persistent.

Coming next build:
Changed: The playlist export option "Store paths relative to exported playlist location" is saved between runs of the tool.

[Matt]

* When Media Server is enabled, the close button closes to tray and does not stop playback in all zones.

I can't reproduce that.

I started Media Center playing in a zone, then switched to a different zone, then closed the program to Media Server mode and it stopped playback.

[xpto]

Thanks Matt!

[JimH]

Split Sorting Button

[StFeder]

Already posted some time ago, but not implemented, so here I go:
Possibility to "lock" the up right search field to one view if split view is used.

[Matt]

Add a key binding  to hide the OSD  (backspace?)

Coming next build:
NEW: Made the shortcut Ctrl+H hide the on screen display (OSD).

[xpto]

One request:

When a view contains the Image(large thumbnail) field like the attached example make sure that when clicking on any other item of that group that the upper thumbnail is swapped with the thumbnail of the item that was just selected while clicking. 

Example: The thumbnail for "For the Birds" is on top; if I click for instance on another item, say "Lifted" I would like the cover of "For the Birds" to be replaced with the one from "Lifted".

xpto

PS: Forgot to mention: my List Style on that view is "Details" and Group By is active.

[dtc]

New Tag Window - Add Calculated Fields to the default display. They should either be under Advanced or their own separate group. You can add them yourself in Customize, but I do not see any reason to have to do that. They were included in the old tag window and it seems like they should be included by default in the new tag window. I see no reason to exclude them.

[dtc]

New Tag Window - The tag names are right justified which makes them hard to read. Several people have commented on this. Either left justify them or create an option to have them either right or left justified.  The option could go under the Customize option.

[dtc]

New Tag Window - It is good that the file tags are now clearly available rather than in a hidden feature. However, Tag Dump is not very meaningful except to experienced users. How about changing it to something like Tags (In Files) for something like that that is more descriptive of what is actual shows.

[mojave]

Allow "Rename, Move, & Copy Files" to work on Particles.

[RD James]

I can't reproduce that.
I started Media Center playing in a zone, then switched to a different zone, then closed the program to Media Server mode and it stopped playback.

The issue is that it does stop playback.
Playback on a server should not be so easily interrupted. Closing a Window on the server should not kill the audio in all zones.
It's one of the big stumbling blocks preventing me using JRiver as my whole-house audio solution, and seems like it should only require a minor change to fix that.

[rlebrette]

Add a new setting option for the timeout for the OSD, -1 could be no timeout (no hide).
Add a key binding  to hide the OSD  (backspace?)

Done

CTRL-H is cool, thx.
But what about the option to setup the OSD timeout?

[Goatshade]

Fix Panel so that long tag values aren't truncated (as early as they are now.)

You could provide an option for single column layout for cover art and tag values.

Expanding on this, I would suggest allowing the number of lines in thumbnail text in Panel to be user-editable.

Such a thing would be handy in theatre view, also.

A suggestion of my own:
A skin for theatre view consistent with Modern Cards in standard view. Would probably look similar to a Metro-style app.
...Not sure if that's a one-hour job, though.

[mattkhan]

a trivial but useful panel tweak....

move the next/prev page buttons in Panel (e.g. on the audio/albums view) from the bottom of the screen (and hence you have scroll down through the list to find them) to the top of the page (e.g. to the left and right of play all)

Done

[RoderickGI]

In options where the setting is a numeric value, show the meaning in the drop down list next to the value to be selected.
Or change the numeric value to a meaningful word, if space allows.
Or document in the Wiki what the numeric values mean.

For example, the TV Logging Verbosity is a numeric value of 0, 1, or 2. I haven't had to use it yet. I assume that "0" is normal logging, no extra TV verbosity. "1" is extra TV information. "2" is all TV logging. But how would I know, and does it make sense for users to have to test all the settings before using them?

If the popup showed;
0 - Low
1 - Medium
2 - High

Then a user could confidently use the setting.

Apply to all settings. Less than an hour each. 

[RoderickGI]

In the Rename, Move, & Copy Files function, enable text in the Preview window to be highlighted and copied, so that it can easily be used in the "Find & Replace" section of that function.

Okay, this may not be so easy, because the popup showing the Original and New filename and path needs to be maintained, but it would be good to have. I use this to rename the directory that holds the JTV file set for a recording, overriding the default functionality that breaks my nice directory naming.

[RoderickGI]

[Request]
In the Rename, Move, & Copy Files function, when moving JTV file sets, the sub-directory holding the file set will be unique inside its original parent directory. If it will remain unique in its target sub-directory, do not rename it according to the new rules associated with path length for files that make up TV recordings. Unless, of course, the path length actually exceeds the Windows limit.[/Request]

[Example]
i.e. A recent move I did started with a path of;
E:\Recorded TV\The Simpsons\The Simpsons - S23E01 - The Falcon and D'Ohman\The Simpsons - S23E01 - The Falcon and D'Ohman.jtv

I want to move that recording to;
E:\Recorded TV\The Simpsons\Season 23\The Simpsons - S23E01 - The Falcon and D'Ohman\The Simpsons - S23E01 - The Falcon and D'Ohman.jtv    (135 characters, so should be okay.)

But the default functionality forces a change to;
E:\Recorded TV\The Simpsons\The Simpsons - The Falcon and 2016-09-17 18-00\The Simpsons - S23E01 - The Falcon and D'Ohman.jtv

Breaking my nice sub-directory naming, which was actually created with an earlier version of the standard MC functionality, before the path length protection changes were made. I don't think that the change above is due to the path length becoming too long, as using the "Find & Replace" capability of the Rename, Move, & Copy Files function allows the path I want to be used.[/Example]

PS: Yes, this request is only two lines long, and only ten lines including the example... on my HD widescreen. 

[Llannis]

Resize and Change/Add Overview Panel Columns.

Thank you

[fitbrit]

A true ZoneSwitch Playback mode, which sends a "Stop" command between each file being played, so that the zone can be switched automatically even within a playing now list.

[StFeder]

Make the slider range for tempo changes in the "Tempo & Pitch" DSP (much) smaller, so tempo can better be controlled. At present it is impossible to change tempo for audio files using the mouse because you have to move the slider in tiny little steps.

Or is there any kind of scenario out there I'm not aware about which utilizes such massive tempo changes? Massive tempo changes still would be possible of course by typing a given value.

Done by increasing mouse-wheel precision.

[RD James]

Allow prebuffering to be set to any value, instead of being limited to 20 seconds.
 
It's nothing like a full memory playback solution that queues up multiple tracks in RAM, but would be a quick workaround that enables loading tracks into memory over a slow network connection until proper support is built in.
20 seconds is not always enough to prevent pauses/buffering between tracks.
 
The registry can be modified to increase this, and it works - though you can't seek once the next track is buffered.
Since it's unsupported though, if you open and close the settings window the value is reset to the default of 6 seconds.

https://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php/topic,112253

[JonnyRedHed]

Have an option in settings to turn off the default auto play first item in the Car Radio play list.   Would make life a little easier for those of us just wanting to change lists, not have it auto play the first item all the time.

[Yaobing]

Quick access to "Clean up time shifting folders".

Currently hidden in Tools>Options>Television>Advanced>Clean up time shifting folders

I bet loads have never even found it!

In an upcoming build:

Changed: In TV Options, "Cleanup time-shifting folders" is moved to "General" section.

Maybe not quite what you asked for, but it should help a bit.

[Gl3nn]

When entering multiple artists in the Artists field, delimited by semicolon, is it possible to have the drop-down list activate for the 2nd, 3rd, etc. artists to insure proper spelling/punctuation/consistency?

[flac.rules]

1. Make auto-backup work (that is back up the settings) when the client is using a remote library.
2. Make the program tag, or otherwise mark autodownloaded cover-art. (So it is easier to go through and check the quality)
3. Under "Commands", be able to add any MCC-command. Being able to have any keyboard-shortcut as input, instead of just remote inputs (and if also quick, adding conditions, like "video playing")
4. Being able to normalize audio and add subs for transcoding video (useful for travel, when watching video on tablet or phone).
5. If making a playlist, and all playlist item are from same artist and album, default the playlist name to Artist - Album
6. Making playlists taggable as other library items.