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[skidoo]

You know what would be nice....

...If I could drag my favorite view schemes from the tree out to my desktop. Then I (and my tree-hating non-geek wife) could double-click them and Media Center would launch (if necessary) and pop right to that view.

And is there some way to change the default behavior of dragging a playlist from the tree to the desktop? I'd rather a standard playlist file be created. Maybe whichever flavor could be configured in the options dialog. Copying the actual song files to the target location seems counter-intuitive to me. Similar to the goal sought above, it'd be nice to have a "playlists" folder on my desktop and just launch them straight from there, instead of having to launch MC, crack open the tree, etc. I know I can export them now (via a menu command), but dragging and dropping them would be nice and slick. And make life easier for non-geeks.

[skidoo]

And I don't get MC's implementation of favorites. Where are they accessible? Only in that second-level "Navigation" flyout?

[LisaRCT]

And I don't get MC's implementation of favorites. Where are they accessible? Only in that second-level "Navigation" flyout?

With toolbar customization you can add a 'Favorites' icon on your toolbar . . .

[skidoo]

And I don't get MC's implementation of favorites. Where are they accessible? Only in that second-level "Navigation" flyout?

With toolbar customization you can add a 'Favorites' icon on your toolbar . . .

Hmm. That makes navigation a little easier. Except that there doesn't seem to be a way to show anything in the grid besides media files. For example, if I have a playlist group called "Mixes," and then under that I have, say, "CD Playlists," "John," and "Jane." If I add any one of these to my favorites, when I select it (from favorites), I'd like to see the sub-items, not ALL the tracks under that node (and its sub-nodes). I'd like to see them as big, easily selectable rows or icons in the list display.

What I'm getting at is that a real bar to useability for a lot of people is the concept of tree navigation. In fact, for most, it's not so much the concept as the dexterity required. And on the plasma screen in my den, it's even somewhat annoying for me to have to navigate the tree.

Media Center is so useful, I think it would be even more so if it weren't accessible only to "power users." That is, it'd be nice if a power user like me could easily set it up so that the most common tasks are accessible to a just-make-it-work-I-just-want-to-listen-to-tunes person.

[Matt]

A tree isn't great with new users.

We're trying to overcome some of that with the Action Window, pane browsing, and Media Modes.  MC 10 also has a lot less tree choices out of the box.

For the most part, you shouldn't ever have to go more than like 1 node deep in the tree unless you have created a lot of advanced playlists or like tree Media Library browsing.

In any case, that's an area we're trying to improve and are happy to hear any suggestions people might have.

[skidoo]

And if Hairstyle were a little more configurable (or a little more user-friendly by default), I think it could meet this goal of idiot-proof useability.

[skidoo]

Yes, the Action Window goes a long way toward making most of the library mangement functionality available to a wider base of less Windows-savvy users. I'm a fan. And I think Hairstyle is on the right track for accomodating REAL idiots (like my wife ). It maybe just needs to be fleshed out a little more.

For example, the nav buttons are too small. And there's no indication of current context. And it should maybe have the option of popping straight to the Hairstyle "playing now" screen, similar to the way you can configure this in Internal mode. Come to think of it, perhaps Hairstyle should behave according to the relevant setting in options.

[skidoo]

By the way, where can we download different Hairstyles?

[skidoo]

By the way, where can we download different Hairstyles?

Are there different Hairstlye skins yet? Or docs on how to modify the existing one? I can see how to change main.xml, but this seems more related appearance and not functionality. For example, I'd like to limit the playlists available to a select few. Is this possible?

[Griff]

Hi Skidoo

Are there different Hairstlye skins yet? Or docs on how to modify the existing one

There was one or two that users had made for ver 9.1 and doc. in the hairstyle skin folder.

Ver 10 was changed. It doesnt like the 9.1 skins. I believed that Matt said somewhere that doc. will be available in the future.

Hope I helped

Take care
Griff

[nila]

A tree isn't great with new users.

We're trying to overcome some of that with the Action Window, pane browsing, and Media Modes.  MC 10 also has a lot less tree choices out of the box.

For the most part, you shouldn't ever have to go more than like 1 node deep in the tree unless you have created a lot of advanced playlists or like tree Media Library browsing.

In any case, that's an area we're trying to improve and are happy to hear any suggestions people might have.

I know you like throwing surprises at us and radical changes sometimes so can I just say: I LOVE THE TREE!! It's the main thing that seperates MC from all the other jukeboxes and gives it that extra power. Taking it away would be removing one of MC's most powerful features.
To make it easier though just have the Media Library node opened when someone opens MC so they can instantly see the different nodes - audio, image, video etc.

Also, for me at least, not sure how others feel - the my computer node was a great addition to MC and having it at root level showed off this feature and made it easily accessible.
Hiding it under devices hides it from beginners and doesn't promote this excellent feature.

[Zarius]

I'd have to agree with Nila here, the treeview is one of the things that makes Media Center so powerful for me.  I agree that other users are looking for easier ways to use it, and I think they should be there as an option... maybe have  Beginners/Advanced mode like the way that Winzip has a Wizard/Classic mode (I never use Winzip wizard... but appreciate that others might want to use it) whereas if they just had the Wizard mode, I'd never use Winzip.

[skidoo]

Yes, the tree is great and should remain. No doubt. But there should be a simpler interface for people who aren't power users.

Managing my music library is a critical task, and MC is very good at helping me do this. But PLAYING actual music is also a critical task. And it's a task that almost anyone in my household should be able to do with ease. Really, they shouldn't be required to use a mouse at all. Much less navigate a small, conceptually sophisticated interface such as a tree hierarchy.

[nila]

Skidoo - have you tried just putting MC into hairstyle mode and leaving it like that when you want to use your computer to let your family play and chose music etc?

Not sure if you mean they'd be working on the machine at the same time too but if they weren't then this is the best way of letting them chose it.

It'd depend in what nature they use it though of course if this would be relivant.

[Marko]

In window xp explorer, you have a choice. If you click the "show folders" button, you get to see the folder tree in the left pane. If folders are not chosen, then instead you have a friendly column of "common tasks" and "common locations" etc.

Don't know about anyone else, but I reckon something like this for MC would work just great.
yes/no?

[skidoo]

In window xp explorer, you have a choice. If you click the "show folders" button, you get to see the folder tree in the left pane. If folders are not chosen, then instead you have a friendly column of "common tasks" and "common locations" etc.

Don't know about anyone else, but I reckon something like this for MC would work just great.
yes/no?

Yes. Exactly. Like Outlook has the, well, "Outlook Bar" that can be used as an exclusive alternative to the tree.

And in response to Nila, yes, Hairstyle would be fine if it were more user-friendly. The PCs I have hooked to stereo systems in various rooms in my house are use almost exclusively for music/image/video playback. That is, no one would be performing any other tasks on them.

[sraymond]

Are there different Hairstlye skins yet? Or docs on how to modify the existing one? I can see how to change main.xml, but this seems more related appearance and not functionality. For example, I'd like to limit the playlists available to a select few. Is this possible?

I, too, would like to see functionality customizable in Hairstyle.  I think the lack of customizable functionality is the biggest difference between my favorite HTPC software (myHTPC) and MC.

Scott-