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41 (82%)

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5 (10%)

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4 (8%)

Total Members Voted: 47

[jgreen]

 I like the idea that you can have it go above or below--I would use it low, also.  What kind of info will be in this window? 

I would vote for dressing the options window a little heavier in the "paradigm" look.  Currently the borders and face plate look more "normal" than the blade section.  I would vote thicker borders and a more "sculpted" look to the info section, similar to the main body of the "blade".

What happened to the "titanium / charcoal" coloring you showed in your reply #14?  I like the brushed aluminum just fine, but the darker one seemed to break new ground.  Can we choose either / or?

I appreciate all the hard work going into it, and I can see real progress going on.  Pace yourself.  It really looks cool.  Just the right combo of function and simpllicity.

[UnknownID]

Looks great! I'll use it as soon as it's available.

Like how you created the high/low option.  I'll probably use it low, with a playlist showing above.  I'm not sure I understand what will be displayed in the options window.  Personally I would like to see the playlist on the right side, but not as wide as the whole options window is now.  The square gray area from "Display" to "About" would seem to be a good size for the playlist display.

I like the idea that you can have it go above or below--I would use it low, also. What kind of info will be in this window?

I would vote for dressing the options window a little heavier in the "paradigm" look. Currently the borders and face plate look more "normal" than the blade section. I would vote thicker borders and a more "sculpted" look to the info section, similar to the main body of the "blade".

What happened to the "titanium / charcoal" coloring you showed in your reply #14? I like the brushed aluminum just fine, but the darker one seemed to break new ground. Can we choose either / or?

I appreciate all the hard work going into it, and I can see real progress going on. Pace yourself. It really looks cool. Just the right combo of function and simpllicity.

The options window will contain ways of changing Paradigm. The big one I am working on for the initial release is called "Display" which will allow the user to change the text that is displayed for the track. For example you could set it up to be: "NAME by ARTIST" or... "NAME on ALBUM by ARTIST" or... "ARTIST - NAME", I am hoping to be able to have many / individualized permutations. It will not be as easy to use as MC Standard View (aka by typing in what you want) since I cannot create fields in a Mini View skin, but it should be sufficient

My goal for the look of the options part is to remain as neutral as possible; since this will not change with each Theme (just the boarder coloring) it needs to be able to go along with any Theme. As for what goes here, I have a Roadmap for the development of Paradigm and I am leaving some space open for future options to be added in v1.1 and v2.0, but for now it will have the "About" page with info about Paradigm, the "Window" page with changes windows to show above or below Paradigm, and the "Display" option which I described above.

For clarification purposes: The fire Theme (as jgreen called it Titanium / Charcoal) still exists and will be accessible trough the dot on the left most part of Paradigm. These are changeable on-the-fly and are both included in the Skin. I am not showing that screen anymore since the layout and functionality for options will be the same regardless of Theme.

I hope I answered all of your questions

UnknownID

[BullishDad]

Shout out to UnknownID.

It's been a month since the last post.  Anything happening? 

[UnknownID]

Shout out to UnknownID.

It's been a month since the last post.  Anything happening? 

Wow, has it really been a month already???

Oh yes! Lots of stuff. My wife and I took a trip to San Diego, we got a second kitten, and I have been working on launching a business intranet for one of my clients... but I am sure you were referring to Paradigm

Well, the latest is that I am just about done

I have been testing my code rigorously and trying to fix little problems with the variables; I have two small issues left. Also, I decided to drop the customizable display since I wasn't liking how it was functioning (I will have to re-think how this works and I will try again for v1.1).

Now I want to do one small round of beta testing (I know it sounds silly, but I wrote some unusual code that has been causing the delay in getting this released and I want to make sure it is working correctly).

So... If you are interested in helping me get all the kinks out of Paradigm, PM me and I will select 3-5 people; I would really appreciate it if someone from JRiver would be involved. The idea is beta testing, but the thing will be a completed version ready for release (obviously, if there is a problem I will fix it before I release).

Very soon now...

UnknownID

[UnknownID]

BullishDad is the only one who responded to my request for help, so we been doing a little PMing about some known issues.

Here is what was written to me:

UnknownID,

First of all, let me congratulate you on putting together a beautiful Mini-skin.  It is sleek and functional without being complicated.  I like both colors, but will probably use Ice more often.

As far as the issues you asked me to check out;
1.  Sticking Switcher.  I haven't noticed this happening.  Maybe I don't understand exactly how or when it is sticking.  However, I have gone to ice to fire and back without problems.  Same thing for About/Window.

2.  Fifth item in Playlist.  Yes, this happens to me too.  Must click on the time.

3.  Extra - .  Haven't seen this, although I've only scrolled thru 20 tracks or so.

Based on how I would like to use the skin, I have a few comments/ideas that I hope you will find helpful.

A little background.  I have Dell 2005FPW widescreen monitor.  I use mini skins when I am browsing the internet and playing music simultaneously.

I use a window about 2/3 of the monitor's width for browsing.  With some mini-skins, I place the mini-skin to the right of the IE window.  No overlapping.

With Paradigm, I need to reduce the IE window height and keep Paradigm below. This works OK due to Paradigm's short height, but if the total width took up 1/3 of the screen, then it could be side by side.

I realize you are very far along and would probably not want to mess with the total width of the main bar at this point.  However, I'd be happier with a smaller volume slider and Track Info area so that the width could be reduced.

I would like to see the Playlist window reduced in width too.  Actually the current width of the Playlist window is about the 1/3 of the screen that I'd like to see for the main info bar.  If I am going to
leave the Playlist visible, it would be better if it took up less space in the bottom right window.  Maybe 1/2 of its current width.  I don't mind if text gets truncated.

You mentioned that you are still working on some of the visual elements.  I think the Playlist window could use some color, which you may have been planning to do anyway.

Please contact me if you have any questions.  I will still work with Paradigm and keep you informed of any bugs I notice or suggestions that I may have.

BullishDad

BullishDad, thank you very much for you comments

1. Sticky Switcher
This is a quote from a different Thread I submitted that explains the steps to reproduce.

This is kind of hard to explain...

I have a series of buttons setup on my Mini View skin that work together as like radio buttons (can only click on one in the series). In other words, one button is always "disabled" (state number 4) and clicking on a different button in the series disables itself and enables (state number 1) any disabled button.

These steps cause the problem:
1. I go from the Standard View to the Mini View; one of the buttons is already disabled.
2. I click on a different button which causes initially disabled button to have about a 2 second delay before it changes to normal.
3. Any time after that clicking the buttons changes the state instantly; it is just the initial time.

I checked this on MC10 and MC11 and had the same problem. I think it has to do with the skinning engine since I have tried a multitude of different methods of coding to try to fix this. Through these tests, I have isolated the problem to the button states and the initial change to Mini View. I eliminated all other code associated with the button change and just had the buttons change each others state.

I was informed by JR that they couldn't see the problem either and that I should check with other people when I share Paradigm. Could you tell me your OS, if you are using Java (Control Panel > Java), and if the version of each?

2. Fifth Item
Well, at least this one is not just me. Maybe someone from JR will want check into this one now

3. Extra '-'
The extra "-" shows up when a user is playing a track and the track either ends or is stopped. The only place is shows up is in the main display bar (Blue for Ice or Red for Fire). Do you have for Stop "Fade Out" or "Immediate"? I am using a fade, which might be causing the problem.

Other Comments
Yes, I am very far along and want to have Paradigm done for next week. I have already had a variety of comments wishing it was a little bit to a lot smaller in width which I will not be doing for this release, but I am already planning a v1.1 and v2.0 of the skin which will incorporate size changes. The point release will also feature the volume slider on a window toggled on and off by a button.

I know the playlist could use some color, but I want it to remain neutral because it needs to work with all Themes (yes, v1.1 will include about 5 additional themes). I didn't code for any of the windows (Theme Switcher, Play List, + Options) to be Theme-able (word?), only the boarder changes; that will happen in 2.0 since I think it is necessary and I may poke around with it for 1.1. This was an attempt to not have to make every window and button for each theme, but this trade off seems to not be paying off.

The items I will finish graphically will be the Up/Down buttons for the Playlist window, the About Page, and the buttons to Show windows above/below paradigm.

The invitation for trying out Paradigm and reporting problems is still open to anyone who wants to help. Just PM me if you are interested.

Meanwhile BullishDad and I will continue to work on the last few issues for this version.

UnknownID

[Tyler Campbell]

Paradigm has been running on my system for a week now and I haven't found any problems other than the ones you mentioned. I'm in love with the skin and am sure you'll receive a tremendous response once it's released. Both schemes look great, but I tend to use Ice the most because it matches my vs.

1. Sticking switcher - The switcher has never behaved in a way that has confused or annoyed me. I'm not exactly clear about the issue you brought up, but I wouldn't say there's any kind of problem with the switcher. (I'm using Xp sp2 w/ java Version 1.5.0 (build 1.5.0_02-b09))

2. I can't click on track 5. I have to either click on the time, scroll the playlist or wait for the track to automatically advance. Once one of those happens, everything works fine.

3.  The dash. Whenever I stop the player (after playing a track) I see "- Media Center 11." This doesn't bother me at all, and I wouldn't have noticed it if you didn't point it out. My Stop is set to "immediate."

Once again, congratulations on a great skin.  Regarding the visual comments by bullishdad and others, I, too, would like the skin to be much narrower(word?). I agree that the playlist would be more appealing if its background were the same color as the track display (blue/red), but it's not an issue because my playlist is always closed. My favorite visual element would probably be the different button states for the playback controls. I love that subtle gradient.  The option to have windows appear on top of or below the skin is great, as I change the miniview's placement depending on what machine I'm using.

[UnknownID]

Please see:
http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=29545.msg203671#msg203671

UnknownID