Well,
First some replies, then lots of new ideas:
Deivit - thanks for the welcome and the ideas. I played with split views. Interesting. Im not sure how this is useful - maybe if you want to compare two folders, one in each pane? Ah - yes thats what is says its for in the help file.
Otherwise, because they are both totally independent and controlled by the tree, they arent very useful. If the top panel had thumbnails and the bottom had a detailed list, and they were linked so that when you clicked on the thumbnail it took you to the same point in the list, maybe that would be useful.
Or maybe it would be useful if there were a 'lock' option on each frame so that you could say, set the bottom frame to be playing now and the top frame to browse your media, but whenever you clicked on the tree it would only change the top frame, even if the bottom frame was active.
In the end, I think that these multiple views are useful only for organizing files, and that really what we need is independent elements that can be rearranged, resized, minimized and drop into place. Maybe this sort of 'lock' feature would be useful to consider when implementing these independent elements, so that you could have setting for which element the tree controlled and how, etc.
Alex - thanks for the screenshot. Are you using two panes? How is it that the bottom pane doesnt have the top bar with the panes/genres/etc and options drop downs?
I discovered the show alphabet option as a result - fantastic!. Wish it would show up on the same line as the albums/panes and options line instead of moving everything down, though.
Your screen shot approaches what i would ideally want, but with the tree included also. Currently, the windowed view is kind of a cheating way to get what I am talking about - it sits on top of all other windows and stays there even when you minimize the main MC. Maybe cheating is the wrong word - it doesnt seem to be designed to do what i am talking about.
Your link to the other thread was very promising in that it showed how much the developers listen to ideas and feedback, and how quickly things can change.
hit_ny -
I hear you about the question of 'is there enough room', and 'will it be too busy'.
I am working on a 15" wide monitor, so that may make a difference, but it is the same width as the 19" desktop monitor next to me.
Essentially, I feel it would be best if each individual could decide for themselves: Dont implement a static three columns, but have independent elements that you can drag around and drop in anwhere would accomplish this - you could choose to have two, three, four, more colums of elements if you wished, arranged in any order. Size, drag and place the tree, playing now, file browser window, cover art, or *whatever* element you want *anywhere* you want within the MC screen. Mediamonkey does this for some of its elements - give the demo a try if you dont understand what I am talking about, and try moving the playing now or progress bar around the screen. Or think of winamp with all of the elements that you can rearrange and resize, except that I think that you should still have the overall MC window to work inside of instead of the totally free-form winamp approach that is too disjointed imho. The best would be if you could do this for all of the elements, or have different element settings for each item in the tree. You could then set up each item in the tree with its own custom set of elements and element placement, which are minimized/max'd and define how they interact with eachother.
This part of letting the user define how elements interact could be very powerful. Just consider the possibilities!
Then, I might choose to have three columns, you might have two, others might have four or show eight accross multiple screens.
In the end, we can leave the 'column' concept behind, and let different elements be different widths, with no straight or defined column or row lines, just the jigsaw puzzle of how each individual places and sizes the elements in each tree view. Stepping further, let the user difine how the elements interact and effect eachother.
In this case maybe you place your panes element to stretch accross the top from the tree to the right edge. Below, if you have a large enough screen, you could have the file list in the middle and the now playing list and now playing art to the right of it, underneath the panes. Or, use your imagnination...
Or someone else's if you could export your element arrangements for others to try out, or to avoid losing them in an upgrade...
Of course defualt installation could come with presets that work reasonably well so that you dont have to build one before you start. In fact, the presets could look exactly as it is now.
Maybe even something in the options menu to switch on and off element editing mode, enabling you to lock down the elements and arrangement once you have them the way you like them...
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Topic: Three column view / movable elements? (Read 4654 times)