More > JRiver Media Center 18 for Windows
Wish List: New MC User from XBMC & iTunes
MrHaugen:
Such wizards could give the users choice of different things like Caption presets, View templates, adding watched indicator effect on media items or not, what elements to add to the info panes and so on. You could do so much here. Literally matching the presentation of MC to the users expectations and usage, and tailoring it to their need. The wizard would be a way to help the users find something that is close to what they want. They could still be informed that you could do MUCH more manually in options later on. And the Wizard could be skipped by experienced users.
There's little value of hiding flexibility, yes. But it is imo a very high value in camouflaging the complexity for new users. To give them something they are quite happy with from the start, and then make them investigate the possibilities after a while. Not overwhelming them with complexity and options the minute they start the trial. MC is complex. There have been work to reduce the complexity for new users, but more is required before we can get a hook in all those "novice" media users :)
Starting help such as a wizard should be nothing but positive for new users and the sale of MC18. A few extra clicks on first install should not kill any of us long time users either.
spiggytopes:
Re the hiding the power of MC ....
Can I put it this way?
I consider myself only a moderate "power user" compared to others here, and I know that MC is very powerful, that's why I bought it, but use it for music only, which is fab -- clear as a bell.
I'm afraid that it just does not do it for me for video in the sense of handling all the shows and presenting them in Theatre View for watching, for reasons stated above.
So, I stay with Media Browser which really touches the spot and does everything I want it to ......... so, the choice is mine when I invest the time and effort to change video to MC.
However, I want to choose when I delve into the engine and do it in my own time. This is the point - ok, I can read here what others have done, note it mentally, and try it when I'm ready.
Maybe I'm in the wrong market for the power of MC for the video side, which is my loss, I feel.
But, I do feel that a simple wizard would help:
"Where are your vids -> browse -> select- -- > does the selected folder contain TV shows, Films, etc? --> yes, no, doesn't matter --- > add another folder of the same type of show? ------ DONE!"
Long post, sorry.
Bizarroterl:
I think there may be a bit of confusion here.
Wizards have nothing to do with hiding the flexibility of MC. If you cancel or choose not to run the wizard then you're presented with the regular interface.
For music MC'ers the current startup may be sufficient. However if I'm a MB/WMC/XBMC/etc user evaluating MC the initial setup is lacking. A typical HT user will already have a video collection. MC doesn't find videos on my NAS or configure TheaterView for me. Currently I have to browse the forum or the wiki/help to figure out where I get it to locate my videos. Umm, now how do I get it to start in Theaterview? Why aren't my TV shows under TV Shows and Movies under Movies? How do I get it to show seasons under a TV show and episodes under that? How do I get it to show movies by genre or diplay all my James Bond movies in one set?
All the above is doable. It just takes a lot of research and fiddling around. A lot of people evaluating MC will just give up. I have in the past. My though process was - this is going to take quite a while to set up to get to where I'm already at. I'd rather not go through all this again. I guess I'll just stick with what I have...
JustinChase:
--- Quote from: rick.ca on August 26, 2012, 02:52:34 pm ---What, exactly (or even vaguely), would such wizards do?
--- End quote ---
I think you've answered you own question quite well...
--- Quote from: rick.ca on August 26, 2012, 02:52:34 pm ---A...wizard-based installation could guide the user through fundamental aspects of the configuration. Accepting defaults would end in the same result, but just leading the user through the steps would provide an effective overview of how things work in general and a familiarization will key configuration dialogs and settings. They could be the sort of wizards that can be run at any time. Those would be very helpful for the new user who knows something is wrong, but needs some sort of checklist to guide them through the relevant settings. Providing links to things that might logically be done next after a wizard is finished—Configure Auto-Import, Manage Library Fields, DSP Studio, Configure Theatre View—would make new users a little more aware of these things.
--- End quote ---
rick.ca:
--- Quote ---I think you've answered you own question quite well...
--- End quote ---
I should hope so. The question was rhetorical. ;)
Contrary to "insulat[ing] the new user from the complexity," a well-designed wizard could gently provide some awareness of how things work and what is configurable, thereby reducing the perceived complexity. My main point is the effort to remove all complexity leaves many users in the position of seeing the whole thing as mysterious and hopelessly complex. It would be helpful to replace that sort of confusion with, "This isn't right...maybe I should run that wizard again," or "This is okay for now...I know I can modify it when I'm ready (to learn how to do so)."
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