INTERACT FORUM
More => Old Versions => JRiver Media Center 30 for Windows => Topic started by: JimH on March 19, 2022, 01:54:40 pm
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[Edit by JimH -- Screenshots are here (https://pix01.jriver.com/gallery/98B996F4-0B28-4A85-A23A-044328DA0920/Spotlight/thumbnails.html).
You may have noticed that Craig Baldwin aka cncb, author of MO4Media is joining JRiver. His first project for us is what I'll call the Artist Spotlight Page. Craig will also continue his work on his remote, but separately from JRiver.
I'll give you a brief description of what I imagine and let you help us design it.
We have multiple links at the top right of Playing Now when you're playing:
Amazon AMG Google Wiki Images Youtube
I'd like to make these a visual display with lots of images. A rich display of what we can bring you on an individual artist. It will link to the relevant pages at each of those sites. It will be at least 2:1 images to text, maybe more.
We should be able to add related artists as well.
We'll either build this on the Playing Now page or make a second tab in Playing Now.
Craig starts this week.
Edit: Spotlight for Video (https://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php/topic,133029.msg921738.html#msg921738)
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Welcome to the team Craig!
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Welcome Craig!
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Here's a sketch.
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Looking forward this
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Very cool!
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Interesting ideas. Welcome aboard Craig
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Thanks. I am excited to join the team!
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Here's an idea of where we're headed. I've asked Craig to post progress reports here.
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Very exciting!
Can see lots of scope to customise, make feature requests, but will save that for the appropriate time!
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The next build will have a Spotlight Page preview. It does not have much content yet. For now, you access it through the "Spotlight" link at the top of Playing Now (next to Amazon).
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OK, Got it.
Your post made me think it had to be in a Playing Now tab, but not so.
I made MC crash. Here's how...
I went to playing now, and couldn't find any "Spotlight" to click on in the tree... So I re-read your post and sussed you were talking about links, so, why wasn't I seeing it?
Was because my Playing Now had video in it.
Me, being me, edited the Spotlight link and removed the [Media Type] filter completely. With video selected, MC just dies, disappears and needs relaunched.
I replaced the audio only filter in the link, but also made it open in a new tab, I personally feel that's better, especially with a middle click to close it being so simple.
Would be good if it will be expanded to also show a spotlight on movies and TV shows in the future.
-marko.
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hmmm are my own links gone? Or how can I access them?
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What links?
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Links were reset as a one time action to allow showing Spotlight.
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Ouch. Many users have invested a lot of time on their own links. Is there really no way to merge them? A reset might not be too well received?
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And please at least communicate it beforehand. I don't think there was a mention about it in the release log. I for example have something like 30 custom made links
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Links seem to be saved to the specific file: AppData\Roaming\J River\Media Center 29\Library\links.xml
So I can't see how this cannot be merged? Anyway I can do it myself at least.
E: or it seems that new version doesn't use that file anymore and my custom links are still saved in there
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We pulled build 26. Sorry for the problem.
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Can you restore from a backup?
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Links file is still there so installing .25 restores everything. So no problems here. This is why we beta test ;)
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Couldn't we have the Spotlight entry as a fixed first entry with whatever magic it needs, and all the customizable links after? That way no reset or incompatibility would be required.
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I'd like to be able to get back and forth between the current Playing Now playlist and the new SL page with some magic gesture, like a swipe or moving the mouse far right or left to the edge of the screen. Both are important and switching between them should be more fluid than clicking on a link or icon.
Right and left arrows at the edges of the screen might work.
We could try to display both in a window with a horizontal splitter bar, but that spoils the visual richness of SL.
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Also location to trigger spotlight could be considered or the whole design between tabs and links GUI.
Spotlight is now placed as one of the links and problem with links is that they use the same space as tabs. So when you have many tabs open the links gets pushed to right and eventually there is no place to show links at all.
For links I've been thinking that it would be cool if user could also set it to be a drop-down toolbar item similar to zones for example but for of course for Spotlight you'd want it always visible. Could it be also an individual toolbar item? That wouldn't perhaps be the most cleanest or cohesive looking UI for it though. What about the space between search and zoom? Is it reserved to show something?
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Sorry about that. The next build should leave your custom links alone.
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It does, Thanks.
I am honestly, not a big fan of the hyperlinks. I already have those in my links bar. When I click the "Albums" link, it takes me to a Google search (which I also have in my links bar).
I was hoping it would be a visible section on the Spotlight page, collapsible or not.
I also don't want all those Google cookies, so I click on customise, which prompts me to login, which isn't allowed, so... easier to click my own albums link as it is right now.
-marko
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Spotlight as a link may go away. Other links there will be replaced by parts of SL.
For now, you may have to find another way of setting any cookies.
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Couldn't jriver.com do the search, then parse the results and present selected data as part of the Spotlight page?
I know nothing of these things, but used to have an app on my phone that did a Google search on your behalf... I forget, something like Startpage, I think...
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Here's an idea of where we're headed. I've asked Craig to post progress reports here.
nice idea
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Couldn't jriver.com do the search, then parse the results and present selected data as part of the Spotlight page?
Yes, that is the plan.
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Sounds good. Really looking forward to the results, especially once movies and tv shows are up and running :)
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First couple of tiddly little bugs:
* Attempt to remove the spotlight link. This shows as removed via the dialog, but it sticks around.
* Attempt to edit the spotlight link. This appears to be successful, but actually creates a duplicate link.
* Attempt to move the spotlight link to a different place in the links list. This causes a duplicate link to appear as the first link.
Basically, I'm presuming it's hardcoded at the minute. Ideally I'd like to remove it (I know....), but as a minimum it should gracefully handle / disable editing.
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First couple of tiddly little bugs:
* Attempt to remove the spotlight link. This shows as removed via the dialog, but it sticks around.
* Attempt to edit the spotlight link. This appears to be successful, but actually creates a duplicate link.
* Attempt to move the spotlight link to a different place in the links list. This causes a duplicate link to appear as the first link.
Basically, I'm presuming it's hardcoded at the minute. Ideally I'd like to remove it (I know....), but as a minimum it should gracefully handle / disable editing.
Please be patient. You can use an older build for a while if it bothers you.
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It's no mega big deal either way really :)
I'd rather however feed back this sort of thing whilst the initial implementation is underway, as otherwise it'll end up lost in the noise of a shiny new feature.
Attempting to edit / remove is just the sort of thing that could get overlooked.
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Theater View?
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When I click on Spotlight it crashes Media Center.
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^not more with 29.0.28 (here)
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I have a question related to this new addition to MC. It will be customizable at the end of the process?
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This is a great idea but if I play an album with different artists / groups it stays on the first artist and does not update to the next artist in the album when the track changes
Even right click refresh (on the page) keeps the original artist on
It would be good if on track change it re-searched the artist / group playing now
Thanks
Steve
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I think it looks great so far!
User-defined links pointing inside MC library (ex.: Albums, Similar Artists, Labels) would be magical :)
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I like the idea a lot, but haven't tried it yet.
I DON'T like the idea of MC accepting cookies/Java bits on my behalf, although if it goes to the standard chrome dirs I can easily restrict/delete/cull them.
I would LOVE to see the results saveable to a dir on my machine, just like cover art, and updateable by the same sort of rules that cover art is. Scrape scrape!!
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LOVE IT 😍
It finally ties everything about an artist together that I've been hoping to see for a very long time.
Can't wait to see what Craig comes up with next... Welcome aboard.
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Notice that Spotlight seems to work only on audio files & not video.
Any chance of adding video files to the mix?
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Videos will probably come later.
Can't wait to see what Craig comes up with next... Welcome aboard.
Thanks, but I cannot take credit for Jim's idea.
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Love it
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Worked once then all subsequent pages rendered are blank.
Version: 29.0.31 Registered
Edit: Just to add... I have the Spotlight set to open in a new tab.
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Make sure you use the new Spotlight button (yellow button next to links) and not the Spotlight text/web link that you may have saved with the other links.
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That works. Thanks.
Is it possible to implement a mouse Back function to return to the Library when in the same tab?
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Use the little left button just above the tabs.
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please make an option to disable that Spotlight button ! i don't use those links, always disable them, but can't disable Spotlight and it annoys me.
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please make an option to disable that Spotlight button ! i don't use those links, always disable them, but can't disable Spotlight and it annoys me.
If we do that, it won't be soon. In the meantime, please be patient, try it from time to time, and let us know how it can be improved.
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In the meantime, please be patient, try it from time to time, and let us know how it can be improved.
The button for it could be made theme-able (if it isn't already). It's a bit bright on the Modern Cards: Dark Legacy Edition theme.
The page itself could also blend more with the chosen skin (i.e., darker gray background if the selected skin is predominantly a dark one).
Otherwise, looks intriguing!
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On the last version, it says "1. NEW: Albums and Similar Artists thumbnails on Spotlight.". But on my spotlight it is only albums and similar artists as a name and nothing else. Is something wrong on my part or is still not implemented?
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I like Spotlight so far, but I'd like to see the button in Mini View mode. Just to the right of the thumbnail seems like a logical place. Of course you'd lose Mini View while Spotlight is displayed, but it could be restored on exit.
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Coming on nicely. Issues/wishes thus far:
- In the battle for space on the tab bar between tabs, links and Spotlight button, Spotlight loses and disappears from view when space gets tight.
- Need a way to have this open in a new tab, please.
- Artist albums appear to be shown in a random order. Would be good to have them sorted by release date.
- View an artist such as Bob Dylan who has decades of albums, I would prefer not to have to scroll sideways to see those albums. Could the grid be built such that horizontal scrolling is not required?
-marko
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On the last version, it says "1. NEW: Albums and Similar Artists thumbnails on Spotlight.". But on my spotlight it is only albums and similar artists as a name and nothing else. Is something wrong on my part or is still not implemented?
This is only just now available in 29.0.31: https://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php/topic,132713.0.html
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Note that the Spotlight icon/button is currently part of the skin so it can be customized. Also, the plan is to cache the Spotlight information so that you can show separate artists in separate tabs.
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The presence of Spotlight in the Links menu should be optional, and its location adjustable. Otherwise it can really feel like an intrusion to some.
For reasons unknown to me, Spotlight no longer appears at the top of my links, which is fine with me. But if I wanted it back, I don't see a way to get it again within Links.
MC 29.0.31 Windows 11 Pro 64-bit
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https://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php/topic,132717.msg919816.html#msg919816
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https://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php/topic,132717.msg919816.html#msg919816
At some earlier point, the Spotlight appeared both at the top of my long Links menu, and also in the tabs display of the links, in the presence of many tabs and the Links chevron. Then Spotlight disappeared from these locations. I know Spotlight is a work in progress, so I am not really concerned, just noting it.
Update: Found on a Win 10 PC:
MC 29.0.28 shows Spotlight at top of the Links menu and it appears in Standard View alongside crowded tabs.
Update to 29.0.31 --> Spotlight no longer appears in my Links list and it does not appear in Standard View alongside tabs.
This apparently confirms the release note: :-[
29.0.29 (4/5/2022)
8. Changed: Use separate button to show Spotlight Page (no longer uses web links).
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Question: Am I supposed to be able to click on anything in Spotlight? Example similar artists show up but I can't click on them.
Suggestion: it would be nice if there was a way to discern what albums are in my library. Highlighted, bold etc.
Lastly thanks for this. TBH Spotlight has also introduced me to all the other links that I never use.
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Hopefully it will be more interactive soon.
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OK. I wasn't sure if I was missing something. I think it will be a nice addition.
A few more suggestions:
1) As I said having it made obvious which albums I own would be great. But then clicking on albums that I don't have could link to Amazon or another store I could set up. Similar to how clicking on the Amazon link now.
2) I would use Spotlight much more often in Theater View.
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+1
I would use Spotlight much more often in Theater View.
+1 it would be nice if there was a way to discern what albums are in my library. Highlighted, bold etc.
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Hey Mark,
In your post number 57, you have a screenshot of a links menu. How did you get that? I know MC will show a menu for the items there is no longer room for when things get squeezed to the right far enough (and then clicking on a tiny chevron), but yours just looks like a straight up menu.
I see how you can create the menu dividers using fake links in the manage links dialog, but how do you get the entire list to show? I tried putting in a fake link with a whole slew of spaces so everything gets pushed right. It kind of worked I guess, but it is a bit of an ugly workaround.
Or is the ability to show the links as a menu existing functionality that I have managed to miss over all these years?
Nevermind… It is a straight up menu, just not from the links bar. Right-clicking on a library item shows a context menu which has a sub menu for links - just like the one in your screenshot. I guess I just never noticed before and have never accessed links that way. I was thinking you were getting that menu straight from the links bar itself. Which actually would be a nice option to have. One of the reasons I suggested in another thread that all those links be converted to Favicons was to save space. Another way would be to just have a button in the links bar itself that shows all the links as a list.
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Nevermind… It is a straight up menu, just not from the links bar. Right-clicking on a library item shows a context menu which has a sub menu for links - just like the one in your screenshot.
Yes.
I had quite the opposite experience from you: I always used the library items' RMB Links menu, and just ignored all the "distractions" between the tabs and the album cover size slider. I only discovered Links in the latter location after hunting for the Spotlight icon (which is no longer there :) ). Then I made them more obvious by adding a labeled divider at the very top of the Links menu. Also, Links/chevron/slider to the right of the tabs are sometimes completely hidden, depending on the number of tabs and width of the overall MC window.
BTW, clicking on one of those makeshift divider lines in the Links menu leads to a blank screen labeled "Loading...". It would be nice if there was a more robust do-nothing response to labeled dividers, i.e. entries without a URL.
Feature request: https://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php/topic,132772.0.html (https://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php/topic,132772.0.html)
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i have beth hart and i have joe bonamassa as album-artist.
spotlight shows them wonderful, but
i have also beth hart & joe bonamassa as album-artist, and i can't play that from spotlight. jriver means that i don't have this album, but i have it :-)
what do i not understand?
thanks for helping me out
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Spotlight in build 34 (now on this board) has some significant changes.
Play anything, then click on the small yellow circle in the upper right corner. SL loads a new page with a brief bio, albums, similar artists, and artist images.
Click on an album to look it up on Wikipedia, or if it's in your library, click the play button to play it.
Clicking on a similar artist loads an SL page for that artist.
A related change will load Playing Now if you click on the album thumbnail in the upper right corner of MC. It's a handy way to jump to Playing Now.
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thanks, but that was clear. the problem ist with beth and joe as albumartist "beth and joe", and that is not showing that green thing. but sry, i have no idea how i can describe it in english :-(
spotlight is checking only album-artist, and
beth hart
joe bonamassa
beth hart & joe bonamassa
are 3 artists and beth hart & joe bonamassa are not showing.
sry for my poor words....
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thanks, but that was clear. the problem ist with beth and joe as albumartist "beth and joe", and that is not showing that green thing. but sry, i have no idea how i can describe it in english :-(
spotlight is checking only album-artist, and
beth hart
joe bonamassa
beth hart & joe bonamassa
are 3 artists and beth hart & joe bonamassa are not showing.
sry for my poor words....
For some reason Wikipedia uses 2 variants for Artist1 + Artist2 Combinations - some of the time it uses "Artist1 & Artist2" at others it uses "Artist1 and Artist2"
Try changing beth hart & joe bonamassa to beth hart and joe bonamassa to see if that works
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thanks, but that was clear. the problem ist with beth and joe as albumartist "beth and joe", and that is not showing that green thing. but sry, i have no idea how i can describe it in english :-(
I understand what you are saying and will work on it.
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This is great new functionality guys… much appreciated!
I see you have added the ability to control left click to open spotlight in its own tab. Any possibility you can make that a middle click instead? I basically try and navigate MC with my mouse only as much as possible, as I hate having a keyboard in my lap all the time. Middle clicking in that location does nothing at the moment, so it seems like it would be easy enough to implement.
The spotlight page light gray (maybe beige?) color background is a good choice as well, and looks like it is the standard background color now for all the previously pure white background pages (cloud play, streaming, services, drives, etc.). Since I only use a dark skin, switching to those pages previously was absolutely blinding. It is a bit better now, but if you want to make that background shade just a few clicks darker, you won't get any argument from me ;D.
While I'm on the subject… why don't all these "bright" pages simply use each skin's defined background for the color? It would eliminate "brightness shock", and make the skin seamless while navigating among pages/tabs. I realize this means the Spotlight text color would have to be "smart" for each unique color background to remain readable (since all other text colors are set by each skin's main.xml file), but surely a bunch of smart guys like you can figure it out. I imagine the effort involved is significant which is probably why it hasn't been tackled yet, but this is one aesthetic of MC that has been lacking for a long time.
Oh well, just my two cents on what I think would make MC even that much better. Either way, Spotlight is looking awesome and I look forward to further updates.
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I understand that finding information like this for less popular groups can be a challenge, but I have found several problems where SL does not find the correct albums, About is incorrect and the Similar Artists are very different from the original. The best way to show this is with some examples.
The group Patchouli has about 15 albums several of which are on streaming services but they are not on Wikipedia. SL shows Albums but none of them are actually albums, they are mostly You Tube videos. And none of them have any name or date text. In addition, the About is for the herb not the group. Maybe this could be solved by requiring About to have some music words in it, like music, band, group, artist, etc.
Lui Collins is a singer songwriter with several articles and a Wikipedia entry. There is no About information for her, even though she is in Wikipedia. Here the Albums are actually pictures of her, except for one Album and none of these are labelled. The one actual album, Made in New England, uses a different cover art than the album of the same name in my library. Maybe SL should be at least including the albums in my library and maybe the ones in YADB. Duplicate covers for the same album would be fine if they were published that way. And J.R., the first Similar Artist, is a rock band and is not at all similar to her.
Christine Lavine is a pretty well know singer/songwriter, with some 30 albums. SL gets Similar Artists and About OK, but, once again, the Albums include pictures and none have any album names and dates.
So, some suggestions.
About should be scanned to see if it has anything to do with music.
Albums in your Library and in YADB should be included in the Albums list.
You Tube videos should not be included as Albums. Since you are already scanning You Tube, maybe they become a separate category.
The sources for Albums need to be expanded.
Albums should always have Name and usually Date.
Again, less known artists are hard. But this needs some attention.
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Following up on my own post a couple back regarding the background/text color for spotlight and other "bright" pages. Could things be set up as follows?
- add a new input section to the skin main.XML file specifically for these currently "un-skinnable" pages
- this new section's default settings would present everything as you have currently implemented
- but if a skin author chooses to do so, he now has the tools to modify the background and text color of those "bright" pages to something that matches the skin.
In addition, while the spotlight icon itself can be replaced by the user, it is located in the default resources folder. It would be a bonus if that could also be incorporated in this proposed new XML section where a skin author could easily modify it on a per skin basis. I hope this is possible, and if so, that it gains traction with the developers.
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29.0.34
Spotlight becoming very nice and useful. Thanks.
Have not read all of above so sorry if these suggestions have already been made.
1) Please sort albums by date.
2) Please wrap album thumbnails rather than requiring scrolling right to see all.
3) Current albums displayed are only studio and live. Please add separate group for compilation albums.
4) Please add spotlight section with clickable links for all Extras associated with the current album.
5) Clicking on artist image should display full resolution image.
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6) If a Spotlight tab is open its contents should refresh to the currently playing now.
7) Detection of existing albums should be more tolerant of small differences. For example, AllMusic and Wikipedia disagree on whether a semicolon should be present in Otis Taylor's album "Hey Joe Opus: Red Meat".
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6) If a Spotlight tab is open its contents should refresh to the currently playing now.
I thought the same at first, but what if you're using the page? You wouldn't like it to disappear.
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I thought the same at first, but what if you're using the page? You wouldn't like it to disappear.
Good point. Maybe require a manual F5 refresh?
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Good point. Maybe require a manual F5 refresh?
How about just using the SL icon again?
We'll fine tune this when we get a little further along.
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How about just using the SL icon again?
We'll fine tune this when we get a little further along.
That would be fine, thanks.
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Will Spotlight include albums in our libraries so that gaps with online data are filled?
Will Spotlight better sort albums by date to provide a correct chronological listing? Or offer sorting options?
Would be great if we could customise text under each entry, rather like "thumbnail text" to allow information for each album such as ratings, last played, etc etc to be added.
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Will Spotlight include albums in our libraries so that gaps with online data are filled?
Will Spotlight better sort albums by date to provide a correct chronological listing? Or offer sorting options?
Would be great if we could customise text under each entry, rather like "thumbnail text" to allow information for each album such as ratings, last played, etc etc to be added.
+1 for each suggestions!
And a spotlight page for each album where custom info from fields/tags could be displayed.
I think there is so much potential for this. It's already one of my favorite features in MC :)
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And a spotlight page for each album where custom info from fields/tags could be displayed.
You can do your own Tool Tip that displays your field/tag data for each album in your library. There is a long thread on doing that for Video files and you could certainly do the same for Audio files, customized to exact what you want to see.
https://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php/topic,99227.0.html
https://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=119385.0
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You can do your own Tool Tip that displays your field/tag data for each album in your library. There is a long thread on doing that for Video files and you could certainly do the same for Audio files, customized to exact what you want to see.
https://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php/topic,99227.0.html
https://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=119385.0
Thanks, I wasn't aware of that!
Ultimately, I wish that the Spotlight views would be available in Theater view and especially JRemote (or any other remote) as I use this app many times a day, everyday :)
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Will Spotlight include albums in our libraries so that gaps with online data are filled?
Will Spotlight better sort albums by date to provide a correct chronological listing? Or offer sorting options?
Both of these are in build 38 on this board.
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Both of these are in build 38 on this board.
Build 38 does not include user albums in the Album lists. If it finds an album it appears to check to see if the album is in your library, but it does not add albums from the library into the Album list. For example, I have Artists that have an empty Album list, despite Albums being in the library.
Build 38 sorts albums by date, but if there is no date and no album name, the picture is still included as an Album. If there is no name and date it seems like there is a very good chance it is not an Album.
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I have set up all my date-sorted views in reverse chronological order (Tab menu > Sort By > Custom > Add > Descending (Z to A) > ...): Recently Added, Year (release), Recently Played, Artist-Year.
Request: Make it possible to list Spotlight albums in reverse chronological order.
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Some more detail on the fact that build 38 does not include albums in your library in the Spotlight album list unless SL finds them through its normal search process. The normal search process should include looking at the users library. Here is an example where I have 5 albums by the group Patchouli, but none of them show up in the Albums list, not even the one the triggered the Spotlight.
Request : Use the local library and YADB as part of the process for determining Albums for Spotlight.
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i like spotlight a lot.
maybe it should be more picky choosing an artist, when that makes sense. ?
example:
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Hi gappie,
We know it needs tuning. We're just trying to get the basics working right now.
"japan discography" might work.
Jim
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I understand what you are saying and will work on it.
great! many tias!
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How about localizing the Wikipedia link connected to the language of the GUI?
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The next build caches the Spotlight data, so with future builds you will want to clear the cache to see changes in Spotlight pages generated in previous builds. You can do this by clicking the small "Refresh" link at the bottom of the page and then clicking Clear All.
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In a few more days, we plan to put the audio version of Spotlight on simmer and let people try it out more and let us know what they think.
We expect to get started with a video version. When you click on the SL button, it will probably ask you click on Director or Actors. Then related movies will be displayed. Maybe trailers for them.
As always, your suggestions are welcome.
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Split Search Problems with Spotlight (https://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php/topic,132910.msg920998.html#msg920998)
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Just noticed that the back button on my Logitech mouse doesn't back you out of Spotlight as it does with the usual Playing Now screen in which it operates the same as the little back triangle at top/left to take you back to Albums.
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Beautiful work here!
How about a button to search for an artist in Cloudplay, bringing up a list of playlists which include the artist?
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please make an option to disable that Spotlight button ! i don't use those links, always disable them, but can't disable Spotlight and it annoys me.
+1
Please allow removal of the button. Thank you.
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Please allow removal/disable of the button. Thank you.
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Any plan to add Spotlight to the mobile interfaces (Panel, JRemote, etc)? I, and I would assume many other users, never use the computer interface for playing music. Would love to have a richer Panel experience.
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I haven't clicked into Spotlight in a while, but did today and am impressed how it has evolved. The matching on albums in my library and then to be able to play directly from there is nice, but I noticed one instance where I have the album in my library, but slightly different punctuation, and it didn't match. See "The Burgh Island EP". Technically perhaps the name is "The Burgh Island EP" and not "The Burgh Island - EP" but I feel like that hyphen shouldn't make an impact in the matching(see image Spotlight - Ben Howard).
In the second image, I clicked through to a related artist (A Blaze of Feather). In this case, it shows albums covers, with no names and no related artists. If I click on A Blaze of Feather in my MC library, then click Spotlight, I get a few related artists. I tried this again (clicking through a related artist) and it seemed 50/50 that they would or would not show. (see image Spotlight - A Blaze of Feather).
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I think you might to update to the newest version. There have been some changes, including a Refresh button which clears the cache. I would try that first.
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I am stupid. How do you enable this?
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I think you might to update to the newest version. There have been some changes, including a Refresh button which clears the cache. I would try that first.
Ah thanks - also realized I'm using the Mac version, but just updated to .41. I updated and now clicking through to related artists doesn't work. The screen just blinks - but on my Windows desktop, it does work when I go through from artist to artist. So I'll hold tight when that makes its way through to Mac.
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I am stupid. How do you enable this?
You click the little yellow circle icon that shows up next to the Amazon, AMG, Google, Images, etc bar.
One other thing I noticed that feels wrong. If an album name is truncated in the view, for example: "Amos Lee - Live at Red Rock (with the Colorado Symphony)", it shows as "Live at Red Rocks (with...". If I click that, it then loads into the next page (a Google search), with the truncated name in the search box.
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Is Spotlight already active? I have 29, don't see this yellow icon to click near the Amazon, etc, upper right hand corner. The idea sounds great, though (not the world's most tech savvy person...)
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Great new feature , early days I appreciate.
I use MC UI only for library maintenance, all my “listening” control is on an iPad Pro 12.9 in my armchair via JRemote
The 10^6 question, will Spotlight ever gravitate to JRemote once it’s polished?
I can’t be alone not sitting in front of a PC screen 😈
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Great new feature , early days I appreciate.
I use MC UI only for library maintenance, all my “listening” control is on an iPad Pro 12.9 in my armchair via JRemote
The 10^6 question, will Spotlight ever gravitate to JRemote once it’s polished?
I can’t be alone not sitting in front of a PC screen 😈
Agreed, great feature.
Also I use MC both home and remotely, so yea . . . add one more vote for Spotlight to JRemote, please? :)
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Agreed, great feature.
Also I use MC both home and remotely, so yea . . . add one more vote for Spotlight to JRemote, please? :)
Much of what Spotlight does already exists in the MO 4Media remote.
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Much of what Spotlight does already exists in the MO 4Media remote.
Not familiar with that app, but JRemote has been great.
Thanks anyway, I just looked up MO4Media and I will stick with JRemote as I avoid subscription ware whenever possible.
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Ahh, I found it! I was using JRiver Explorer to play music on an external hard drive-it doesn't appear there. If you go to Audio you see it (haven't imported all the music into JRiver, haven't settled on external drives and back up for my music...)
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Much of what Spotlight does already exists in the MO 4Media remote.
I appreciate the shout out, but this is not the case.
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With Spotlight there could be opportunity to add some opt in social features like in Radio Paradise. For example track database with collective rating avg, play counts (all time, this week, this month etc), comments and that kind of stuff.
Of course network traffic costs and also not all people want to share this kind of data even if anonymous but just a thought
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I understand that finding information like this for less popular groups can be a challenge, but I have found several problems where SL does not find the correct albums, About is incorrect and the Similar Artists are very different from the original. The best way to show this is with some examples.
Again, less known artists are hard. But this needs some attention.
I am having a similar issue with the group "Enchant": https://www.discogs.com/artist/499774-Enchant
Also while looking at what sources etc.. to add it would be nice if Disccogs.org were an option or something.
Plus for things like Amazon links would be nice if the correct country were selected. I am in Canada and a bunch of US links to purchase sites would not be very useful.
Carl
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6) If a Spotlight tab is open its contents should refresh to the currently playing now.
Not sure this is a good idea. If I am in the middle of reading about the current artist that is playing in a multi-artist / album playlist I don't think I would want the info that I might not be finished reading changing before I am finished?
Carl.
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Agreed, great feature.
Also I use MC both home and remotely, so yea . . . add one more vote for Spotlight to JRemote, please? :)
+1, same with the goodies of toolstip.
for MO4media
George.
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I appreciate the shout out, but this is not the case.
Agreed. I don't see anything that resembles Spotlight in MO 4Media.
Carl.
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I'm starting to discover Spotlight and am loving the features and potential.
Could we have or is there an option to make the background dark?
I'm using dark skins in both standard view and theater view.
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If the skin is changed, would it be possible for that to trigger an automatic "Refresh > Clear All", in the background, without slowing down the actual change of skin?
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Would love to see an MCC core command added, particularly when in theater view.
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If the skin is changed, would it be possible for that to trigger an automatic "Refresh > Clear All", in the background, without slowing down the actual change of skin?
This will be in the next build (63).
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Would love to see an MCC core command added, particularly when in theater view.
Do you mean an MCC command to show Spotlight?
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Do you mean an MCC command to show Spotlight?
Yes.
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Thanks for this great feature. I really appreciate to click on the album to play it if present on my library
I've an issue with Sade - Love Deluxe. All tags are Ok but there is not the play button as if it was not recognize. Don't understand why. It's Ok for all the other album.
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I've an issue with Sade - Love Deluxe. All tags are Ok but there is not the play button as if it was not recognize. Don't understand why. It's Ok for all the other album.
Make sure the Album tags in MC match "Love Deluxe" and do not have any extra characters in them.
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Make sure the Album tags in MC match "Love Deluxe" and do not have any extra characters in them.
I've retyped the title. Click on Refresh, relaunch JRiver, still have the issue (file attached)
I've the same issue on others artists like Loreena McKennit with album : the mask and mirror
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I've retyped the title. Click on Refresh, relaunch JRiver, still have the issue (file attached)
Did you click on the Refresh link at the bottom of the page?
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Did you click on the Refresh link at the bottom of the page?
That"s it !
I clicked on the turning arrow on the top (wrong), not on the word Refresh at the bottom.
Thanks !
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If we do that, it won't be soon. In the meantime, please be patient, try it from time to time, and let us know how it can be improved.
It has been two months since that statement. Is now a good time to make the spotlight button removable?
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This will be in the next build (63).
Working well, thank you. The Spotlight pages are brewing nicely. Sadly, I've still not had a chance to test in Theater View yet... Hopefully tomorrow.
Today, I've made icons for the two Knit Knots skins...
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I would love all this capability on JRemote. I have JRiver server and all my music on a laptop, but it is not the primary way I play music - that would be my iphone, then my ipad. I wish I could do more and see more on my iphone/ipad
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We'll get around to JRemote.
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We'll get around to JRemote.
:)
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We'll get around to JRemote.
Awesome news!
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I had a problem with my new PC (Win11 Pro):
After clicking on the Spotlight-button I only got the text-content of the xml-file (first screenshot).
After changing the Tree & View - Web Browser option from "Internet Explorer" to "Microsoft Edge" and restarting MC: Spotlight works :) (2nd screenshot)
Didn't even know, that I had chosen the "Internet Explorer"-option.
Perhaps I am not the only one with this problem...
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Didn't even know, that I had chosen the "Internet Explorer"-option.
You're welcome :).
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Considering Microsoft ended all support for Internet Explorer 5 days ago (and Windows 11 doesn't even have it enabled anymore), maybe it's time to remove IE as a web browser option in MC?
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Feature Request for Spotlight:
Add a breadcrumb trail for easy navigation through previously opened Spotlight windows in the current tab.
It should have unobtrusive appearance, for example links in small blue font at bottom (left or centered).
Suggested behavior: The trail remains "static/linear", so if you go back to a previous page, then go to a new page, the new page gets added to the end of the trail. In that sense, it is more of a "time history" rather than a traditional navigational breadcrumb trail. Maybe use "|" instead of ">" as the link separator.
Alternative implementations: (1) Drop down menu with check mark at current position. Menu is less obtrusive then trail, but personally I'd rather see the history in full view. (2) Insert new links in alphabetical rather than time order.
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I downloaded V29 to take a look at Spotlight and need some help.
First: From Spotlight forum: "We have multiple links at the top right of Playing Now when you're playing:
Amazon AMG Google Wiki Images Youtube"
Somehow I turned those links off in v28 and they remain off after installing v29 (i.e. the words and links to Amazon, AMG etc. no longer show in Audio/Files or Playing now. Can someone explain how to add them back? Once I get them back, I assume I'll find how to enable/display the Spotlight content.
Thanks
Larry
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open options and type Links into the search bar at the bottom... there's only one result... put a tick in it and OK out of there :)
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Thanks marko....don't know what I did to loose the links, but that did the trick and I see that yellow circle for spotlight!
TU Larry
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Ok. Found link. Attached is the display from Spotlight. It is a static display of images from the artist of the one track playing at the time. I can close it and hit the link again when the next track starts. Expected behavior at this time?
Thanks
Larry
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You're not seeing any Related Artists because none were found.
About is a summary from Wikipedia, with a link at the end of the paragraph.
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You're not seeing any Related Artists because none were found.
That's unlikely for The Avett Brothers, and mine is:
(http://glynor.com/img/screenshots/MC29/Spotlight-Avett_Brothers-small.png) (http://glynor.com/img/screenshots/MC29/Spotlight-Avett_Brothers.png)
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So, I've had a chance to play with Spotlight a bit and I have a question:
When you browse Music or TV Shows and you click on any of the items that can play a file (with the Green Play overlay button) it currently just dumps you to a Google search (for Music) or the TVMB page for the episode, etc.
That's fine I guess, but I'd really prefer it to take me back to my "originating View" and do effectively a "link button" search on that item for me.
Then, I could use Spotlight to browse to find Related Artists and then open up an Album of those artists and pick the next song. If it behaved like that, it would effectively replicate the "fancy Views" available in Plex and the like. As it is, I can only blow away my current Playing Now, and can only play full albums.
I'd like it if you kept the ability to do the Search/TVDB functionality, but (like the Play button overlay) I feel like that could be hidden under an (i) button overlay or something. Regular-Clicking on an album that you have in your Library, should "take you back to MC" and show it to you IMHO. This would also make the functionality in Theater View 1000x more relevant.
Likewise, if I click on the "headers" (the word The Avett Brothers) in my screenshot in my last post above, it should take me to a filtered list showing those file-results (and the name of a Series in the TV version, etc). Wikipedia is cool but I'd rather that be a secondary "button" like the Play icon.
But I haven't been following along and I couldn't find any discussion on it with my brief searches. Was this already discussed? Does it negate some central premise of the function?
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Many popular albums have multiple releases, often featuring different cover art.
When Spotlight identifies an album in your collection with a green play icon, it should default to displaying the cover saved in your own collection. Spotlight should only be free to pick something else if your own cover art is missing.
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Many popular albums have multiple releases, often featuring different cover art.
When Spotlight identifies an album in your collection with a green play arrow, it should default to displaying the cover saved in your own collection. Spotlight should only be free to pick something else if your own cover art is missing.
Related, Spotlight should look for albums in your library and display them. Now it only displays albums if it finds them in its external searches.
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OK, after a few hours playing around I do see albums from my collection with links to play them, and related artists. Very nice addition to the product.
I realize this is brand new, and you may have built the following in or have loads of things already on your plate, so just asking:
Could it change to the next artist when the player starts a new song from a different artist?
Could you add the ability to expanded view of the pictures by clicking on them?
None of my business, but how does it recognize artist and go about finding other albums in my collection? For example, for Randy Newman, it did not show any albums, and boy, do I have a lot of Randy Newman! Sometimes understanding the process would prevent dopey questions from me :) I know I've played with some video streaming server software and some want your directory structure and naming fairly specific but then again, you have a DB of the library. Just curious.
Good stuff I look forward to using.
LarryRup
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OK, after a few hours playing around I do see albums from my collection with links to play them, and related artists. Very nice addition to the product.
Yes, but only if it finds the albums with its external search. If it does not find them with its external search, it does not show albums in your library. At least that is what I see.
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Spotlight should show albums in your library and let you play them. It's possible the cover art isn't right though.
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Spotlight should show albums in your library and let you play them. It's possible the cover art isn't right though.
Spotlight does not show the albums unless they are found by the external search. It does NOT search your library for matches that are not found in that search. So, if an album is not found by the external search but does appear in your library, then it is not listed.
The logic seems to be to do the external search and then check the found albums to see if they are in the library. But it does not look in the library for albums it does not find in the external search.
That means my old Patchouli example never shows any albums, even though are many in my library.
And, yes, it does not use the cover art from the library.
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What do you mean by "external search"?
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Splotlight gets its Album list by searching some place(s) on the Internet. That is what I am calling the "external" search. It comes back with a list of albums and displays them. It then checks those album names against the library and marks the albums that are in the library. However, albums that are not returned by the Internet search but are in the library are not displayed.
Here are screenshoots of the Patchouli albums in my library. But Spotlight shows no Albums.
What I am asking for is to have Spotlight include albums that are in the library but are not found by the Internet search.
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29.0.66 (6/27/2022)
1. NEW: Add SHOW_THEATER_VIEW_MODE_SPOTLIGHT (13) to MCC_THEATER_VIEW which shows the Spotlight page for the currently playing file.
Thanks for adding this feature!
It works great for movies and any TV series where the [Series] field matches TMDB.
I append the year the series started in parentheses to differentiate series with the same series name, but different starting years.
For example, I rename The Witcher as The Witcher (2019), because TMDB also has a series named The Witcher that started in 2002.
Spotlight seems to looking up it's info based on the [Series] field and not using the [TheMovieDB Series ID].
This results in Spotlight producing no results for this series. See attachment.
Am I correct in my analysis? Can this be fixed?
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Am I correct in my analysis? Can this be fixed?
Yes, you are correct. This seems like a rare case. Do you append the year for all of your tv series?
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Build 69 will use local cover art for albums in your library and will add library albums that were not found/matched from the internet.
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Do the arrow keys work all the time to navigate Spotlight in Theater view?
I try to navigate Spotlight for my movies but as soon as I hit the down arrow key and leave the top navigation (HOME BACK SPOTLIGHT) the arrow keys do not work for some movies.
It does work for some (most) movies but not all movies and I don't see a pattern why.
I'm using 29.0.65
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Do the arrow keys work all the time to navigate Spotlight in Theater view?
They should. If there is a movie that it is not working on, please post the name.
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These movies do not work:
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
Sorcerer from 1977
(Both in MKV)
These also do not work with spotlight in standard view.
I must say, when I tested a lot of other movies, these two were the only ones that did not work in Spotlight.
I wonder if I should re-import these two?
I'm ripping the Dr Strange movie again to see if that takes care of the Spotlight problem.
Nope, same result with a newly ripped Dr Strange.
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I only append the year for series with duplicate titles in TMDB. My best estimate is about 10% of my TV shows have the year appended.
Using [TheMovieDB Series ID] should be a more accurate lookup, since it is unique. If [TheMovieDB Series ID] is missing from MC, Spotlight could fall back to series title?
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I scanned this thread and didn't see the request, so sorry if it's a repeat:
I love the Spotlight information but would like to see it as a Now Playing view mode so it could complement the cover/track info and also so it doesn't have to be triggered for each individual track. I realize there will be some layout issues to work through to make the appending part happen. If this isn't a near-term consideration, please add a flag to auto update the Spotlight window when the active track changes so it can be used in lieu of a traditional Now Playing view mode.
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These movies do not work:
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
Sorcerer from 1977
(Both in MKV)
Both of these seem to work for me. I'm not sure what is different. Non-English language?
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I love the Spotlight information but would like to see it as a Now Playing view mode so it could complement the cover/track info and also so it doesn't have to be triggered for each individual track. I realize there will be some layout issues to work through to make the appending part happen.
This works for the "Simple" track info view but should work for others:
1) Enable Media Network. Go to Tools | Options | Media Network and check "Use Media Network to share this library and enable DLNA".
2) Add this line to Visualizations\Track Info\Simple\index.html right before </body>:
<iframe src="http://localhost:52199/MCWS/v1/Spotlight/GetPage" style="width:100%; height:100%"></iframe>
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This works for the "Simple" track info view but should work for others:
1) Enable Media Network. Go to Tools | Options | Media Network and check "Use Media Network to share this library and enable DLNA".
2) Add this line to Visualizations\Track Info\Simple\index.html right before </body>:
<iframe src="http://localhost:52199/MCWS/v1/Spotlight/GetPage" style="width:100%; height:100%"></iframe>
Thanks for the tip cncb. That worked great, although some of the track info pages are a bit dated-looking.
I spent some time and updated the html on both the Track Info pages and the Spotlight xsl file to lay things out a little better visually, remove large gaps, and move the About section up before the images. Now that I'm done, I would suggest changing the default layout to this order:
(https://bn1304files.storage.live.com/y4mIL_bJH9XwScFNwb18xDFUatZ2MWSJdf3eSG0aP-UCnqowkw4MqU6AkMvPikF9bCD6fsL_FwHexH-YXAvhS0BF24r7x-lT_9TWB9q37VPmb_v9ZhqeXGNvAYZpXJVpmOcRxLjkiH-uSBGaYkRbymMSZildqEvRSRfXDObTHLolRE94bpJjhpaAHPxqFgKu7yQ?width=1024&height=518&cropmode=none)
For fun, I also modified the Spotlight button icon asset to look like one of those old Klieg lights with Fresnel lenses the used to use at movie premiers:
(https://bn1304files.storage.live.com/y4mmQdPik0DMKtPrmMPriPdAtzkeZ_8LSf_F4bTw9kBWGch8rJDjRgPXsBx4gpq8XE6kGKEj-2adNUTI5M-78Qnvf0dvblMXpfsGXhF06kPHrA8TEle9qetLtmtPDSuI6eXD8PoI5DULkxpBK33H794ovUxArdE8Dszd1UB-7ublcP_OMkgLU-DF1lsvx_rzUNf?width=74&height=75&cropmode=none)
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So, I've finally discovered the new Spotlight feature for TV shows and I must say that I like it.
However, it still suffers from a number of bugs:
- Problem: Sometimes the lookup confuses the series.
Example: The series "Alias" with the TMDB ID 2046 shows the Spotlight for series "Surviving Escobar - Alias JJ" with the TMDB ID 70828.
Suggested solution: Use TMDB ID if set. Wrong IDs are usually already corrected with or for "Get Movie & TV info". Only use the series name as fallback.
Synergy: Currently undetected "Recommended TV Shows" that are present in the library could be correctly detected the same way.
- Problem: Episodes with a leading zero (e.g. E01) are not detected by Spotlight and do not receive the green "Play from library" button
Removing the leading zero fixes the problem after a click on "Update data" at the bottom of Spotlight. However, I still think this should be fixed, as leading zeros in episodes are quite common.
I haven't tested it, but seasons with leading zeroes might cause issues too.
-Problem: Play Unwatched episodes from libray also does not sort correctly. It seems that leading zeroes might be an issue here too.
-Problem: Single seasons for series that otherwise work flawlessly don't load (looks like elprice7345s image). Updating at the bottom fixes the problem, which happens too often (~20% per series) in my opinion.
-Problem: Missing horizontal scrollbar for the backgrounds at the top.
Wishlist:
- Show green checkmark for seasons and series that are complete in the library and possibly set a completion tag.
- If season 0 (or special) is in library for a series, show in Spotlight.
- "All seasons" selectable in the season list, which shows as many season rows as there are seasons.
- Option to wrap rows (season, cast, recommended) instead of horizontal scroll bar
- Show series and season cover art at the bottom and allow selection (Cover Art -> Get From Internet is slow and inconvenient)
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Example: The series "Alias" with the TMDB ID 2046 shows the Spotlight for series "Surviving Escobar - Alias JJ" with the TMDB ID 70828.
Idem for me
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Seeing that you mentioned Youtube I'll post here for now.
I don't think JRiver can do this yet but have not explored it much yet either.
I know if you right click on a Movie or Show you can update the tags.
It would also be nice to right click on one of the lines that has a youtube link associated with it and have it update from the tags from youtube.
You should be able to get.
Artist or Channel
Title
Description
Artist Image
Maybe even a subtype
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For cleaner UI it would be nice if Spotlight icon located somewhere where it is displayed only once. Currently it will be shown in every splitted view and in both category thumbnail and details panel which at least to my eyes looks a little messy. With one split there can be 4 Spotlight icons shown
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This works for the "Simple" track info view but should work for others:
1) Enable Media Network. Go to Tools | Options | Media Network and check "Use Media Network to share this library and enable DLNA".
2) Add this line to Visualizations\Track Info\Simple\index.html right before </body>:
<iframe src="http://localhost:52199/MCWS/v1/Spotlight/GetPage" style="width:100%; height:100%"></iframe>
This worked with quite positive results. I changed the trackinfo background to match the skin. Thanks for the tip, and now, a couple of questions...
- It's asking for username and password for each session. Is there any way to get it to remember these?
- Everytime it loads, the Artist has this bright blue border around it, as shown in the attached. What do I need to edit to get rid of that?
-marko
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For cleaner UI it would be nice if Spotlight icon located somewhere where it is displayed only once. Currently it will be shown in every splitted view and in both category thumbnail and details panel which at least to my eyes looks a little messy. With one split there can be 4 Spotlight icons shown
You can have a different selection in each view, so I don't think there is a good way to change this. Note that the web links and navigation buttons are also repeated.
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This worked with quite positive results. I changed the trackinfo background to match the skin. Thanks for the tip, and now, a couple of questions...
- It's asking for username and password for each session. Is there any way to get it to remember these?
- Everytime it loads, the Artist has this bright blue border around it, as shown in the attached. What do I need to edit to get rid of that?
1) No, it does not maintain cookies so you would have to allow read-only access to "Everyone" if you do not want to input your credentials each session.
2) I will see what I can do about this. This shows up for keyboard use in Theater View.
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Is there a way of increasing the size only in Spotlight when in theater mode.
It is very difficulty to read the text when using Spotlight in my theater room.
I can press ctrl + scroll wheel to increase the size in Spotlight (covert art and text) without changing the size in rest of theater view.
However, that magnification do not stick when leaving spotlight and when I then go back to spotlight the same original size is there.
A way of increasing the size in all of spotlight in theater mode, cover art and all would be very much appreciated.
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Could Spotlight return thumbnails/links to pdfs I have stored in Documents?
I have a lot of scanned CD booklets in Documents, and I'm scanning more every day. When I do a Spotlight search for The Grass Roots, I'd like to be returned a link to Documents/"The Grass Roots - The Complete Original Dunhill-ABC Hit Singles.pdf", along with all the other material it returns. Is this possible?
If this has already been discussed, apologies.
Thanks
ncjay
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No, but try a search for "View Extras". It may solve your problem.
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https://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=106819.0
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Thanks, Jim. I guess now I have to decide whether to sort many hundreds of pdf files into the same directories as their related albums.
It seems like this kind of functionality (plus that provided by "view extras") would be a natural for Spotlight - gathering together info from multiple sources (external as well as the local filesystem(s)) for any individual search.
Thanks
ncjay
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I may move this to a new thread. Are the files all stored in one place but the names are related to the media file?
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Yes, they're all in (parent path)/iTunes/iTunes Media/Documents and the individual file names are either [ARTIST] - [ALBUM NAME].pdf or, in the case of Various Artists albums, just [ALBUM NAME].pdf.
The matching album directories are in (parent path)/iTunes/iTunes Media/Music/ and are either [ARTIST]/[ARTIST - ALBUM NAME] or, in the case of Various Artists albums, Compilations/[ALBUM NAME]/ .
All are already in my JRiver library, under Documents (the pdfs) and Audio (the albums).
By the way, I made a clean break from iTunes over a year ago. The directory names are just legacy names :)
Thanks
ncjay
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Spotlight seems to looking up it's info based on the [Series] field and not using the [TheMovieDB Series ID].
MC 30.0.27 uses the TMDB series ID for lookup if that tag is set. Note that it still only uses the series name when matching for playback so you could get some extra episodes from a series with the same name.
It now also searches with a leading 0 for season and episode matches (e.g. "1" and "01").
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Great news!
I'll test as soon as that version is available.
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Also changed in MC 30.0.28: the blue focus rectangle is hidden on page load and will not display until keyboard directional keys are pressed.
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Also changed in MC 30.0.27: the blue focus rectangle is hidden on page load and will not display until keyboard directional keys are pressed.
Nice touch, thank you. Hopefully it doesn't upset anyone too much...
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Forgot to mention that you will have to clear the caches to see these changes.
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Using MC 29.0.87 when I right-click on the top display and select "Customize Display" there are options for Play Mode (Main) and Play Mode (Alternative). At the bottom of the dialog there is a message that says "NOTE: To change modes, click on the display and pick 'Show Alternate Display Text'." But now clicking on the display just shows a tool tip "Current file (right-click for commands / options, left-click and hold for Spotlight)".
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Is there a way of increasing the font size (or the overall size that doesn't affect the overall size in Theater view) in Spotlight.
As it is now, it is very difficult to read the text when sitting far from the screen.
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At the bottom of the dialog there is a message that says "NOTE: To change modes, click on the display and pick 'Show Alternate Display Text'." But now clicking on the display just shows a tool tip "Current file (right-click for commands / options, left-click and hold for Spotlight)".
This will be changed to "right-click on the display and pick...". Thanks for reporting.
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Is there a way of increasing the font size (or the overall size that doesn't affect the overall size in Theater view) in Spotlight.
As it is now, it is very difficult to read the text when sitting far from the screen.
I'm not sure what you are using to control Theater View, but if you give the browser focus, Ctrl+ keystrokes will zoom in. This will only be temporary and you will have to do it every time you reload Spotlight. You can also edit the stylesheet for Spotlight to change the font sizes. This will be permanent but will apply to Spotlight in Standard View as well.
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MC 30.0.27 uses the TMDB series ID for lookup if that tag is set. Note that it still only uses the series name when matching for playback so you could get some extra episodes from a series with the same name.
It now also searches with a leading 0 for season and episode matches (e.g. "1" and "01").
This is working great for me in Standard View, but Spotlight doesn't work for me at all in Theater View.
I click on Spotlight for an episode or movie and I just get the background screen.
Testing with v30.0.30
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I click on Spotlight for an episode or movie and I just get the background screen.
I noticed this too and looking into it. Thanks.
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You can also edit the stylesheet for Spotlight to change the font sizes. This will be permanent but will apply to Spotlight in Standard View as well.
Great cncb,
How do I edit the Spotlight stylesheet?
I can't be the only one that are having trouble reading the text in theater view !?
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I noticed this morning that when a spotlight tab is opened and active (being viewed) the tab text does not change colour on mouse over. The colour is defined in the xml in the ViewHeader section, using the "HotText" value.
Also, could this thread be moved to the MC30 board?
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How do I edit the Spotlight stylesheet?
There are 4 .xsl files in the Data/Default Resources directory. Copy them first to Data/Custom Resources and edit them there.
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I noticed this morning that when a spotlight tab is opened and active (being viewed) the tab text does not change colour on mouse over. The colour is defined in the xml in the ViewHeader section, using the "HotText" value.
This seems to be by design for all tabs that do not have a drop-down menu (no down arrow). See Television and Cloudplay tabs.
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This is working great for me in Standard View, but Spotlight doesn't work for me at all in Theater View.
I click on Spotlight for an episode or movie and I just get the background screen.
Testing with v30.0.30
This is fixed for me in v30.0.31. Thanks!
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This is fixed for me in v30.0.31. Thanks!
It only worked for me once, now it doesn't :'(
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I want to use a custom image for Spotlight NoThumbAuido.png which matches the style I use elsewhere in MC 30. Normally I would do this by simply adding the custom image file to the MC installation directory .../Data/Custom Art.
However in the Spotlight xsl files it appears you point to a web address for this image, rather than the the image available in the installation folder .../Data/Default Art. In any case, Spotlight does not use my file .../Data/Custom Art/NoThumbAudio.png.
Sorry for the fuss, but can you make it possible to customize this image in the usual way without the end user editing Spotlight xsl files? You may also want to enable this for individual skins. Thanks.
MC 30.0.33 Windows 11 (64-bit) 22H2
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It should be part of the skin, in my opinion.
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However in the Spotlight xsl files it appears you point to a web address for this image, rather than the the image available in the installation folder .../Data/Default Art. In any case, Spotlight does not use my file .../Data/Custom Art/NoThumbAudio.png.
It used to use the skin file but when I changed Spotlight to be accessible remotely, I put the file online. I can look into embedding the skin image.
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It used to use the skin file but when I changed Spotlight to be accessible remotely, I put the file online. I can look into embedding the skin image.
I want to use a custom image for Spotlight NoThumbAuido.png which matches the style I use elsewhere in MC 30.
I am not totally positive about which image is being referred to. The spotlight "launch" icon in the tab bar next to the links is something you can specify/customize on a per skin basis already. Just add add a line in the <FRAME> sub-section of the main.xml file and a corresponding custom image in the skin folder (thanks to Marko for explaining that in another thread).
<Entry Name="SpotlightButton" Bitmap="Spotlight.png" NumberImages="3" Scale="2" />
Mark mentions NoThumbAudio.png. So I think for albums where artwork is not found (on the loaded Spotlight page) he wants MC to allow users to override the hard-coded "missing thumbnail" placeholder image. That way, he can use his own custom image for consistency with the rest of his new custom icon/image set... right?
Please correct me and/or clarify if I have misunderstood.
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Mark mentions NoThumbAudio.png. So I think for albums where artwork is not found (on the loaded Spotlight page) he wants MC to allow users to override the hard-coded "missing thumbnail" placeholder image. That way, he can use his own custom image for consistency with the rest of his new custom icon/image set... right?
Yes, I want to change the "missing thumbnail" image to a greyed out Segoe Fluent Icon Font EC4F MusicNote for consistency with my other custom icons. Similar would apply to NoThumbImage.png and NoThumbVideo.png, but I am not sure those two are relevant to Spotlight. The progression of my customizations can be seen throughout the MC29 thread Skin Icons Discussion. Here is a link to the post with the "missing thumbnail" image:
https://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php/topic,133908.msg929841.html#msg929841 (https://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php/topic,133908.msg929841.html#msg929841)
I really like the current default Spotlight "launch" icon as is - a simple, non-intrusive, low brightness yellow circle with hover response, which works nicely for me on the dark ThunderStorm skin.
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Build 38 will use the skin-defined image for missing audio thumbnails. It still uses a rounded solid border which is useful for the default image, but let me know if you want this removed.
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Build 38 will use the skin-defined image for missing audio thumbnails. It still uses a rounded solid border which is useful for the default image, but let me know if you want this removed.
Short answer: Remove it.
Long answer:
1) 1st screenshot: MC.0.33 Spotlight missing-audio thumbnail showing your rounded solid gray border (skin: MC supplied Black on Black).
2) 2nd screenshot: MC 30.0.40 with my custom 512x512 NoThumbAudio.png which has transparent corners, showing dark corner "artifacts". I can redraw my plate background to match your corners and eliminate the "artifacts". However, for greater design flexibility, I prefer that you remove the rounded solid border.
3) 3rd attachment: A border-less example that currently does not maintain its appearance in Spotlight. Due to rounded corners and plate color it always shows with artifacts and a light gray border in Spotlight.
Thanks.
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Additional weirdness when using custom 512x512 NoThumbAudio.png:
1) Introduce new custom NoThumbAudio.png and run Spotlight on Album1. The new missing thumbnail image appears. Good.
2) Introduce a different custom NoThumbAudio.png and run Spotlight on Album1. The previous custom missing thumbnail image from 1) appears, not the new image as one would expect. Very bad.
3) Now run Spotlight on Album2 (by a different artist). The new missing thumbnail image is that from 2). Good.
4) Now reuse new custom image from 1). Run Spotlight. Album2 retains it custom missing thumbnail image from 2). Very bad.
etc etc
A given album seems to remember the first custom missing image thumbnail and uses it forever more, even after a different custom missing image thumbnail is introduced.
Yes, I stopped all MC processes, even rebooted, and this "remembering" situation still holds.
What the heck is going on here?
MC 30.0.40 Windows 11 Pro
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The Spotlight pages are cached so you need to clear this when making visual changes. Click the "Update" link at the bottom of the page and then "Clear All".
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The Spotlight pages are cached so you need to clear this when making visual changes. Click the "Update" link at the bottom of the page and then "Clear All".
Great, though it cost me a few hours, I'm glad the solution is already built in! :)
Note: On first try the "Update" link did not work (no Spotlight popup menu). After computer reboot it is working fine.
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Note that the cache is automatically cleared when you switch skins so this is another way to do it.
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Quote from: cncb on December 01, 2022, 11:35:32 am
Build 38 will use the skin-defined image for missing audio thumbnails. It still uses a rounded solid border which is useful for the default image, but let me know if you want this removed.
Short answer: Remove it.
Long answer:
1) 1st screenshot: MC.0.33 Spotlight missing-audio thumbnail showing your rounded solid gray border (skin: MC supplied Black on Black).
2) 2nd screenshot: MC 30.0.40 with my custom 512x512 NoThumbAudio.png which has transparent corners, showing dark corner "artifacts". I can redraw my plate background to match your corners and eliminate the "artifacts". However, for greater design flexibility, I prefer that you remove the rounded solid border.
3) 3rd attachment: A border-less example that currently does not maintain its appearance in Spotlight. Due to rounded corners and plate color it always shows with artifacts and a light gray border in Spotlight.
Thanks.
JRiver Media Center 30.0.48 for Windows -- Available Here
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30.0.42 (12/14/2022)
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6. Changed: Missing thumbnail image in Spotlight Artist page no longer has a border.
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Thanks for removing the border in today's release. Attachment shows how my custom Missing Thumbnail Image (NoThumbnailAudio.png) blends in nice and smoothly without a border in Spotlight, yet the message remains very clear.
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Occasionally Spotlight displays a White Thumbnail as shown in attached screenshots.
What is the meaning of the White Thumbnail, as opposed to the customizable NoThumbAudio.png which is typically displayed for a missing thumbnail (as in my previous Reply #206)?
Is there a customization option for the White Thumbnail to make its meaning clearer? I have not been able to locate this image in the MC Data folders.
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Occasionally Spotlight displays a White Thumbnail as shown in attached screenshots.
What is the meaning of the White Thumbnail, as opposed to the customizable NoThumbAudio.png which is typically displayed for a missing thumbnail (as in my previous Reply #206)?
The source (Google) is supplying a default thumbnail for these cases. Not sure why.