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[Dragyn]

ok. it's me. i'm back for awhile now...

anyway, I was redoing the database in MC and I feel that there are a lot of things that seem too complicated to do...even for someone that knows the program inside and out.  so I'm gonna list some stuff that maybe could be refined to make it easier.

• View Schemes

I know what can be done with them but I feel there is way to much clicking around in that. Now with the new expression item, it's even more troublesome. Way too many clicks to get it just right.

• Action Window

ok, this seems to be a problem somewhat for me because the items like in Tag Info are spread all over the place. I'm talking about the field editing and stuff. I was looking for 'Album' for the longest time. I knew it was in there, just where was the problem.

• New Control Bar

To me, the old way was better. At least I knew where everything was at. Now when it mixed into 1 menu, it very hard just to get to where I want.

---

I know there are other areas where I think could use improvement. Don't take this post as a complete bash. I know there was lots of work involved.

I just feel if MC could take as few as steps as possible to accomplish the same thing, it would make it a better experience.

[Dragyn]

oh and to just make it clear, I know it's still alpha/beta. I know it's not completed yet...the reason for this post.

[himini]

I very much agree with you on these issues, Dragyn.  The view scheme thing might be starting to get out of control, and I dislike the new control bar as well.  I also don't like the new layout of the options menu-- harder on the eyes and therefore harder to find things.

I realize that as MC becomes more complex and feature-rich certain things must change, but this can be taken too far.  I know it's a hard thing to maintain, but I fear MC is becoming less intuitive with each new version.  Right now I'm not sure if I will upgrade to version 11 despite its improvements.

[Matt]

How would you streamline view scheme creation and editing?

And maybe use in-place editing for tagging.

[Dragyn]

in-place editing is somewhat becoming a problem for me because I always seem to enter it. having a large database slows that process down so when it does happen, I don't know what mc is doing until it shows. I would much rather have that turned on only when in tagging mode (mouse click)/F2 (either mode). I have my stuff tagged and that just slows me down when it happens.

[himini]

How would you streamline view scheme creation and editing?

What about a visual representation pane, showing samples of the various presets (and possibly a few more presets?), which would give the user immediate feedback on how each view scheme would look before choosing it.  This could possibly reduce all the clicking and reworking required to get it "just right."

I don't know-- just an idea.  Maybe this would be too difficult to incorporate into the View Scheme window.

[hit_ny]

What about a visual representation pane, showing samples of the various presets (and possibly a few more presets?), which would give the user immediate feedback on how each view scheme would look before choosing it.  This could possibly reduce all the clicking and reworking required to get it "just right."

I dont understand this. How do u show what a view scheme looks like. Isn't it determined by what columns are selected to go into that view scheme. In which case, you got to play with it a bit till it appears right.

[himini]

I dont understand this. How do u show what a view scheme looks like. Isn't it determined by what columns are selected to go into that view scheme. In which case, you got to play with it a bit till it appears right.

I just meant how the presets (which I think there should be more of) would look in the tree-- a picture like this:

http://www.himini.net/Images/mc1.jpg

Again, just an idea; I know it's hard to strike a balance between being user friendly (having an intuitive interface) and allowing for lots of customization.

I guess all I've done above is air what I think is probably a pretty common frustration with viewschemes. I'm not really much of an ideas person. Although I've never installed it, on it's release, I remember there was a lot of enthusiasm for the way in which ITunes had handled this 'problem'? Is it that good? Is it mimicable?

I heard this too about iTunes.  May be worth checking into.

[lee269]

I guess all I've done above is air what I think is probably a pretty common frustration with viewschemes. I'm not really much of an ideas person. Although I've never installed it, on it's release, I remember there was a lot of enthusiasm for the way in which ITunes had handled this 'problem'? Is it that good? Is it mimicable?

I heard this too about iTunes. May be worth checking into.

I too havent used iTunes, but Doof did describe its system here - in the context of smartlists not view schemes, but I think the process is very similar.

PS - I always imagine Matt slowly banging his head against the wall when he sees these threads. Like marko, I guess Im not much of an ideas person also. I imagine Matt screaming at his computer "so YOU come up with a better solution, cleverclogs!!!" as opposed to what he posted. But I think this is a valid topic for discussion nevertheless.

Speculation: with all the 'big fishes' swimming around in the background, surely they are either asking for a total-beginner friendly solution to this, or (more likely) settling for a simplified view scheme system.

[hit_ny]

How about being able to specify either a-z or z-a sorting in a pane?

This would be received extremely favourably on this desktop

possible?

-marko.

Hear Hear, i would like this too