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Author Topic: Questions and comments about quality  (Read 1973 times)

bcrier

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Questions and comments about quality
« on: March 24, 2017, 05:44:02 pm »

Hello,

Just following up on my earlier topic..

1.  A lot of people posted comments saying that I should have asked the community for support.  Agreed, valid point.
2.  Someone mentioned that they could not find license under my email.  It is because I use different email address for purchases.  Security reasons.
3.  2 of the issues I mentioned were listed as Windows issues.  Ok, fair point.
4.  One comment mentioned that I thought people were not doing their job.  Certainly not a judgement I can make.  I am sure the developers are passionate about fixing issues.

First, thank you all for the followup.  Here are some specific points.

A.  Either the forum page has no certificate or it has expired.  The logins are sent plain text.  Does not show great concern for user privacy.
B.  Another problem I am encountering now is that the software seems to reinstall every time I start it.
C.  The Library backup option is hidden under "Playing Now, Playing from Main Library, ..."  Not very intuitive.  Why not under Tools -> Library Tools?
D.  Why would settings Backup be under Library Backup.  Why not just Settings Backup as an Option?
E. Under Artists, I click on an Artist and I see albums and tracks in the lower panel.  But when I click on Albums and select an album, I have to drag the lower panel open to see tracks.  Why?
F.  Tools , Options, File Location, Select Folder.  Why can I not type in or paste a folder location in the text box underneath it and it automatically goes to that folder.  100% windows programs work like this, why not JRiver?
G.  Some points from my earlier post still apply.

Don't get me wrong.  I am happy very with the quality of the playback and options, and I am very technical (developer actually), but if I have to spend so much time searching for options and researching every topic on JRiver wiki, just imagine what regular users will have to go through.  I am disappointed that this software is not more user friendly and hence not more widely used.  It is a very niche software, when it can be so much more and of course your sales be much higher :)  I hope you will take this as constructive criticism because that is the intent.  Thanks
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jmone

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Re: Questions and comments about quality
« Reply #1 on: March 24, 2017, 06:11:46 pm »

Hello,

Just following up on my earlier topic "Disappointed with Software Quality".

1.  A lot of people posted comments saying that I should have asked the community for support.  Agreed, valid point.
2.  Someone mentioned that they could not find license under my email.  It is because I use different email address for purchases.  Security reasons.
3.  2 of the issues I mentioned were listed as Windows issues.  Ok, fair point.
4.  One comment mentioned that I thought people were not doing their job.  Certainly not a judgement I can make.  I am sure the developers are passionate about fixing issues.

First, thank you all for the followup.  Here are some specific points.

A.  Either the forum page has no certificate or it has expired.  The logins are sent plain text.  Does not show great concern for user privacy.
B.  Another problem I am encountering now is that the software seems to reinstall every time I start it.
C.  The Library backup option is hidden under "Playing Now, Playing from Main Library, ..."  Not very intuitive.  Why not under Tools -> Library Tools?
D.  Why would settings Backup be under Library Backup.  Why not just Settings Backup as an Option?
E. Under Artists, I click on an Artist and I see albums and tracks in the lower panel.  But when I click on Albums and select an album, I have to drag the lower panel open to see tracks.  Why?
F.  Tools , Options, File Location, Select Folder.  Why can I not type in or paste a folder location in the text box underneath it and it automatically goes to that folder.  100% windows programs work like this, why not JRiver?
G.  Some points from my earlier post still apply.

Don't get me wrong.  I am happy very with the quality of the playback and options, and I am very technical (developer actually), but if I have to spend so much time searching for options and researching every topic on JRover wiki, just imagine what regular users will have to go through.  I am disappointed that this software is not more user friendly and hence not more widely used.  It is a very niche software, when it can be so much more and of course your sales be much higher :)  I hope you will take this as constructive criticism because that is the intent.  Thanks

C. D.: Quick Response on the Library Backup/Restore.  You can just use File--> Library.  When you backup from a PC you get both a library backup and the settings for that machine in the ZIP file.  When you Restore, you have the option to restore either/both the Library / Settings.  This works well esp if you have multiple PCs running MC as you can decide if you want individual settings or one "std" one restored across these PC's.
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blgentry

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Re: Questions and comments about quality
« Reply #2 on: March 24, 2017, 06:13:03 pm »

B.  Another problem I am encountering now is that the software seems to reinstall every time I start it.

Something is obviously wrong then.  You should get this resolved before doing much else.  I'm not all that versed in Windows installation issues, so I'm not sure what the best first steps are here.  Hopefully someone else will chime in.

Quote
C.  The Library backup option is hidden under "Playing Now, Playing from Main Library, ..."  Not very intuitive.  Why not under Tools -> Library Tools?

Your suggested location doesn't make much sense to me either.  In an application this big, there are very few truly intuitive choices for something as esoteric as "backup the database".  BTW, I've never used the path you listed.  I've done dozens and dozens of library backups manually and I always use:

File > Library > Backup Library

Seems pretty logical, but like I said, this is all pretty arbitrary; backup isn't exactly something that most people have intuition about.

Quote
D.  Why would settings Backup be under Library Backup.  Why not just Settings Backup as an Option?

Again, that's arbitrary.  The MC team decided to include settings inside a library backup.  That's very convenient because when you restore a library backup, you can optionally restore all the settings too.  Why separate the library metadata and the settings?  They go together.  If you only want one or the other, you can choose that at restore time.  There's a check box for each.  The backup zip file is also tiny by today's standards, so size really isn't a consideration.

Quote
E. Under Artists, I click on an Artist and I see albums and tracks in the lower panel.  But when I click on Albums and select an album, I have to drag the lower panel open to see tracks.  Why?

Double click the album and the panel will open.  Double click again and it will disappear.  If you want that lower panel open all the time, you can do Customize View and set "always show files" under View Details.

Quote
F.  Tools , Options, File Location, Select Folder.  Why can I not type in or paste a folder location in the text box underneath it and it automatically goes to that folder.  100% windows programs work like this, why not JRiver?

Are you saying that you don't like having to use the pop up file/folder navigator in order to enter a path in this particular options area?  I guess that's a valid suggestion for improvement.  But dude, really, this is a setting you use a couple of times in the lifetime of the software.  Making this a complaint about why you hate the software seems like you're stretching it a bit.

If you're a highly technical guy, you can use this software in ways that no other media manager/media player can be.  You can do customizations like no other.  Is there a learning curve?  Oh yeah.  Is this software the most intuitive?  No way.  Is it the most powerful?  Pretty much yes.  It's kind of like learning another other powerful system.  It's not as easy as others at first.  You struggle to find things and wonder why they are in different places.  But the more you use the system the more you figure out that you can do with it.  The more you see it's inherent design that makes it work so well. 

The expression language.  The Rename, Move, and Copy files tool.  Fully customizable views in several styles.  A highly flexible DSP engine.

I'm trying to lure you back into the MC family.  I don't think you'll find another media player and manager that is as capable as MC no matter where you look or what you pay.  Some are more pretty.  Some let you have more visual glitz and novel looks.  MANY are easier to use for a first timer.  None are more powerful.

Hope to see you asking more questions here in the forum.

Brian.
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JimH

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Re: Questions and comments about quality
« Reply #3 on: March 24, 2017, 06:42:19 pm »

2.  Someone mentioned that they could not find license under my email.  It is because I use different email address for purchases.  Security reasons.
Your forum IP address is also not in our license database.

Please send me an e-mail with your name and other details.  I'm jimh at jriver.
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JimH

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Re: Questions and comments about quality
« Reply #4 on: March 24, 2017, 06:45:25 pm »

A.  Either the forum page has no certificate or it has expired.  The logins are sent plain text.  Does not show great concern for user privacy.
I don't know what you're seeing, but the forum is available on a secure connection.
https://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php

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JimH

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Re: Questions and comments about quality
« Reply #5 on: March 24, 2017, 06:48:37 pm »

B.  Another problem I am encountering now is that the software seems to reinstall every time I start it.
As Brian said, this is not right and you should solve this before you continue.

You may be running the downloaded install package instead of the program.
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JimH

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Re: Questions and comments about quality
« Reply #6 on: March 24, 2017, 06:49:44 pm »

I'm going to let this run a little longer and then lock it.  Please post problems one at a time, using an appropriate subject.
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marko

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Re: Questions and comments about quality
« Reply #7 on: March 24, 2017, 07:25:47 pm »

Quote
B.  Another problem I am encountering now is that the software seems to reinstall every time I start it.

As Brian said, this is not right and you should solve this before you continue.

You may be running the downloaded install package instead of the program.
Good call.

Another thought....
Is auto update turned on? (See under (from memory) "Help > Update") It's definitely under "Help"
My first thought when reading this was that auto update was turned on, and that MC was always flagged for a pending update, possibly because a Windows security setting that had been incorrectly set was preventing a flag from being removed?

bcrier

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Re: Questions and comments about quality
« Reply #8 on: March 24, 2017, 07:37:57 pm »

My apologies for posting multiple questions under the same topic.  Good suggestions everyone.  And I do really appreciate the help.  I will check all the options suggested.  It is just that I never figured that it will require so much involvement just to listen to music :)  Maybe my setup is messed up.  Thanks again everyone.
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Spike1000

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Re: Questions and comments about quality
« Reply #9 on: March 25, 2017, 05:16:56 am »

I don't know what you're seeing, but the forum is available on a secure connection.
https://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php

But it's also available on an insecure connection http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php that doesn't redirect to the secure one, this needs to be addressed.

Spike
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