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[dylanstan]

I've a problem with the views and the sorting in MC15. Well, in fact i've the same problem with MC13 and 14, and although i've bought the license for both i've keep using MC12, basically cause of this. I'm testing MC15 and i'd like to buy the license too (probably i'll do even you don't fix this), but i've decided to ask for some info on this.

Let's go!!!

I've several views but the ones i use more are one Artist_Album (all the albums) view sorted by date imported, and another Genero/Artist/Album. This is how it looks the second one in MC12, sorted by Default



When i choose the Genero, this is the Artist View, sorted by Default


And when i choose the Artist, this is the Album View, SORTED BY DATE


I think that it's a rather logical way of look for something and although i can change the sort order for last imported or alphabetical order when i go back to the Artist View it doesn't change and i keep seeing the parent views in the "logical way"

Let's move to MC15 and try to do the same

Genero View in MC15 it's the same that in MC12, sorted by default



I choose the Genero, and Artist View it's the same as MC12 too, sorted by default



I choose the Artist, and this is the Album View in MC15, sorted by default



As you can see the order is alphabetical. For me it's not "logic" so i change  it and sort it by date, and this is how it looks now



ok, now i've like i want, great  

Let's go back and choose some other band.
And this is how the Artist View looks now



What the f*** is this  ?

It's sorted by date, but i want to look the artists in alphabetical order.

Why have change the order in this view. And if i change this view to default, when i choose another artist i find again the album view sorted by default.

If in MC12 we can customize any view independently than any parent view, and it's something really great; why we can't do it in MC15.

I've some more exemples to post, but i don't have the time, and i assume that it's clear what i'm asking for; so any answer to some of these questions or one explanation of how it's possible to do it if can be done will be very appreciated.

[rick.ca]

You could use a split view...

[gappie]

dylanstan, you can set the sorting for albums and artists undependend from each other. i use a view with my artists alphabetically and my albums by date. so guess you set the order at  an other place then me.
when you open 'customize view', click on the artist in the left panel, click edit, at the bottom, above matching, you see 'sorting'. ascending should be fine there. now click on album, click edit, go to sorting and choose by date. make sure the 'sort by' om the main customize view is on default.

 
gab

[rick.ca]

make sure the 'sort by' om the main customize view is on default.

OIC...finally!

That's the little detail that makes all the difference. I might even use thumbnail views—now that I know how they work.

[dylanstan]

dylanstan, you can set the sorting for albums and artists undependend from each other. i use a view with my artists alphabetically and my albums by date. so guess you set the order at  an other place then me.
when you open 'customize view', click on the artist in the left panel, click edit, at the bottom, above matching, you see 'sorting'. ascending should be fine there. now click on album, click edit, go to sorting and choose by date. make sure the 'sort by' om the main customize view is on default.

 
gab

Thanks for this. A bit difficult to find and a little limited (In that "second sorting" there's not custom option to sort), but it does what i asked for, but if i want to have the same View look than in MC12, i find another problem. As you can see in the third photo (AC/DC Albums) i've customized text (Date-Album and down Number Plays-Last Played). Of course in MC15 i can do the same, but when i go back to the Artist View i find this



http://www.pix01.com/gallery/01BCA850-FE66-457D-883F-D17DE027C09C/MC15ViewWithText/bigpage.html?image=961061956_orig0.jpg

Not what i want to see 

And in this case i haven't find any way to independently customize text to only one View scheme.

I know that this is not as important as the sort problem, but i'd prefer not lose some of the nice views that i've created for my use in those years  . Most of my navigation is in Album Thumbnails View, so... any idea on this?

And about the use of the split view, maybe i'm missing something, but if i click in one view it doesn't change anything in the other view, so i don't find it useful. It's true that i don't use split views, so i don't know really how it could improve my navegation, so some explanations about adventages of using split views would be a reason to try  'em more.

[rick.ca]

so some explanations about adventages of using split views would be a reason to try  'em more.

I've always found views rather confusing. I'm now thinking part of the problem has been my assumption there are some fundamentally different views. For example, as a "Pane and Details" "split view" user, to see what you were talking about I naturally added a new "thumbnail view." Now I realize I can morph a view from one to another just by changing some settings on the tab drop-down menu. The key one is a View as setting of "Panes and details/thumbnails" versus the others (and, of course, "3D" is something completely different). Note changing this "view type" fundamentally changes the form of the Customize View dialog. So does doing so change the view from one "type" to another, or just change it's appearance?

Whether a two views are fundamentally different or just variations of the same view is semantics. But thinking they're different leads to assuming they behave differently. Behaviours do change with different combinations of view settings (as some of us have painfully learned), but I think that's it. So if something doesn't work the way I want it to, there will be a setting that will change it—or not (i.e., that's just how it works). There won't be "another view" that works differently.

[marko]

There's no getting away from it, MC12 really was the absolute sweet spot when it comes to setting up view schemes. The v13 paradigm of 'create another view' over-simplified view creation and paved the way for trees cluttered with things that could have been taken care of by a single view in MC12.

That combination of independently configurable category levels and the oh-so-useful view header menu, in my opinion, could not be bested, and everything that has come after [re. view configuration] has been a step backwards.

Getting on for three major builds later, posts/threads such as this from dylanstan still appear, suggesting to me that I'm not alone in my opinion. I'm all for progress, moving with the times, etc. etc. and accept that it's highly unlikely that v15 will roll back to the v12 way, but that doesn't change my strongly held opinion that v12 wasn't broken in this respect and should never have been changed.

* marko climbs down from his soapbox and gets on with the rest of his day

[gappie]

Getting on for three major builds later, posts/threads such as this from dylanstan still appear, suggesting to me that I'm not alone in my opinion. I'm all for progress, moving with the times, etc. etc. and accept that it's highly unlikely that v15 will roll back to the v12 way, but that doesn't change my strongly held opinion that v12 wasn't broken in this respect and should never have been changed.

you are not alone there for sure. i to miss that feature still a lot. 

 
gab

[rick.ca]

MC must be mature enough the developers can get away with recycling old features. But not if you guys keep reminding everyone they're old features!

[gappie]

Thanks for this. A bit difficult to find and a little limited (In that "second sorting" there's not custom option to sort), but it does what i asked for, but if i want to have the same View look than in MC12, i find another problem. As you can see in the third photo (AC/DC Albums) i've customized text (Date-Album and down Number Plays-Last Played). Of course in MC15 i can do the same, but when i go back to the Artist View i find this

there is a 'work around' wich is not ideal, but might help
when you put in the text

Code: [Select]

if(IsEqual([name],[album]),[year] - [album],[name])
if(IsEqual([name],[album]),[number plays] - [last played],tracks: [track #])this gives in the first line the artist when in artist and year album when in album.
for the second line it gives number plays and last played for the album. and just so that the second line when in artist is not an empty line i putted the amount of tracks there..

 
gab


edit: maybe i should explain a bit more. the [name] in this case does not refer to the name tag, but to the category used, so when the view goes genre>artist>album, [name] is genre>artist>album depending on how far down one drilled.

[makersjam]

This is the exact reason why I still use MC12 although I still continue to buy the new versions.

The tip by gappie fixed an issue I've had with them since MC13. Now my biggest gripe is not being able to have the album thumbnails larger on the album view then on the artist view. Again MC12 could do this.

MC15 looks good but wish it could be more like MC12 when it comes to views.

[rick.ca]

Now my biggest gripe is not being able to have the album thumbnails larger on the album view then on the artist view.

What do you mean by "album view" and "artist view"? A view is a view. If the list style is thumbnail, then the thumbnail size is configurable and is sizable with a slider in the view—independently for both panes.

[gappie]

What do you mean by "album view" and "artist view"? A view is a view. If the list style is thumbnail, then the thumbnail size is configurable and is sizable with a slider in the view—independently for both panes.

in 12 the thumbnails for artists could be set smaller then those for albums etc. for instance: you could double click on some huge genre thumb (with 1 line text), then get a small artist thumb (with, when you wanted that, two lines text), and then a medium sized album thumb ( with for instance 5 lines text), all in one view. 
was really a nice to go through.
mc took it away because, apparently, it was to complex for some users.

 
gab

[Matt]

The ability to independently customize each category in a category view was removed because we couldn't figure out how to represent all the lists that can be customized in an understandable way with the 'Customize View' dialog.

We're open to suggestions for v15.

[rick.ca]

We're open to suggestions for v15.

Add it to the edit dialog for each category—just like sorting. Also like sorting, these settings would be enabled by selecting "default" thumbnails in the list style settings, or overridden by the settings there.

And now that I think about it, "Default - as set by Category" would be much less open to misunderstanding than "(Default)" for both sorting and thumbnails. I know, because I misunderstood for a long time.

BTW, is it my imagination, or have we lost the ability to display album thumbnails in the details pane in the recent changes? Displaying file thumbnails in a details view (i.e., where, typically, all the thumbnails are of the same album cover) has always seemed goofy to me, but displaying album thumbnails makes sense—particularly if you like playing by album.

[dylanstan]

The ability to independently customize each category in a category view was removed because we couldn't figure out how to represent all the lists that can be customized in an understandable way with the 'Customize View' dialog.

We're open to suggestions for v15.

Maybe i'm not getting something, but... what it's not understandable here?



http://www.pix01.com/gallery/93F46A6E-0C95-4D36-AC78-113EC4B33A1C/MC12customizecurrentview/bigpage.html?image=9655476_orig0.jpg

Gappie, the solution you point for the text it works for that view, but i've to play more with it to find how to make it work with other different text views. If you see the screen cap in this answer, you'll see how i've  4 lines of text with different info that i like to see when i look through albums. If the view would be only Artist/Album i don't have any problem to make the same in MC15, but although Artist/Album it's my main view, it's a child view of a Genero View, and as you can guess, if i go back to the genero view the 4 lines of text are there too, although as you can see in this other screen cap, it's not really an useful view.


http://www.pix01.com/gallery/93F46A6E-0C95-4D36-AC78-113EC4B33A1C/MC12customizecurrentview/bigpage.html?image=9655476_orig1.jpg

For what i've understand in the solution you point if i make 2 lines for the Album/Artist view, will be 2 lines in the Genero View too (not a bad idea the number of tracks  ), so if i make 4 lines like i've, will be 4 lines too in the Genero View, that i don't know how to fill  Sad cause it was so easy in MC12

 Why i've this view in this way? Sometimes i know that i want to listen to some of my last imported albums, so Artist/Album view it's enough, but sometimes i'm not so sure about what album i want to listen, but i know what Genero i want to listen, so in MC12 with one click i go back to Genero, choose the genero i want and i have the Albums of that genero sorted by date imported, 2 clicks, 2 seconds. In MC12 and in MC15 i can do some similar thing with the search, but it requires more clicks and more time.

There's no getting away from it, MC12 really was the absolute sweet spot when it comes to setting up view schemes. The v13 paradigm of 'create another view' over-simplified view creation and paved the way for trees cluttered with things that could have been taken care of by a single view in MC12.

That combination of independently configurable category levels and the oh-so-useful view header menu, in my opinion, could not be bested, and everything that has come after [re. view configuration] has been a step backwards.

Getting on for three major builds later, posts/threads such as this from dylanstan still appear, suggesting to me that I'm not alone in my opinion. I'm all for progress, moving with the times, etc. etc. and accept that it's highly unlikely that v15 will roll back to the v12 way, but that doesn't change my strongly held opinion that v12 wasn't broken in this respect and should never have been changed.

Totally agree!!!

This is the exact reason why I still use MC12 although I still continue to buy the new versions.

The tip by gappie fixed an issue I've had with them since MC13. Now my biggest gripe is not being able to have the album thumbnails larger on the album view then on the artist view. Again MC12 could do this.

MC15 looks good but wish it could be more like MC12 when it comes to views.

Yeah!!! i bought the licence for 13 but i keep using 12 cause of this, i bought the licence for 14, delete mc13, but keep using 12. I even try to use 14 for films and series, but i found that i could do the same with 12, so i keep using 12. Now i've installed 15, delete 14, but i'm more comfortable using 12. I'm trying with 15, even more than with 14, but i don't know what will i do. The thing that is making me think to keep using 15 it's the upnp, well the fact that in 15 i can navigate through the films in my TV seeing the covers, and in 12 we can't see the covers. As you can see cover view it's important for me  ,

But my main focus with MC is music, and navigate and listen to music in the PC (My TV it's not connected to any High Definition  sound equipment), and for this MC12 it seems to me better than 15

[gappie]

dylanstan. you are right. that is what i ment with not ideal. ofcourse you can leave the lines empty. it will just give some space inbetween the thumbs..
like this:

Code: [Select]

if(IsEqual([name],[album]),[year] - [album],[name])
if(IsEqual([name],[album]),[number plays] - [last played],)i would suggest to wait for the next update. i feel in my bigtoe that mc up to something  

 
gab

[Matt]

The build now available at the top of this board brings back discrete settings at each level of a category view.

Thanks for the feedback.

[makersjam]

Absolutely fantastic! Works like a charm.

thank you

JimW

[zxsix]

Wow, that's some service.  One more reason the upgrade price was well spent.