Monday, February 2. 2009
Playlist Layout Editor
Woho! I finally have a new toy in Amarok worth blogging about!
Today I want to introduce the first draft of the Playlist Layout Editor for Amarok 2.1. In an earlier post, I discussed the new customizable playlist rendering engine and the underlying configuration system. I also hinted that there would be a simple and easy way of customizing your playlist layout. This is exactly what I have been working on for a little while now. And while the results are still mainly at the prototype stage, I think it is far enough along that it is worth giving a sneak peak at.
So lets get some screenshots on the table!
Building on the "Token Dragging" code crated by our GSoC student Teo Mrnjavac we now have an easy to use editor where the layout of a playlist item can be created and modified using drag and drop and a simple config menu. Currently saving these layouts back to xml (loading from xml into the editor works fine ) is not implemented yet, but it is possible to apply a modified layout to the playlist by pressing the "preview" button.
As can be seen, a playlist layout basically consists of 3 configs, one for each major element in the playlist. Album Heads, Album Body, and Single Tracks. The editor has a tab for each of these, but the way they are edited and created are exactly the same. In the last screenshot can be seen how an illusion of ungrouped tracks can be obtained by making the Album Head item have 0 rows and making the Album Body and Single Track items have the same layout.
Enough for now, I had better get back to playing with... uhm... working on this thing!
Today I want to introduce the first draft of the Playlist Layout Editor for Amarok 2.1. In an earlier post, I discussed the new customizable playlist rendering engine and the underlying configuration system. I also hinted that there would be a simple and easy way of customizing your playlist layout. This is exactly what I have been working on for a little while now. And while the results are still mainly at the prototype stage, I think it is far enough along that it is worth giving a sneak peak at.
So lets get some screenshots on the table!
Building on the "Token Dragging" code crated by our GSoC student Teo Mrnjavac we now have an easy to use editor where the layout of a playlist item can be created and modified using drag and drop and a simple config menu. Currently saving these layouts back to xml (loading from xml into the editor works fine ) is not implemented yet, but it is possible to apply a modified layout to the playlist by pressing the "preview" button.
As can be seen, a playlist layout basically consists of 3 configs, one for each major element in the playlist. Album Heads, Album Body, and Single Tracks. The editor has a tab for each of these, but the way they are edited and created are exactly the same. In the last screenshot can be seen how an illusion of ungrouped tracks can be obtained by making the Album Head item have 0 rows and making the Album Body and Single Track items have the same layout.
Enough for now, I had better get back to playing with... uhm... working on this thing!
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Wow, that is some of the coolest things I have seen in quite a while. Kudos!
Awesome. Please allow us to show BIG covers. They've smalled down with Amarok 2.0 and 300px is not possible anymore. Hopefully the big covers will come back!
Would it be possible to show Head, Body and Single at once instead in different tabs. Or has this been tried already? And maybe automatically preview after every single change to make the process a little more intuitive?
Otherwise it looks very, very cool already.
Otherwise it looks very, very cool already.
Yes! Looks promising, you'll make a lot of people happy with this functionality. It's 1 of the 2 major things I can't live without, which make me stick to Amarok 1.4. Now, to support transferring stuff to my USB-device media player like in Amarok 1.4 (with custom paths etc) and I can go to Amarok 2.
looks promising, impressive work.
i see ratings are back, too. great!
i see ratings are back, too. great!
Hi,
thank you so much for that great post with the self explaining screenshots! This is how a blog post should look like.
thank you so much for that great post with the self explaining screenshots! This is how a blog post should look like.
Looks awesome! I am really looking forward to this functionality.
A bit of constructive criticism (I realize this is still pre-alpha at the moment!)
-Does the configuration really need that much screen real estate for something that users will probably configure once then leave?
-Would it be possible to add an option to link the grouped tracks and ungrouped tracks, so that if someone wants to make grouped tracks look like ungrouped tracks they only need to put the configuration on one screen? Maybe on the ungrouped tracks screen a "same as grouped tracks" checkbox or something, or even just a checkbox that allows the user to turn off grouping. Come to think of it, that last option is probably the way to go, as the current method (make blank headers and duplicate bodies) is something that I don't know if users would necessarily think of.
A bit of constructive criticism (I realize this is still pre-alpha at the moment!)
-Does the configuration really need that much screen real estate for something that users will probably configure once then leave?
-Would it be possible to add an option to link the grouped tracks and ungrouped tracks, so that if someone wants to make grouped tracks look like ungrouped tracks they only need to put the configuration on one screen? Maybe on the ungrouped tracks screen a "same as grouped tracks" checkbox or something, or even just a checkbox that allows the user to turn off grouping. Come to think of it, that last option is probably the way to go, as the current method (make blank headers and duplicate bodies) is something that I don't know if users would necessarily think of.
I think that to be a useful and easy interface, it has to have enough space. I agree that ultimately its not something that most users will spend a lot of time with, hence why it is in a separate dialog and out of the way 99.9% of the time.
Regarding the cloning of grouped/ungrouped tracks, that is definitely a possibility. Its something that will be super easy to add later though, so its not very high on my list of priorities right now ( I'm still working on getting some of the basics, like saving custom layouts working)
Regarding the cloning of grouped/ungrouped tracks, that is definitely a possibility. Its something that will be super easy to add later though, so its not very high on my list of priorities right now ( I'm still working on getting some of the basics, like saving custom layouts working)
I'm not referring to the dialog box, I'm referring to the "config gui goes here" and associated drop-down boxes. With that and the search bar on top it looks like a lot of complexity before actually getting to the playlist. Maybe I'm not understanding the functionality of those boxes (probably time for me to start running off the svn again!), but they don't strike me as something that the user will need to manipulate on a regular basis...
Ah, well, the "Config gui goes here" stuff is going away, its not needed any more. The top dropdown box is for selecting layouts (and actually includes edit and delete actions in a pretty clever way) and will likely stay.
The second drop down box is just a test box I added to play with sorting in the playlist, that will likely change or disappear as well.
The second drop down box is just a test box I added to play with sorting in the playlist, that will likely change or disappear as well.
Ah, one drop-down isn't so bad Less than that and you probably run into discovery problems anyway...
Less than that and you probably run into discovery problems anyway...
Wow. This is some cool shit. I think you just made everyone happy, old hard-core Amarok1.4ers, new Amarok2ers and everyone else out there who hasn't fallen in love with it yet. This is simply astonishing.
I have one suggestion: It might be a good idea to support profiles (like e.g. Konsole does) to allow for instant switching between, for example, a layout for listening to albums when home alone and another for the party in the evening where many people squeeze in one more track.
In any case, thank you very much for all your hard work!
mutlu
I have one suggestion: It might be a good idea to support profiles (like e.g. Konsole does) to allow for instant switching between, for example, a layout for listening to albums when home alone and another for the party in the evening where many people squeeze in one more track.
In any case, thank you very much for all your hard work!
mutlu
If by profiles you mean quickly switching between different layouts, its already supported (have a look at the previous post linked from the top of this blog)
I would recommend looking at Firefox' Customize Toolbar dialog, especially the nice grid of icons which looks pretty relaxed, IMO.
This once again should prove to everyone the old wisdom I discovered a couple of years ago...
"Amarok devs are always right and know cool-fu"
"Amarok devs are always right and know cool-fu"
Pretty sweet. Now all we need is the return of the moodbar
yay! Moodbar ftw!
The moodbar would be really cool in the contex view ...
The moodbar would be really cool in the contex view ...
Wow, this is really impressive. There was a foobar plugin that allowed you to configure things like this, but it required complicated scripting to set up and was a general pain to use. This does most of the same things but with a beautiful and simple gui. Amazing.
What does the number next to the "Show Cover" check box do?
What does the number next to the "Show Cover" check box do?
I think (only guessing) that it defines the minimum number of songs that are needed to group them together with these header and body layouts.
Actually it is to specify how many "rows" of elements there should be in a single item.
I do have a couple of suggestions:
It would be great if the "body" item was actually a draggable module within the "head" tab. That way you could, place the header next to the list of tracks instead of above it if you wanted, part of it above the tracks and part to the side, etc.
Same with the album art, it would be nice if it was a draggable module so we can choose exactly where we want it. You also wouldn't need the 'album art" check box, since if you didn't want the album art you could just remove the module.
Finally, it would be nice if we could change the properties of each item, either by right-clicking on it or having the list of properties for the currently selected item appear at the bottom of the dialog box. So for instance for album art you could set album art size (or better yet album art range, which would be resized depending on how much space is available). Or if you are dealing with the album title, you could set whether "A" or "The" are displayed at the beginning or end, and whether those words are included in sorts.
It would be great if the "body" item was actually a draggable module within the "head" tab. That way you could, place the header next to the list of tracks instead of above it if you wanted, part of it above the tracks and part to the side, etc.
Same with the album art, it would be nice if it was a draggable module so we can choose exactly where we want it. You also wouldn't need the 'album art" check box, since if you didn't want the album art you could just remove the module.
Finally, it would be nice if we could change the properties of each item, either by right-clicking on it or having the list of properties for the currently selected item appear at the bottom of the dialog box. So for instance for album art you could set album art size (or better yet album art range, which would be resized depending on how much space is available). Or if you are dealing with the album title, you could set whether "A" or "The" are displayed at the beginning or end, and whether those words are included in sorts.
Some of these are good ideas, but it is not something I am going to work on for 2.1.0.
But I have to keep some cool stuff in store for 2.2, 2.3, ...
But I have to keep some cool stuff in store for 2.2, 2.3, ...
Great Job! Amarok 2 is awesome!
But...(i just have bitch about this minor thing)
Am i the only whose still bothered by that "top bar" (progress bar, volume level, buttons etc.) It could use some "shine" or way to configure it smaller...
I just think that unused huge very very grey (by default) space looks frankly quite unpolished and it sort of stands out in a kind of bad way IMHO. Hope something could be done for it
But...(i just have bitch about this minor thing)
Am i the only whose still bothered by that "top bar" (progress bar, volume level, buttons etc.) It could use some "shine" or way to configure it smaller...
I just think that unused huge very very grey (by default) space looks frankly quite unpolished and it sort of stands out in a kind of bad way IMHO. Hope something could be done for it
I agree with that. The big play/stop .. buttons could get smaller though they fit in the same height that the progressbar is. The volume slider could also be place right of the progressbar and not over it.
Well, we're aware that the toolbar could be improved, and we're actively working with designers (e.g. Nuno Pinheiro) to improve on that.
So don't worry, it will happen, it's just difficult to make it really nice, so it takes time
So don't worry, it will happen, it's just difficult to make it really nice, so it takes time
Actually, allowing that whole control unit to be moved to the bottom would be a killer feature-- is that in the works as well? My usage patterns have my mouse close to the lower end of the screen, so that would be rather convenient.
PS: Wait, did someone just say huge mood-circle? Good call.
PS: Wait, did someone just say huge mood-circle? Good call.
Finally. I really like the old playlist... the new one has mostly caught up, and I'm now using old and new Amarok versions on two different computers.
Yes, I've complained about the new playlist at every opportunity
Yes, I've complained about the new playlist at every opportunity
Complaint which, i might add, only serve to annoy people, if they don't come along with something akin to "Yes, I can read, and as such know that plans exist to make the new one more powerful and thus also fit my needs"
Nice, but i think the placement on top of the playlist isnt that nice, maybe it could look like this
http://omploader.org/vMTdwdA
just an idea
http://omploader.org/vMTdwdA
just an idea
We are still discussing where to show this feature, so it might move around a bit.
I know it's kinda rude to ask, but, ehm, does anybody have any idea when this may make it into the nightly's? Or, for that matter, into a stable release?
The current playlist options are just not doing it for me, but I really want to switch to amarok 2 because it blends in so much better with my kde 4.2 setup.
The current playlist options are just not doing it for me, but I really want to switch to amarok 2 because it blends in so much better with my kde 4.2 setup.
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