Re: [Rhythmbox-devel] Interface ideas

[Michi <michael monreal gmail com>]

On 4/16/05, James Livingston <jrl ids org au> wrote:
> On Thu, 2005-04-14 at 21:22 +0200, Michi wrote:
> I like what you've done with the album/artist lists; looks good.
Thx!

> The information bit looks nice. The various extra sources are something
> that I think definitely should get added sometime.
Thx again!

> Queue-related comments:
> Originally I though that having the queue show up as another source
> would be good, but after using for a while I'd have to say that having
> it show up as a part of the main interface is much better (at least for
> how I use the queue).
Having the queue always in the main interface would be better, yes...
but I don't see a way it yould fit there without cluttering the
interface.

> When I use it I normally am adding a few songs, and I'm not sure of the
> order until the end. So what happens in that I drag the songs into
> various places in the queue (not just at the end) and re-order the songs
> as I go. Having the queue just as a source without it being on the
> "sidebar" would mean I'd have to constantly switch back and forth
> between the queue and the library/playlist.
Ok... you're right, I would use the queue differently. I tend to have
A LOT songs in the play queue, because whenever I use such a
functionality (currently I still use xmms's playlist for this...) I
DON'T whant to sit at the computer all the time, reoganizing a short
queue but only have a look from time to time to add some new songs. In
this case, the small queue in the sidebar is not what I want. Anyway,
normally a queue isn't about reordering the item, it's FIFO - exactly
what you want, for example at a party: someone wants to hear a
particular song. You add it to the queue but he has to wait before the
other songs have been played because otherwise, you could just play
from the library.

Having the queue as a special sidebar item also makes sense because
this way, it acts similar to a playlist - which is good because it is
essentially a special kind of playlist, songs that have been played
will be removed.

Concerning the interface morphing: yeah, this is generally not very nice but
a) the space is needed
b) the interface already morphs the same way for radio and playlists.
If all the views are designed to match each other this is no big deal
I think. Doing the "open at mouse-over" thing I said earlier and you
shouldn't miss much.
Try running rhythmbox in a resolution below 1024x764. Even at that
resolution you kan only get about 5 items in the current queue (when
cover display is enabled) before you need to start scrolling. Don't
think that this is what people want...

Having said that, I understand you special use case, just can't think
this is more common. Perhaps the sidebar-based queue could later be
re-implemented as a plugin? Other opinions please =)

-Michi