Suggestion for update

[scaesic]

I find a couple of the aspects of mediaportals interface frustrating and wondered how easily they could be rectified.

firstly, in the main menu page i find it really annoying that the "my tv" "my video" "my radio etc" scroll up and down depending on where the mouse is. More than often they scroll past really fast when the mouse is off centre, making the feature pretty useless.

Secondly, the electronic program guide which comes up suffers a similar downfall. How about some up and down arrows like a normal window to scroll up and down? When the program guide is brought up with a program in the background the channel collum is far too narrow to display the channel titles, it seems fine when you bring up the program guide from the my tv menu though. Is there any quick way to fix this in a skin or the options?

lastly, i quite like how right clicking will take you back a page, however this isnt implemented in all the pages, particularly once my tv is launched you cant "right click" back into the main menu.

[quiller]

Well, first off: get a remote! Using MP with a keyboard is nice, but even the uber-geek in me appreciates the ease of using a d-pad, etc. to navigate. Still, here's my answers (as a non-skinner and non-developer) to your questions:

Originally Posted by scaesic

firstly, in the main menu page i find it really annoying that the "my tv" "my video" "my radio etc" scroll up and down depending on where the mouse is. More than often they scroll past really fast when the mouse is off centre, making the feature pretty useless.

How else would you scroll through items? I honestly don't understand how it could be annoying that the items scroll with the mouse, especially since you seem to be using mouse/keyboard for navigating all of MP.

Originally Posted by scaesic

Secondly, the electronic program guide which comes up suffers a similar downfall. How about some up and down arrows like a normal window to scroll up and down?

Actually, there are. You can turn them on in MediaPortal Setup, under the very first screen. I don't have MP in front of me now, otherwise I'd give you the exact setting, but they are more than useful for navigating the guide with a mouse. (You can also just use the arrow keys...)

Originally Posted by scaesic

When the program guide is brought up with a program in the background the channel collum is far too narrow to display the channel titles, it seems fine when you bring up the program guide from the my tv menu though. Is there any quick way to fix this in a skin or the options?

I kinda agree here: the guide with the video in the background is annoying, but luckily it only loads when you load it from right-clicking--if you use a remote (hint, hint), the "Guide" button loads the default guide interface.

Originally Posted by scaesic

lastly, i quite like how right clicking will take you back a page, however this isnt implemented in all the pages, particularly once my tv is launched you cant "right click" back into the main menu.

Can't testify either way, but try using "H" as a shortcut back to the home screen.

[scaesic]

Originally Posted by quiller

How else would you scroll through items? I honestly don't understand how it could be annoying that the items scroll with the mouse, especially since you seem to be using mouse/keyboard for navigating all of MP.

Actually, there are. You can turn them on in MediaPortal Setup, under the very first screen. I don't have MP in front of me now, otherwise I'd give you the exact setting, but they are more than useful for navigating the guide with a mouse. (You can also just use the arrow keys...)

cheers for replying, i found the "special mouse" options. But, although it displays a scroll bar, it would be significantly better to have scroll "buttons" that move the epg along in say 30min increments each tap.
Similarly, the main menu page would see significant performance improvments for mouse users with a scroll bar with buttons. At the moment iv switched to basic home, which seems a lot more mouse friendly.

The problem with the main menu at the moment is the menu is either scrolling really fast when the cursor is off the horizontal centre line, or not at all when the cursor is on the centre, it makes it impossible to use with a mouse, and seems to me to be a totally pointless feature for mouse (it depends where the cursor is, so i'm assuming the feature was added for mouse users)
Can you buy a remote seperatly and then just map the functions? i havnt seen anything like this, my card didnt come witha remote.

The right click thing as a "back" function is really annoying because its implemented in about 70% of pages, i imagine it's a pretty easy thing to rectify too. In my oppinion if a global navigating feature is to be added then it should be added for the entire application, at the moment it just adds to the frustration of the user
"why wont it go back! it was going back before!"

[quiller]

The problem with the main menu at the moment is the menu is either scrolling really fast when the cursor is off the horizontal centre line, or not at all when the cursor is on the centre, it makes it impossible to use with a mouse, and seems to me to be a totally pointless feature for mouse (it depends where the cursor is, so i'm assuming the feature was added for mouse users)

It scrolls faster because you're pointing, rather than selecting one item and then selecting another one. On the rare occasions I have used a mouse to navigate the Home screen, however, I've never been frustrated.

Can you buy a remote seperatly and then just map the functions? i havnt seen anything like this, my card didnt come witha remote.

You can pick up an MCE remote with IR receiver and two blasters (to control external STB, etc) for under $50.

In my oppinion if a global navigating feature is to be added then it should be added for the entire application, at the moment it just adds to the frustration of the user

Except it isn't a global navigating feature because MP isn't designed to be run with a mouse. If we're going to complain about why the interface isn't keyboard and mouse friendly, it's a moot point: it's not designed to be! While I understand your frustration on some points, I can't say I agree that anything needs to be "fixed."

[scaesic]

Originally Posted by quiller

It scrolls faster because you're pointing, rather than selecting one item and then selecting another one. On the rare occasions I have used a mouse to navigate the Home screen, however, I've never been frustrated.

You can pick up an MCE remote with IR receiver and two blasters (to control external STB, etc) for under $50.

Except it isn't a global navigating feature because MP isn't designed to be run with a mouse. If we're going to complain about why the interface isn't keyboard and mouse friendly, it's a moot point: it's not designed to be! While I understand your frustration on some points, I can't say I agree that anything needs to be "fixed."

sorry, i'm not trying to get into an argument.

it is impossible to use the mouse to select anything from the main menu, you need to use the keyboard or a mouse scroll wheel (which not everyone has) this seems like something which some people may find frustrating, and seems to ME, to be a valid suggestion for the next version.

if mp isn't meant to be used with keyboard and mouse perhaps the right click feature should be completely removed then? personally, it seems stupid to have it work on some pages and not on others - fix it or bin it should be the philosophy. vilifying anyone who makes suggestions for improvement (why the hell shouldn't it be friendly to mouse/keyboard users?) should not be the point of this messageboard. As a user, these are suggestions which i feel may significantly improve the program, they do not need to be addressed, but i still feel they are valid points. Just because user A has MP working brilliantly with a particular hardware setup, doesn't mean the program is "perfect" (it is extremely good, don't get me wrong, but nothign is perfect) , which is very much the impression i seem to be getting across...

[Nemulate]

You are right about mouse speed when scrolling its very difficult to navigate. I have remote but when I'm testing I quite often use the mouse and find it a bit frustrating. Also I'm not sure where it says you MUST use a remote with MP, surely it's a program of the people? (Opensource and all that!)

[quiller]

sorry, i'm not trying to get into an argument.

Not arguing. We're discussing passionately.

it is impossible to use the mouse to select anything from the main menu...

But it isn't! It might be annoying to you, but I actually find the way the home screen works with the mouse to be very intuitive. Try moving your mouse slower, perhaps? Other than that, I can't give much advice, other than to reinforce the fact that it isn't impossible.

if mp isn't meant to be used with keyboard and mouse perhaps the right click feature should be completely removed then? personally, it seems stupid to have it work on some pages and not on others

Actually, I meant to address this earlier: it seems that the right-click feature might be skin-related, or at least screen-related. In either case, I bet you'll see a rapid response if you create a list of screens where it does or doesn't work, then post that list in the proper development forum. On a tangent: do you have the Topbar plugin enabled? It has a "Back" button on the far left, which should work on any screen, regardless.

fix it or bin it should be the philosophy. vilifying anyone who makes suggestions for improvement (why the hell shouldn't it be friendly to mouse/keyboard users?) should not be the point of this messageboard. As a user, these are suggestions which i feel may significantly improve the program, they do not need to be addressed, but i still feel they are valid points. Just because user A has MP working brilliantly with a particular hardware setup, doesn't mean the program is "perfect" (it is extremely good, don't get me wrong, but nothign is perfect) , which is very much the impression i seem to be getting across...

Woah, buddy. I'm not trying to attack or vilify anyone. Look back up and you'll see that I agreed to your complaint, but offered either an explanation or work-around.

I have to return to my initial point: MediaPortal is designed for use with a remote, which means there will most likely always be aspects or features which are more awkward without one. From my point of view, at least, if you're using MP primarily without a remote, you're not really using it for the purpose it was designed for; and, if you use MP for a purpose other than what it is aiming to accomplish, you might come up short-handed. Just as with anything, MediaPortal will devolve into an unusable hunk of complexity if the developers try to design it for everything.

[scaesic]

okok, peace.

but i'm sticking to my guns on the home page part.

no matter how sloooooowly you move the mouse i cant get it to work. Basically what's going on is you reach this thresh-hold vertical point on the screen where the menu stats scrolling really really fast, when you move the mouse more central and reach the "turn off" point the menu stops scrolling. this would be fine if it didint scroll so fast as you could "stop" on the app you want to open, but it moves too fast and doesnt seem to change speed no matter what.

i think this COULD be intuitive if the speed at which the menu scrolls relates in any way to the position of the cursor, but as it stands the menu either scrolls (too fast) or stands still.

i do have that top bar and i have been using it to go back, but i didint understand the need for it if the right click thing worked on all pages (obviously some pages the right click has a special function, but there are a few where there is no reason for the right click - back shouldnt be implemented). il make a list of all the pages that the right click doesnt work on, can you point me to the right forum?

one more thing...

I have to return to my initial point: MediaPortal is designed for use with a remote, which means there will most likely always be aspects or features which are more awkward without one. From my point of view, at least, if you're using MP primarily without a remote, you're not really using it for the purpose it was designed for; and, if you use MP for a purpose other than what it is aiming to accomplish, you might come up short-handed. Just as with anything, MediaPortal will devolve into an unusable hunk of complexity if the developers try to design it for everything.

come on... MP runs on a computer, computers use keyboards and mice, i mean i know it's designed to be used with a remote, but come on, it cant be too difficult to implement the tried and tested point and click logic which applies to ALL windows (mac and linux) systems without compromising on making the app "bulky". come on...

I have remote but when I'm testing I quite often use the mouse and find it a bit frustrating. Also I'm not sure where it says you MUST use a remote with MP, surely it's a program of the people? (Opensource and all that!)

exactly, the whole point of open source is that it is open for anyone to "pervert" as much as they like.

[quiller]

I never disagreed the home menu isn't awkward; I should have been more pointed in my argument... apologies.

i do have that top bar and i have been using it to go back, but i didint understand the need for it if the right click thing worked on all pages (obviously some pages the right click has a special function, but there are a few where there is no reason for the right click - back shouldnt be implemented). il make a list of all the pages that the right click doesnt work on, can you point me to the right forum?

Ya know, it occurs to me that perhaps the top bar was designed specifically to accommodate a mouse? I have it turned off, specifically because with a remote it is annoying.