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What is your impression after using WMC skin


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fstx

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This thread is derailing. To me it is obvious that ge2301 understands the good things about WMC and is trying to bring them to Mediaportal. I am guessing, but I think it's not possible do this at the skin level today, and that improvements to the underlying engine are needed.

This seems to be the case for Kodi as well, and probably for Emby.
 

The Solutor

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It's a while that no one writes here.

I'm testing MP2 2.1.1 (Thoroughly than usual because the translation work) and while I was checking for some translations on WMC I noticed a small but strange thing...

2rom1aa.png


(WMC in blue, MP2 in red)

As you can see in the vertical stripe on the left the writings are running in opposite directions.

Obviously no one will die for that, but I was curious to know if that change is intended or not, and if it's intended, why?
 

ge2301

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    Obviously no one will die for that, but I was curious to know if that change is intended or not, and if it's intended, why?
    In the United States, the Commonwealth and in Scandinavia, titles are usually written top-to-bottom on the spine. This means that when the book is placed on a table with the front cover upwards, the title is correctly oriented left-to-right on the spine. This practice is reflected in the industry standards ANSI/NISO Z39.41 and ISO 6357.

    In most of continental Europe, titles are conventionally printed bottom-to-top on the spine so, when the books are placed vertically on shelves, the title can be read by tilting the head to the left.
     

    The Solutor

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    Ok thanks, fair.

    But IMHO when replicating something the small diversions should be avoided, because our brain unconsciously expects the same experience.

    I mean, you will feel less comfortable switching from , say a gasoline to diesel Golf, rather than switching from a Golf to a Brava.

    In the latter case you know the brava is a different car you are prepared to any strange behavior. And usually you adapt very quickly to the new car.

    In the former case your brain thinks hey "this is a Golf! it's the same car!" but then you notice a different behavior in any small detail, different acceleration curve, softer/harder brakes and alike.

    So my personal vote is to do whatever feels right on any skin other than WMC, which should try to behave as close as WMC as possible, no matter if that behavior is different from MP2 standards.

    I mean that as a general rule, the writing direction is a small detail that possibly no one noticed.
     

    ge2301

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    For those who like to change it, it's just removing the "-" in here with a text editor. For the current verson there will be no change, I'm already working on MP2.2.
     

    The Solutor

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    Thanks


    I'm already working on MP2.2

    Good to know the development hasn't stopped, I hope you'll take in account my previous considerations about the lack of the guide button and the lack/size of the windows control buttons.

    The writing direction is nitpicking, the lack of some buttons is not. :)
     

    The Solutor

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    Another (minor) thing: scrolling in WMC "is circular" (arrow down/mw down on the last item/row leads to the first item, and viceversa) both on home page menu and EPG

    In MP2 the Home menu is circular, but the EPG page is not. So a minor thing, but this behavior breaks the coherence not just with WMC but also with MP2 itself
     

    ge2301

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    In MP2 the Home menu is circular, but the EPG page is not. So a minor thing, but this behavior breaks the coherence not just with WMC but also with MP2 itself
    The EPG can not be circular, because you could not reach the top bar by keyboard or remote anymore. WMC is the base, some points are intentially different. As MP2 has e.g. the PIP mode you need to be able to switch the players and see what is playing. For this we have e.g. the Currently Playing icon in the top bar. It must be reachable in every screen, so vertical loop navigation is not possible. Additionally further infortmation will be shown in the top bar in future (user icon with possibility to switch the user), so it's fixed by concept.
    In the other screens with horizontal navigation it could be activated (it's just 1 parameter to be changed), but I kept it off to be consistant in all Media Item screens and because it cause partly errors for very large lists. The Home Menu has a limited top bar, because the content can be also reached from the menu itself (CP screen etc.), so the loop control is not a problem.
    I'll move the posts to feature requests, as they are not related to bugs or problems.
     

    The Solutor

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    Mine was not intended as a feature request, given isn't something that I really miss.


    I see your point about not being able to reach the searchbar, but I'm not sure that the "is not possible" part is 100% right.

    I mean an option for cursor navigation would be keep circular the EPG page while you start from a selected channel or program item, and go not circular if you start from the left vertical stripe (the one we discussed about the writing direction).

    Would be pretty easy to get, because this is more or less the logic already used on wmc menus (i mean mainly during the initial configuration) and not only there.

    Obviously I have no idea about how easy or hard to implement this would be.

    P.S. perhaps an intentionally introduced bug is still a bug. No way to consider it a feature request. Feature requests are about functionality not yet there.

    The above messages are about features already there but not working as expected.
     
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    Digsy

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    Do you have an image from the clickable 4 way arrow EPG and could you shortly explain the navigation concept? I implemented the 4 arrow concept already in the home menu and can improve also the EPG further. I have WMC installed on my PC and could not find something as you described. Perhaps you talk not about mouse buttons, but remote!?

    I can only see two arrows on the home menu, for navigating left and right. For up and down I use the scroll wheel, but this gives very inconsistent results (sometimes moves too fast, sometimes doesn't move at all). This method is actually the same as WMC but the scroll wheel works much better.

    MP2 WMC skin home menu navigation.jpg

    The four arrows in the WMC EPG appear when you hover the mouse near the edges of the visible part of the EPG.

    WMC EPG down arrow.jpg WMC EPG left arrow.jpg WMC EPG right arrow.jpg WMC EPG up arrow.jpg

    I never played DVD's with MP2, so I might be not aware of something. What are "flaoting shuttle controls"? If you help with a screenshot or further explannation I can also see what to do.

    The floating controls appear correctly when watching TV if you move the mouse, then after a while they disappear (same as WMC).
    MP2 TV controls.jpg

    However when watching a movie, no matter how much you move the mouse, no controls appear in the actual movie viewer...
    MP2 missing movies controls.jpg

    ...but if you hit "back" to go back to the media browser while the movie is still playing, the controls can be seen at the bottom of the screen, where they do work, but are not much use other than to stop the video.
    MP2 movie controls on library screen.jpg

    I hope this clarifies things a bit :)
     

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