Music GUI Questions (1 Viewer)

[etnpnys]

=Post edited cuz I was a jerk - but content still remains intact=

I just uninstalled Windows Vista Ultimate because - well, frankly it sucks bad.

Maybe I'm missing something, but the most used feature I ever used when listening to music in Vista's Media Center was the ability to just go to a folder (with no songs inherently IN THAT FOLDER) and just hit "Play"... It would then play all of the songs that existed in that folder and all subfolders.

However, in Media Portal (and just about all other 3rd party media players), I can either select ONE song or ONE folder and hit "Play" -- OR I can play a playlist.

I hate playlists. I only rip CDs of the songs that I actually LIKE - I don't have a massive bloated MP3 collection, because I obtained all of my MP3s legally. So managing playlists is just a ridiculous task for me. When I rip a CD, I don't want to have to rip the CD, then add all my new songs to EVERY playlist that I think they are applicable to just to hear my music!

I just want to browse to a folder and hit PLAY. Am I missing something? I'm hoping that there is a configuration or something that will enable me to simply do this - but I can't seem to find it anywhere.

 

[Inker]

1) I don't understand what Vista Ultimate has to do with it?

2) There are other ways (read: nicer) ways to say what you just did. Frankly I wonder if I should have replied at all. Being polite goes a long way you know....

3) I don't understand your question. You say you want to go to a folder and hit play to play all items in it, and then you say MP only allows you to "either select ONE song or ONE folder and hit "Play"". So MP does exactly what you want, no? If you select a file and hit play it will play that very song, if you select a file and hit OK it will play the entire folder (or album or whatever).

 

[geov]

I considered ignoring this post, but just could not because I actually felt insulted by your comments and I’m just a MediaPortal user I can just imagine how seeing a negative post like this would make the MP-developers feel. If you don’t like the way MP works, then rather try and be constructive and propose an improvement…and stay away from the insults.

And by the way MP can do exactly what you requested…just a bit differently and better in my view. Switch to the “Shares” view, then scroll down to the folder that you want to play, right-click on it (or with MCE-remote hit the “more” button on it) and select “Play Now”.

GeoV

 

[etnpnys]

Oops

I apologize that my comments sounded insulting to the designers, developers, and even other users. My frustration was actually geared towards myself not being able to FIND OUT how to do what I wanted.

...I probably should have just played some music through MP and did the dishes or something... Hmph.

Anyway, in further response to your responses, I completely appreciate the availability of QUALITY free software. That's ridiculously hard to find these days, so MP is a diamond in the rough. And giving the users the ability to have insight into improving the product? Invaluable.

Inker:
1. I cited Vista Ultimate only for the sake of providing a reference to my comparison.

2. My question was essentially how to select a folder and have MP play all contents (even subfolders). Frustration stemmed from not realizing that there was more functionality built into the GUI if I simply used the mouse... I find now that if I right-click a folder and select "Play Now" it does exactly what I wanted - is there a way to do this with the keyboard?

I guess I just wasn't anticipating having to use the mouse at all... Cuz you don't really have a mouse on a remote control in your home theater...

Geov:
1. I don't understand "Shares" - from the name alone I would expect it to be shared files on the network (or mapped drives, etc.). Is there documentation that outlines what a share is and how to use them?

2. Again, I just wasn't expecting to have to use the mouse for anything. I think that all functionality should be built into a remote - or at least keys on the keyboard.

Both of you (and others):
How can I remap functionality to keys on the keyboard? I found where to find which keys are mapped to what (through the Config utility) but I can't find where to change them... Like making BACKSPACE go to the previous screen instead of ESC...

 

[piranha]

You have all the functionality built into the remote.
On my MCE I just press info and get context menu.
Since you didn't provide your HW profile, I can't help you on what you should do.
As for keyboard shortcuts, check the wiki - it's on the homepage in the top right corner.

P.S. You can still change the subject of your post to be "less offensive"

 

[tomtom21000]

2. My question was essentially how to select a folder and have MP play all contents (even subfolders). Frustration stemmed from not realizing that there was more functionality built into the GUI if I simply used the mouse... I find now that if I right-click a folder and select "Play Now" it does exactly what I wanted - is there a way to do this with the keyboard?

F9 on the keyboard gives you the context menu

tomtom

 

[geov]

Hi

As Piranha stated, you should be able to do everything with your remote, I do with my MCE-remote and never use my mouse or keyboard unless I'm changing configuration. If you fill in your hardware-profile someone with similar hardware would be able to help you.

See my system detail for example:

https://forum.team-mediaportal.com/my_mystic_htpc-t15842.html?t=15842

As for the term "shares", its a different view on the main MyMusic screen that you can select. It will take you to a view of your actual music folders that you configured in MP-Setup. I recommended that you use 'shares' because you were talking about selecting an entire directory....for example I can load my entire music-library by selecting 'Play Now' on the "My Music" folder. And yes you can add network-shares as part of you MP-setup.

Cheers
GeoV

 

[etnpnys]

Edited

Ok - title edited.

And I'll check out the wiki and probably start using the F9 key for context stuff.

It should be quick, but as I'm in the QA field and not a developer, I can't resolve this next issue: Is there a way to put a "Play Now" button on the left navigation menu? (Maybe move the scrobbler stuff to the context menu cuz it's never changed...)