by daouda34 » Fri Nov 13, 2009 7:03 am
Another imperfection that i just noticed : i think that, in order to be consistent with the overall theme, the miniplayer (which i never use) should be using hearts instead of stars for ratings.
EDIT: i wrote too fast about stopping there, I didnt want to look like i'm harassing nohitter about petty concerns but since i seem to be on a roll here i might as well finish:
-For consistency (and more intuitive usability), the "go to now playing node" button (on the toolbar right above the tree) should keep the same design as the icon next to the actual "now playing" node (a 3 band graphic sound representation).
-I find that the black CD case displayed when the album art is missing (in "album art" panel, album view, and monkeyrok) is a little dry. I personally think something more discreet would look better there, like a light tone monkey icon or a light tone music note... or something more original, but not ig and black and square.
This is all i can think of at the moment about what could relatively easily make this skin a near-perfect one.
Now, if you had more time on your hands, i think the whole lot of MM buttons icons could use a nice makeover. You did a great job on most of the tree icons (now playing, artist, album, genre, year rating, classification, playlists) and the "categorize" toolbar buttons, but EVERY other one should use that same minimalist, elegant, sober design - for consistency AND style AND better "readability".
So, here are my suggestions to the MM development team and especially whomever are responsible of its GUI design and the skinning engine :
I think the somehow outdated (at times ugly) buttons/icons design is largely responsible of that outdated win XP/3.1 look many MM users complain about, especially when comparing it to other better-looking players like songbird, or even itunes (liking or not its design is a matter of taste, but one cannot deny it does boast a coherent, finished-product polished look).
Another thing is its non-efficient use of screen space (especially for lower res. screen users) due to :
-Oversized players (which can be adressed by skinning, many but not enough skin designers do propose "small player" or "slim player" versions of the same skin)
-Too-thick scrollbars (does the skinning engine allow the use of thinner ones?)
-Totally useless panel titlebars ("Track Browser"-I hate this one!, "Album Art", "Monkeyrok 4.1"... I think this is a limitation of the skinning engine)
...and other design flaws that are unfortunately probably unskinnable for the moment :
-The "List ¦ Edit ¦ Copy" toolbar that sits under the "now playing" panel by default (it's movable, even though that doesnt make any sense) should simply be located ON that very "now playing" panel titlebar, thus saving space! Do we really need mostly empty bars over and under the same panel?
-The "status bar" ("17 files, 97.2 MB, 49:32") is another waste of space that could have, for instance, its info located on the main "MediaMonkey" window titlebar, right-justified !
-The "File Edit View Play Tools Help" menu should definitely also be located on the very mediamonkey window titlebar (like in SongBird), saving precious space for other optional toolbars.
-Who needs a damn title bar anyway? "Mediamonkey" is too long of a word and we all know what's inside the window at first glance without reading it, just keep the icon on the far left and after that, in order, "file etc" menu, then status-bar info (right-justified), and finally the micro/miniplayer, minimize, restore, close buttons! This is one of the main reasons that make google chrome great, it is so damn screen space-efficient!
-This definitely will have to wait for a new MM release, but the tab approach for switching between different views would be a great thing. Our panel needs when organizing/listening to music are very different and it's too much of a hassle to have to reorganize them everytime.
It's a lot of work for only one guy that has other things to do, but i think it's about time that the focus for MM skins would be on maximum quality on a few of them (on which designers should cooperate), and not quantity. A single skin designer cannot an wont bother to pay attention to EVERY little graphic detail that, albeit little, still matter to acheive a perfectly sleek, polished, consistent, finished-product look.
Most of us will agree that even after trying every other app out there, MM is still(after overcoming the initial hurdle) by far the best, most powerful app for those with a huge music collection, but most of us will also agree that it could look and feel much more up-to-date . I think i'm not the only one finding that up-and-comers like songbird look and feel damn attractive, always making it a disappointment to have to come back to the old Monkey.
Like i said, i kind of had given up on MM looking nice and elegant without necessiting a major new release (MM 4.0?) and i know a lot of the expectations i listed above cannot be adressed only by skinning. But for the first time, this LastFM skin changed my mind about it and proved (to my eyes) that the skinning possiblities of the monkey just hadnt been pushed far enough yet in the direction of sleekness and elegance. This skin is so close to making my monkey look as good if not better than any other player out there that it's rejuvenating my faith in its simian greatness.
For that i thank you again nohitter- please don't let us down!
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Could you send me your modified .msz or .mskn file to look at? You can send it to my email address (should be listed here in the forum). Thanks!
