Rating suggestions

[JamesM]

There's a couple of functions I'd like to see

1) on the Main player view, Column browser, please include a "No rating"/"Unknown" selection (like you have under Music->Rating in the tree view). It makes sense that the two routes should include the same options...and it would assist people in trying to go through their collection to rate tracks or find new music.

2) I'd love to see an editable rating widget in the Mini Player. Currently you have to right click, go to properties, set your rating, then close the dialog box. That's a lot of clicking if you have hundreds of tracks to rate. And a little frustrating when you realize it's already been rated. Staying in the full screen view means you can't really do much else without a lot of app switching. I've tried to use the windows taskbar preview but sometimes it's hit and miss whether it shows, plus there's a lot of dawdling if you set your taskbar to auto-hide. I simple/direct click on something that's in view option would be awesome
I appreciate some of this (minimalism) is done to allow the player to be as small as possible. One app I've made has three views. Absolute minimum, slightly bigger with a few more functions, and full size. Perhaps something similar could be done?

Aside, the main view shows "track name - artist" on the play bar. I'd like to see this on the Mini player as well as I have a bad memory so I'm constantly having to go to the full screen view to remind myself which Artist is being played. This could be "optional" if it's a setting

3) Adding a zero indicator at the start of the current Rating widget would be really helpful. Clickable to apply this rating. Presently the only way to rate as a "zero" involves selecting the track in the full screen view and go through the right click menu to a submenu...and when the track next plays it just looks like it's never been rated. With a zero added to the indicator on the play bar it would be obvious...and quickly rectified by a quick click of the next track button

I hope these sound like worthwhile suggestions?

cheers
J

[dtsig]

Add Rating to the columns then you simply click the rating you want

[JamesM]

Add Rating to the columns then you simply click the rating you want

My suggestions are not fixable with a view adjustment (to the best of my knowledge)

I already have a ratings column. You cannot set a zero ("O") rating via this column
I assume this is something you've never done and therefore do not "get" what I'm saying

Select a track, right click, move you mouse down to "My rating", select 0 Stars
Note : the column does not show no illuminated stars (aka, unknown) it shows a zero
Note : If you now play the track, the play bar Rating indicator does not show a zero, it shows no illuminated stars (aka, unknown).
If the app is behind something else and all you can see is the play bar it may be a minute before you go, "urghhh this is sh##". That's a minute you'll never get back

Also, Add rating to your column browser, scroll down, it includes O but not unknown. On the tree view, expand music, expand rating. At the bottom you will see Unknown

what I'm suggesting for the rating display is this
* "OXXXXX" = 3 Stars
* "OXXXXX" = zero stars
* "OXXXXX" = unkown
instead of
* "XXXXX" = 3 Stars
* "O" = zero stars
by way of explanation. If the zero only becomes visible after you've set a zero rating you can't click it in order to set a zero rating. It's a bit of a chiken & egg thing.
If the zero is always visible (whether highlighted or greyed) it's always clickable to set a zero rating.
If the stars are always visible (whether highlighted or greyed) it's always possible to (simply) override an accidental zero rating.

...before someone suggests I could just delete the tracks I don't like. I'd need to win an argument in order to get permission for that. Hell would freeze over before that happened...and some of the items are dialogue from albums, which is OK in context but odd out of context...or language tutorials and the like.

[Peke]

MMW do not have Zero but Bomb? If you are referring to Bomb Rating? It was added long time ago, but removed due the complains(Non standardized approach) and accidental Bombing of the tracks.

But I like the idea to Make Rating better handled maybe by Using CTRL/SHIFT/ALT+Click for Additional Features in MM5.

I'm open to suggestions?

[JamesM]

Not sure how you add a picture, total noob here. At any rate I took a screenshot. Select a track, right click, go to the [My rating] submenu. second from the bottom [ O" | 0 Stars ]. Followed by [ | Unknown ]

Speaking of Right clicking. I imagine if you override the right click event for the ratings widget so instead of bubbling up to the main apps right click menu it pointed straight to the "My Rating" submenu menu you could set your zero with far less clicking and pointer moving.
A right click menu would also
* be relatively easy to stumble upon accidentally and learn...
* prevent accidentally bombing your tracks (not that I get how that's any worse than accidentally setting the rating to one or two, if it were me it will probably mean I will never ever listen to it)

If the zero could still be shown on the play bar that would be great. If it behaves the same as the grids rating widget it would be easy to change back to a star rating using a left click event.

[Kenny_Bunkport]

I'd like to see an "aggressive" ratings mode that reminds me to add a rating.
MMW could pop up a small dialog box in the corner of the screen at about 15 seconds before the song ends.

[JoePublic]

Did I see in Peke's post above that the Bomb rating is removed from MM5? That would be a shame if it is.

However, if it's going away, I hope in the conversion from MM4 to MM5, existing Bomb ratings are converted to the lowest possible Star rating, which I guess would be one-half star. Please do not turn the Bomb rating into "no rating" at conversion time.

Some might wonder, why would anyone keep Bomb-rated songs in their library? My answer: Storage is cheap. If I acquire a song that I end up hating from an artist I otherwise like... if I delete the song from my library, later on I may forget and wonder why I don't have that song by that artist. Then I go to the time and trouble to download it again, put it in the library again, and review it again. Wasted time. If the song is sitting out there, I won't accidentally duplicate my efforts later.

Besides, maybe a friend of mine likes the song and they'll want to hear it. So, there are a few reasons to keep bad songs in the library.

[Peke]

Hi,
Just checked MM5 Have 0 star Rating and I guess It can be easily converted to Bomb Rating in skins.