I can't seem to get emplode to sort the top level playlists by name (the left pane). They appear to mostly be in added order although not quite!
Very annoying since I want to check for dups or find a playlist fast (now I have to scan down the list all the way or remember if I just added it or if it was a while ago).
Am I missing something obvious here?

Nope. I think (but I'm too lazy to look at the source) that emplode currently puts the items in the list that they exist on the player. In other words, if shuffle is off, this is the order that it'll play them in.

Hugo wants me to add an option to sort the playlist tree alphabetically. I'll see if I can sneak it into the 1.1 release. It seems to have been left off the TODO list.



Roger - not necessarily speaking for empeg

Hugo wants me to add an option to sort the playlist tree alphabetically. I'll see if I can sneak it into the 1.1 release. It seems to have been left off the TODO list.

So we'll still be able to define the order ourselves if we want, right? This is vital to the "unshuffle drops you into an album" fix discussed elsewhere.

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Tony Fabris

But the playlist in the empeg is alphabetical.
Thanks, that would be great to have!

Would it be possible to have some easy way to set the playlist-order in emplode?
e.g. by selecting the song and then some move up/down buttons to select the order or via direct editing the position-field? (if a number that already exists is typed in then all numbers above are raised 1)
Some thoughts about that?

Is there maybe something like "changes/adds in the 1.1 version" which could be posted?

TeeMcBee
Got my Mk2! # 080000143

But the playlist in the empeg is alphabetical.

No it's not. The menu is alphabetical. With shuffle off, selecting the little triangle icon plays the tracks in the defined order, not in alphabetical order.

To adjust the order, you can drag and drop the tracks in the RHS. Set the sort order to "Pos" by clicking on the column header. Then drag the item on top of the item that you'd like to insert it before.

Alternatively, you can use the "Set Playlist Order" button.

Currently, however, this doesn't refresh the view on the LHS. You'll probably have to resync to update it.



Roger - not necessarily speaking for empeg

That answers the question I had... thanx.

TeeMcBee
Got my Mk2! # 080000143

Would it be possible to have some easy way to set the playlist-order in emplode?

There is. You just view/details. Sort by position (click on that column), then drag items up and down in the list. This works for playlists as well as songs.

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Tony Fabris

Sounds like the real problem regarding Brad's post is finding duplicates. Emplode should warn you when artist/album/song match (and possibly track # in case there are more than one "untitled" tracks).

Sounds like the real problem regarding Brad's post is finding duplicates.

Theoretically, dupe checking should become easy when the "search" screen is implemented (soon).

Assuming that the search can (if desired) be for "everything", and the results are sortable. Roger, is this the case?

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Tony Fabris

But I am talking about navigating playlist while in my car on the empeg... which is alpha, yet the list in emplode is in added order and cannot change...

But I am talking about navigating playlist while in my car on the empeg... which is alpha, yet the list in emplode is in added order and cannot change...

I'm still not clear on what you're trying to say...

Are you confused by the fact that the on-the-empeg playlist menu appears alphabetically rather than in "play" order, whereas Emplode lists the items in play order?

First: You can see the list in Emplode in alphabetical order if you want. Click on the root playlist ("empeg-car" in the left-hand pane). Then hit view/details. Then click on the "Title" column. Okay, so it's only alphabetical in the right-hand column, not the left. But at least you can see it that way if you need to.

Second, you said "the list in emplode is in added order and cannot change." But you can change it from the added order. Click on the "position" column to sort them in play order, then drag items up and down in the list to change their order.

Third: Understand that there's three different orders we're discussing here. There's the play order, in other words, what the Empeg does when unshuffled. This is represented by the "position" column in Emplode. Then there's the menu order on the Empeg's front panel, which is hard-coded to be alphabetical no matter what. Then there's the order that items are displayed in Emplode, which is fully sortable in the right-hand pane.

Is it these three different orders that's confusing? I wonder, would there be any way to make it clearer?

___________
Tony Fabris

Third: Understand that there's three different orders we're discussing here. There's the play order, in other words, what the Empeg does when unshuffled. This is represented by the "position" column in Emplode. Then there's the menu order on the Empeg's front panel, which is hard-coded to be alphabetical no matter what. Then there's the order that items are displayed in Emplode, which is fully sortable in the right-hand pane.

Is it these three different orders that's confusing? I wonder, would there be any way to make it clearer?

Well, one way would be to have only had one order in the first place. :)

This is one of those things which has bothered me for a while (and the Empeg people know it, though I haven't discussed it here) - while it's true that there are lots of different approaches to user interface design, and no one interface is good for everyone, I think that every user interface designer out there will agree that consistency is a key element of any good design. This, to me, means that if I drag things into a particular order in Emplode (see note below), then I should see them in that particular order on the Empeg when I'm navigating playlists - otherwise, what's the point in dragging them around? Moreover, if I see playlists in a particular order while browsing them on the Empeg, and then I choose to play the entire set of playlists, they should play in the order in which I see them while browsing. Anything else will be completely confounding to any user who doesn't know that there are multiple unrelated playlist orderings at work - such as the person in the passenger seat who is playing with the Empeg during a lull in conversation, or the spouse or friend who may not be involved with actually synchronizing music onto the Empeg but who drives the car in which the Empeg lives on a regular basis.

The objection to this, as I understand it, is that it prevents you from using "remote shortcuts" (like "press A, which brings you very close to all the artists which start with A") - but why do these have to be the same list you're navigating through? When you do a search by artist, it pops up a screen with a scrolling list of artists and you get to choose one; why not have a "search by playlist name" as well, with similar functionality, but listing playlist names (hierarchically) instead of artists, or genres, or track titles? This keeps the people who use the alphabetical shortcuts happy, by maintaining them in their full splendor, while keeping people like me who like seeing things in the order I put them in happy as well.

Of course, one might also want to have a customization option (which may or may not already be in v1.1 - I hope it is, and I think it might be based on some of what I've heard) to list in "emplode" or "alphabetical" order in the playlists menu.

Another thing to consider is the following: Remember my "The Cure"/"Cure, The" example, above? Well, what the ID3v2 people have done about that (at the suggestion of myself and a colleague of mine ;) for ID3v2.4.0 is to add some "sort key" tags, for artist, album, and track name. So in a track by The Cure, I'd have the artist as "The Cure", but the sort key as "Cure, The", and a sufficiently savvy program would sort them correctly. The Empeg can add this concept as well - which would very neatly take care of a lot of the problems people have been having with alphabetization in general, so that even if I chose to have things displayed in "alphabetical" order, it would be a sane alphabetical order. :)

(Note (from above, on Emplode drag&drop sorting): I'm really having trouble understanding why people are having problems sorting things in the left pane - for me, if I drag them around in the right pane, having selected the "empeg-car" playlist or a subplaylist thereof, the things in the left pane move to reflect the order I've dragged them into in the right pane)

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Daniel M. Zimmerman
Mk.2 #060000058, 36GB, Red
Mk.1 #00101, 10GB, Blue