some new feature suggestions....

[katleeh]

Okay, since I don't know how the xml is setup for this thing I'll assume anything can be written in as long as you have the tags for it. That being said there needs to be some other things I think. So here's a list of features i'd like to see implemented as they would reflect some of the overall better features I've seen in other softwares. I'm not sure if any of these have been suggested already or not.

1 - implement custom images fields that can be set for whatever size. Lots of uses for this. Customimage01, customimage02, etc. For instance. That way the custom images can be used for banners or season images or something.

2 - with a lot of software using a hierarchical look, the lack of interactivity within the various branches of the tree make it difficult to organize things sometimes. Therefore, any main branch should be able to read things from the sub branches under it. This would be good for series, ie all episodes you have/want at a glance, or for websites and things where you download videos that you are cataloging, ie certain scenes from vod adult sites or support videos related to series you like. The potential here is amazing merely from an organizational pov.

3 - there must be some way to add more customizability to the skins layout. I've looked at a few other pieces of software that use xml for the data display so I know there's other options. I just don't know what all goes into the programming of said layout as its been quite awhile since I worked with any programming language.

4 - customize what gets displayed in the tree listing. A lot of other software has this ability, although some don't and it can be quite helpful in determing what gets quick displayed at a glance.

Since I'm at work right now its hard adding to this list so I'll add to it more later.

- katleeh

[katleeh]

Yes, I know, some of these I've mentioned before. I'm trying to layout things better so I can netter explain how certain feaatures incorporate into what I'm suggesting. In all honesty I think the way I'm explaining stuff comes off wrong so forgive me if I've repeated myself.

Another feature that would be handy would be the ability to have the stats of the database displayed somewhere in plain site instead of having to pull up the stats option from the menu. There's a program that's a good start for cataloging anime called anime list maker (iirc) and it displayed total items in database, total size of video files in database, total episodes, etc in a column on the right of the screen. Its a handy feature to have especially since you really don't realize how big your collection is until you see the totals... "its how many gigs big???"... perhaps this could be something that could be for skins in the future, information for something like a "home page" for the collection... or a summary page, take your choice with the terms...

Well that's all for now...

- katleeh

[katleeh]

I forgot a big feature... what about some kind of skin editor? I know, I know I can use pvd for that... err no... sorry guys but that doesn't work to well for me... its the same with web page editing... I prefer to have a piece of software that will do wysiwyg and edit the text/code level so I can make those fine changes you can't get in the overall view. However, using an actual skin editor would make it easier to do and thered be more skins being submitted. As it is right now I'm struggling through trying to make an anime skin (this when I really don't have time for it between work and school...masters degrees are time consuming  ) and just not getting it. Talk about frustrating. Trying to use pvd to preview it is ending up taking too much time... so a skin editor would help a lot I think especially since there really isn't anything that can be done modification wise due to the structure of xml.

- katleeh

[nostra]

1 - implement custom images fields that can be set for whatever size. Lots of uses for this. Customimage01, customimage02, etc. For instance. That way the custom images can be used for banners or season images or something.

This is planned for version 1

2 - with a lot of software using a hierarchical look, the lack of interactivity within the various branches of the tree make it difficult to organize things sometimes. Therefore, any main branch should be able to read things from the sub branches under it. This would be good for series, ie all episodes you have/want at a glance, or for websites and things where you download videos that you are cataloging, ie certain scenes from vod adult sites or support videos related to series you like. The potential here is amazing merely from an organizational pov.

It is a good idea, but unfortunately also pretty much work, so I'll add this suggestion to my TODO list for distant future.

3 - there must be some way to add more customizability to the skins layout. I've looked at a few other pieces of software that use xml for the data display so I know there's other options. I just don't know what all goes into the programming of said layout as its been quite awhile since I worked with any programming language.

What exactly do you have in mind?

4 - customize what gets displayed in the tree listing. A lot of other software has this ability, although some don't and it can be quite helpful in determing what gets quick displayed at a glance.

I do not really understand what is meant here...

Another feature that would be handy would be the ability to have the stats of the database displayed somewhere in plain site instead of having to pull up the stats option from the menu. There's a program that's a good start for cataloging anime called anime list maker (iirc) and it displayed total items in database, total size of video files in database, total episodes, etc in a column on the right of the screen. Its a handy feature to have especially since you really don't realize how big your collection is until you see the totals... "its how many gigs big???"... perhaps this could be something that could be for skins in the future, information for something like a "home page" for the collection... or a summary page, take your choice with the terms...

I will consider adding this to mu TODO list

I forgot a big feature... what about some kind of skin editor? I know, I know I can use pvd for that... err no... sorry guys but that doesn't work to well for me... its the same with web page editing... I prefer to have a piece of software that will do wysiwyg and edit the text/code level so I can make those fine changes you can't get in the overall view. However, using an actual skin editor would make it easier to do and thered be more skins being submitted. As it is right now I'm struggling through trying to make an anime skin (this when I really don't have time for it between work and school...masters degrees are time consuming  Undecided) and just not getting it. Talk about frustrating. Trying to use pvd to preview it is ending up taking too much time... so a skin editor would help a lot I think especially since there really isn't anything that can be done modification wise due to the structure of xml.

I really do not think I can find time for such a thing. Let's hope one of our users with programming knowledge will be willing to write such an editor for us some time

[katleeh]

For number 4, I was referring to what is dispplayed in the left column. Right now the only thing that gets displayed is the title. However, what about being able to add other things which could be displayed such as resolution, format, genre, etc...

For the interactivity between tree branches what about an xml tag that will list maybe the ep # and title for all the branches under that series? It would work kind of like the customfields tag. Its a start at least since the episodes are linked into the main entry, correct?

For number 3, well one thing that I was referring to would be case statements or someway of coding options into the skin. For instance let's say the poster/cover is below the size that was set in the skin. Well in that case by using a case statement or if/then statement you could have something in the skin which would modify the layout slightly so that the cover won't look blocky. Ill look up the sspecific options I was talking about once I get a chance to.

- katleeh

[katleeh]

When it comes to series/episode interactivity I also envision the main series entry having a list under one of the tabs which lists all the episodes for the eries and has a checkbox next to each showing which episodes have been watched and which haven't. This makes it easier to determine where I'm at in a series. As it is I'm already tring to figure out how I can use some kind of custom memobox to list all the episodes so I have a ready list. Having the eps show up under the main series name is nice but the column on the left only shows about 10at the most and most of the time I can't read the title without having to change the layout of the column and record display. Its hard to explain even though it seems simple eough in theory, so far no one has done it yet.

- katleeh

[nostra]

For number 4, I was referring to what is dispplayed in the left column. Right now the only thing that gets displayed is the title. However, what about being able to add other things which could be displayed such as resolution, format, genre, etc...

You already have a number of options in Preferences -> Movies, including fields like genre would slow down the program.

For the interactivity between tree branches what about an xml tag that will list maybe the ep # and title for all the branches under that series? It would work kind of like the customfields tag. Its a start at least since the episodes are linked into the main entry, correct?

If I implement smth like this it will definitely be a part of the existing skin system.

For number 3, well one thing that I was referring to would be case statements or someway of coding options into the skin. For instance let's say the poster/cover is below the size that was set in the skin. Well in that case by using a case statement or if/then statement you could have something in the skin which would modify the layout slightly so that the cover won't look blocky. Ill look up the sspecific options I was talking about once I get a chance to.

In distant future, maybe