Sorry about the title, it\'s not really descriptive, but I couldn\'t think of anything else.

The idea I have, from other programs I\'ve used, mainly in Windows, would turn out really nice in Amarok, I think.

As I see it, there\'s a lot of space being wasted with a constant \"Playlist\" view that only shows what will be played (*The* playlist, as it is now). Everything else is shown in the tree view to the left, which due to space limitations cannot show any detailed information (bitrate, duration, etc.), and if it did, it would be a duplication of what\'s on the right.

Now, I think it would be a good idea to change the behaviour of the program somewhat. If instead of using the playlist view to show not what will be played/is playing, but instead what\'s selected to the left, we could take advantage of the space to show all that detailed information, as well as implement filters (searches) on what is being shown. And so, the tree view on the left only needed to show groups, not individual items.

It would be a bit like file browsing konqueror, where you have the directories on the left (which can be playlists in Playlist Browser mode, Artist/Album/etc. groups in Collection Browser mode, real directories in File Browser mode...) and the items (individual songs) on the right.

That also avoids some \"interface duplication\", since we won\'t be having items on the left, so we won\'t need to add per-song features to both context menus.

So, to be able to play music, we would only need a special playlist (that could be displayed on the right by selecting what is now the Context Mode on the left), which contains what is queued for play (like the playlist in XMMS), and a few context options that are generally already in place (Make playlist and Append to playlist), which should be available both on the tree view (to add a whole album/category/playlist) and on the right side too (to add individual or selected items).

I am thinking of picking this up myself as a way to get into KDE programming, and because I would really like these changes whether they become mainstream or not (of course if I get anything working, I\'ll submit it back), but I would really like to hear what you have to say.


Sérgio Gomes

For amaroK 1.3 we are planning to offer multiple playlist modes, including something similar to what you are describing. But this requires some major design changes and will take some time. Stay tuned.

Heh, always one step ahead

OK, guess I\'ll have to search for something else to do!
Thanks for planning to include support for what I asked you even before I did! (Now THAT is efficiency!)

Sérgio Gomes