faq  flatforty  contribute  subscribe  configure  search  rdf  main  parent	Sometimes less is more by AndyC on Saturday 12/Apr/2008, @18:45 I know Amarok is a complex program with a heap of features, but I'm not sure about the screenshots - they seem somewhat cluttered. I like the current (1.4) layout, because it focuses on what Amarok does - play music.	Related Links  ·   Articles on Applications  ·   Also by AndyC  ·   Contact author Thread Threshold: 10 comments 20 comments 30 comments 40 comments 50 comments 60 comments 70 comments 80 comments 90 comments 100 comments 110 comments 120 comments 130 comments 140 comments 150 comments 160 comments 170 comments 180 comments 190 comments 200 comments 300 comments 400 comments 500 comments 1000 comments
	The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whomever posted them. ( Reply ) Re: Sometimes less is more by Ljubomir on Saturday 12/Apr/2008, @19:35 What exactly is that you find cluttering the interface? Browsers and Context View can be hidden, and playlist switched to classic mode. Also, each individual service can be disabled from the configuration dialog. Lastly, don't forget that the artwork is still in constant flux, and is heading towards simplicity. Cheers! [ Reply To This | View ] Re: Sometimes less is more by Mark Kretschmann on Sunday 13/Apr/2008, @02:25 Actually I find the new fancy playlist a lot *less* cluttered than the classic column-based playlist. Especially if you enable more than 5 columns or so in Amarok 1, it starts to resemble Excel. [ Reply To This | View ] Re: Sometimes less is more by Capit. Igloo on Sunday 13/Apr/2008, @08:02 Perhaps you wanted to say "it starts to resemble OOCalc" ? ;) [ Reply To This | View ] Re: Sometimes less is more by Fri13 on Monday 14/Apr/2008, @09:50 That was problem when user wanted more than 4-5 colums on amarok window without keeping it fullscreen. But it still was better in one important way. Showing the info of music. 1.4.x series playlist could be full of different albums, artist etc and it was short one and very simple to use. But Amarok2 playlist is made for whole albums, not for random songs. When I add 20-30 songs what are mostly, if not all, from different artist and albums, I have very long and hard to control-playlist on my screen. But if I add 5-8 CD from database, it's nice and good because I have only a 5-8 artist tab there what I can hide or show. This is one reason why I dont like new Amarok playlist. Other reason is that playlist is on right edge and database on left edge and I need to drag files from left to right side. On 1.4.x series I can just do small mouse movement to get them dropped easily to that place on playlist I like. I hope that Middle place (plasmoids) can be removed so Playlist could get bigger again, or at least switch the playlist from right to middle. [ Reply To This | View ] Re: Sometimes less is more by Torsten Rahn on Sunday 13/Apr/2008, @03:18 I think that the "curvy background" on the right pane gets overused and that gives a bit of the impression of clutter. I'd just use it only once for the navigation on top and stick to plain colors for the other background on the right. Except for that the new screenshots rock :-) [ Reply To This | View ] Re: Sometimes less is more by Mark Kretschmann on Sunday 13/Apr/2008, @03:47 Good artists are a rare resource in open source. We're struggling to find good ones that actually stay with the project. Most of them are never heard of again after a few days. [ Reply To This | View ] Re: Sometimes less is more by ad on Sunday 13/Apr/2008, @07:18 Agree [ Reply To This | View ] Re: Sometimes less is more by Anon on Sunday 13/Apr/2008, @12:09 I think the feel of clutter is due to the high amount of (different and nested) visual borders. See the attached picture were I highlighted plenty (but not all) borders with red. amarok.jpg 116KB (119673 bytes) [ Reply To This | View ] Easier to forget about borders than to do it right by Tray on Sunday 13/Apr/2008, @12:50 > I think the feel of clutter is due to the high amount of (different and nested) > visual borders. See the attached picture were I highlighted plenty > (but not all) borders with red. From a dev's perspective, it's easier to forget about borders than to make the finishing touches and disable them. Of course, this isn't helped by the fact that widgets have borders around them by default. [ Reply To This | View ] Re: Sometimes less is more by Mark Kretschmann on Sunday 13/Apr/2008, @14:13 I agree. We've noticed the same thing the other day. As a first step, I've removed the bulky and redundant frame around the playlist today. SVN up and check it out :) PS: We're open to further GUI improvement suggestions. [ Reply To This | View ] Re: Sometimes less is more by The James on Monday 14/Apr/2008, @09:53 Hate to be a bother, but can someone give us a screenshot? [ Reply To This | View ] Re: Sometimes less is more by Mark Kretschmann on Monday 14/Apr/2008, @11:02 Here's the latest version, with the playlist border already removed: http://mark.kollide.net/snapshot63.png [ Reply To This | View ] Re: Sometimes less is more by The James on Monday 14/Apr/2008, @11:49 Thank-you very much. [ Reply To This | View ] More suggestions re: color gradients, scrollbar by vlad on Monday 14/Apr/2008, @17:44 On the attached screenshot I've highlighted more suggestions for improving the consistency of Amarok. Specifically, eliminating the subtle yet needless and ugly color gradients between different areas, eliminating the useless separator at the top of the Plasma panel, and eliminating the horizontal scrollbar when in fact nothing is overflowing to the right. Also, I think there should be no space between the scrollbar and the box it controls. The Mac OS X style seems to get this right by not inserting a space: http://amarok.kde.org/files/Image/AI/12/full/12-osx2.jpg but the Oxygen style is sloppy and puts the space in. amarok_2.png 211KB (216561 bytes) [ Reply To This | View ] Re: More suggestions re: color gradients, scrollba by Ian Monroe on Monday 14/Apr/2008, @21:56 Thanks for your suggestions. Some rare constructive criticism. :) [ Reply To This | View ] Re: More suggestions re: color gradients, scrollba by vlad on Tuesday 15/Apr/2008, @09:30 > Thanks for your suggestions. Some rare constructive criticism. :) You're welcome, thanks for taking it into consideration :) [ Reply To This | View ] Re: Sometimes less is more by Leo S on Tuesday 15/Apr/2008, @07:35 Nice, I feel much calmer looking at that screenshot already. [ Reply To This | View ] Re: Sometimes less is more by blueget on Tuesday 15/Apr/2008, @08:04 Hmmm... Perhaps the different parts of the interface should not look like if they were "stamped in" (eingestanzt, you know what I mean) but merely stick out. I don't know if that's a theme-specific issue or a general design question. [ Reply To This | View ] Re: Sometimes less is more by Fri13 on Wednesday 16/Apr/2008, @05:50 Amarok2 Really looks great... even there are those few GUI design problems for those who likes 1.4.x series ;-) Amarok2 looks more slick'n'slide than iTunes and WMP :-D [ Reply To This | View ] Re: Sometimes less is more by Birdy on Monday 14/Apr/2008, @01:39 > it focuses on what Amarok does - play music Amarok does _a_lot_ more than only play music. That's why it is so popular. [ Reply To This | View ] The Fine Print: The previous comments are owned by whomever posted them. ( Reply )

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