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Topic: Customizing layout - 3 quick questions - custom columns / grouping may (Read 3016 times) previous topic - next topic
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Customizing layout - 3 quick questions - custom columns / grouping may

I've been learning and trying to mess around with customizing my foobar layout. I come from winamp so I'm trying to get a similar functionality. Please see the below image for where I'm at currently

#1) I want to be able to select an artist in the far left column, then have the top center section show only the album titles by only that one artist. (only the names of the albums once, with no tracks).

#2) After selecting an artist and then selecting album as described above, I'd then like the center pane to show only tracks that match both the selected artist and the selected album.

#3) I'd like the bottom right area to show only the currently playing and queued songs. Currently it just shows whatever I have selected in one of the other panes.

I believe I am using the facets component for some of what I currently have. I also have columnsUI but I don't think I am using it. (I am very new to this). I tried looking into custom grouping or custom column rules to solve these problems but I don't know how to accomplish these. I don't know, maybe there is a better way to do this. Any help is greatly appreciated!

Here is my currently layout that isn't working as I'd like:

Customizing layout - 3 quick questions - custom columns / grouping may

Reply #1
Quote
I believe I am using the facets component for some of what I currently have. I also have columnsUI but I don't think I am using it.


Why the doubt? You must have installed Facets and ColumnsUI yourself at some point. Gnomes don't come to your house in the night and secretly add these components. The layout there is regular UI with facets, though.
Quote
currently playing and queued songs


Abandon this quest! I'll never understand what "currently playing" is supposed to mean, but foobar2000 is playlist-centered, and you play from playlists. What's playing now is always an item in some playlist. The mantra is: Use playlists. Use playlists. Use playlists. (works best while draped in orange robes).

Quote
Currently it just shows whatever I have selected in one of the other panes.


Yes, that's what the Library Selection Playlist is for. It's too ever-changing and ephemeral, so I don't like it personally.

You can customise what a double-click or Enter key does in the library viewer, in Preferences > Media Library > [The One You're Using] > Actions.

The workflow then becomes:
1. browse something in your library
2. hit enter/doubleclick
3. it gets enqueued in a playlist, and maybe starts playing automatically
4. you continue browsing your library, find something that you like
5. right-click > Enqueue in current playlist

Customizing layout - 3 quick questions - custom columns / grouping may

Reply #2
Abandon this quest! I'll never understand what "currently playing" is supposed to mean, but foobar2000 is playlist-centered, and you play from playlists. What's playing now is always an item in some playlist. The mantra is: Use playlists. Use playlists. Use playlists. (works best while draped in orange robes).


You can customise what a double-click or Enter key does in the library viewer, in Preferences > Media Library > [The One You're Using] > Actions.

The workflow then becomes:
1. browse something in your library
2. hit enter/doubleclick
3. it gets enqueued in a playlist, and maybe starts playing automatically
4. you continue browsing your library, find something that you like
5. right-click > Enqueue in current playlist


Ok here's whats confusing me right now:

I want to use facets filters to have Artist filter > Album filter > Track Title. However I want the artists column to be the full height of the window as shown in my original screenshot on the far left. How can I do this but keep the other filters linked with it? If I make a second/separate facets UI element, the filters dont "link". For example, when I select an artist, the albums filter column isn't updated -- it just always show ALL albums.)

dhromed, I hear what you're saying about playlists. I was able to get it working similar to a way I want by deleting the "library selection" playlist and changing the left click action to do nothing (so it doesn't always send to the library selection playlist). Then I use middle click to add tracks to the current playlist and played songs from there. But since I now don't have a library selection playlist, in order for me to browse tracks in my library I need to figure out how to "link" the separate facets filters or some other solution for the paragraph above.

I also actually found a component that was helpful as well. It shows the currently queued items. It was called foo_pqview. However in order to use it, you have to right click > add to playback queue for the files you want to play. I found middle clicking to add to the active playlist to be a lot handier

 

Customizing layout - 3 quick questions - custom columns / grouping may

Reply #3
I want to use facets filters to have Artist filter > Album filter > Track Title. However I want the artists column to be the full height of the window as shown in my original screenshot on the far left. How can I do this but keep the other filters linked with it? If I make a second/separate facets UI element, the filters dont "link". For example, when I select an artist, the albums filter column isn't updated -- it just always show ALL albums.)


that's not possible. for facets to be linked, all "panes" have to be part of the same panel. they can be arranged vertically or horizontally but you cannot achieve the layout you have now. currently, your multiple facets panels are completely independent of each other.

Customizing layout - 3 quick questions - custom columns / grouping may

Reply #4
I want to use facets filters to have Artist filter > Album filter > Track Title. However I want the artists column to be the full height of the window as shown in my original screenshot on the far left. How can I do this but keep the other filters linked with it? If I make a second/separate facets UI element, the filters dont "link". For example, when I select an artist, the albums filter column isn't updated -- it just always show ALL albums.)


The closest you can come to doing what you want with two instances of Facets in your layout is to set the first instance that contains Artist to follow the library and the second instance which contains Albums and Tracks to follow the playlist. If both instances are simultaneously set to follow Library or Playlist, they work independently of each other.