Info about Glided - Discussion

rovingcowboy · Post by **rovingcowboy** » Wed Jun 27, 2007 1:56 pm

i can see the need for the different color contrast on the progess bar but maybe you can change the font color from that white when it has been ran over by the green bar?

maybe make it use green fonts when the bar pass'es them that way it would all be green.

karimleo · Post by **karimleo** » Wed Jun 27, 2007 1:58 pm

Hi Morten, love the skin! However I do like the concept shot with the "Stop" button where it was. That would also be very functional. Also a couple of different colour versions would be nice. For example blue (to match Vista's Flag on the Start Menu) and Green. Probably in the future.

But still I now use this skin as my default.

hars · Post by **hars** » Mon Jul 02, 2007 6:29 am

it looks great, but as been said before, the icons need to be updated to match the new look and feel. and i too miss the stop button.

Morten · Post by **Morten** » Mon Jul 02, 2007 6:34 am

Isn't it enough to have the Stop-button available via a right-click context menu?

rovingcowboy · Post by **rovingcowboy** » Mon Jul 02, 2007 7:46 am

hars · Post by **hars** » Tue Jul 03, 2007 3:26 am

no, not really, that would generate one mouseclick too much. i like the earlier sketches when the stopbutton was located down to the right of play/pause.

but dont forget the icons!

they're bringing down the overall impression.

Morten · Post by **Morten** » Tue Jul 03, 2007 5:04 am

Well, I'll see what can be done with the stop-button. I'm leaving for vacation on Thursday, so there'll be no update on this field for Alpha 6. However, the issues are noted.

About icons; I really ain't an icon-maker. I think the icons looks just OK, nothing more than that. If someone please could make some icons for these four functions, I would be very glad. If you haven't got any graphic skilles, then you can show me with screenshots from other programs or just explain how you want it to look.

Just to make it clear;

1) What functions should the four buttons have? (Shuffle, Repeat, Playlist, Mixer is the current set-up)
2) How do you want the icon to look?

These questions are for ALL that have ideas! Thanks in advance...

demm · Post by **demm** » Tue Jul 03, 2007 8:52 am

What I (and I believe hars too) ment when referring to the icons where not the icons in you player skin, but the icons of MM itself (toolbars, menus, ...). The 4 icons in your skin look just fine, I don't think there's any need to change them.
The menu/toolbar icons however look like they're from a 7 year old program and they don't really fit in well with the vista-like appearance of your skin.
In my opinion the devs should hire a professional icon designer to redesign all the icons to give this new version a really fresh look.

Morten · Post by **Morten** » Tue Jul 03, 2007 9:00 am

Ok. That's my thought exactly also. They will most likely hire a professional designer to make icons for MM, but that's not planned until 3.1. They need to know exactly what icons that are needed, and v3.0 is a great release for mapping that. However, there will most likely be a way to replace these icons in the individual skins. That way we can have a temporarily solution to this problem until 3.1 is released.

demm · Post by **demm** » Tue Jul 03, 2007 9:52 am

Honestly im a bit disappointed if it's true what you said.
The menus and toolbars haven't changed for a long time and even in 3.0 there aren't any real changes. I think by now it should be clear which icons are needed and so I was hoping that the devs would use this major version change as an opportunity to redesign the UI. In my opnion the UI has always been the major shortcoming of MM compared to other music libraries.
I think the last feature that got introduced in an update and that I really cared about was in 2.2. They have added plenty of new features since, most of which I don't even need but they didn't even once improve the UI (given, there where some minor changes, but nothing I would call a real improvement).

Morten · Post by **Morten** » Tue Jul 03, 2007 11:02 am

You are not seeing the point. (I explained it bad). In MM 3.1 there are visions to make toolbars and objects placeable just like in Firefox. Also with sizes (small, medium, large). And given the time cyclus of MM 3.0 (and the wanted quality of the new icons) this is postponed to most likely a 3.1 release.

As it is now (with small icons and no editable size/placing) it isn't any big benefit of paying losts of money for something which, in my honest opinion, isn't finalized functional or by design. However, the developers should give the possibility to customize these icons so that it looks good in skins like Glided. This I will push the developers to do in the time-frame of MediaMoney v3.0. As long as I know what the icon should look like, I can do it in Photoshop. I don't think it'll be so bad, but of course a professional can do it better.

Big_Berny · Post by **Big_Berny** » Tue Jul 03, 2007 11:18 am

I know what you mean, Morton, but although I've a different opinion. The design and the icons have a really big effect on new users. And since the new version is a major release which will presented on a lot of homepages and magazines it should have a high priority because the important thing is to get new users. That's also why I think a new skin like yours is really important. Because if someone already tried a software and it doesn't pleased him, it's more difficult to get him trying the software again.

Short: I think a lot of people will try the new 3.0. If they don't like it they probably won't try 3.1 again. That's why 3.0 has to look really great. The first step you already did with your skin.

Big_Berny

Morten · Post by **Morten** » Tue Jul 03, 2007 12:13 pm

And yes, the icons needs an update. However, I think it's enough (for 3.0 anyway) that I redo them in Photoshop to get the Vista look and continuity of my skin.

Big_Berny · Post by **Big_Berny** » Tue Jul 03, 2007 12:43 pm

You're right and I didn't want offend you. I just wanted to say that the appearance of the new MediaMonkey 3.0 is very important.

So keep up good work!

Morten · Post by **Morten** » Tue Jul 03, 2007 12:55 pm

I will surely try, and you're right too. The icons need some shining to look good with my skin. But for now, I'll have to do it.