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Feature Requests item #1868222, was opened at 2008-01-09 22:55
Message generated for change (Settings changed) made by fourstones
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Category: ccHost
Group: None
>Status: Closed
Priority: 5
Private: No
Submitted By: spinmeister (spinmeister)
Assigned to: Victor Stone (fourstones)
Summary: Left hand Menu:  missing items

Initial Comment:
On the common left hand menu 

under the "Artists" heading - missing menu items (links):

Your Playlists
New Remixes

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>Comment By: Victor Stone (fourstones)
Date: 2009-04-15 18:34

Message:
this was a ccMixter specific request - (vetoed by benevolent dictator)

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Comment By: spinmeister (spinmeister)
Date: 2008-01-10 16:34

Message:
Logged In: YES 
user_id=1973983
Originator: YES

Ok, I understand what you're saying about the Playlists.

But is there a chance to talk you into changing the link at the bottom of
the New Remixes menu block to default to the "Latest Remixes" tab? One
click vs. two clicks may not seem to be a big deal, but especially since
being an editor, getting to the long page with the latest remixes has been
one of my most used links (I've listened at least partly to every new remix
since given the responsibility to look for Editor's picks.) Of course I
could make a browser bookmark (which I would end up doing), but if
something is a bookmark inside a site one uses every day, it might be a
sign that it maybe should be a menu item? And of course, having a "more"
link at the bottom of the list pointing to a page with a longer list would
probably be more consistent than landing on the Remix Radio page. 

Also, I can already get to the Remix Radio page with a single click via
the "Remixes" tab on top of each page, so I don't need another link for
that. 

Overall:
I hear you with the plethora of menu items for a feature rich site like
ccMixter - classic UI problem of course, with the "right" approach having
been argued about in great length between UI experts for years. Should menu
hierarchies be flatter and cluttered or uncluttered but nested. We're both
old enough to have seen synth interface designs come full circle on that
topic as well. :-)

Flatter/cluttered is probably better for the regular user, while less
cluttered but nested is arguably better for the occasional user. 

I think overall you are exploring some interesting and worthwhile UI
design concepts. So my nitpicks are just that - smallish nitpicks,
hopefully at least some of those are useful input, rather than just noise
in your channel. :-)

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Comment By: Victor Stone (fourstones)
Date: 2008-01-10 13:36

Message:
Logged In: YES 
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Originator: NO

actually the 'new remixes' link module has a 'more new remixex...' link on
it so you actually save a click by eyeing the list on each page, then if
something new came up you can go to the list.

rummaging around 'your playlists' to see if a song's been added is the
long way around as well. Click on 'Add to ...' (or 'action' in the case of
a new listing) and you'll immediately see: If the song is already in one or
more playlists those are sorted to the top and it says "remove from..."
instead of "add to..."

Going to rename/reorder a playlist is 3 clicks in the best scenario (what
you're advocating) and at least 4 clicks in what I'm saying and honestly I
think that both sucks. What I've been thinking about forever is having a
'Go there now...' link on the message that pops up after the 'add to...'
succeeded.

ftr I advocate for a tiny amount of menu items speaking as the admin who
gets a surprising amount of tech support requests that start with 'how do I
submit files?'

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Comment By: spinmeister (spinmeister)
Date: 2008-01-10 09:26

Message:
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Originator: YES

I think in in both cases we have lost functionality by loosing those items
from the Artist menu, because it forces additional clicks compared to the
current version of ccHMixter - so I would still call both a bug, At the
very least this is a usability question. 

Your Playlists: 
If I'm on somebody else's page, the Playlist's tab does not get me to my
own playlists. So at the very least I have to make some extra clicks now:
go to my own page (via opening a new browser tab = middle click in Firefox
and Opera), and then click on the Playlists tab. Why that matters: 
* When on somebody else's song, I may want to quickly check, if I already
have that song in one of my playlists before adding it. 
* after creating a brand new playlist with somebody else's song, I
immediately want to change the name of that playlist to something
non-generic. 
* I've just added somebody else's song to a playlist, I want to quickly
hop over and put that song into a particular slot in my playlist

New Remixes
getting to the Latest remixes page (which is how I quickly catch up with
all new submissions (mostly I need to listen to more than just the latests
5) takes only 1 click on the current ccMixter (via the New Remixes link),
but in the new beta it takes two, so we're back to square 1. 

the login and logount are a different case, because they are still
available with a single click from EVERY page. So I'm not complaining about
things being in a different place, but about having to make more clicks.
:-)

imho: 
Number of clicks to get somewhere matters (a lot!), especially for stuff I
do a lot. For example, I edit my profile or change my preferences much less
often than adding a song to one of my playlists or going to the "Latest
Remixees" page. 

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Comment By: Victor Stone (fourstones)
Date: 2008-01-10 02:33

Message:
Logged In: YES 
user_id=489789
Originator: NO

moving this over to 'feature requests'

rationale for changes: 'new remixes' was a place holder for having the
'latest remixes' on the page as a user preference

'your playlists' was redundant (it's a tab on your page) and the menu slot
is used for 'Your Preferences' which can't be reach any other way. 

it's open for disucssion but keeping menus small and tight seems to be
preferable than a huge long list of options, esp. when they are reached in
other ways.

ftr: when you log out 'Log In' and 'Registered' have been removed as well
since we now log in from the top right corner of the browser.

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