Problem: Large music libraries are difficult to navigate and find specific tracks.

[Robbt]

This is more of a meta issue than a specific problem, but DJs can sometimes have a difficult time finding the tracks they upload. Finding station IDs and other filler content can be absorbed into the large pool of tracks. Some users have requested folders that divide up the library.

One idea is to create alternative views of the Library tracks filtered by different data. For instance a My Tracks view could only show tracks where the user was marked as the owner. The ability to define Folders that contain tracks that our filtered to a certain criteria could also be useful for DJs and other station production staff.

[hairmare]

Adding the uploader as a searchable field through the advanced search would cover at least part of this use-case (and also be one of mine). A possible workaround is to use Smart Blocks as folders, this kinda works with static blocks but you need to regenerate them all so often.

I don't really like the notion of folders, maybe saveable searches and searchable free-form "tags" could work (and feel less desktopy)?

[geftactics]

I'm a +1 on folders idea - I don't like it how our indents, adverts, music and mixes are all dropped into one area... it does make managing them a headache!

[hairmare]

The thing with traditional folders is that they don't support having a track (ie. a station id provided by station management) in multiple folders without duplication. Whatever we end up implementing should look and feel foldery to the user but will need some more consideration under the hood.

[Robbt]

I think that some sort of virtual folders via "saved search" option might work. What users want is to be able to easily find tracks that they designate to be in a certain place and not find a bunch of other stuff. This can be handled via tags.

It would be possible to implement some sort of high-level categorization by using a under-utilized ID3 tag to sort tracks into different bins. They could still be accessible to all via the tracks page but there could be a tab-based interface that filters tracks.

Some ideas for track filters
My Tracks - show only tracks owned by the logged in user
Station IDs - show only tracks marked with the metadata to designate them as station ident
Promos - show only tracks marked as promos
Adverts - show only tracks marked as adverts

I think it'd be helpful for this to be customizable but also have some default settings as an option to help people get started. If you compare LibreTime to a automation system such as Rivendell, their entire UI is built about bins. It was very much an engineers system though with a steep learning curve unlike the web based LibreTime UI.

[geftactics]

I'm not sure if this is the place for it, but I think the view for managing tracks is too small, as 'scheduled shows' pane is always there to the right of it, taking up screen estate - If this could be closed/collapsed, it would make things a bit easier, and let us view more columns at the same time.

[hairmare]

@squiggleuk I liked that idea so much it's in #106.

[Robbt]

I have been thinking about this and it seems like a good way to go here would be to create something called Collections. This would be akin to a mixture between folders, playlists and smart blocks.

Part of the problem is that smart blocks don't really make sense in some ways. The notion of a static smartblock as a single time use random collection of tracks doesn't seem to fit well into any workflows I can imagine. It would make more sense in my mind for their to be an option to generate a playlist from the smartblock criteria that then could be edited like a normal playlist. All smartblocks would be dynamic and the generate button would be replaced with a Create Playlist or Preview (which would be grayed out but shown automatically when Criteria is shown). At least some indicator about how many tracks meet the criteria would be helpful as I often find a typo has resulted in broken smart blocks.

This is a pretty major change. So my idea about Collections is they would be a listing of tracks that meet a certain criteria similar to a smartblock but could be easily viewed from the Tracks page.
For instance a simple collection would be called My Tracks and it would consist of all tracks where the Owner == the current user. This would save vast amounts of time for end users trying to find tracks they just uploaded to schedule their shows. It could also be used to automatically create a collection of tracks for each of the Users.

Now how to implement this and whether we need a new abstraction or should just evolve smartblocks and playlists is an open question. I think I will start with developing the My Tracks filter as a proof of concept.

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