Subsonic Windows Sidebar gadget

[kramttocs]

@BKKKPewsey - are you on Vista? I don't think I have seen any gadgets that behave that way but then again I have only dealt with win7 and don't use a whole lot of gadgets. I am not at all opposed to the idea but I am not sure how it would work when going from small to large since there really isn't anywhere to double click (besides the coverart which activates the large coverart flyout when clicking).

@Quantumcross - SubGadget is just html and js. The gadget can detect keypress events (it already does the left and right arrow keys when on the Artist Directory view) but the problem is it requires focus. I hadn't thought about ahk though for this (a day doesn't go by that I don't use it ). The only issue I see in my very quick glance at that documentation is that it requires a window title whereas the gadget doesn't really have one. I will work on adding key events to the gadget so you can play around with this though. I owe another guy some changes as well so I it's high time I get back to it.

[BKKKPewsey]

Yes I am on vista and yes you haven't got much spare real estate to click
Perhaps the background where the time info is?

This is one gadget (weather) which does what I am suggesting

[kramttocs]

Good call on the screenshot The screenshot is actually showing a flyout vs the docked/undocked state that SubGadget's full mode/mini mode uses. The gadget in a previous version actually had an 'on screen' button that would toggle it in and out of full mode. Please see the first sentence on this page: http://code.google.com/p/subgadget/wiki/MainInterface. The problem with that is that when the size of a gadget changes (without using the manual dock/undock action or the larger/smaller action (win7) ) the top left corner is fixed. So while this isn't really a problem when going from large to small it is when going from small to large as it sends half the gadget off the screen (assuming the gadget is on the right side of the screen). I personally don't have a problem putting this functionality back in there as long as there is a way to do it that 1. doesn't take up space and 2. it intuitive to users. Let me know your thoughts.

[BKKKPewsey]

I personally don't have a problem putting this functionality back in there as long as there is a way to do it that 1. doesn't take up space and 2. it intuitive to users.

I spent about 5 mins going through all the settings trying to work out how to play a song before thinking about undocking the app.
One thing I did notice (Remember I'm on Vista cannot comment on Win 7) is that when a track is not playing double clicking on the album art shown does nothing.
IMHO double clicking the app (eg the album art or sub) should change it to the expanded mode - this would also make the album art bigger so satisfying both requirements.
I agree that the corner hot-spots on the earlier release were not very intuitive either and I doubt I would have found them any quicker.
Another idea, if its feasible, is show a hover over state button (say in front of the album art) to expand or have the album art zoom on hover and double click to go to full mode.
Just some ideas - hope they are of some help

[kramttocs]

SubGadget 3.1 has been released on the Google Code site

Changes
1. Cover Art caching (feedback is welcome)
2. Search results collapse/expand (click on section title)
3. Fix the little black box issue in the Cover Art flyout
4. Top Rated Album shortcut in Search dropdown
5. Fix issue with album info scroller
6. Ability to change progress bar color
7. Couple new themes (still in testing)
8. Adds support for Internet Radio Stations - pulled from the connected Subsonic Server.
*Until a supported method is added in Subsonic, only Admins can get the stations from the server
9. If shuffle is enabled then when selecting a playlist it won't play the first track like before but will instead start on a random track
10. Multimedia Keys - requires AHK script (see Downloads)

Thanks to everyone who has help provide input, feedback, and assistance on this release!

[OlYeller21]

I wish that there was a Subsonic Windows app that allowed my users to play video. Giving them the ability to play podcasts and internet radio off my server would be great too. None of the programs provide those functions yet (unless my searching was crap in which case, someone please call me out for my sake).

[kramttocs]

I wish that there was a Subsonic Windows app that allowed my users to play video. Giving them the ability to play podcasts and internet radio off my server would be great too. None of the programs provide those functions yet (unless my searching was crap in which case, someone please call me out for my sake).

I am sure it's just a matter of time before those features get added into one (Internet Radio and Podcasts are likely already in some). I would recommend posting in one of the threads dedicated to one of those Windows app (SharpSonic is one) as they have a better chance of playing video than SubGadget does due to its sidebar gadget nature.

[gyoung345]

SubGadget 3.1 has been released on the Google Code site
Changes

8. Adds support for Internet Radio Stations - pulled from the connected Subsonic Server.
*Until a supported method is added in Subsonic, only Admins can get the stations from the server
Thanks to everyone who has help provide input, feedback, and assistance on this release!

I am logged in as an admin user and cannot get my radio stations to pop up. Is there something I'm missing? I can play all the radio stations I setup via the browser. I have attached a couple of images that are clips of my SubSonic settings page and my SubGadget Playlist.

[Jittery Jim]

Well, shoot. I installed this on a Windows 7 machine and it is telling me the connection is valid, but when I choose a playlist, track or album to play it does nothing. It will show the track name, but it never plays. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

[kramttocs]

Hmm. It uses WMP to stream. Is your instance of WMP working normally?
Also, if you want to create a guest account for me on your server I will be glad to test it out. Can either PM the info or send it to the email in the gadget.

[Jittery Jim]

Hmm. It uses WMP to stream.

That did the trick. It was a new PC setup and WMP hadn't been configured, which caused the gadget to not work. Streaming like a charm now!

[kramttocs]

Great! Glad that took care of it.

[navels]

this. is. awesome.