RobJN's dashboard

A comment on the idea "Make CD ripping / burning an Add-on!" in Songbird:

@Quastor: Yes that is exactly the sort of thing i mean (i use EAC now so know how well this works). – RobJN, on May 10, 2009 22:55

RobJN marked one of Murphy's replies in Songbird as useful. Murphy replied to the idea "Built-in Torrent Client for Songbird". RobJN and 3 other people think it's one of the best replies.

RobJN marked one of Murphy's replies in Songbird as useful. Murphy replied to the idea "Built-in Torrent Client for Songbird".

RobJN marked one of klint's replies in Songbird as useful. klint replied to the idea "Built-in Torrent Client for Songbird".

A comment on the question "Songbird addons not working in newest version and popular Mozilla addons don't work either." in Songbird:

@atreiu: Yeah I fully understand what you are saying. Just thinking back to when i started using firefox back at version 1.0 i remember that the whole add-on thing was new to me so I looked on the firefox website. It wasn't until much later that i came across add-ons posted on other sites (and that was because i read about them in blogs i read).

What i am trying to say is that to appeal to the average beginner a central hub is ideal for learning about the add-ons available.

I like your suggestion and will drop the dev an email when i am done with my uni exams (i can commit time to it then).

p.s. sorry if my post came across poorly, i am just trying to think of ways to make it easier for new-comers. That way i can suggest SB to more people – RobJN, on May 09, 2009 20:46

RobJN replied on May 09, 2009 14:00 to the question "Songbird addons not working in newest version and popular Mozilla addons don't work either." in Songbird:

Thanks for letting me know about the revised version of MinimizeToTray. I'm just confused as to why it is updated on the site you gave but not the official songbird pages ( http://addons.songbirdnest.com/addon/... ) which are now 5 months old and no longer install on newest Songbird. Maybe it would be worth adding a message at the top of the page (unmissable / in red) linking to the more up to date website. This would really help out the average joe

A comment on the idea "Make CD ripping / burning an Add-on!" in Songbird:

@qways: The easy solution to get round the MP3 / FLAC problem you mentioned above is simply to have MP3 as the default (keeping the "2nd group" happy), whilst allowing for FLAC as an option. Surely two separate Add-ons will just be confusing / unprofessional and difficult to maintain. – RobJN, on May 09, 2009 13:51

RobJN replied on May 07, 2009 12:53 to the question "Songbird addons not working in newest version and popular Mozilla addons don't work either." in Songbird:

Can someone confirm whether adding a comment to the add-on page does in fact send an email to the author.

Furthermore for popular but no longer updated Add-ons maybe an email could be sent to the author explaining that their add-on is popular and that development can be passed onto someone new if they no longer have the time to keep it up to date themselves.

If the email comes from Songbird HQ this would be better/more professional.

A comment on the idea "Allow Songbird to Minimize to the Toolbar." in Songbird:

I would say so. That's what I would like to see personally – RobJN, on May 06, 2009 23:44

RobJN replied on May 05, 2009 17:23 to the idea "Make CD ripping / burning an Add-on!" in Songbird:

I have added a artist impression of what it would look like. I have used a red font so you can see where i have added things. Green boxes represent buttons:



As you can see it is only a very small change. No clutter and no other entry required (no file menu entry)

A comment on the idea "Make CD ripping / burning an Add-on!" in Songbird:

@ qways: Ok i was talking about one single entry just below the library and downloads link in the left hand side. One entry for CD only. The actual ripper is installed as an addon if needed. In my opinion people have come to expect certain features and if you want Songbird to become popular with the majority then these things need to be there or a very simple link to the addon should be there.

Thats all it is. This is not a snowball effect, I'm sure the devs are sensible enough to create a good UI that is not cluttered. – RobJN, on May 05, 2009 17:01

RobJN replied on May 04, 2009 16:52 to the idea "Make CD ripping / burning an Add-on!" in Songbird:

Oh and to go with my above post: For burning CD a similar system could be implemented whereby menu entries for "Burn to disc..." and added and when clicked for the first time the relevant addon is installed.

Let me know what you think.

My only concern with this approach is that feathers would then have to me made to work with each addon thus adding extra work for feather devs.

RobJN replied on May 04, 2009 16:42 to the idea "Make CD ripping / burning an Add-on!" in Songbird:

Why not have songbird detect if a music CD is inserted in the drive. At this point a icon appears in the Left hand side (below Library, Downloads). On clicking the icon/text (call it "Music CD") songbird would show the contents of the CD with a button called "rip". Clicking the button would bring up the page for the addon OR for a complete integration, download and install the addon in the background before continuing to rip the tracks.

With this method you would just need CD lookup built in (unless you add a button for that too)

A comment on the idea "Make CD ripping / burning an Add-on!" in Songbird:

Maybe, but i think there are still a lot of people who rip CDs even if it is only very occasionally. If they can't do this in Songbird then those people will see Songbird as lacking a crucial feature and may switch to itues/wmp/etc..
The addon would have to be very easy to find – RobJN, on May 04, 2009 16:35

RobJN replied on May 03, 2009 11:53 to the idea "Help people fit Songbird to their needs with add-ons" in Songbird:

Fantastic idea. I think a lot of people (including myself) forget about the add-ons. Why? Not sure really, but maybe it is because we are not used to so much freedom in media players and our mindset is stuck in the ways of iTunes, WMP etc.

RobJN shared an idea in Songbird on May 02, 2009 13:14:

Add links to video sites (BBC iplayer in Britain, others elsewhere)

My idea: If Songbird is to become a full media player including video (as suggested by the roadmap) then links should be added to each countries main online TV websites. For myself this would mean a link to BBC iPlayer (http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/) and possibly 4od, itv player. The links would go down the left hand side below radio links.

The links added would be dependent upon which country you are in.

At first these should just be simple links to the sites, but ideally the videos on these sites should integrate in with songbird. For example BBC iPlayer has flash streaming and downloads. The flash open should pause the current track playing and display details of the video in the now playing bar.

(side note about BBC iplayer: The iPlayer now accounts for around five percent of all UK traffic. It is extremely popular and is now being used to advertise products. For example mobile phones put "supports iplayer" on their adverts as a selling point.)

A comment on the question "I want some Songbird news!" in Songbird:

UB40 perhaps? Although I'm guessing they're not so well known outside of Britain – RobJN, on May 01, 2009 17:04

A comment on the question "I want some Songbird news!" in Songbird:

Wow. Thanks for the blog post. I think the blog is a great way to keep in touch with the community and bring new members into active discussions. This can only be good for Songbird- we (the community) get to know whats being worked on / the latest news, and you (the developers) benefit from an active community suggesting great new ideas, providing support and generally making lots of noise about how great Songbird is all over the internet and between friends too. Lots of respect for the team – RobJN, on May 01, 2009 00:35

RobJN started following the question "better ubuntu integration" in Songbird.

RobJN replied on April 30, 2009 13:51 to the idea "Will iPhone support be coming anytime soon?" in Songbird:

Thanks munkifisht. I had never heard of the ml_ipod project but from their website it seems to be progressing nicely ( http://mlipod.sourceforge.net/ ) and no longer requires jailbreak. Fingers crossed for a songbird add-on soon