Sort by directory structure, please!

Agreed. I would also love to see sorting by file attributes (not meta-data or Songbird database info). If you add your whole library at once, you simply can't filter out which files are newer than the other ones, since sorting by created/modified yields back the same date: when the songs have been added to the Songbird library.

gi - I agree. Maybe they could integrate the views a little, so that you could edit columns that it sorted by or something.

This HAS NOT been implemented! Why am I finding all of these entries on here that say they have been implemented when they have absolutely not? Showing a file's location in the library, if that is what they are talking about, is not at ALL the same as allowing you to browse the directory structure, it is still a big, ugly list that is cumbersome and annoying, and a 3rd-party addon (which is still broken for the 1.0 release as of now) is NOT AN IMPLEMENTATION. Sorry for the caps, but I wish you guys would stop relying on unsupported and unreliable 3rd-party components to implement functionality that is so basic it's been a part of other players for dozens of years.

where is sorting by file location NOT the way foobar does it? Stop moaning around and point the developers to a player which does it the way you would expect it. and "other players" is NOT the answer

@ W; Agreed. Be constructive and less whiny...not that I'm completely innocent of that my self :) ... but still.

@ Niophe: MediaMonkey has this functionality built in using the 'Location' tree. And I also feel this would be an appreciated feature and relatively simple request to fulfill. The iTunes like library view is IMHO not the most efficient and intuitive way to go with any media player. Yuck!

Also, who gets to apply the "The company implemented this idea." label? Cause I don't see that functionality in the current version.

Ty to all.

@W, Sorting by file location isn't like foobar does it anywhere, in any way. Songbird doesn't do it. I'm not "moaning around", and quite frankly "other players" ARE the answer, if Songbird doesn't build in basic features that other people have it won't be adopted. I don't come here to flame Songbird, I come here to point out that, for instance, a big reason people don't use iTunes on Windows is because they don't like the way it organizes their library, and they switch over to foobar2000 or whatever because those players allow the user to setup their library by directory structure and then interface with it how THEY want to. If Songbird allows people to do this without an addon, it is a BIG bonus, not just a tiny feature. If Songbird doesn't allow this, there are a lot of people who are going to use Amarok (Linux and soon to be Windows and OS X), foobar2000 (Windows), or Cog (OS X) instead, simply for that feature alone. The point of making Songbird is to make a unified, cross-platform tool for enjoying your media, and it won't be adopted if it doesn't compete. I am only trying to help them do that.

@Nicbot, Indeed, I hate the iTunes implementation of library management, I realize a lot of people like it but I think there should be another option for people like us so we don't feel like we are just going from one iTunes to another.

@Niophe, sorry I'm away from win/foobar for some time now and I recall using the columns UI in foobar 0.8.<whatever> where sorting by full path was the way to get the playlist sorted that way. Granted, I'm missing the customizable column layout using %<whatever-metainfotag> in any player on linux but would it be asking too much to provide a screenshot what you have in mind? That might help anyone in this thread. </whatever-metainfotag></whatever>

@ Ali: Although I see the sort feature, I don't think that is what Niophe is asking for. This just provides a more cumbersome way to sort your massive library. I think (and this is just what I took from it) she and others are asking for a more directory tree like navigation option. Niophe is this correct? I know this is something I would like to see.

On another note, <begin> I guess I failed to realize that Songbird seems to be positioning itself as more of an iTunes killer first, media player domination second. This would make good sense from a business standpoint and I would have to agree that this is the best direction to go in an iTunes dominated market.

However, I don't agree that clone first add suggestions later is the correct approach to basic library navigation and functionality. Especially considering the current memory footprint, IMO Songbird should be able to look and feel like home to iTunes, WMP, M..Monkey, Foobar and most all other users out there. I will assume that the Mozilla backbone and browser integration is a big part in this issue.

Regardless, the iTunes style library is just plain bad without certain features such as a 'Now Playing' playlist and static song play order while navigating throughout your library.

I not going to curb the bird yet, cause I think it's got amazing potential. I just really really want to see some library and navigation improvements.</begin>

@Ali, see my comment or check below.

@W, sure thing. Here are a few examples. One is the addon already made for Songbird found here: http://addons.songbirdnest.com/addon/...

However, I am asking for official support since it is a basic feature and the addon could possibly be abandoned someday. Here is a screenshot of foobar2000's implementation of this feature, and here is a link to a screenshot of Cog, an OS X player, that does it. http://cogx.org/images/screenshot006.png

And just to add, I noticed that sorting improvements are one of the next priorities on the roadmap, so now would be a great time to do this IMO. I also noticed that as of now, the addon for Directory Browsing has been updated and it works pretty well, how about just integrating that into the program as an option?

My main problem is that when sorting by Artist, Songbird sorts Artist > Album > Track, when I really want it to sort by Artist > Year > Album > Track.



Sorting by file location kind-of sort-of solves this, since I have (most of) my stuff sorted as "../Artist/(Year) Album/Artist - (Year) Album - Track# Title.mp3"

But this doesn't work perfectly because:

1.) I often have a big chunk of stuff that hasn't been matriculated into this format. (Things I listen to a few times before integrating into my main library on an external HDD.)

2.) This leads to "The Beatles" being filed under T instead of B. (Though currently it's filed under T when sorting by Artist anyways - P.S. I'm assuming that this is going to be remedied soon since sorting is one of the next priorities?)

3.) Artists in Japanese (and probably other non-ASCII stuff) come in before A instead of after Z.

4.) Folders with a lowercase first letter get sent to the bottom of the sorting stack. For example, cLOUDDEAD comes way at the end instead of being with the rest of the 'C' artists.

There is already a bug filed to add this over in Bugzilla, how 'bout you folks that want this head over and vote on it? http://bugzilla.songbirdnest.com/show...

I absolutely support this post.

I have my mp3 collection ordered by directories, and I find it horrible to be forced to do a 2 fold work to play my music: first organize it on the HD and then be forced to create playlists to be able to play it the way I want it. Old style "computer player" and "mobile players" all were "democratic": you could choose between a directory based structure/play (play all the songs in his directory) or the library structure. Then came the i-stuffs and the world got "undemocratic" and empty of ideas (they have success, we all do what they do).

THE GOOD of songbird:
1) At least you can show the "File Location" (right click on the top bar of the library song list and enable the File Location bar): at least I know which file I am playing

2) since position 1. exists it is true you can "sort by directory"

3) if you right click on a song, you can choose to open another browse tab where you are taken to he directory containing the file (nice)

4) there is an add-on which "simulates" partially the directory structure biult-in feature

THE BAD of songbird:
a) position 1. and position 2. are not enough. you still can not say "play this directory" to do this you still have to:

enable File Location view, sort by directory, CREATE an extra playlist which contains all the files of the chosen dir.

1. and 2. are just "informative solutions" not "working solution".

b) Even as "informative solution" is not optimal since often the full path of a song is long and if you want to really see where the song is you have to make the "File Location" tab very big.
I think it would be very useful to build the "File Location" tab in a side scroll fashion, so that you can keep (if you want) the size of the tab fixed (not so huge) and "concentrate"/let show only the portion of the path you are really interested in (normally the last portion is the most important). (I have opened an idea "File Location Tab scrolling" on this topic, vote it if you like it)

c) the plug it would be THE SOLUTION if it would be "playble". The plugin again only shows the directory structure, but again you can NOT: click on a song and play it, NOR you can click on directory and play the whole content of it. the best that this plugin can do is you can create a new playlist (again playlist!!) and drag a directory from the plugin directory view into the playlist.

So the feature is definitely NOT implemented.

I agree ! This is related to the absence of an generic playlist that would allow to "play now" and "enqueue" songs, albums, artist from any point in songbird, by right-clicking, cmd-clicking or dragging it to the playlist.

The "Now playing" add-on and the "Directory browser" are nice but they need to be integrated into the core to ensure convenient playback for users coming from i-tunes , vlc, winamp , WMP, foobar, mediamonkey or whatsoever.

hi,

i'm using foobar on windows and i also miss the folder structure-view in songbird (for linux)! it's a very important "feature" for me...this is simply the fastest way to surf through a good sortet artist-album-song-structure.
the directory browser-addon is not able to play a song directly. :(

PLEASE integrate this folder view.