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Submitted by deomega on Thu, 05/15/2008 - 2:55pm.

So... I am pushing things a bit here, but here is my suggestion:

We have to wait for so many things to be perfected and implemented in Songbird, but the wait is ... likely 2 killing years away.

So, instead of saying hurry up already!!! :) Is there any way to get some of the features being requested implemented in even a half-hatched way? (Did I actually say half-hatched? Man, I must either be severely impatient, or just overjoyed as I watch this egg hatch slowly)

We really need:

1 Auto/Smart playlist,
2 Equalizer
3 View albums with album Art
4 Organize Music folder through Songbird

All those are from Itunes and Mediamonkey experience I suppose, but I am so tired of Itunes, yet it has the edge still, but need it gone like yesterday. I am sure if those appear, you may see mass migration... at least from the Itunes audience I know that are salivating as they hover over an unhatched SongCHICK.

OK, I am rushing, but really would like to see some more functionality added.

Be gentle with me,
Mega

Filed Under: Feature Suggestions
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jkoshi Says: Thu, 05/15/2008 - 5:02pm

Thanks for your patience regarding development speed. We felt strongly that an application is only as good as the platform it stands on. And just like a building, it's difficult to build the foundation after you build the structure. Nonetheless, work on the platform will always continue, but you'll notice in the next three releases we're very focused on delivering user-facing features.

Now on to your specific requests:

1. This I heard is coming this fall. Now that the database schema has been reworked, we can get to business on fancy playlists.

2. This one has a dependency on GStreamer (work has started and hopefully will land in the fall).

3. This is coming in the first part of the winter. We're working on a few concepts, but we also have to settle licensing issues for the artwork as well.

4. I did not see this one on the roadmap yet, but we've already got a bug open for it so please comment (plead) there. http://bugzilla.songbirdnest.com/show_bug.cgi?id=8274

Meanwhile, keep the feedback coming, we're listening but we can only work so fast. Thanks again for your patience.

deomega Says: Thu, 05/15/2008 - 8:18pm

Great responses and Fall/early Winter is absolutely great to hear. Thank you! Will do on the feedback.

Again... THANK YOU!

jkoshi Says: Fri, 05/16/2008 - 12:16pm

Np. Thanks for your continued support of our project :D

deomega Says: Sat, 05/17/2008 - 9:33am

I just realized that someone has started developing an addon called 'catalog view' that addresses number 3 in my suggestion above:

http://addons.songbirdnest.com/extensions/detail/232

I hope that someone can help him. If I could, I certainly would :)

jkoshi Says: Mon, 05/19/2008 - 12:47pm

Yeah moshy has a good start on it. How do we help you so you can help moshy?

deomega Says: Tue, 05/20/2008 - 2:56pm

I would need to learn how to go about doing that stuff. It is out of my level of understanding, but having military experience, I know how to follow-suit :). Anyway, if there is a way to help, I would be happy to make the time, as time is not a major issue for me at this juncture.

jkoshi Says: Wed, 05/21/2008 - 10:17am

Do you have an interest in learning javascript? Most of our add-ons are created with javascript and a little bit of XUL. There are a lot of great books to help you get started (let me know if you want any recommendations) and a lot of freely available stuff on the Web. If you already know javascript, you can check out our getting-started guide at the developer center.

deomega Says: Wed, 05/21/2008 - 7:21pm

I am interested, please point me in the direction. Please feel free to e-mail me through my e-mail here.

jkoshi Says: Thu, 05/22/2008 - 11:53am

There are ton of good resources online. This is a good place to start: http://www.w3schools.com/JS/default.asp. Once you get a handle on javascript head over to the Songbird Developer Center for ways to use Songbird's API's or to create your add-ons. If you have specific questions about using the Songbird APIs you can also pop into our irc channel for help, irc://irc.mozilla.org/#songbird or post in the developer forums.

deomega Says: Fri, 05/23/2008 - 5:27am

Thank you very much. I WILL explore.