User:DJ VorTechS/PhatHack Media Manager/Manual/Managing Playlists

PhatHack Media Manager - Managing Playlists
Playlists within PhatHack Media Manager are used to represent a group of media items. Typically, a playlist would be used to play items from the first item in the list, to the last item in the list in the order in which they appear.

In all cases of playlist creation, the maintenance of the playlist is performed using the 'Playlist Editor', that itself is a skinnable interface. Look under the heading [[

Creating Playlists
There are two methods of generating playlists from within PhatHack Media Manager, either by creating a new playlist and adding individual media items to it, or by selecting multiple media items from a given media view and generating a new playlist from them.

Creating a new Playlist from scratch
To create a playlist:


 * Select the device on which you want to create the playlist
 * Click on the 'Playlist' button on the toolbar
 * Click on 'New Playlist'

This will display the Playlist Editor, where tracks can be individually added and the playlist given a name. See 'Using the Playlist Editor' below for more information on playlist details.

Note: The options 'Playlist' and 'New Playlist' is also available in a context menu by right-clicking on the 'Media Categories List'

Generating Playlists from Selected Media
To generate a playlist from multiple media items:


 * Switch the media view to locate your media by clicking on the 'View Media By' drop down and selecting the appropriate view
 * Perform any searches required (see 'Searching For Media' for more details)
 * Check, or select the appropriate media category to display matching media items
 * Check any individual items you want to add to the new playlist
 * Repeat the above until all items required are checked
 * Click on the 'Playlist' button on the toolbar
 * Click on 'Edit As Playlist'

Note: The options 'Playlist' and 'Edit as Playlist' is also available in a context menu by right-clicking on the 'Media Categories List'

Editing Playlists
To edit a playlist:


 * Switch to the media view to 'Playlist'
 * Locate and select the playlist to edit
 * Click on the 'Playlist' button on the toolbar
 * Click on 'Edit Playlist'

Note: The options 'Playlist' and 'Edit Playlist' is also available in a context menu by right-clicking on the 'Media Categories List'

Using the Playlist Editor
A playlist within PhatHack Media Manager has a very simple, and basic configuration. A playlist consists of:


 * A 'Playlist Title' - the name by which the playlist is known
 * A 'Phonetic Title' - the phonetic name of the title, supporting all SAPI 5 TTS features including XML
 * 'Playlist Media' - a collection of media items, available from all media items in the PhatHack Media Manager database for the folder / device

The playlist editor is one of the many skinnable forms available from within PhatHack Media Manager. If you are running an alternative skin, the features and functionality may vary from the following documentation, based on the 'default' skin.

If you have entered the Playlist Editor by using the 'Edit As Playlist' function, any media that was selected at the time will have automatically been added to the 'Playlist Media' for you.

Adding Media to the Playlist
To add media to your playlist, click on the 'Add Media' button on the Playlist Editor.

This will display the 'Available Media' window, which is again a skinnable interface and may vary from the screenshots illustrated. This window allows you to view your media in a similar way to the main window, allowing you to view media by Playlist/Album/Artist/Genre/Year.

To find the media you wish to add:


 * Select the appropriate view by dropping down 'View Media By' and selecting the appropriate view
 * Locate the appropriate 'Media Category' by dropping down 'Playlist' and choosing the appropriate item
 * Select the media by using one of the following methods:


 * - Clicking on an individual item


 * - Holding down 'Shift' and clicking on the first item to add, and then clicking on the last item to add


 * - Holding down 'Ctrl' and clicking on individuals items to select multiple items


 * Click on the 'Add Selected' button

Note: Whilst multiple selection is supported by using the SHIFT+CLICK or CTRL+CLICK method, it is only available in a single view and not across views/'playlists'.

Removing Media from the Playlist
To remove media from the playlist, do the following:


 * Select the items to be removed, using one of the following methods:


 * - Clicking on an individual item


 * - Holding down 'Shift' and clicking on the first item to add, and then clicking on the last item to add


 * - Holding down 'Ctrl' and clicking on individuals items to select multiple items


 * Click on the 'Remove Media' button

Committing the changes
Once you have added, or removed all the media from your playlist you must commit the changes to the database. To do this, click on the 'Save Changes' button. Failure to do this, will result in the changes you have made being lost.

Deleting Playlists
To delete a playlist:


 * Switch to the media view to 'Playlist'
 * Locate and select the playlist to be deleted
 * Click on the 'Playlist' button on the toolbar
 * Click on 'Edit Playlist'

Note: The options 'Playlist' and 'Delete Playlist' is also available in a context menu by right-clicking on the 'Media Categories List'

Multiple selections are supported by the 'Delete Playlist' function, so multiple playlists can be deleted at the same time by using CTRL+Click, or SHIFT+Click to select multiple items. Deletion of playlists only applies to SELECTIONS not playlists that have been 'checked'.

Modifying the Playlist Order
PhatHack Media Manager is able to store playlist in a specific order, useful for order-centric devices (such as the Kenwood Keg/PhatBox) or for general purpose playback using the built-in media player.

To modify the playlist order for a specific folder/device, do the following:


 * Select the folder/device in the media sources tree
 * Click on the 'Playlist' button on the toolbar
 * Click on 'Modify Playlist Order'

Note: The options 'Playlist' and 'Modify Playlist Order' is also available in a context menu by right-clicking on the 'Media Categories List' once the appropriate folder/device has been selected.

Once the 'Modify Playlist Order' window has been displayed the are two methods available for putting the playlists in the order your require:


 * Select an individual playlist
 * Click on the 'Up', or 'Down' button to move the playlist around the playlist order
 * Repeat until correctly positioned

or


 * Click and hold the left mouse button down on the playlist you wish to move
 * Drag the mouse until the mouse pointer is over the item you wish to place the selected playlist at
 * Release the left mouse button

Once the playlist order is as you require, click on 'Save Changes' to commit the new order to the device database.

The main screen also supports the drag and drop technique as described above, but requires you enable the option through the configuration settings. See the section 'Options and Configuration' for more details on the appropriate settings.

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