ONGOING DEFAULT THEME CONTEST!!!

[crzyboyster]

Well, my nano version is completely finished and done to the best of my ability. I personally think it's quite well done. Here are some screendumps and the final link (after this, I won't be doing anything for it, I'm done with it, it has to be further optimized by others).

There is also a .psd (kind of sloppily done) for the wps screen included.

http://rapidshare.com/files/75426510/Cabbie2.0DefaultNanoFinished.zip.html

Please check it out and make sure it's working properly and then I will put it onto the wiki.

[fasmaie]

Hey,
I got a chance to see what's being going on WRT the Cabbie (putative) default theme conversion.

While I wrote the original theme, the logo was made by someone else (perl|work). He used to frequent the RockBox Gigabeat IRC channel a lot, but not lately. While I think the muted official logo works, it would be nice to get in touch with him (though that may be impossible) and see if he's willing to help us out.

Anyway, I am really impressed with Cabbie 2.0. It looks great.

I had hoped to help out with the ports, but I have found myself unable to do so. I apologize for that (new job, new challenges). You guys are doing a great job on your own, anyway.

I will have the last couple of weeks of this year free, and could work on a couple of targets, if that is desired. It would be nice if whoever has taken point on this tells me what to work on.

Again, great job guys!

[crzyboyster]

I will also be doing an iPod Video version that will be done by next weekend. Also, I think it will be a good idea to have a wiki page for this so that we can keep track of what needs to be done. Can you take care of this, Llorean?

[Llorean]

One important thing that's missing is actually Playlist Position. I use my device for audiobooks frequently, and playlist position is far more important to me than just about anything else on the screen. (Or track number, but that's less useful in a generalized sense).

And as was said earlier in the thread, anyone can create a wiki page. I've got plenty of things to spend my time on already, as it stands.

[crzyboyster]

Playlist position is the "x of x" thing, right? You can easily add that in to any alternating subline, and my nano port already has it and most other should, too.

[Llorean]

Alternating sublines require you to sit and wait for the information. It seems to me they should be used primarily for "unimportant" things.

For example, why do we need "Codec" at all? What relevance does it actually have, or usefulness?

My point is that if we're going to boil down to what information "defines" this WPS, so that cross-target ones can maintain it, maybe some discussion needs to take place as to what's important to display.

[karashata]

Personally, I think a good selection of must-haves are:

- the current track's artist, album, and title
- playback time (current time and either time remaining or total track length)
- a graphical progress indicator
- graphical status icons for playback state, repeat, and shuffle
- a graphical battery indicator

Some nice things to add, space willing (or on alternating sublines if space is limited and the info is desired):

- playlist position
- next track information (at least title, then artist, then album)
- codec information (bitrate and codec type)
- real-time clock (current time, I prefer 12-hour format personally)

Keep in mind these are *my* preferences, and probably do *not* reflect the vast majority...  That said, the Cabbie 2.0 port has everything I find absolutely necessary, but if space permitted it would be nice to have a playlist position indicator.

[Llorean]

Why is playback state needed at all? If the headphones are on, and you can see the WPS, you can tell if it's playing or paused just fine with your ears.

Specifically, why does that rate higher than Playlist position, which isn't as apparent?

[karashata]

You have a point there, but the icon for indicating playback state generally ends up fairly small anyway, as well as tucked at the top or bottom of the screen along with the other status icons. Getting rid of it probably wouldn't make space enough for any sort of playlist indicator.  Besides, having a visual indication of playback state along with the shuffle and repeat states just makes things seem more complete, IMO.  As I said, those are my preferences and probably don't reflect how most people feel.

[Llorean]

Honestly, I'm not sure the "Rockbox" logo is necessary. It's nice, but I'd rather pick something functional over it.

[karashata]

I can agree with you on that one, however, at least on the port to my player (the H10 20GB and iAudio X5 port) that logo is already removed to fit the status icons.  The only way I could see gaining some space to fit a playlist indication of any sort on that port would be to lose the line separating the current track's info from the next track's title and slipping it at the top of the screen as the first line below the Now Playing graphic, removing that graphic in favor of more space for information, or using a smaller font.  I'm not about to take liberty to make any alterations myself other than fixing bugs, however, since I didn't make the initial port.

[fasmaie]

I agree that the logo should probably give way to something more functional.

I like the idea of play state being retained, as sometimes you may forget to turn off the player, or pause it and then you'd have to put the headphones to an ear to check play state.

[yapper]

Although I never listen to audiobooks, I think the playlist position is a useful bit of information. It could sit beneath the progress bar, centred, in the position which is blank in some ports, and has the codec info in other ports.

IMHO fields like codec, bitrate, etc are best left to the Context menu.

I'm more for the logo than against it, unless someone comes up with a specific "must-have" field that can't be accomodated elsewhere.

[Llorean]

"Is the playback time moving? No: Paused"

Seriously, Play/Pause state is perhaps the least useful information on there, considering the number of other pieces of information available as a user that let you know if you're paused or playing. The only time you wouldn't know is if your memory isn't good enough, or if something's buggy, and then considering we have both "Time Elapsed" and "Time Remaining" and a progress bar visible, you know if playback is happening.

That being said, I'd sacrifice next track information entirely for current playlist position (again, personal preference) because I actually make use of it on a regular basis (approximating how long the book remaining is, etc) while next track isn't, to me, functionally useful, merely nice to know.

[soap]

Not to be a party pooper - for this WPS is shaping up...
1 - Playlist position is also important to me.
2 - I feel one of the strengths of the original Cabbie theme was its combined use of the "Now Playing" bar as both a static element, and the progress bar - making very effective use of limited space on the screen.