Time format in WPS

[greyTux]

ATM we're having the following WPS-Tags to design the time format:

• Zero padded hour from 00 to 24
• Hour from 0 to 24
• Zero padded hour from 12 to 12
• Hour from 12 to 12
• Minutes
• Seconds
• Capital AM/PM
• Lowercase am/pm

So why do we have also an option-menu to set the time format??

Every time i download a WPS from english persons i have to correct the time format.

It would be better to have ONE wps tag %clock and then set the desired time format in the option menu. Same applies for the date format.

What do you think? That could be a reasonable feature request.

[elborak]

The time format is used for more than the WPS. The time shown in a tiny font at the top-level menu need not be in the same format as in a WPS, where screen real estate is sometimes precious, especially for those using album art.

[rosco_pc]

I agree with greyTux.

[elborak]

Forcing the WPS screen to use the same format as the main status line would be a step backwards in functionality.  Most people want it to be more configurable, not less.

[Mad Cow]

But why would you want two different types of time display? It doesn't make any sense. Sure it's more configurable this way, but less practical in my opinion. The bare minimum for time is "hour":"minute" which is what is currently used in almost every WPS, I can't think of anything less.

[elborak]

Because the main status bar isn't generally cramped for room.  WPS screens, on the other hand, are often squeezing as much information as possible onto sometimes rather small screens.  So it's perfectly reasonable to have two different formats for two entirely different display contexts.

I'm not dead-set against it or anything, but it sounds like the proposal will take away functionality for a very trivial convenience.  Doesn't sound like a good trade off to me.

[RedBreva]

Every time i download a WPS from english persons i have to correct the time format.

In the first instance, i would take a -small- amount of offence at the use of the word 'correct' in the above quote ...  wouldn't 'change' be a more appropriate word?

But in what way is the 'English' time wrong? 07:30pm, 7:30PM or 19:30 is simply a mater of personal taste.

Perhaps you talking about DATE formating - where there is a large cultural divide between DD/MM/YY and MM/DD/YY, but surely not too many themes use date formatting anyway?

[greyTux]

Of course... "change" would be the better word

I see the differences between WPS and the simple status bar, but a "normal user" which changes the time format in the option menu and switches back to the WPS would be confused! A "normal user" wants to change the date/time-format to european style only ONCE, without editing WPS code!

Because the main status bar isn't generally cramped for room

The status bar can use the shortest date/time format automatically (without seconds i.e), but use the european/us/asian/whatever style from the option menu. WPS uses some configurable tags for different date/time formats (i.e. with or without seconds, with or without name of the day of the week).

My suggestion:
Option menu with options:
Time Format: [12h|24h]
Date Format: [d.m.Y|d/m/Y|Y/m/d|whatever]

(pseudo) WPS tags:
%time short (without seconds)
%time long (with seconds)

%date short (2 digit year)
%date long (4 digit year)

So... I know this is a detail, but as described above, that could be a confusing feature for "normal users"  

[Mad Cow]

I sgree with the time tags, but no the date. Date is much more configurable than time, and most WPS's don't even use it, so it should be left the way it is now.

[Llorean]

And what if a WPS wants to have the Month and Day on one line, and the year on another?

Or
HH
MM
SS
for some reason? (Space constraints, or an interesting visual trick for example)

Or any other non-standard layout?

I think that the display of the date is a part of the WPS design, and should not be defined via the time/date options in the menu and vice versa. It cuts a significant amount of flexibility of design out of it, in my mind, by doing it by the menu option.

[Mad Cow]

And what if a WPS wants to have the Month and Day on one line, and the year on another?

Or
HH
MM
SS
for some reason? (Space constraints, or an interesting visual trick for example)

Or any other non-standard layout?

I think that the display of the date is a part of the WPS design, and should not be defined via the time/date options in the menu and vice versa. It cuts a significant amount of flexibility of design out of it, in my mind, by doing it by the menu option.

I'm fine with configurable date, few WPS's have a date, so it's easier to modify them to suit your wanted format. But almost every WPS has time display, and many of them use the 24 hour clock, while I use the 12-hour. This means that I have to manually edit every single one of them to use them. This takes alot of time, because I have to find and change one or two tags in over 15 WPS's. Time is always displayed H:M in all of my WPS's, and the two time formats take up the same amount of screen space. So there's almost no configurability (If that's a word) benefit, and no space benefit, but the ease of use benefit is much larger.

[Llorean]

There's no configurability benefit for you, but it does prevent WPS authors from having the option to create new types of layouts.

As well, I don't see how it increases ease of use at all? Is a 24-hour clock HARDER to read (necessary for it to increase ease of use) or simply just less preferable because you like 12-hour clocks?

I'm simply saying, removing flexibility is not my preferred solution here. You could easily make a small script that could replace the tag in WPS files, and run it on new ones, if it's that big of a deal for you.

Solve the problem for your own use, rather than asking others to take away their options just so you don't have to do it from time to time.

Not that there couldn't be a separate tag, just for a clock in statusbar format, but don't suggest to take away existing abilities.

[elborak]

But almost every WPS has time display, and many of them use the 24 hour clock, while I use the 12-hour. This means that I have to manually edit every single one of them to use them. This takes alot of time, because I have to find and change one or two tags in over 15 WPS's.

I would point out that you are an exception to how most folks use themes/WPS's.  Most will download a handful, try them out, and pick one (or two) that they like.  Is modifying one or two .wps files really that big a burden?

Also, it would be pretty trivial to write a Perl or shell script to unzip a theme, massage the .wps file, and rezip.