Redesign options pages tree list

[clsid2]

A small subset of users seem to struggle to understand that every node in the tree corresponds to a settings page.

Some maybe we should consider changing how the left side of options window looks. A big downside of major changes is of course that any written help on forums/FAQs/etc of where to locate certain settings becomes invalid.

One possibility would be to create explicit leaf nodes for each settings page. So for example player would become for example player > general. Clicking on a root should then select first leaf.

The ability to collapse root nodes is also kinda unnecessary. So instead of a tree it could also be a flat list with headers.

Other ideas:

• New User Interface root for UI/toolbar/keyboard/mouse/logo settings pages.
• New Filters (or DirectShow Filters) root node that contains: Internal/external filters, audio switcher, and renderers (renamed from Output).
• Internal Filters could maybe be renamed to Internal decoders/splitters or maybe even just Internal decoders.
• Audio renderer page is replaced with a popup window for accessing SaneAR settings.
• Sync renderer page is replaced with a popup window for accessing EVR/VMR9 settings. Also includes the ones currently on Output page.
• Miscellaneous could be renamed to colors controls. Settings management could be moved to Tweaks page or to a new Settings page.

[xLn2]

I believe color controls is more related to video filters, so wouldn't it be appropriate to use it via Filters > Properties > Page (tab)? And is it really unavoidable that you have to restart the player to use color controls while using Mpc-Vr?

Some options that are not very relevant to subtitle style (such as 8-bit character set, OpenType Language and Libass renderer) could also be removed from that section.

Deprecated technologies can be removed
Display "Now Playing" information in Skype's mood message
Enable Logitech LCD support (experimental) not sure about this
uICE mpc-be removed this

Advanced settings might be grouped like foobar2000. Some settings are really for advanced users but some are not and order of list probably depend on date of implementation.

[clsid2]

Color controls is not in any way related to filter properties.
Changes apply just fine directly. You are probably playing 10bit video and you have a crappy graphics driver that does not support it properly in that case. Anyway, not bug in player.

[bibsp]

• Miscellaneous could be renamed to colors controls.

Then Update Check can be moved to Player page. Enough free space available there.
And Settings management to Tweaks page.

Then no new extra page needed.

[tsubasanouta]

A possible first step could be to move a few advanced pages (Audio Renderer, Sync Renderer) into popup windows.
This reduces the number of items in the options tree and improves clarity, while keeping the overall structure intact and minimizing disruption.

[OutshineIssue]

I’m not sure if user input is okay here, but I totally agree that the advanced menu has some pretty basic UI settings like "show volume percentage." Honestly, as a pretty basic user myself, I ended up exploring the advanced menu way more than anything else on the options page.

[radpopl]

I agree. I remember that to set the player's appearance (zoom) to 2x, you have to fiddle with View->Zoom and Player settings (main). And in my language, "User interface" translates to "Player appearance".

[adipose]

A small subset of users seem to struggle to understand that every node in the tree corresponds to a settings page.

Some maybe we should consider changing how the left side of options window looks. A big downside of major changes is of course that any written help on forums/FAQs/etc of where to locate certain settings becomes invalid.

In my experience, the most confusing part of the node structure is that the top-level nodes have their own settings. Today, they appear like a category of settings. They also have general settings that are more specific to that top-level node. Even today, I sometimes forget that I can click on the top level node.

I believe this is what you are getting to with regards to "player - general."

Changing it to a flat set of settings would be fine with me. The only significant change would be to eliminate the tree structure while renaming the top level nodes to general.