SageMC Feature Requests

[Brent]

Have a feature or change that you would like to see in the SageMC STV add-on? The purpose of this thread is to gather all of those feature requests in one place.

I'll manage the list with features that have been requested and not yet implemented and a separate section in this same post with those previously requested and already implemented. No guarantees that these will be answered or addressed immediately, but it's a good place to help the developers of SageMC (currently flachbar and meinmaui) manage the requests as they continue to enhance and develop the excellent SageMC application.

REQUESTED FEATURES in no particular order:

• Easy way to load icon & graphic sets. Not sure how this should be implemented but I think Meedios has a good method as an example.
• Ability for genre view to deal with multi-disc dvds like the file view does. See this post for details.
• Photos - a way to save and/or load photo sets (collections of photo albums beyond folders organization). I'm honestly not sure if this would require a SageTV change first - I'll remove this one if that is the case.
• Music - ??? I'm thinking which can be dangerous....
• Customization of Menus - I'm too amazed with what you've already added to know what more to ask for here at the moment. Stay tuned as I'm sure there's something.
• A way to donate to the developers. I'm all for free and I love free. Still, I'd like to send beer money to those who toil over the awesome add-ons that I use daily that enhance SageTV beyond it's standard self. It doesn't need to be a overly prominent thing, but I'd just like to give my thanks.
• 06/01/08 Fix the SageMC music by-song page bug
• 06/01/08 For videos and music pages, Add the following option: Use the sorted title field field so that the videos would drop the "The" and "A" when placing the DVDs in order.
• 06/01/08 Videos, add the ability to do a mass IMDB (or other method) search for all videos that don't have metadata yet.
• 06/08/08 Last.fm scrobble music capability
• 07/24/08 Port the "SageWMP CD/DRM music player" to SageMC so we can play CD's (not ripped) and DRM protected WMA files from within the SageMC UI
• 07/26/08 Port the Automatic Aspect Ratio Switcher from this plugin to SageMC
• 07/26/08 Ability to hide or password protect certain video folders
• 07/28/08 Caller ID - doesn't always work
• 08/24/08 Music Browsing Improvement: Ability to play track from album, browse other albums while playing & go back to the track listing for the album that's currently playing. see this post for more info
• 08/25/08 MyMovies type of DVD management solution.
• 08/25/08 Auto-rotate pictures based on Exif data
• 08/24/08 Dynamic folders/categories in My Videos. Not sure how possible this is but if we can create a folder that groups items by date added, or by actor, or by director link
• 08/25/08 Web Browser engine
• 08/25/08 Ability to use weather data from other sites so that users with Personal Weather stations near to their homes could use that data.. ie, weatherforyou.com and wunderground.com.
• 08/25/08 Ability to password protect individual recordings and DVD's.. currently the parental controls don't 'seem' to allow me to block specific episodes, shows and/or ripped DVD titles.
• 09/18/08 Photo Slideshow Transitions for extenders
• 09/18/08 Optionally display and navigate music by folder name instead of ID3 tag link
• 09/19/08 Sort recorded shows by season / episode number (would need to get that info from somewhere of course)
• 09/21/08 UI support for Metdata updater by stuckless then add in other TV/Movie data sources
• 09/24/08 Have the moon on the main title screen show the correct phase.
• 09/24/08 Weather data could have options for 'east coast, west coast, midwest' or some other type of geographical breakdown for the maps
• 10/09/08 Optionally display complete path for recordings and imported videos like the default UI does.
• 10/15/08 Add a movie to the scheduler without telling it which specific airing I want to record
• 10/15/08 Add the "play all" feature as is in the stock STV
• 10/29/08 Multi-channel favorites
• 12/22/08 Update the SageMC-built-in comskip monitor to the most recent version
• 12/22/08 Build in the various mini-guide add-ons to SageMC as options ootb.
• 12/22/08 New optional Photo View VMC-style. Show nothing on the screen except for a wall of photos (customizable by number of columns/rows of photos) and navigate the photos with your remote. Take that a step farther and add the ability to do a slideshow where that wall changes one or more photos at a time. So for example, you see 12 photos on the screen, after 5 seconds two random photos are replaced with two new ones, and then two other photos are replaced on-and-on.
• 12/28/08 Need to Update the DVDPro2Sage.Class file that installs with SageMC to latest version
• 12/28/08 In the default STV, when you need to browse for a file, if you traverse up all the way to the root of My computer basically, there is also a Network item listed where you can browse files under your workgroup and select the file you need. It would be nice to have all the browse dialogs updated to have this.
• 12/28/08 Port over, or a way to tie in the Browse Media Files feature of the default STV (including Network browsing). I have a ton of Anime, but I don't want to take the time to categorize it, etc to be imported into the main Media Library and clutter things up, so just being able to browse my network and watch video files without having them be in an import folder would be nice.
• 12/28/08 Ability to customize sub menus of My Menu independent of my Menu (link)
• 12/30/08 Scale the coverimage to a reasonable size in the playback screen. This will allow us to store higher resolution DVD covers while not looking so strange when you do something to show the top "info" bar in the playback screen.
• 01/01/09 Incorporate the TV Info Screen STVi into SageMC - make it switchable between default screen and TV Info Screen without needing to import the STVi
• 01/01/09 Incorporate the Movie Info Screen STVi into SageMC - make it switchable between default screen and TV Info Screen without needing to import the STVi
• 01/01/09 Incorporate the "auto-update of STVi's for SageMC like the default STV has now. i.e.: stock STV lets you define which "plugins" you want included, and the STV is automatically updated when the main one changes.
• 01/03/09 Fix the popup notification of new drive detected bug described in this thread and fixed with this STVi
• 01/03/09 Remove "My" from the beginning of each menu item title and from the submenu title graphics. So instead of "My Videos" make it "Videos" etc.

FEATURES IMPLEMENTED AND/OR REQUESTS RESOLVED:

• RESOLVED 6.3.9 Videos - Ability to sort by date added and/or DVD release date. Don't know if this would work for non-dvdprofiler databases, but it would be HUGE (I really want this ) for those of us who have dvdprofiler. Imagine a crazy guy (me for instance) who has over 600 movies on his server and adds one or two new movies. Now wife and/or kids want want to browse by the most recent added - if we could use the collection number (and even dvd release) date to sort by this would be awesome.
• RESOLVED 6.3.8 Videos: Add alphabet "search" to the genre view. For instance, if you go to the "files system" view you can also push right on your remote and jump alphabetically to any section of your DVD library. It would be nice to add this same functionality to each genre so when I view all drama genre titles I could push right on my remote and jump to all titles under "m". Only helpful for those of us with larger movie libraries, but makes sense to have it work the same way in genre as in file system views.
• RESOLVED 6.3.8 Online Videos - "Custom Online Videos" support like the default SageTV STV has now. I know this is already on your radar, but listing it for sake of being complete.
• RESOLVED Search - A way to search using t9 instead of the default search input(UPDATE: I figured out that you can already do this by hitting "CTRL-S")
• RESOLVED: Videos - Stop requiring the video_ts folder for dvdprofiler imports to work in SageMC (default stv already made this change recently) MUST INCLUDE THE VIDEO_TS.VOB AND VIDEO_TS.BUP IN THE FOLDER FOR THIS TO WORK
• RESOLVED 6.3.8 Add in the new online video functionality from the default STV (the latest beta version)
• RESOLVED 6.3.8 NEW 06/05/08 TV, Currently there is a "grouped" option where it groups shows by category and sorts by the category most recently recorded. Add an "apha grouped" option that lists the groups in alpha sort order
• RESOLVED 6.3.8 New 08/24/08improvements to the Search feature (a-la the Default STV). In the Default STV's search, you can use single-press NTE and it will show you the matches that work with any combination of the pressed numbers. In SageMC, you have to drill the NTE down to the actual letters you are searching for.

If you would like to have your request added to this list, just post a response to this thread and I'll update the list - no guarantees on how fast I'll be on this but I will do it. If the request is something that isn't possible or something that would need to be fixed in the SageTV core it might not be added but your thread post of course will remain.
For others who want to add to this or if it makes sense knock down any bad

Finally, thanks to Dirk, Mike, SageTV folks and everyone else involved. I'm enjoying SageTV with SageMC a lot .

[toricred]

I don't really have any features to request at this point since I'm still not using everything that is there. There are only 2 things I can think of and one of them is probably only going to work with changes to the core. I'd love to have the concept of users with access control. The other is Brent's point about a way to donate to the developers. I know they work really hard on this and I can't imaging using Sage with the default UI. I'd love to help keep them motivated somehow.

[gveres]

I too would donate.

I would like to see better cursor handling (as mentioned in my other thread, where Andy said it was possible http://forums.sagetv.com/forums/showthread.php?t=32145)

Greg

[rlvogel322]

Originally Posted by Brent

A way to donate to the developers. I'm all for free and I love free. Still, I'd like to send beer money to those who toil over the awesome add-ons that I use daily that enhance SageTV beyond it's standard self. It doesn't need to be a overly prominent thing, but I'd just like to give my thanks.

This is something I'm interested in also. I would be happy to help with code/documentation/testing if needed but would have no issue with supplying a little beer money. SageMC is fantastic!

[Brent]

Updated the original post in this thread with the following new requests:

• NEW 06/01/08 Fix the SageMC music by-song page bug
• NEW 06/01/08 For videos and music pages, Add the following option: Use the sorted title field field so that the videos would drop the "The" and "A" when placing the DVDs in order.
• NEW Videos, add the ability to do a mass IMDB (or other method) search for all videos that don't have metadata yet.

And updated the following request (revision in bold):

• Videos - Ability to sort by date added and/or DVD release date. Don't know if this would work for non-dvdprofiler databases, but it would be HUGE (I really want this ) for those of us who have dvdprofiler.

[Enormous]

Originally Posted by Brent

A way to donate to the developers.

Here here! I second (or third? fourth?) this idea. I've tried doing my own stv manipulation in the past. Since experiencing it firsthand, I would love to donate to those who have mastered it. (And whose tools I use every single day!)

[Brent]

Added the following to the original request list above:

TV, Currently there is a "grouped" option where it groups shows by category and sorts by the category most recently recorded. Add an "apha grouped" option that lists the groups in alpha sort order

This was mentioned in this thread and is something I've been meaning to add to the request list anyway...

[cncb]

Brent,

You might want to try my JRMC plugin to see if it solves some of your video and music browsing, sorting, and search needs. As you know you can have an unlimited number of views into your library (DVDs included) sorted in different ways as well as playlists of photos and videos too. This plugin basically uses JRMC as a library server (unlike the one for that "other" program that used JRMC for playback) so you don't have to worry about focus issues, etc. Just throwing that out there as a possibility...

[Brent]

Originally Posted by cncb

Brent,

You might want to try my JRMC plugin to see if it solves some of your video and music browsing, sorting, and search needs. As you know you can have an unlimited number of views into your library (DVDs included) sorted in different ways as well as playlists of photos and videos too. This plugin basically uses JRMC as a library server (unlike the one for that "other" program that used JRMC for playback) so you don't have to worry about focus issues, etc. Just throwing that out there as a possibility...

Thanks Craig,
Yeah the JRMC is something I tried when you first released it and something I'll probably come back to eventually. Bottom line, my hope is that eventually these things can be built-in to SageMC and won't require JRMC to run behind the scenes. I'm enjoying not having to deal with multiple programs running now that I'm no longer using BMedia

[cncb]

Originally Posted by Brent

I'm enjoying not having to deal with multiple programs running now that I'm no longer using BMedia

I understand. I will just say that it is a much better situation now that it is not used for playback (you can't really tell that you have an additional program running). It is nice having access to playlists and smartlists from just one source (no export/import required) that can be shared everywhere.

[Brent]

I missed this before, but noticed that last.fm has added an API. Wonder if that would help an interested developer to build an add-on for SageTV or SageMC?

I recently added last.fm as a SageMC feature request in top post by the way.

[Brent]

Added the following request to the list in the first post of this thread:

Port the "SageWMP CD/DRM music player" to SageMC so we can play CD's (not ripped) and DRM protected WMA files from within the SageMC UI

[QueOnda]

I would like to hide subjective material, so when I have guest over and we are going throught he video directory, they don't see stuff that may offend them (what ever it may be). If there is already a current way or work around let me know.

edit: Also what about when you have videos (.avi, .wmv) only shows picture of frame instead .jpg movie cover. .jpb movie cover works ok with video_ts files.

[grooves12]

My biggest request is for an update of the Automatic aspect ratio switcher to be modified to work with SageMC. This is by far one of my favorite modifications and makes using Sage so much more enjoyable.

[ke6guj]

Originally Posted by grooves12

My biggest request is for an update of the Automatic aspect ratio switcher to be modified to work with SageMC. This is by far one of my favorite modifications and makes using Sage so much more enjoyable.

you have seen this, http://forums.sagetv.com/forums/show...6&postcount=90 . flachbar did a quicky mod so that the AR switcher would work in SageMC. It works fine, the only thing I ran into was that I could not delete existing AAR's in SageMC. For that, I temporarily fire up the defaultUI.

[grooves12]

Originally Posted by ke6guj

you have seen this, http://forums.sagetv.com/forums/show...6&postcount=90 . flachbar did a quicky mod so that the AR switcher would work in SageMC. It works fine, the only thing I ran into was that I could not delete existing AAR's in SageMC. For that, I temporarily fire up the defaultUI.

It doesn't work at all for me in the latest version of SageMC...there was a version where he changed the plugin interface, and that broke that quick version he threw together, and it has never worked since.

[ke6guj]

It works fine for me in SageMC6.3.7a with the exception I mentioned above. But, yes, it would be nice if the SageMC port could be finished properly.

[Brent]

Originally Posted by QueOnda

I would like to hide subjective material, so when I have guest over and we are going throught he video directory, they don't see stuff that may offend them (what ever it may be). If there is already a current way or work around let me know.

So do you want to hide a folder or a menu or certain files from view or just have the ability to lock with a PIN?

what about when you have videos (.avi, .wmv) only shows picture of frame instead .jpg movie cover. .jpb movie cover works ok with video_ts files.

Doesn't it already do this in SageMC?

[QueOnda]

Originally Posted by Brent

So do you want to hide a folder or a menu or certain files from view or just have the ability to lock with a PIN?

yeah, that would be cool. Don't want people seeing Howard Stern or P0rN in my video files ;-)

Originally Posted by Brent

Doesn't it already do this in SageMC?

Yes it does. But I swear, I cannot get it to work for avi or wmv files, when I try the Search IMDB function and save the images and discription it still shows a frame of the video. For the dvd works fine. Maybe I need to try it again or put a .jpg in the directory myself but other people are having issues with it.
http://forums.sagetv.com/forums/showthread.php?t=31720

[QueOnda]

Here's another request for CallerID working: http://forums.sagetv.com/forums/showthread.php?t=34427

Doesn't work for everyone.