Format 'Presets' & db toolbar

[topbanana]

Would it be possible to have a toolbar where we can add the custom formats we often use? Just like the browser's bookmarks bar.

We could add as many/few as we need, giving them short descriptive titles.

Currently you have to right-click, click Edit Format, click the down arrow, hope the format is recently used and on the MRU list and try and pick it out from the long strings of code, click press Use Format.

TV shows often have a few weird formats, some may need full dates (HIGNFY), most don't, some don't have episode titles (sketch shows), some need extra text adding in (QI XL, HIGABMNFY), etc, etc...

With the bookmarked Formats bar, you can just see and select the the format you want with one click. easy. fast.



EDIT: changed title to 'Presets' from 'bookmarks' as it better describes what i was thinking of...
...And it might look like thiis:

[rednoah]

FileBot stores the last 5 recently used formats per category. Not sure what the difference is compared to your idea. The Recently Used Format selection is basically your bookmark bar.

Because 1 click? No. Opening the bookmarks bar would be 1 click and selecting would be one 1 click. The same.

Because you would like to name your formats? You can just add comments to your format in the beginning, e.g.

Code: Select all

{/* Daily Shows */} {n} [{airdate}] {t}

Because you need more than 5 bookmarks? If you need more than 5 bookmarks per category you're probably doing something wrong. Because the format takes care of automation.

If you use FileBot as intended you will NEVER need more than one format, which is smart enough to deal with anything you want.

e.g.

Code: Select all

{n} - {n =~ /The.Daily.Show/ ? airdate : s00e00}{" - $t"}

I don't know exactly what you want. As long as you know which shows / genre of shows / etc.

The forums contain lots of examples and help if you want to:
* force names for certain shows (i.e. add extra text)
* add information to some shows but not others (i.e. simple conditions)
* gracefully deal with non-existent data (i.e. taken care of by the system if you do it right, i.e. {" - $t"})

@see viewforum.php?f=5

[topbanana]

FileBot stores the last 5 recently used formats per category. Not sure what the difference is compared to your idea. The Recently Used Format selection is basically your bookmark bar.

Because 1 click? No. Opening the bookmarks bar would be 1 click and selecting would be one 1 click. The same.

Because you would like to name your formats? You can just add comments to your format in the beginning, e.g.

Code: Select all

{/* Daily Shows */} {n} [{airdate}] {t}

Because you need more than 5 bookmarks? If you need more than 5 bookmarks per category you're probably doing something wrong. Because the format takes care of automation.

If you use FileBot as intended you will NEVER need more than one format, which is smart enough to deal with anything you want.

e.g.

Code: Select all

{n} - {n =~ /The.Daily.Show/ ? airdate : s00e00}{" - $t"}

I don't know exactly what you want. As long as you know which shows / genre of shows / etc.

The forums contain lots of examples and help if you want to:
* force names for certain shows (i.e. add extra text)
* add information to some shows but not others (i.e. simple conditions)
* gracefully deal with non-existent data (i.e. taken care of by the system if you do it right, i.e. {" - $t"})

@see viewforum.php?f=5

I'd just like to have it simple, with the subtle formats i've set up listed as bookmarks/favorites/buttons on a toolbar, so i can pick the format with one click.
I can also edit that format at any time, tweaking it, and having it in a simple, one task form, not a humongous line of code that tries to do everything.

I've also just lost some of my formats as they got pushed off the bottom of the MRU list when trying to get the correct syntax... It's taken me ages to recreate them, trying to find the really useful posts i'd stumbled upon ages ago... gutted.
With the bookmark/favourite buttons, this would just not happen.

[topbanana]

Here's a quick 'n' dirty mockup of what i was thinking of...


* The buttons are 'radio buttons' so you select the format you want. that one will then be highlighted/active
* There can any number of format presets, just add a new one (using the 'new...' button, or perhaps a plus + button, whatever)
* the name can be anything you want, the button grows/shrinks to fit.
* each format preset can be edited and perhaps it just comes up with the existing format editor dialog... which can be a movie, music, episode... each with it's own history.
* each preset can be tweaked until the cows come home as the MRU history of it is just for itself, so no accidentally deleting any formats by accident when they get pushed of the bottom of the list...

[rednoah]

Having many formats it's one way to do thing. Though I'd recommend one single smart format that does different things for different shows or kind of shows. No switching required if the format is smart enough.


e.g. use {airdate} for Talk Shows and {s00e00} for everything else:

Code: Select all

{n} - {'Talk Show' in genres ? airdate : s00e00} - {t}

Naturally, this is just one example, and your condition and reasoning can be arbitrarily complex.


Basically I don't see how lots of buttons for quick switching formats is better than a solution that requires slightly more "coding" but then doesn't require manual interaction (useful for automated processing) and it nicely and exactly specifies how you want your files to be named (without one having to know which mode you selected).

You want a format for documentaries, daily shows, etc so why not have one single format that rules them all? I understand that it's slightly more complicated, but only slightly, and I'm all for that if the result means more automation.

[topbanana]

Having many formats it's one way to do thing. Though I'd recommend one single smart format that does different things for different shows or kind of shows. No switching required if the format is smart enough.


e.g. use {airdate} for Talk Shows and {s00e00} for everything else:

Code: Select all

{n} - {'Talk Show' in genres ? airdate : s00e00} - {t}

Naturally, this is just one example, and your condition and reasoning can be arbitrarily complex.

But when looking at the code that some of your users have cooked up, they're super complex and huge! My eyes go crossed looking at the syntax, all the brackets, slashes, quotes, etc, etc, etc...

I like your example above, one short, simple, clear line that does a range of shows...

I'd have a few of these, each for the specific formats i like to use. easy to set up, easy to code/edit/debug.

And there'd be no need for conditional programming, it's really easy to think "this new topical news show should have the full air date..." and i'd pick my episode preset set to show the full date... click, bosch! simple, instant, no code changes needed.

[rednoah]

1.
It's IF-THEN-ELSE. I just gave you an example that is simple. I doubt that docu/daily/series formats are that different, so that encourages code reuse as well, making conditionals for only the conditional parts.

I'm happy to help with coming up with good formats, so that they can then be shared with others.


2.
You can do what you want by creating droplets, simple *.cmd files that call filebot with a specific --format on files passed in (or dropped on the *.cmd file).


I just don't see cluttering the GUI with extra options when these options would only be used by a small minority of users.

[topbanana]

1.
It's IF-THEN-ELSE. I just gave you an example that is simple. I doubt that docu/daily/series formats are that different, so that encourages code reuse as well, making conditionals for only the conditional parts.

I'm happy to help with coming up with good formats, so that they can then be shared with others.


2.
You can do what you want by creating droplets, simple *.cmd files that call filebot with a specific --format on files passed in (or dropped on the *.cmd file).


I just don't see cluttering the GUI with extra options when these options would only be used by a small minority of users.

Code: Select all

IF (Filebot-presets = y) THEN
    create-simple-short-format
    IF (need-another-preset) THEN
        create-simple-little-format
    ENDIF  
ELSE
    create-super-long-all-singing-all-dancing-piece-of-code-that-tries-to-cater-for-all-conceivable-formats-i-might-like-and-can-think-of-and-keep-editing-to-cater-for-all-exceptions-that-occasionally-come-up-possibly-just-once-making-the-code-longer-and-longer-and-more-difficult-to-read-and-debug-and-edit
ENDIF

I was thinking that by adding presets, something like in my mocked-up screengrab, it would actually make Fillebot simpler... then we could chose to create simple little format codes OR one big bit of code as many users do now. You could have just one default preset button, and it'd work as it does more if you chose to not add other presets...

The big conditional bits of code don't really deal with those annoying shows/movies that are exceptions to the usual rules, but having the ability to just click another format button is so much quicker, easier, more flexible. And it might mean you could vastly simplify the code you do create. Our brains are way quicker at spotting/deciding things than any code.

You could perhaps split the music, movie, episode formats out, so there would initially be three fixed default buttons, for the 3 types (instead of switching in the format editor dialog), then you could save the any presets to extra buttons (as i've described), these then being of a fixed type... movie, music or episode... perhaps coloured, or a symbol, whatever. So i might then have 9 buttons: 2 movie formats, 5 episode formats and 2 music formats...

The droplets idea is workable for sure, that'd allow me to have the simple little formats i use, and as many of them as i'd like... But this functionality should so obviously live in the GUI. And it'd make if so much more flexible.


At the moment, we're limited to having one big bit of all-singing-all-dancing code for each type, that we can create/maintain/refine... or just a handful of simple ones (like i've tended to) which run the risk of being shunted off the bottom of the MRU list and lost like what happened to me. They're inherently very volatile.

Having presets simply gives us the option to work either exactly as we do now, or with several simple, selectable formats.

[rednoah]

Not actually knowing which files should be formatted with which format is of course a valid point. Whatever general rules you have in you mind there's probably a couple of exceptions. And those exceptions are the only thing that would really blow up the format.

I still ponder about the use-case. You explain what your ideal solution would look like, but you don't tell me how you would apply it, or what the major issue is in the first place.


Why have different formats at all? The typical user FileBot to standardise naming for Plex /Kodi so they'd only want a single format that can be parsed by Plex/Kodi.

What formats would you use? How different would they be from each other? Examples please. Whether using separate formats or conditional components is best kinda depends on what you're doing exactly.

How would you determine which format to use on which file? Spur of the moment? Use doku-format on documentaries? Use airdate-format on daily shows? Why can't you have a simple condition by genre?

[topbanana]

Not actually knowing which files should be formatted with which format is of course a valid point. Whatever general rules you have in you mind there's probably a couple of exceptions. And those exceptions are the only thing that would really blow up the format.
...

Yep, those pesky exceptions! LOL!
Consider these British tv shows: Panorama (news magazine), Mock The Week (satirical comedy news panel show), Drop The Dead Donkey (satirical sitcom written/shot just before broadcast), All live chat shows, etc, etc... All of these i'd say should have the full date in their filename as just the year wouldn't do as they'd all be very topical. Most of these are 'exceptions' to their genre... I'd just instantly know to pick the format to include the full date...

I still ponder about the use-case. You explain what your ideal solution would look like, but you don't tell me how you would apply it, or what the major issue is in the first place.

Ideally, i'd like to:
1) Drag some files on to FileBot
2) Click on a button to set the format i know they need as active (if it's not active already)
3) Click on a button to choose the database to search*
4) Look to check
5) Click rename.
Workflow is simple and quick.
(* Another feature request buttons for each db? (TheTVDB, TVRage, TheMovieDB, etc) instead of just the right-click menu.)

Major Issues:
a) Many mouse clicks, having to pick items off of the right click menu, having to scan & pick off a complex list. It'd be awesome to be able to 'click, click, click done!'
b) Functions are hidden: The functions you need to do a renaming should be buttons right there in front of you as much as possible. No right-clicking, no selecting off of lists.
c) The formats MRU is volatile. just trying to perfect the syntax of one function could push all your other formats off the bottom, never to be seen again.
d) There's only 8 slots in the MRU! This could be more/infinite? But with presets, having only 8 previous incarnations of the code would be fine i'd guess...

Why have different formats at all? The typical user FileBot to standardise naming for Plex /Kodi so they'd only want a single format that can be parsed by Plex/Kodi.

I'm a very new user of Emby (Media Browser) and see that it and the others just needs the files in some simple formats... They then look up all the other metadata/images needed and you never need to see the filename to know everything about a show/movie/etc...
But i'm not really using it for anything other than seeing all the beautiful movies posters to scan thru the movies i have and to show my mates what i have so they can grab some... And i currently don't own a TV!
I'm still mostly going straight to the file and opening it with MPC-HC and watching it on my laptop.
You could argue that Emby, Plex, Kodi, etc. pretty much means we only need a few standard filenames and most of FileBot's functionality is not required! But there are too many of us that care for tidy files & folders for that ever to be the case! LOL

What formats would you use? How different would they be from each other? Examples please. Whether using separate formats or conditional components is best kinda depends on what you're doing exactly.

TV shows are where the variety of formats are i need:

Code: Select all

Name - S00E00 - Title (year)                Most stuff.  bog standard.
Name - S00E00 - Title (yyyy-MM-dd)          Topical stuff
Name - S00E00 (Year)                        Sketch shows, etc, that don't have titles.
Name (Network Year)                         Most docos (knowing which channel it was on is key (BBC = Good, Discovery = 'less good')
Name - S00E00 - Title (Network Year)        Documentary series.
Name - S00E00 - Title (Network yyyy-MM-dd)  Topical Documentaries.
Name - S00E00 - XL - Title (Year)           For QI episodes, having the XL after the s00e00 sorts them correctly when not all XL
Name - S00E00 - UnCut - Title (Year)        For the 8 out of 10 Cats extended show, again not all.
Name - S00E00 - Title (Host) (Network Year) For docos with a host/narrator i want show I'd edit this preset to change name.
...Can't think of any more right now... i've used loads over the past year...

Movies i just stick with the bog standard 'Name (Year)' and manually rename as needed, as they're all one-offs....
Any new exception, i could just copy, add and edit another format preset... very easy/quick. Especially as the code for each is short.
For all formats i include the functions to remove illegal characters and add 720p/1080p when needed... and any other funky stuff i find shared here in the forums!

How would you determine which format to use on which file? Spur of the moment? Use doku-format on documentaries? Use airdate-format on daily shows? Why can't you have a simple condition by genre?

Yeah, mostly spur of the moment... i pretty much know what each show needs.... Occasionally i go thru and rename stuff in my library that isn't formatted correctly, like the topical stuff, that just had the year perhaps...
As such, i'd just be clicking on the format button i needed without much thinking... and perhaps clicking on a different one to change it if it didn't look right (FileBot would rename immediately)

I think it'd make the workflow simple and slick... but also with the ultimate flexibility of having as many/few simple/complex formats as you would like.

[rednoah]

Yep. That makes a lot more sense. Especially having "quick" buttons for specific data source + formats. At least the former request has come up a few times.

I'm planning a completely new UI for FileBot, so I'm definitely take this into account.

For the current UI it's kinda it's kinda in maintenance mode. I am considering adding a button next to Fetch Data where you can add a list of action/datasource/format presents.

[topbanana]

Yep. That makes a lot more sense. Especially having "quick" buttons for specific data source + formats. At least the former request has come up a few times.

I'm planning a completely new UI for FileBot, so I'm definitely take this into account.

For the current UI it's kinda it's kinda in maintenance mode. I am considering adding a button next to Fetch Data where you can add a list of action/datasource/format presents.

I look forward to seeing what you come up with.
FileBot has saved my fingers countless hours of typing repetitive filenames!
Thankyou!

[rednoah]

Alright. Just so you know, I'm generally very strict & conservative with adding new buttons and UI elements, but it's a good feature request, and i'll try to add support one way or another sooner or later.

From the very beginning FileBot tried hard not to be anything like this:

[topbanana]

OMG, i remember trying that one!
It actually was just before i found FileBot!
I 200% agree!

[rednoah]

r3145 supports presets or macros that can be used to setup "quick" buttons that process stuff with pre-configured settings.

@see viewtopic.php?f=3&t=3228

[topbanana]

I've looked into the new Presets feature. But it's all too complicated. Having to define the db, etc. I just want to change the format being used. And it's not as quick as it could be.

Again, when i drop in the file(s), i know exactly what format it needs to be.

With Format buttons (perhaps justified to the right of the UI) I'd be able to see what Format button is currently selected, so i just press the relevant Format radio button for the format to change to the correct one. Then press Rename.

I'm also at the mercy of only 7 formats being remembered... So i'm limited to only 7 different ones, and when i'm editing one, if i make a syntax mistake, it pushes one of the others off the bottom, lost forever! This is nightmare! In the near term, could we have say 10 remembered? Or a configurable amount?

If you setup one format, one button is shown on the top. If you setup 7 different formats, 7 radio buttons show.
Button can be setup for tv or movie formats.

Having everything hidden under right-click menus and multiple clicks just isn't clear or as slick as it could be.
Another little thing that would help, would be just having the databases as buttons down the middle divider... TheMovieDB, TVDB, OMDB, etc... There's only 6 dbs, so they'll easily fit down the middle. And it'd make a first time user understand it immediately.
Then we'd have it even faster.
1) Drag-n-drop the files.
2) Click the relevant db button.
3) select the relevant format button (if not correct)
4) Click rename.

Everything Visible. Clear. Simple. Fast.

[rednoah]

I've looked into the new Presets feature. But it's all too complicated. Having to define the db, etc. I just want to change the format being used. And it's not as quick as it could be.

Where exactly are you stuck? Which step do you find unnecessarily complicated for your purposes? You just enter the format you want and click Save Preset. Maybe select a different database if the default isn't what you want. Maybe a keyboard shortcut for quick access. Presets is effectively what you're asking for (minus the top-level UI buttons) except that it is what you're asking for and a little bit more.





Here's how Presets do what you're asking for except with fewer steps:

1) Drag-n-drop the files. (optional; input folder can be preconfigured)
2) Click the relevant Preset button or keyboard shortcut (i.e. select files if configured; set format; match with selected database)
3) Click rename.


If your files are always in the same input folder (i.e. you know in advance which formats should be used for which input folder) then Presets will take care of (1) as well.

[topbanana]

OK, i've added all my different formats as Presets.

But...

...Maybe select a different database if the default isn't what you want.

This doesn't work.
If i use my Preset, which uses TheTVDB, but their data isn't correct, if i then Richt-Click and choose TheMovieDB instead, now it's not using the format of the preset i'd chosen first.
The Format used by the Preset is not then set as the current one used. So i'd have to edit the preset to change db???
Perhaps have the format set by the Preset become the 'current' one?
And perhaps have an option for no defined db in the preset. Such that the preset can then ONLY change the format?

It is VERY often that one db doesn't give the required results, so i have to try one of the others. VERY often.

How about we have the option to "Pin to Toolbar" for the presets?
The existing Presets button shows ALL the presets, but we can pick which ones show on a 'Toolbar' that can be at the top of the UI (UIs with Toolbars are very normal and work wonderfully!).

And to make good use of this tool bar, on the left you could have buttons for each db. On the right, the pinned Presets.

This will then make the workflow very quick, easy and clear.
1) Drop the files
2) Click the desired db toolbar button.
3) Click the desired Format toolbar button (if required to change it)
4) Click the rename button.

[topbanana]

Here's a quick and dirty mock-up of what I'm talking about.

The toolbar can have other things on it of course.
But i'd could have the databases on the left, and the user added Format Presets on the right.
The Format presets ONLY change the format of the filenames.
As you can see, my "Standard" format preset is currently the one that's active. If i click one of the other format presets, the format changes.
If the episode data isn't what I wished for, i can click a different db button and it'll fetch from that db, and display in the already active format.

This will behave in the same way as FB does currently, but with a lot fewer clicks. And is clearer as to what we can do.

Currently i have to do the following, if I'm switching to a different format:
1) drag and drop the files.
2) right click in one of the panes, to show the otherwise hidden list of dbs and other options.
3) select the relevant db to fetch from.
4) double click one of the episodes in the New Names pane, to show the otherwise hidden options to 'Edit Episodes'
5) Select Edit Format
6) Click the Recent Formats button on the Episode Formats window.
7) Select one of the 8 (limit) resent formats by spotting which code strings gives the desired format (not easy with long code!)
8) Click Use Format
9) Click Rename

OR, With a toolbar as suggested:
1) Drop the files
2) Click the desired db toolbar button.
3) Click the desired Format toolbar button.
4) Click the rename button.

Drop, click, click, click.

[rednoah]

Note that switching between databases or episode orders is a very bad idea depending on what you're doing. If TheMovieDB / Airdate Order does not work, then I'd make it work via Manual Matching. See How do I organize files for Plex? for details.



If switching database / episode order makes sense to you (i.e. organizing files for yourself only and not 3rd party software like Plex, Kodi, etc) then you would create 2 or more Presets, one for each database / episode order / format combination that you need regularly. You can use external files to share formats across presets if that is a concern. Unfortunately, adding clutter to the top of the UI is not planned, since the top of your keyboard already takes care of quick access for your favorite 9 (18 if you have a numpad) custom formats / database / episode order combinations.


The workflow will look like this:
1) Drop the files
2) Press 1 to apply your first custom preset (which does not give you the results you want for some reason)
3) Press 2 to apply your second custom preset (which now gives you the desired results; if not Press 3; if still not Press 4; and so on)
4) Click the rename button.





EDIT:

I'd be open for nifty UI ideas for "Pin Presets" feature though, but I haven't been able to think of a good solution. It would have to be something that is quick access but also does not clutter the UI at the same time. The current Presets button is already pretty good in that regard.

[topbanana]

Note that switching between databases or episode orders is a very bad idea depending on what you're doing. If TheMovieDB / Airdate Order does not work, then I'd make it work via Manual Matching. See How do I organize files for Plex? for details.
If switching database / episode order make sense to you (i.e. organizing files for yourself only and not 3rd party software like Plex, Kodi, etc) then you would create 2 or more Presets, one for each database / episode order / format combination that you need regularly. You can use external files to share formats across presets if that is a concern.

It is quite common for one db to not give what i need. One might just have 'Episode 1', where the other might have the actual episode title. Etc. etc.
But the basic needs remain the same. We give FB a bunch of files we want renaming. We choose the db that we wish to use. We choose the format we wish it to follow. We press rename. FB's current functionality allows us to do this, as i'm currently using it, detailed in my last post, but entails a lot of clicks, double-clicks, right-clicks. But why can't we improve FB, to make the workflow require fewer clicks, have the options visible, to make FB easier to use for everyone.

Unfortunately, adding clutter to the top of the UI is not planned, since the top of your keyboard already takes care of quick access for your favorite 9 (18 if you have a numpad) custom formats / database / episode order combinations.

Adding a toolbar is not 'clutter'.
FileBot has one of the most unique user interfaces that exists. That doesn't conform to many basic 'window' based OS GUI. With so, so many features hidden away under double-click and right-click menus. And other features only accessible via keyboard shortcuts. The presets being accessible via number keys wasn't known by myself. It's not documented in the UI. So it's another hidden feature. And if i add another preset, the number changes, Unless i number every preset manually in its name.
Why do we need black-belt, special, hidden knowledge to use FileBot?
Why can't we at least have more of the basic workflow be visible, accessible with one click?

Filebot is amazingly powerful. It's saved me years of manually renaming files (which i used to do! Thanks OCD!). Sadly i wish i'd bought it directly from you, rather than Via Microsoft Store... You missing out on the cut that they took. It's been worth every penny to me. Thanks.
But Filebot could be EVEN BETTER that it already is. And the UI could use some additions. Additions that could be done without changing ANY existing functionality, ONLY ADDING functionality.
I'd guess that a LOT of Filebot users could be classed as Power Users, Pro Users... And anyone that uses gear in professional environments knows that that gear has ALL the buttons and options actually needed, and accessible, and that the learning curve at the beginning means that the pro/power user can change settings, functions without even thinking about it, using muscle memory. Look at any professional camera, video camera, any pro audio gear. The simply do not have 'Clean' UIs, Timer touch screens with one button, and pages and pages and pages of menus. "Clean" most of the time equals a poor, slow, inefficient UX. Pro gear has one button for one feature. The user's finger knows where it is.
Adding a toolbar doesn't add clutter... Clutter is a sprinkling of stuff in strange places, in seemingly no logical order. Toolbars are the natural place for the tools relevant to the task you are doing in that window. NOT clutter.

1) Drop the files
2) Click the desired db toolbar button.
3) Click the desired Format toolbar button.
4) Click the rename button.

[topbanana]

EDIT:
I'd be open for nifty UI ideas for "Pin Presets" feature though, but I haven't been able to think of a good solution. It would have to be something that is quick access but also does not clutter the UI at the same time. The current Presets button is already pretty good in that regard.

Toolbars are the obvious choice.
A toolbar above the Original Files shows the relevant options for the dbs, episode or movies, sort order, strict or opportunistic, etc,
A toolbar above the New Names shows the relevant options for the filenaming options, pinned presets.

Some users might only need one pinned preset each for episodes, movies, music... Other's, like me, might have 5 or 10. And we just shorten our preset names to make them all fit what we need in the screen/window size we give it.

Having the options visible without having to double click or right click makes the UI much easier to use, understand, navigate.

[rednoah]

I see your point, but what specifically do you not like about this solution?


As far as I can tell, it's simple and clean and solves all kinds of use cases, including your use case, including the use cases of other users:

The workflow will look like this:
1) Drop the files
2) Press 1 to apply your first custom preset (which does not give you the results you want for some reason)
3) Press 2 to apply your second custom preset (which now gives you the desired results; if not Press 3; if still not Press 4; and so on)
4) Click the rename button.

I can see why you don't like the "Click Edit Format" solution, but I don't see how the Presets solution doesn't already do what you're trying to do. Any kind of "customizable buttons for databases and formats on the top" would almost necessarily be very similar to how Presets works, create new, set name, configure some values, modify existing, delete, etc, except with less combobox options in the configuration UI. We just so happened to choose a button menu instead of a button group to implement this kind of feature.



Perhaps you could give a specific example of file paths (see sample file paths as text) and custom formats and how you approach the given very tricky use case step by step, so that I can see what you can see.


Your original post from 2015 helped create the current Presets feature. It's reasonable and valid use case, and combined with other reasonable and valid use cases, we conceived the Presets to take care of all of them in a unified UI. And while our solution may not be exactly how you would like it to be, it's less-is-more-kinda-beautiful and at most one extra click compared to your proposed ideal tailor-made-for-you solution.




EDIT:

That said, feel free to post your UI ideas on /r/filebot or elsewhere to let others chime in. I'd be quite curious what the community has to say about that UI idea or some evolution thereof. Perhaps one idea will lead to more ideas until we find something that works for all of us.

[topbanana]

I see your point, but what specifically do you not like about this solution?

For me, who uses FileBot A LOT, the fewer clicks, the better. The fewer pulldowns, the better. The fewer hidden settings, the better.
And it really helps to have buttons showing, and settings visible.
If we have a choice between 20 options, then a dropdown menu is often best, but if we only have one or two, or 4 or 5, then just have all the buttons showing. And again with the Formats, Users might choose to have just one or two, or many, up to them. But if they are visible as radio-buttons (only one can be set), then we can immediately see what is set, and just click another if need be.
It's just about making the workflow as slick as possible.
And for a lot of what we use FileBot for, it's just dumping some files in it, choosing a db to fetch from, optionally changing the format, and clicking rename. And the limited set of dbs and a user defined amount of Formats makes having all this visible in the UI really easy, simple, and it will be really slick to use.

The Match Mode: Opportunistic or Strict... is a setting that sometimes helps a lot... But as it's hidden away under preferences i simply can't be bothered to change it. Doh. Again, it's just 2 options, so it could be a 2-option radio-button on the toolbar for the dbs.

As far as I can tell, it's simple and clean and solves all kinds of use cases, including your use case, including the use cases of other users:

The workflow will look like this:
1) Drop the files
2) Press 1 to apply your first custom preset (which does not give you the results you want for some reason)
3) Press 2 to apply your second custom preset (which now gives you the desired results; if not Press 3; if still not Press 4; and so on)
4) Click the rename button.

This is fast from a keyboard point of view... (does Rename have a shortcut key?) But if the options were all buttons, then it just becomes 2 or three mouse clicks. Clicking on already visible things. And with the settings visible.
And there are loads of keyboard shortcuts that i simply do not know exist. I haven't seen them documented, and they don't show up in the UI. It would be good to have the keys showing in brackets in the tooltip that pops up when you mouse-over a button. Like PS. Then we'll spot them and also know where to look to find them. Keyboard shortcuts are great, for sure! Watch any good secretary create and format a Word document without ever touching a mouse! But if the current task is a simple rename some telly shows, then the just 2 or three mouse clicks are just as easy. Especially when you're starting by dragging and dropping the files into FB.

I only learnt about F5 to access the buttons to export my Formats/Prefs by reading forum posts, years after i started using FB. None of this is visible, accessible in the UI, that i know of, other than the F5 key.

I can see why you don't like the "Click Edit Format" solution, but I don't see how the Presets solution doesn't already do what you're trying to do. Any kind of "customizable buttons for databases and formats on the top" would almost necessarily be very similar to how Presets works, create new, set name, configure some values, modify existing, delete, etc, except with less combobox options in the configuration UI. We just so happened to choose a button menu instead of a button group to implement this kind of feature.

I've setup everything as presets now, which does work out great most of the time. But still struggle with changing the db... I don't want to duplicate the presets for each db, as it just makes the list 3x longer. I do think the db choice should be able to be separate from the format... So at the moment, i just do the fetch by right clicking and then edit the format using edit format like i used to... Luckily all my most common formats are still showing in the 8x recents list. The UI buttons for DBs and Formats that i am suggesting simply fixes this.
Using the presets does enable me to have a few more formats setup though.

Perhaps you could give a specific example of file paths (see sample file paths as text) and custom formats and how you approach the given very tricky use case step by step, so that I can see what you can see.

I'm not sure what you're referring to wrt tht file paths.
The custom formats... I just have a few formats for specific TV Shows, and types of shows, and no amount of AI or crafty Groovy code will be faster than me knowing what format is needed. FB has been working great, but i had that limit of 8x on the recents list and it just takes more mouse clicks than i'd like. But it does the job.
Again, possibly a lot of users might have all-singing-all-dancing, elaborate formats that can cope with all the variations they deal with. So they might only need one format for tv, one for movies, one for music. I have 9 now for TV, 2 for movies, and i don't use it for music.

Your original post from 2015 helped create the current Presets feature. It's reasonable and valid use case, and combined with other reasonable and valid use cases, we conceived the Presets to take care of all of them in a unified UI. And while our solution may not be exactly how you would like it to be, it's less-is-more-kinda-beautiful and at most one extra click compared to your proposed ideal tailor-made-for-you solution.

EDIT:
That said, feel free to post your UI ideas on /r/filebot or elsewhere to let others chime in. I'd be quite curious what the community has to say about that UI idea or some evolution thereof. Perhaps one idea will lead to more ideas until we find something that works for all of us.

I've never posted on Reddit.
But you can take my mock-up pic and post it across to Reddit if you wish. Stir up some opinions and drama, lol.