Playlister

Playlister is a tool for creating XML playlists that can be used within WImpy MP3 Player and Wimpy Rave. Click here for more information on XML playlists.

Playlister is similar to a website development tools such as Dreamweaver, or FrontPage. The most common approach to creating a website with these tools is to create and edit pages on your local PC, and then upload those pages to a remote web server for viewing on the web.

Likewise, Playlister creates playlists on a local PC (the local root), and then the playlists must be uploaded to a web server (the web root). One major difference between website development tools and Playlister is that Playlister does not include the ability to upload files to the web server.

Playlister was designed to work along side your existing web site development tool and in conjunction with your local development environment.

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For Windows

  For Macintosh

Using Playlister

To begin, you should already have an environment established on your local PC, which consists of files and folders that make up your website. Your media files should also be located within this "development" environment.

In our example directory structure (shown to the right), there is a folder named "mp3s". Hence, media files that exist on your web site should also be contained within this folder on your local PC.

Before creating a playlist, you must fist establish a "Site." A Playlister "Site" establishes a relationship between the local development environment (local root) and the live web site (web root).

To create a site, click the + icon to the right of the site list.

The dialog that appears asks you to enter the following information:

Name
The label for the site your are working with.

Local Root
This is your working (or development ) directory. The local root is a folder on your hard disk. Click the folder icon to the right of the field and browse to the folder that houses all the files that make up your web site. Traditionally, this is the folder that contains your web site's home page (e.g. index.html or default.htm).

Web Root
This is your live site's URL.

Playlist Type
Choose the kind of playlist you will be working on. Wimpy MP3 Player playlists vary slightly from Wimpy Rave playlists. Although the general structures are the same, some of the <tags> have different labels.

Adding Files

When your done click the "OK" button. Your new site should appear in the "Site" list, and the left-hand browser window should display the folders within your local working directory.

Open the folder that contains your media files by double-clicking on the folder name.

Add files to your playlist by:

- Double clicking on a file name
- Clicking the + icon to the left
- Clicking the "Add All" button.

NOTE: The "Add All" button will only add files in the current view -- it will not recursively add all files located within sub-folders.

Playlister will only display files that can be loaded into Wimpy. If your using Wimpy MP3 Player, only MP3 files will appear within the list. If you're using Rave audio and video files will appear within the browser.

Editing Data

When adding MP3 files, Playlister will automatically read the ID3 tag information it finds within the file into the appropriate field. If no ID3 data is found, the "Title" field will display the file name.

To edit a track's information, click on the item within the "Playlist" window. Upon doing so, the file's data will appear within the editing area. Enter data into each field.

When you're finished adding or editing data, click the "Save Track Info" button to apply the changes.

To preview the track, double click on the item in the "Playlist" window, or click the "Play" button in the "Preview Track" mini-player.

You can re-arrange items within the playlist by dragging and dropping the file to a new location within the "Playlist" window.

Cover Art and Poster Graphics

There are two kinds of images that can be associated with a playlist:

Playlist Cover Art
This is the image that displays within Wimpy when the player is "static" -- e.g. when no track has yet been launched within the player. If your using Rave, this image will also display within the player's playlist if your skin displays icons next to each track's title.

Track Poster Graphic
This image is displayed within Wimpy when the track is launched (assuming that the skin you are using has a video/cover art window). If your using Rave, this image will also display within the player's playlist if your skin displays icons next to each track's title.

To apply an image, click the + icon and navigate to an image file (JPG, PNG or SWF) file on your local PC.

If the image you've selected is not located within your "Local Root" Playlister will prompt you to copy the image file to your local root.

Saving a Playlist

When your done editing the playlist, click the "Save Playlist" button and navigate to a folder you wish to store the playlist in.

You can save the playlist in any folder within your Local Root because Playlister automatically sets the URL to each media file to an "absolute path" (e.g. http://www.yoursite.com/path/to/track.mp3) based on the information you entered when establishing the "Site."

You may want to inspect the resulting playlist to ensure that the URL used for media files is correct. To do so, open the playlist file in a text editor. Scroll down until you see the tag labeled <filename> and ensure that the URL used is correct.

Upload the playlist XML file that you just saved to your live server, and, if you haven't done so already, upload all of the media files (including any cover art or poster graphic images) to your web site.

Applying a Playlist

To apply a playlist to a Wimpy Player, use the Customizer Tool.

For Wimpy MP3 Player:
Enter the URL to the XML playlist into the "Wimpy Script" field of the Customizer Tool. Refer to the Wimpy MP3 Player Customizer Tool for more detailed instructions.

For Wimpy Rave:
Click the "Media" tab to open the Playlist selection area. From the drop-down menu select "XML Playlist". Enter the URL to the playlist in the field. Refer to the Rave Customizer Tool for more detailed instructions.