wikiloops 9.0 going into BETA phase
Yes, you read right, the new interface version called "wikiloops 9.0" has finally reached the BETA test phase - which means: There is an almost-working version of the new interface online by now, and I do have the honor to post some preview screenshots of the most important changes today, hooray.
Let me start by giving you an overview of the smaller and the bigger changes I have been coding on quite busily in the past three months:
[b]1st[/b] (and most boring) - wikiloops has finally been upgraded to [b]SSL[/b], which means a major improvement to the sites safety.
[img]http://www.wikiloops.com/forum/images/90_beta/01.png[/img]
wikiloops pages adresses will start with "https" instead of "http" from 9.0 on, making it a lot harder to hack into your data exchange with the wikiloops servers.
[b]2nd[/b] - Say [b]good bye to the "sequencer"[/b] wildcard option
I assume you are familiar with wikiloops a little, then you'll know we have been using the instrument category "Sequencer" for anything that would have otherwise not fit into any of the other categories.
This had to be done in two cases: Either, when the instrument you recorded was not offered as a chooseable category, or whenever you added more than just one kind of instruments. So much about the way it used to be.
The new version finally solves these two problems - here is how:
[img]http://www.wikiloops.com/forum/images/90_beta/02.png[/img]
Instead of offering a fixed set of available instruments to choose from, you will now also find four aditional options among the instruments, being: "special percussion...", "other wind instrument", "other stringed instrument" and "other tuned" (for things with keyboards).
On choice of one of these categories, you are offered to either pick from a list of choices or enter an entirely new instrument.
The second case, namedly the "I mixed more than just one instrument"-situation is also solved quite nicely - the new interface can display up to three instruments per remix, so if you added Guitar and vocals in one go, the track will display "guitar and vocals" instead of "sequencer". This sub-splitting of single remixes also affects the search engine of wikiloops. While the same exemplary track would not have shown up when looking for tracks with vocals and guitar in the past, it will now be listed for these search queries, even tho vocals and guitar came up as one single remix.
[b]3rd[/b] - say hello to the [b]improved search engine[/b], including the "Key of"-filters
[img]http://www.wikiloops.com/forum/images/90_beta/03.png[/img]
Searching a backingtrack by scale was something that has been frequently requested, so here it is in a very first version. One of the bigger problems about introducing this feature was the fact that we have 68.000+ tracks on wikiloops which do not have an explicit label on which key they are in... and, no, I didn't check all of them to research the missing key-of information manually ... I will get back to the issue of old tracks vs. new tracks and data conversion a little further down, to complete the overview on the improved search capacities I'd also like to mention it will be possible to
filter by bpm range (1bpm steps),
filter for tracks with chord info,
with HD downloads and / or with lyrics attached.
Besides that, you may also choose wether your instrument choices should be handled "exact" ("Drums & Bass" will show only tracks which include exactly that in exact mode) and "loose" (which will show any track including Drums and Bass).
Last, the free text search and the category track search have been merged and even work in combination with each other. I have done some tests, and it is even possible to find tracks which include a certain combination of musicians (think f searching for "MrAdamondrums Dick @Freshfunk" and getting all collaborations involving the three of us). A different world to what we have today, promised.
[b]4th[/b] - meet the [b]new upload form & the new chord markup tool[/b]
With five years experience in how reluctant musicians can be to enter a few chords when uploading a track, here goes the next attempt to make sharing some helpfull hints more enjoyable.
[img]http://www.wikiloops.com/forum/images/90_beta/04.png[/img]
The new chord markup tool follows the idea of "most tracks have parts like p.e. a Verse and a Chorus, and these are likely to be repeated during the jam".
So, what the new chords tool does is let you define these parts once, and then assemble the tracks structure by adding these parts in the correct order and per repetition. The result is a very clean looking chordsheet with a color bar resembling the structure of the jam, from which the crucial information like "oh, they repeat the verse part two times in the first two go arounds, but only once in the last" can be gathered at one glance. Given, someone needs to take the time to enter the parts info and click the offered buttons when uploading, I do hope people will do that. Besides all this talk about the markup tool, I had the pleasure to recode the entire upload process, and I'm pretty sure to have straightened out some of the irritating things it could produce up until today.
[img]http://www.wikiloops.com/forum/images/90_beta/04-II.png[/img]
[b]5th[/b] - another pain relief: We finally got a very nice and [b]clean "edit track"[/b] page, which allows you to edit all the tiny things one feels need to be edited, be it the typo in the title or the choice of BPM, category, instrument or whatever else. It even allows adding forgotten HD tracks to tracks after they have been published, the "mixed" mp3 is pretty much the only thing you cannot change with this tool.
[b]6th - I call this one "the clip"[/b]: The clip started out by thinking: It is annyoing if I return to the search engine by the top navigation, and have to re-set all the filters of my last search (p.e. Funk-Tracks with Drums, and please without Bass = three filters I'd have to set each time I return...). So, what I was initially after was a way to "remember my last search filters".
When working on that, I realized it would be actually nice not only to return to the same search results I left off from, but it would be even nicer to take these search results along as I browsed, so there would be no need to actually return to the search engine.
[img]http://www.wikiloops.com/forum/images/90_beta/06.png[/img]
This is what "the clip" does: It will store the last search results you are getting from the track search page, and as soon as you navigate to one of the shown tracks, the stored search results will appear in the right coloumn, where you are used to having alternative tracks lists.
If you went to check out the latest jams list, you'll have the rest of the latest jams in the right coloumn, if you went for Reggae in 98BPM with Kazoo and Alphorn, thats what it will bring along for you... on top of that (and admittedly inspired by the Youtube folks), the "clip" lists come with a "play all" option, which turns the stored search results into an ongoing audio sream with one click. That is... pretty cool as far as I could tell so far :)
[b]7th - we've added some more interaction types[/b], as there are:
- lyrics and forum posts can now be "liked"
- tracks offer a variety of interactions, all representing a "like", but allowing to express certain special flavors:
[img]http://www.wikiloops.com/forum/images/90_beta/07.png[/img]
- comments are labeled with a special marker to indicate they were left via wikiloops radio or via an album
[b]8th - the foldable remix tree[/b]
[img]http://www.wikiloops.com/forum/images/90_beta/08.png[/img]
well, it was long overdue, and now it works just like the good old windows file explorer - the remix tree may now be "collapsed" on each branch, making it a lot easier to navigate within one remix tree.
[b]9th - extended track statistics[/b]
Ever wondered how many listeners a template had if one added all of its remixes? Or about the number of albums a track ended up on? No problem, we've added some extended stats to each track, too.
[img]http://www.wikiloops.com/forum/images/90_beta/09.png[/img]
[b]
10th - the watchlist[/b]
Last, here comes the "watchlist". That is basicly a special type of playlist, the main purpose of the watchlist is not necesaryly to listen to it, what it does is keep track of tracks you feel interested in, but may be wanting to wait untill some other instrument has joined in before starting to record something yourself.
[img]http://www.wikiloops.com/forum/images/90_beta/10.png[/img]
Whenever a track on your watchlist gets remixed, you will get notified on your newsfeed. One nice side effect of using the watchlist will be that you will get notifications about tracks shared by people whom you are not (yet) following, just because they remixed a track you have on your watchlist, so here's one more way not to miss some good newbees.
11 - 1023 other bugs, visual improvements and things I have just forgot have happened, and somelast minute fixes are yet to come :)
I hope you did enjoy the read so far, let me adress two things really quickly before I end for today:
[i][b]
When can I have a look at all of this?[/b][/i]
Is something some of you guys may have in mind now. The answer is: Right away, if you like - the BETA site is up, BUT we'll need to take some security precautions before you may enter there. So, if you'd like to join the BETA testers and have a first look, just let me now and I'll point you at what needs to be known + a link to the beta installation.
[b][i]Will I be able to edit my "old" tracks in a way that they can benefit from the new features like the track markup or the "find by key"-options?[/i][/b]
Yes, of course! If you feel this is the time to finally claim a category of its own for your special instrument that wasn't available, then the upcoming update is the right time to do that!
You may also add the "key of" data to your own tracks if that has not been filled automaticly - I actually scanned the description and tags fields for any occurences of "Key of"+X and was able to catch quite a lot of "old" tracks this way, the more of these labels are added, the more wikiloops will have to offer to those who like to browse by key.
You may go ahead right now and att "Key of "+X to the "tags" of your tracks, or you may as well wait untill the new "edit track" pages become available.
Looking foreward to comments, thoughts and crazy beta testings on our new toy :)
Happy jamming yall,
yours
Richard
stats of today:
68.200 tracks online,
43.277 members registerred,
249 supporting members
from the vaults of the wikiloops engine room
Let me start by giving you an overview of the smaller and the bigger changes I have been coding on quite busily in the past three months:
[b]1st[/b] (and most boring) - wikiloops has finally been upgraded to [b]SSL[/b], which means a major improvement to the sites safety.
[img]http://www.wikiloops.com/forum/images/90_beta/01.png[/img]
wikiloops pages adresses will start with "https" instead of "http" from 9.0 on, making it a lot harder to hack into your data exchange with the wikiloops servers.
[b]2nd[/b] - Say [b]good bye to the "sequencer"[/b] wildcard option
I assume you are familiar with wikiloops a little, then you'll know we have been using the instrument category "Sequencer" for anything that would have otherwise not fit into any of the other categories.
This had to be done in two cases: Either, when the instrument you recorded was not offered as a chooseable category, or whenever you added more than just one kind of instruments. So much about the way it used to be.
The new version finally solves these two problems - here is how:
[img]http://www.wikiloops.com/forum/images/90_beta/02.png[/img]
Instead of offering a fixed set of available instruments to choose from, you will now also find four aditional options among the instruments, being: "special percussion...", "other wind instrument", "other stringed instrument" and "other tuned" (for things with keyboards).
On choice of one of these categories, you are offered to either pick from a list of choices or enter an entirely new instrument.
The second case, namedly the "I mixed more than just one instrument"-situation is also solved quite nicely - the new interface can display up to three instruments per remix, so if you added Guitar and vocals in one go, the track will display "guitar and vocals" instead of "sequencer". This sub-splitting of single remixes also affects the search engine of wikiloops. While the same exemplary track would not have shown up when looking for tracks with vocals and guitar in the past, it will now be listed for these search queries, even tho vocals and guitar came up as one single remix.
[b]3rd[/b] - say hello to the [b]improved search engine[/b], including the "Key of"-filters
[img]http://www.wikiloops.com/forum/images/90_beta/03.png[/img]
Searching a backingtrack by scale was something that has been frequently requested, so here it is in a very first version. One of the bigger problems about introducing this feature was the fact that we have 68.000+ tracks on wikiloops which do not have an explicit label on which key they are in... and, no, I didn't check all of them to research the missing key-of information manually ... I will get back to the issue of old tracks vs. new tracks and data conversion a little further down, to complete the overview on the improved search capacities I'd also like to mention it will be possible to
filter by bpm range (1bpm steps),
filter for tracks with chord info,
with HD downloads and / or with lyrics attached.
Besides that, you may also choose wether your instrument choices should be handled "exact" ("Drums & Bass" will show only tracks which include exactly that in exact mode) and "loose" (which will show any track including Drums and Bass).
Last, the free text search and the category track search have been merged and even work in combination with each other. I have done some tests, and it is even possible to find tracks which include a certain combination of musicians (think f searching for "MrAdamondrums Dick @Freshfunk" and getting all collaborations involving the three of us). A different world to what we have today, promised.
[b]4th[/b] - meet the [b]new upload form & the new chord markup tool[/b]
With five years experience in how reluctant musicians can be to enter a few chords when uploading a track, here goes the next attempt to make sharing some helpfull hints more enjoyable.
[img]http://www.wikiloops.com/forum/images/90_beta/04.png[/img]
The new chord markup tool follows the idea of "most tracks have parts like p.e. a Verse and a Chorus, and these are likely to be repeated during the jam".
So, what the new chords tool does is let you define these parts once, and then assemble the tracks structure by adding these parts in the correct order and per repetition. The result is a very clean looking chordsheet with a color bar resembling the structure of the jam, from which the crucial information like "oh, they repeat the verse part two times in the first two go arounds, but only once in the last" can be gathered at one glance. Given, someone needs to take the time to enter the parts info and click the offered buttons when uploading, I do hope people will do that. Besides all this talk about the markup tool, I had the pleasure to recode the entire upload process, and I'm pretty sure to have straightened out some of the irritating things it could produce up until today.
[img]http://www.wikiloops.com/forum/images/90_beta/04-II.png[/img]
[b]5th[/b] - another pain relief: We finally got a very nice and [b]clean "edit track"[/b] page, which allows you to edit all the tiny things one feels need to be edited, be it the typo in the title or the choice of BPM, category, instrument or whatever else. It even allows adding forgotten HD tracks to tracks after they have been published, the "mixed" mp3 is pretty much the only thing you cannot change with this tool.
[b]6th - I call this one "the clip"[/b]: The clip started out by thinking: It is annyoing if I return to the search engine by the top navigation, and have to re-set all the filters of my last search (p.e. Funk-Tracks with Drums, and please without Bass = three filters I'd have to set each time I return...). So, what I was initially after was a way to "remember my last search filters".
When working on that, I realized it would be actually nice not only to return to the same search results I left off from, but it would be even nicer to take these search results along as I browsed, so there would be no need to actually return to the search engine.
[img]http://www.wikiloops.com/forum/images/90_beta/06.png[/img]
This is what "the clip" does: It will store the last search results you are getting from the track search page, and as soon as you navigate to one of the shown tracks, the stored search results will appear in the right coloumn, where you are used to having alternative tracks lists.
If you went to check out the latest jams list, you'll have the rest of the latest jams in the right coloumn, if you went for Reggae in 98BPM with Kazoo and Alphorn, thats what it will bring along for you... on top of that (and admittedly inspired by the Youtube folks), the "clip" lists come with a "play all" option, which turns the stored search results into an ongoing audio sream with one click. That is... pretty cool as far as I could tell so far :)
[b]7th - we've added some more interaction types[/b], as there are:
- lyrics and forum posts can now be "liked"
- tracks offer a variety of interactions, all representing a "like", but allowing to express certain special flavors:
[img]http://www.wikiloops.com/forum/images/90_beta/07.png[/img]
- comments are labeled with a special marker to indicate they were left via wikiloops radio or via an album
[b]8th - the foldable remix tree[/b]
[img]http://www.wikiloops.com/forum/images/90_beta/08.png[/img]
well, it was long overdue, and now it works just like the good old windows file explorer - the remix tree may now be "collapsed" on each branch, making it a lot easier to navigate within one remix tree.
[b]9th - extended track statistics[/b]
Ever wondered how many listeners a template had if one added all of its remixes? Or about the number of albums a track ended up on? No problem, we've added some extended stats to each track, too.
[img]http://www.wikiloops.com/forum/images/90_beta/09.png[/img]
[b]
10th - the watchlist[/b]
Last, here comes the "watchlist". That is basicly a special type of playlist, the main purpose of the watchlist is not necesaryly to listen to it, what it does is keep track of tracks you feel interested in, but may be wanting to wait untill some other instrument has joined in before starting to record something yourself.
[img]http://www.wikiloops.com/forum/images/90_beta/10.png[/img]
Whenever a track on your watchlist gets remixed, you will get notified on your newsfeed. One nice side effect of using the watchlist will be that you will get notifications about tracks shared by people whom you are not (yet) following, just because they remixed a track you have on your watchlist, so here's one more way not to miss some good newbees.
11 - 1023 other bugs, visual improvements and things I have just forgot have happened, and somelast minute fixes are yet to come :)
I hope you did enjoy the read so far, let me adress two things really quickly before I end for today:
[i][b]
When can I have a look at all of this?[/b][/i]
Is something some of you guys may have in mind now. The answer is: Right away, if you like - the BETA site is up, BUT we'll need to take some security precautions before you may enter there. So, if you'd like to join the BETA testers and have a first look, just let me now and I'll point you at what needs to be known + a link to the beta installation.
[b][i]Will I be able to edit my "old" tracks in a way that they can benefit from the new features like the track markup or the "find by key"-options?[/i][/b]
Yes, of course! If you feel this is the time to finally claim a category of its own for your special instrument that wasn't available, then the upcoming update is the right time to do that!
You may also add the "key of" data to your own tracks if that has not been filled automaticly - I actually scanned the description and tags fields for any occurences of "Key of"+X and was able to catch quite a lot of "old" tracks this way, the more of these labels are added, the more wikiloops will have to offer to those who like to browse by key.
You may go ahead right now and att "Key of "+X to the "tags" of your tracks, or you may as well wait untill the new "edit track" pages become available.
Looking foreward to comments, thoughts and crazy beta testings on our new toy :)
Happy jamming yall,
yours
Richard
stats of today:
68.200 tracks online,
43.277 members registerred,
249 supporting members
from the vaults of the wikiloops engine room
Tofzegrit
Clap Clap Clap Clap Clap Clap Clap Clap Clap Clap Clap Clap Clap Clap Clap Clap Clap Clap Clap Clap Clap
and few minutes later
ClapClapClapClapClap
Bravo et merci Dick +2
and few minutes later
ClapClapClapClapClap
Bravo et merci Dick +2
ALawrence1
How exciting. Thank you Richard for ALL that you do for music! One thing does bother me though. From the stats I see that Wikiloops has 43,277 registered members but only 249 supporting members. What gives with that? Don't they know that Wikiloops is the best thing since sliced bread!
+1
Rickplayer
Super super cool always a pleasure to see where you take the wikiloops. Like the new additions Thanks everyone involved.
+0
Wade
Thanks so much for this. Really appreciate that we will have those "other categories" for instruments. Woodwinds and brass are not usually lumped together as "wind" but I think this works for this purpose.
Glad to see "sequencer" go as a catch-all, but is there the need for this for those who actually use a sequencer? Maybe another term: synthesizer or electronic "other".
Wasn't said whether there is a similar "other" category happening for styles, which is also very limiting and often asks people to misrepresent. At minimum maybe add to the category of "world" and make it "world and other". Another way to look at this: we have divisions like reggae and ska, and Samba and BossaNova, but a huge hole for every other type of Caribbean and Latin music. These could be lumped and more inclusive under Latin and Caribbean using fewer categories and being more inclusive. I suspect that the same could be done for others using geographic designations instead of specifics. Musical cultures with long histories may not like being lumped with "world" but anything is better than having very specific categories that exclude.
Many thanks are owed by all for your continuing efforts to make this a better and more inclusive place.
The watchlist is a great idea and one that I will find very useful. +0
Glad to see "sequencer" go as a catch-all, but is there the need for this for those who actually use a sequencer? Maybe another term: synthesizer or electronic "other".
Wasn't said whether there is a similar "other" category happening for styles, which is also very limiting and often asks people to misrepresent. At minimum maybe add to the category of "world" and make it "world and other". Another way to look at this: we have divisions like reggae and ska, and Samba and BossaNova, but a huge hole for every other type of Caribbean and Latin music. These could be lumped and more inclusive under Latin and Caribbean using fewer categories and being more inclusive. I suspect that the same could be done for others using geographic designations instead of specifics. Musical cultures with long histories may not like being lumped with "world" but anything is better than having very specific categories that exclude.
Many thanks are owed by all for your continuing efforts to make this a better and more inclusive place.
The watchlist is a great idea and one that I will find very useful. +0
1 gennaio 1970 alle ore 01:00
Dick
I have to admit I have deliberately not opened the can of worms of offering a free choice of self-created genres so far... I will certainly do it at some point, but looking at the amount of crazyness such changes bring with them, and the very high organizational priority of the style categories, I felt I better delay that to a moment when I have to deal with no other issue, so my apologies if it may not become part of the current update just yet. It has proven to be quite healthy not to overdo changes beyond a controllable range, you really don't want to know the length of my to do list here right now :)
+1
1 gennaio 1970 alle ore 01:00
Wade
Once again Thanks Richard. Certainly don't want you to be overloaded. There was little/no discussion about styles, so just wondered. Now known that it's passed by for a very good reason. I can only guess at how difficult these changes might be...for me they'd be impossible. Just glad they are still out there on the radar screen and may have a chance at a safe landing in the future.
My sincere thanks for all this effort on our behalf. +0
My sincere thanks for all this effort on our behalf. +0
gwailoah
Phooooo.... Lot of work gone in here. The tweaks and adds look really good and should prove well useful to all us loopers. Thank you and very well done!! 😄😄👏👏
+0
wikiloops online jamsessions are brought to you with friendly
support by:
My guitar sat in a corner. Then I discovered wikiloops and now, not one day has gone by that I haven't played it.
Psycho