Audio Playlists

Audio Plalists       Audio has always been a key part of the londoncommons.net.  Formly, users could only enjoy listening to audio uploaded to the site one track at a time, if they downloaded it.  In the audio section, its discussed that each audio track has its own play button, so users can listen to the piece of audio without the need to download it.      This chapter will cover how users can create a playlist of collected audio uploaded to the site, to play one after another in one player.   This is very handy for bands and performing artists that would like to upload a copy of their album to the site.  Also, interviews and podcasts can be arranged into chapters, each chapter being a track on the playlist.     Along with having the player on the site, the playlists can also be streamed to a favorite audio player located locally on the users computer, to avoid interuptions incase the user moves to a different page on the site.  This is done through the m3u and pls feed links, located below the player.        

Step 1 - Creating an Audio Playlist

Creating an Audio Playlist Audio playlists are very easy to create and add to. The playlist itself must be created before adding audio to it. There are two ways to add audio to the playlist, which will be discussed in the next chapter. This chapter will cover the creation of a playlist. To begin, select from the Share menu, Create Audio Playlist (or click here, it will open a new window). There are some fields that need information inputted.
  1. Title - the playlist needs a name, perhaps its an album. this is where to input that.
  2. Tags - tags are used to sort content for searches and catagorization. enter the catagories the playlist fits into. if other content has the same catagories, they will drop down as you type.
  3. Description - sometimes a desription is necessary, but not always. if it is, this is the place to input that. it will appear above the player.
Below these fields, is a group titled Attach audio files. It is not recommended that this method of uploading audio be used. It will attach audio to the playlist, and will publish the audio to the site, however, it lacks a lot of extra info needed when submitting an audio track to the site. If this is the prefered way of inputtin it, be warned that somethings will not display. See next chapter for details. This should not be compared to the Mass import used in photo albums. If the playlist belongs to a group, select which group(s) it belongs to. Also select which creative commons license should be applied to this playlist if the default share alike license is not correct. Once the submit button is pressed, the playlist will be created. The next chapter will cover how to add audio to the playlist.

Step 2 - Adding audio to a playlist

Adding audio to a playlist       Once the audio playlist has been created, there needs to be audio added to it.  This can be done by two methods.  Only one of these methods is recommended, while the other works, it leaves out crucial information about the audio being uploaded.   Adding Existing Audio on the site       The recommended way of adding audio to the site, is by adding already uploaded audio.  It is both easier, and ensures that all the required information about the track is availible.     To start, click on the audio node that is being added to the playlist.  This is the page of the specific audio track.  For example, the song La la la by John Doe is showing up on the recent audio page.  Click the title to go to that songs page.     Once on the page for that audio, there is a link below all the information.  This is where you will find links such as "add a comment" "report this page" etc.  The link needed for playlists is called "add to playlist".     Clicking this link, will load a page with a list of playlists the user is allowed to add to.  If the user has created one, they may select the checkbox beside the playlist being added to.     Once submit has been pressed, the audio will be added to the playlist.  The track will appear in the player, as well a link will appear below the player for that audio track.   Uploading Audio directly to the playlist       This method is not recommended, as essensial information may not be included, and will not appear correctly in both the audio page for the track, as well as on the player/playlist.     When editing, or submitting a playlist, there is a group of information called Attach audio files.  In this group there are a few option to fill out.
  1. Existing audio file - this drop down lets you pick from a list of existing audio files on the site.  the list may be rather large, but this method is safe, as the audio is already on the site.
  2. Upload new audio file - this is where the user can upload a new audio file to the site/playlist. 
  3. Title - enter the title of the audio file being uploaded.
  4. Published - select if the audio will be published or not.  if not published, it may not be availible in some other lists.
    Notice that only the only information availible for the user to input is the title.  This is very limiting.      The player does not use the title of the audio node, but rather uses the meta tags built into the audio file (mp3) commonly known as ID3 tags.  If the file does not contain an ID3 tag, then the file will appear blank on the player.  In past tests, its also found that even though a title was specified in the above, no title was given to the audio work after its uploaded.  Meaning there was no way to edit the audio later once on the site.     Also, there is no option for cover art, where as, in the main audio submission page, there are options for adding cover art along with the mp3.  Cover art is displayed in the playlist player if its added to an audio file.       All in all, its safe to say that this method is undesirable, and should not be used.  The former method explained above, is the recommended method.   The next chapter will cover sorting the playlist. 

Step 3 - Sorting the Tracks on the playlist

How to sort tracks on a playlist         Now that all the tracks are added to the playlist, the list may be sorted to the desired order.  Only the owner of the playlist can change the order.  Unfortunately, someone listening in, cannot choose the order the tracks play in, but they do have the option of clicking on each track, along with the basic audio player controls: rewind, stop, play/pause, forward.     While viewing the playlist page for the playlist being sorted, click the edit tab link at the top of the playlist's page.     Once on the edit page, scroll down to where the list of attached audio files is located.  Beside each track in the playlist, there are  3 icons:
  1. Down arrow  - clicking will move the given track down one space
  2. Up arrow - clicking will move the given track up on space
  3. Remove - clicking will remove the given track from the playlist
    Once an icon is clicked, the list will fade out and a rotating circly icon thingy will appear to show its processing the request.  The page will not reload, and when the circly icon thingy (that is the techical term I ensure you) disappers the user may continue moving or removing the remainin tracks, until the desired order has been achieved.       When finished, scroll to the bottom, and click submit.