Enhancement request: Make classical "Works" album handling consistent between single and multiple works albums

[krefson]

Much kudos to the developers for the handling of classical "multiple works" albums in LMS (Material) in LMS 9.1.0 and later. This is a game changer for a classical collection and makes LMS a real pleasure to use.

My enhancement request is simply to extend this functionality to the case where the album contains one single work. This would remove the awkward UI inconsistency between near-identical albums.

For example, a box set of Beethoven symphonies might contain discs containing any of

1. • a single symphony
2. • a symphony plus an overture
3. • two symphonies

Currently case 1. is displayed and handled differently from 2. and 3. While all the functionality is there in each case, navigating it requires an alternative visual hand/eye sequence which I find very awkward and inconsistent.

[michaelherger]

@darrell-k - thoughts?

[darrell-k]

Presuming you mean the lack of a work heading when the disc contains only one work.

and

I agree it would make sense to show the work header for a single work album: by definition, it's only one extra line in the UI.

This would be a Material Skin change rather than LMS. @mspertus I wonder if you would like to take this on as a follow-up to your recent Material PR?

[mspertus]

Yes, it might take a little while, but I'd be happy to do it

[krefson]

That's exactly what I was hoping for. Thank you.

[CDrummond]

Umm. I'm not sure. The headings are used to group tracks. Here the whole disc is the group.

[darrell-k]

We already use the subheading when displaying a single work from an album:

I think extending this to the "whole album" display even when there is only one work increases consistency and would look nicer than this:

[CDrummond]

@darrell-k I'm not a user of this, so my opinion is probably not valid - but the above makes no sense to me, and should perhaps itself be resolved. What is the point of the header in the list if applies to all items? That's what the main "toolbar" is for...

[darrell-k]

@CDrummond In the single work view, it provides links to the composer and the work, without repeating the data on every track entry (this comes from the recent PR).

The main heading is the album name, which might not fully identify the composer and work even if there is only one work on the album (though it does in the example above, due to my tagging) and as above can be truncated. The composer is an integral part of identifying the work (eg there are many Symphony No. 1s) so it makes sense to make it more prominent than the performer names.

Of course, in the end, it's your decision.

[mspertus]

On the principle that a picture is worth a thousand words, I'll put up screenshots both ways this weekend in the hope that that will facilitate an informed decision.

[krefson]

@CDrummond

What is the point of the header in the list if applies to all items? That's what the main "toolbar" is for...

It’s a matter of user perspective If you take the album as the primary entity, the point is not so clear. But it is if the work is the object of focus. So, for example my question is

Why should “Beethoven . Symphony no. 9” be presented with a header but not “Beethoven . Symphony no. 5”? Or why should “Beethoven . Symphony no. 9” be presented with a header in one album/recording but not in a different one? Many classical music fans like me have more than one set of alternative recording.
.

[krefson]

And a couple of screenshots (actual screenshots of 9.1.1 behaviour) showing the inconsistency when navigating to a work via a "work" menu:

vs navigation via the Release:

[CDrummond]

@krefson as stated, my opinion is not really valid - as I'm not the target audience. I do, however, agree that it should be consistent. I'm happy either way....