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~~Ned Scott~~ · (This post was last modified: 2013-10-31, 09:32 by Montellese.)

If no one on the Team is currently available for this, perhaphs we could gather some pointers for someone from the community to take a whack at it? If we don't expose that setting button better, then I fear many of us will simply go insane answering "where is X setting?" questions.

(2013-06-12, 21:18)Montellese Wrote:
(2013-06-12, 14:56)Ned Scott Wrote: Any thoughts on pulling the settings level out of the sidebar menu? Even if it's not accessed very often, it's one of those things that screams to me that shouldn't be hidden. I think it should be treated not only as a switch, but also an active indicator to tell the user what mode they are currently in.

IMO that's a job for someone with more graphical and skinning skills. The sidebar is not hardcoded in C++ or anything it's just a button, the sidebar is all in confluence. Having the level and the reset button somewhere else would also simplify my plan to adjust addon settings to also use the new settings system.

**wsnipex** · 2013-07-27, 09:22

+1 This needs to be somewhere easily found.

**Martijn** · 2013-07-31, 16:42

Can't we do the same like with the left menu in library? Add a sidebar button and show a one time popup pointing to it

~~Ned Scott~~ · 2013-08-01, 10:02

I'd much rather the button simply not be hidden. I think the button should do double duty: Be the level switch and be the indicator of the current level. I've seen this in other programs that use levels for settings, and it works very well. Even if someone doesn't intend to switch the level often, it is reassuring to be able to tell what level is currently exposed at-a-glance.

**Martijn** · (This post was last modified: 2013-08-01, 10:11 by Martijn.)

In Touched ronie added a "gear" at the right top of the screen that when you click on it the current level shows and you can switch the level (iirc). This should be included in todays nightly. Still can be changed if we find a better way ofcourse

~~Ned Scott~~ · 2013-08-01, 10:28

If the icon could change with each settings level to also indicate the level, that would be something I would like to see for Confluence. However, even then I think for default Confluence it should be spelled out "Settings level: Basic" or something like that.

If that is possible now then someone would just need to make the changes to Confluence and to a PR against Confluence. We could poke the community for good ideas how exactly it should be displayed, as long as it's not hidden.

**Montellese** · 2013-08-01, 17:12

The control used in the skin just needs the proper ID. Where you put it doesn't really matter. And don't forget about the "Reset" functionality to reset all visible settings to their default values.

FernetMenta · (This post was last modified: 2013-08-06, 20:22 by FernetMenta.)

How do you think about displaying expert level settings which differ from default regardless of the current level chosen? This is in particular important after an upgrade or the name of a setting was changed, i.e. "limited range" former "DVPAU studio level".

**Montellese** · 2013-08-07, 08:22

That sounds like something that would be very confusing for users if a setting is visible or not depending on its value. What happens if you change an expert setting back to its default value? Does it suddenly vanish from the list of visible settings?

FernetMenta · 2013-08-07, 08:46

Good question, I don't know. Or how about forcing level to expert if some expert settings differ from the defaults? At least display a note to the user indicating that there are hidden settings which are changed. Would that make sense?

**Montellese** · 2013-08-07, 08:51

Forcing a level completely defeats the purpose of the levels IMO. I usually touch the advanced/expert settings once and then I usually only change settings concerning the library etc which are all standard settings. Your idea would however always force me to look at the expert settings even though there's no reason to.

If I understand you correctly your concerns are mainly targeted at settings that have changed since the last release. Maybe we could show an information popup/dialog/notification on first startup after a new installation that some of the settings have changed and may need to be re-adjusted.

**Martijn** · (This post was last modified: 2013-08-07, 08:52 by Martijn.)

(2013-08-07, 08:46)FernetMenta Wrote: Good question, I don't know. Or how about forcing level to expert if some expert settings differ from the defaults? At least display a note to the user indicating that there are hidden settings which are changed. Would that make sense?

opt. 2 sounds the way to go because you don't want to accidentally change the values (as that was the whole point of the levels) by normal users.
i.e. you don't want your granddad accidentally changing the setting values you changed in expert mode. this could happen if you go for opt.1

FernetMenta · 2013-08-07, 09:12

Instead of the note we could display changed expert settings read-only in basic level. That would solve the problem that they will hide as soon as they are set back to default.

Quote:If I understand you correctly your concerns are mainly targeted at settings that have changed since the last release

This triggered me thinking about it a bit more. I think I don't like it that settings I have changed are hidden.

Another thought:
When dealing with audio/video settings I am an expert. This is not the case when looking at other settings I don't have touched so far.

**garbear** · 2013-08-11, 07:06

a read-only setting? oh please no... nothing would piss me off more than not being able to change something right in front of me Smile

~~Ned Scott~~ · 2013-08-13, 23:56

I thought it would be good to see what the community could come up for this: http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=171210