Request for Comments: Show Editor and Show Scheduler

[LOR Staff]

Thanks for the suggestions so far!  We are definitely aware that we need to step up our game when it comes to logic for starting and stopping shows, what happens during shows etc.  I've been discussing with Dan adding a date range for repeating shows and one of his first comments back to me was that we need to be better at schedule options.

I'm still trying to convince him that the first of these schedule options should be this date range thing.  For example, what Don said: 

23 hours ago, Don said:

Being able to load a whole new schedule in easily. Like others, I know the hacks, but it would make it easier. One client has 3 different 'settings' before/during/after Thanksgiving-Christmas. I've got file named for each, and swap them out as needed, but it would make it easier to simply change the entire schedule at one.

That is exactly what I am (was?) targeting first.  You could create 3 different shows, one each for before, during after thanksgiving/christmas.  Schedule them so that 'Show 1' runs from date 1 to date 2, then show 2 from date 2 to date 3, and then show 3 from date 3 to (next year's) date 1.  With that in place, you would only need to touch the schedule once a year.  In fact, you could (from what I envision) go ahead and schedule a thousand years into the future if you like.

IE:

So Every Sun,Mon,Tue, and Wed from 01/01/19 thru 07/03/19 starting at 6PM and stopping at 10PM, run the show called Jan to 4th.lss

You could then schedule something else to run between those dates on thr-sat.  Or have different times, or 2 different thu-sat shows with 2 different date periods/etc.  Schedule 2020?  No problem.

 

[dougd]

Being able to add 10 or 15 minutes to a playing show with just a button click would be nice.

[TheDucks]

Mike

I was envisioning something more like a ToDo app, where you could see (drill down) day, week, month, year.

Looking at anything above a Day, you would see) schedule bars 1 for each show. Would look something like Borlands /Starfish Sidekick, except it would just schedule shows

[dibblejr]

36 minutes ago, DevMike said:

Thanks for the suggestions so far!  We are definitely aware that we need to step up our game when it comes to logic for starting and stopping shows, what happens during shows etc.  I've been discussing with Dan adding a date range for repeating shows and one of his first comments back to me was that we need to be better at schedule options.

I'm still trying to convince him that the first of these schedule options should be this date range thing.  For example, what Don said: 

That is exactly what I am (was?) targeting first.  You could create 3 different shows, one each for before, during after thanksgiving/christmas.  Schedule them so that 'Show 1' runs from date 1 to date 2, then show 2 from date 2 to date 3, and then show 3 from date 3 to (next year's) date 1.  With that in place, you would only need to touch the schedule once a year.  In fact, you could (from what I envision) go ahead and schedule a thousand years into the future if you like.

IE:

So Every Sun,Mon,Tue, and Wed from 01/01/19 thru 07/03/19 starting at 6PM and stopping at 10PM, run the show called Jan to 4th.lss

You could then schedule something else to run between those dates on thr-sat.  Or have different times, or 2 different thu-sat shows with 2 different date periods/etc.  Schedule 2020?  No problem.

 

If there would be an error message incorporated into that, that would have saved me 5-10 days of HD tickets and posts here. Since the stop date would have prevented the error in the first place.

Nice

JR

[LOR Staff]

23 minutes ago, TheDucks said:

Mike

I was envisioning something more like a ToDo app, where you could see (drill down) day, week, month, year.

Looking at anything above a Day, you would see) schedule bars 1 for each show. Would look something like Borlands /Starfish Sidekick, except it would just schedule shows

 

 

Yes, I understand what you were saying.  There are actually several different development things being talked about.  One is the not-so-good presentation layer of how shows are scheduled.  We will always have a 'week' view a lot like we currently have.  BUT We plan on adding to (or re-arranging, or whatever) those views so you can envision what is going to happen and/or easily add/etc.  That's what you are asking about and is most definitely going to be looked at and changed.  I already have ideas swimming in my head that have your suggestions in mind.

We then have the 'new options' part of this development (which I didn't think we would need to do, but those changes could actually influence the UI).  One of those (and something I see as simple to add) would be this new 'stale dating' of repeating shows.  Nice start and stop dates so that you wouldn't have to delete everything and schedule new shows on that date.  Those things are not mutually exclusive.

 

[LOR Staff]

5 minutes ago, dibblejr said:

If there would be an error message incorporated into that, that would have saved me 5-10 days of HD tickets and posts here. Since the stop date would have prevented the error in the first place.

This will happen too - or something will happen that will alert you to the fact that things are overlapping, there are exceptions, whatever.  We definitely need to do a better job of that.

[k6ccc]

BTW, I can't thank you enough for asking us users for input, rather than just changing it and maybe not really fixing the issues we users have.

 

[dibblejr]

1 minute ago, k6ccc said:

BTW, I can't thank you enough for asking us users for input, rather than just changing it and maybe not really fixing the issues we users have.

 

As most of us know, that's what makes this forum worth while and shows the dedication LOR has to the users.

JR

[LOR Staff]

1 minute ago, k6ccc said:

BTW, I can't thank you enough for asking us users for input, rather than just changing it and maybe not really fixing the issues we users have.

 

I'm trying it again. What will probably happen in the end is that we won't be able to incorporate someone (or multiple someones) suggestions because of technical or other concerns.  That person will get mad and huffy and blow chunks all over the forum until we are forced to ban them.  

Everyone needs to be clear that I am soliciting input, but in the end we may NOT take your advice or do something completely opposite of what you suggested (not you personally, the you meaning the people in this thread).  My job is to balance these requests with what makes the most sense for the most users and what is best for the software in general.  My job is to be the ultimate compromise-er.

 

  

[dibblejr]

Who doesn't love a good simple graph?

JR

[gsmith37064]

Just now, dibblejr said:

Who doesn't love a good simple graph?

JR

You are on the far left

[dibblejr]

2 minutes ago, gsmith37064 said:

You are on the far left

You know it brother, not going away unless Mike bans me. 🙂

JR