Is there anything like a playlist in the media section?

[Wrichik Basu]

I have a lot of videos (a bit more than 100 in total) to add to the media gallery. They are some lecture series which I have followed and learned a lot.

But the problem is that, if I add them just like normal videos, it would become difficult to navigate from one video to the other. It would be best to keep them together as a full set.

Is there any way I can make a playlist in PF media gallery? If not, can I request this feature to be added?

Also, is there any possibility in near future that I'll be able to add videos by simply adding a playlist, and all videos in the youtube playlist will simply be added one after the other with the original title?

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

The gallery is an official XF add on so I will make the suggestions to the developer. Thanks!

 

[ZapperZ]

Unfortunately, as both the video and the insights section increase in the number of entries, the clutter is getting worse. Both section share similar problems with layouts and organization.

Is there any plan on doing a major reorganization of both sections? As it is right now, it is very difficult to know where to look, what to look. I always hesitate to go to Insights to look for articles, even the ones that I wrote. I have to "zoom out" on Firefox to look the list of articles under my name, otherwise the tables are messed up.

And certainly, the suggestion where multi-part articles are lumped together will be very useful, something that I've been wanting for the "So You Want To Be A Physicist" series (I'm not happy with the way it is now).

Zz.

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

Unfortunately, as both the video and the insights section increase in the number of entries, the clutter is getting worse. Both section share similar problems with layouts and organization.

Is there any plan on doing a major reorganization of both sections? As it is right now, it is very difficult to know where to look, what to look.

And certainly, the suggestion where multi-part articles are lumped together will be very useful, something that I've been wanting for the "So You Want To Be A Physicist" series (I'm not happy with the way it is now).

Can you expound on these comments and make suggestions? I am unsure how to improve the issues.

 

[ZapperZ]

1. Categories

It needs a better list of categories. Right now, it is too broad, and often times, something that I think is a "FAQ" is "Guide". An article should have the ability to be cross-listed in more than one category. "Where did the big bang happen?" not only should be listed in the FAQ section, but also in the regular article section.

The more entries there are, the more "specialized" the categories have to be. And we already have a lot of entries.

2. Layout

This is tough, because it requires a thoughtful design to make navigating it easier. I've brought this up before that it takes several clicks to actually find articles written under my name. I've done a search on "ZapperZ" and the hits didn't give me all of my articles, and includes also comments that I posted (I got 8 items, and 3 of those were not my articles). It shouldn't be THAT difficult for an Insight author to find all the articles that he/she has contributed.

And like I said a while back, if I go to the Dashboard to look at my articles, I have to zoom out for it to be readable.

3. I dislike the way "So You Want To Be A Physicist" is fragmented the way it is now. While each article has a link back to the main list, I wish someone would not stumble into this by itself while browsing. I much prefer the list in the post in Academic Guidance, and I wish that a "main post" in Insight can look something like this, and then someone can access each article through that. In other words, I wish that it is clearer that each post is part of a "larger organism".

4. The organization for the Video section is better than for Insight. I can see how the categories try to mimic the section that we have in the Forums, but it is time we ditch the "Classical" category here. It is too vague. We can make categories more specific here. Let's not mince words anymore and bring out "Classical Mechanics", "Electromagnetism", "Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics", "Optics", etc.. Those are not only clearer, but for students taking classes in those subjects, it is very obvious where they need to look if they want videos on those topics. So the categories should be more explicit. And again, I don't know if this is technically feasible, but having a video cross-listed in more than one category will be very helpful. Something that is an "Experiment" can easily also be a "Particle" physics, such as the cloud chamber video that I linked to.

Zz.

 

[Wrichik Basu]

Also, I think one more implementation needs to be done in the media rooms: a process (or robot) to remove duplicate videos. Many a times, I have added a video, only to see afterwards that it is already present in another topic (the video can be classified under both topics). There needs to be a process to find duplicates, as far as possible.

Moreover, the limit of characters in the description should also be removed. Often, a good video by an unknown lecturer needs an introduction to the lecturer himself/herself. Such a description exceeds the limit.

 

[anorlunda]

I agree that Article/FAQ/Guide/Tutorial classifications are unhelpful. All of those might apply to a given post, and a flip of the coin is needed to choose. I just ignored those and used the default classification in all of mine.

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

I agree that Article/FAQ/Guide/Tutorial classifications are unhelpful.

I'm busy with a few other things at the moment and also digesting this thread, but I will say my intention was to make it easy for the reader by categorizing into simple sections of format rather than 100 technical topical categories. Inside Insights they are further broken down by math, physics, other science, but you can't jam pack all that into a single drop down menu.

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

I've brought this up before that it takes several clicks to actually find articles written under my name.

You can click on the link under your avatar or I just created this author page
https://www.physicsforums.com/insights/authors/

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

An article should have the ability to be cross-listed in more than one category. "Where did the big bang happen?" not only should be listed in the FAQ section, but also in the regular article section.

This is possible but then muddies the categories. In a sense it would then be better to have no categories and just rely on tags.

The more entries there are, the more "specialized" the categories have to be. And we already have a lot of entries.

I suppose one could rely more on using search if looking for something specific. To make that work I need to buff up tag keywords for each post. For example, do you use Google or Dmoz style directory sites when searching for information? Complicated directory nests are not a user friendly option either.

And like I said a while back, if I go to the Dashboard to look at my articles, I have to zoom out for it to be readable.

When in the author post list there is a drop down at the top right for display options. There you can uncheck columns you don't need to see and it should make it much more readable.

I much prefer the list in the post in Academic Guidance, and I wish that a "main post" in Insight can look something like this, and then someone can access each article through that. In other words, I wish that it is clearer that each post is part of a "larger organism".

The chapter list is in a drop down at the top of each of your articles. Doesn't that mimic the post in AG?

but it is time we ditch the "Classical" category here. It is too vague. We can make categories more specific here.

The video section already has a ton of categories. I hesitate making it too much longer. How many more are we talking?

 

[anorlunda]

I suppose one could rely more on using search if looking for something specific.

Yahoo started as a yellow pages service. I may date myself, but I remember when Yahoo's directory of the whole Internet was only 3 pages long . Browsing categories is not scaleable.

 

[ZapperZ]

This is possible but then muddies the categories. In a sense it would then be better to have no categories and just rely on tags.

That's fine, as long as there's easy access to look at the tags or to look for articles with a tag. But I still think there should be periodic evaluations of the articles to see if there are articles that are more appropriate in different categories.

The chapter list is in a drop down at the top of each of your articles. Doesn't that mimic the post in AG?

I'm fine with that, but it still feels as if each article seems to be a topic on its own. Maybe having the entire essay in one document, and them make links within the document to different chapters, I don't know.

The video section already has a ton of categories. I hesitate making it too much longer. How many more are we talking?

As many as necessary. Unlike the forum, I don't think this will create unnecessary clutter, especially if you keep the same look, where the categories are neatly listed on the left side of the page. Besides, categories such as "Classical" is very vague and very "amateurish" to me.

Let's look at the name given to various subjects in physics, and let's create categories for those subjects. After all "Quantum", "Solid State", etc. are all various subjects in physics. Considering that A LOT more people are familiar with or have to take courses on the subject of "Mechanics", "Electromagnetism", etc., wouldn't it be useful to have categories named exactly those?

Zz.

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

I'm fine with that, but it still feels as if each article seems to be a topic on its own. Maybe having the entire essay in one document, and them make links within the document to different chapters, I don't know.

Some of this is just due to the nature of the framework. It's blog software. Blog posts are usually not connected, especially not in a long series over time. Does blogspot offer better tools for this?

Let's look at the name given to various subjects in physics, and let's create categories for those subjects. After all "Quantum", "Solid State", etc. are all various subjects in physics. Considering that A LOT more people are familiar with or have to take courses on the subject of "Mechanics", "Electromagnetism", etc., wouldn't it be useful to have categories named exactly those?

Build me a list and I'll implement it

 

[Wrichik Basu]

Let's look at the name given to various subjects in physics, and let's create categories for those subjects. After all "Quantum", "Solid State", etc. are all various subjects in physics. Considering that A LOT more people are familiar with or have to take courses on the subject of "Mechanics", "Electromagnetism", etc., wouldn't it be useful to have categories named exactly those?

Build me a list and I'll implement it

Some of the categories that can be added, after removing the "Classical" category:
1. Classical Mechanics
2. Electromagnetism
3. Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics
4. Optics
5. Plasma

"Particle" may be renamed into "High Energy/Particle".

Also, Chemistry and Biology need to be created separately out of the Other Science.

Another implementation: it should be possible to put one video under multiple categories.

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

Some of the categories that can be added, after removing the "Classical" category:
1. Classical Mechanics
2. Electromagnetism
3. Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics
4. Optics
5. Plasma

Does this sound good to everyone?

 

[Tom.G]

Having just stumbled across this thread and reading it start-to-finish, It sounds like you are in dire need of a professional Librarian... as is often recommended in the technical forums here, Contact a local Professional.

 

[Wrichik Basu]

@Greg Bernhardt Great changes in the media section. But several videos need to be reorganised - like those under the Other science and the former "Classical". How can that be done?