Requests and Scheduled Play Times

Feedback & Questions about Subsonic Radio

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starman47
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Requests and Scheduled Play Times

Post by starman47 » Jan Tue 16, 2007 9:32 am

I just found this site and have been enjoying the WDW music. :D

That's the good news.

Otherwise, I've been pulling out my hair trying to figure things out. Believe me, I don't have all that much left. :cry:

Your instructions and FAQ's are about as clear as mud.

For example, Initially the arrangement of the Home Page Index left me believing you were running two streams--one for scheduled songs--another for requested ones.

Once I'd decided there was probably only one stream, I looked for a particular song. I found it easily enough with a notation that it was scheduled for Tuesday 7:28 a.m. Fine. I'm up Tuesday morning ready to listen. :)

No song... :shock: :? :x

I rechecked and the listing which now said the piece was transmitted Sunday evening 1/14. :?

Huh?

So okay, I figured I'd just try requesting the song to see what happens, though I feared I would probably just end up wasting points on a song that would come up in the middle of the night. :(

Now, the directions say to open the Request page, search for the title and then left-click on the yellow "R."

One problem... There is no yellow "R" to click on. :x

So, why are the songs not running as scheduled? What Time Zone are you using to schedule music? I'm CST, what are you? And what happened to that elusive yellow "R"? :?

Seems to me you have some work to do. Simplify, simplify...simplify! :!:

Starman47

PS. I just tried to preview this page and got a "Page Not Available" prompt. Figures...

rdeacon
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Post by rdeacon » Jan Tue 16, 2007 10:58 am

Starman,

We recently upgraded the site and have not gotten around to updating the FAQ page. We apologize for the inconvenience.

We are running two streams, one requests, one scheduled.

To request a track:
  • 1. Log in.
    2. Use the request link on the left hand side of the page.
    3. Search for trackusing the form at the top.
    4. If the song is available for request, a now link will appear to the left. If you see a time, then that is the next time the track is available for request.
    5. Click the now link to request the track.
Rich
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addlema
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Post by addlema » Jan Tue 16, 2007 10:59 am

To see what is playing on the Request stream click the Now Playing link on the left.
That will show you exactly what is playing and what is coming up.
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subsonic
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Post by subsonic » Jan Tue 16, 2007 11:08 am

In addition, the scheduled stream only plays random tracks according to the schedule page. The requesting system only affects the request streams.

In addition, this is my hobby. I offer a FREE service. I get lazy, no need to harsh. Most people figure it out... I think... unless they aren't vocal about it. :)

The server is based on PST time.
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starman47
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Post by starman47 » Jan Tue 16, 2007 2:49 pm

Sorry for the stupid questions, but I dropped out of school after earning an MA. Apparently, others here have more advanced degrees, are less than six years old, or human nature being what it is, more likely they just look around, throw up their hands and go elsewhere. In any case, I apologize for vocalizing my frustration. Nonetheless, while this site is definitely attractive and while it clearly presents good content, your instructions need some attention.

Okay, let me see if I have this straight:

You have two streams, one scheduled and one for requests. Since on this machine I am using dial-up, I can only access the Requests stream, while people with a high speed connection can acces either one Is that correct?

Now, if I see a listing on the Requests index (with a PST time), that denotes the next available slot where the song MAY enter the rotation. However, am I correct, presuming nobody requests the piece for that specific time, the item is skipped over and rescheduled for another possible exposure. Is that correct?

Thanks for your clarification.

rdeacon
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Post by rdeacon » Jan Tue 16, 2007 3:00 pm

starman47 wrote:Sorry for the stupid questions, but I dropped out of school after earning an MA. Apparently, others here have more advanced degrees, are less than six years old, or human nature being what it is, more likely they just look around, throw up their hands and go elsewhere. In any case, I apologize for vocalizing my frustration. Nonetheless, while this site is definitely attractive and while it clearly presents good content, your instructions need some attention.

Okay, let me see if I have this straight:

You have two streams, one scheduled and one for requests. Since on this machine I am using dial-up, I can only access the Requests stream, while people with a high speed connection can acces either one Is that correct?

Now, if I see a listing on the Requests index (with a PST time), that denotes the next available slot where the song MAY enter the rotation. However, am I correct, presuming nobody requests the piece for that specific time, the item is skipped over and rescheduled for another possible exposure. Is that correct?

Thanks for your clarification.
Starman,

You can tell us you are don't understand the site and are frustrated but, there is no need to be rude or sarcastic. We will help you to understand the how the site works.

Since you are on a dial-up we would recommend that you use the 24k stream. So yes you are limited to the request only stream.

The time indicated on the request page is the next time the song is available to be requested. If no one requests it it just sits in queue, till the next person requests it. Once a track is requested it is not available for 36 hours. This stops certain tracks from dominating the request stream.

Rich
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addlema
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Post by addlema » Jan Tue 16, 2007 3:04 pm

I apprieciate your advanced degree. You must be much smarter then most of us here. Hell I don't even have a college degree.

I do know one thing though. Insulting us in our forums will not garner you much response.

I know we have a wide range of ages and education levels amoung our 2100 some users that have hung around.

Odd that over 2000 people can get the awesome complexity that is this page, however, you with the mighty Masters Degree can not fathom it's god like level's of trickery.

I hope you will as you put it "just look around, throw up your hands and go elsewhere".

Perhaps we have made it intentional hard for your IP address alone?
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Post by js3901 » Jan Tue 16, 2007 4:44 pm

ok everyone, settle, settle....

As many people have said, being sarcastic and condescending will not gain you much of a response, so no nned to be insulting to those who want to help you, Starman.

Many of your questions have been answered already, but if you could not understand them, please allow me to clarify:
For example, Initially the arrangement of the Home Page Index left me believing you were running two streams--one for scheduled songs--another for requested ones.
This is correct. there are 2 separate streams, one for requests, one for a set schedule, you can see the schedule HERE. The scheduled stream just plays random tracks from the area that is says in the schedule. For example, when the schedule says EPCOT, all tracks that play will be from EPCOT, though there is no order in which the tracks will play (you could get something from the Living Seas on minute, the Germany Showcase the next, and then Universe of Energy the next, etc).

The other stream (Requests) - once logged in, you may request songs based on how many points you have. you are given a set number of points when you sign up. you can gain more points by participating in these forums.
Once I'd decided there was probably only one stream, I looked for a particular song. I found it easily enough with a notation that it was scheduled for Tuesday 7:28 a.m. Fine. I'm up Tuesday morning ready to listen.

No song...

I rechecked and the listing which now said the piece was transmitted Sunday evening 1/14.
The time that shows is for when you can next request that particular track. It will not automatically play at that date/time. Sorry that this can be confusing as we recently redesigned the site, and this was a new feature. Previously, the track was color-coded to tell you just if the track was able to be requested. This new system now tells you when you can request.
So okay, I figured I'd just try requesting the song to see what happens, though I feared I would probably just end up wasting points on a song that would come up in the middle of the night.

Now, the directions say to open the Request page, search for the title and then left-click on the yellow "R."

One problem... There is no yellow "R" to click on.

So, why are the songs not running as scheduled? What Time Zone are you using to schedule music? I'm CST, what are you? And what happened to that elusive yellow "R"?
ok, first things, the song (more than likely) would not come up in the middle of the night, unless you request it in the middle of the night. You can always check where the song is in the queue in one of 2 ways:

1) when requested, you should get a note that says your song was entered into the queue at position # "X" ("X" being what position).
2) after requesting, visit the NOW PLAYING page (located on the left tool bar). this will tell you where your song is, as well as what is in front of it, and how long those song have left to run before yours is played.

The little yellow "R" was removed as part of the recent redesign. the owner of the site was very busy after the redesign that he did not have the time to update every little piece of the site. Please accept our apology for this issue.

To request the track, now you just have to click on the name of the track and then "Request Now". or just click the green "Now" listed next to the track that is able to be requested.

As previously stated, the time that shows is for when you can next request that particular track. It will not automatically play at that date/time. there is not set scedule of tracks, as I stated previously, the schedule is only on the scheduled stream, and it will play random songs from the area listed on the schedule page. On the requests stream, songs will play randomly with absolutley no schedule whatsoever until there are requests. once there are no requests in the queue, the player will play randomly again until there are more requests.

The site (as far as schedules) is run on PST. As far as the requests, it really has no basis.
PS. I just tried to preview this page and got a "Page Not Available" prompt. Figures...
Sorry for this problem. this would be a problem with phpBB at the time you clicked that button. That is not an issue with the site overall.
You have two streams, one scheduled and one for requests. Since on this machine I am using dial-up, I can only access the Requests stream, while people with a high speed connection can acces either one Is that correct?
in a manner of speaking, this is a correct statement, yes.

The sceduled stream is (at this time) only a 128k stream, which, being on a dial-up connection, will severely limit your using it, as it will take a very long time for your preferred media player to buffer, and may time out to buffer more frequently than if you chose a lesser bit rate stream.

The Request stream can be found on one of 3 different bit rate streams - 128k, 64k, or 24k. You would run into the same problems with the 128k stream that you would on the schedule stream, so I would reccomend not using it. Try out the 64k stream, but if you're on a 56k connection, it may buffer quite a bit. I would reccomend the 24k stream, as it will not eat up all of your bandwidth, and will not buffer quite as much.
Now, if I see a listing on the Requests index (with a PST time), that denotes the next available slot where the song MAY enter the rotation. However, am I correct, presuming nobody requests the piece for that specific time, the item is skipped over and rescheduled for another possible exposure. Is that correct?
Yes, and no. As stated, the time is only for when a track is able to be requested again. if it is not requested, it will not a resceduled for another time, but will sit, ready to be requested. If someone requests it before you, you have to wait until the next time listed for that track before it can be requested again. or, you could try just listening to the stream and it may play randomly if there are no requests.



I hops this answers your questions. If you need any further clarifications, please don't hesitate to ask. But, please ask in a polite manner, and try not to be so rude when asking for help. It's ok to vocalize your concerns, as we use those concerns to better the site.
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rdeacon
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Post by rdeacon » Jan Tue 16, 2007 6:18 pm

Just a FYI for everyone.

The FAQ's have been updated to match the new site look.

Rich
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starman47
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Post by starman47 » Jan Wed 17, 2007 8:50 am

Many thanks for the clarification, but there are simply too many hoops to jump through to make this site worth an investment of my time.

I spent nearly 30-years in broadcast management and as such I know what audiences are and are not not apt to tolerate. What follows is advice offered in that spirit.

As for what you seem to interpret as my supposed sarcasm, I apologize, if you perceived my remarks in that way. However, keep in mind the "real world" is not the Magic Kingdom. Strange as it may seem, your prospective audience members may not uniformly kind. Nonetheless, that doesn't mean their comments are not worth taking seriously. Believe it or not, people often DO benefit from criticism, provided they maintain an open mind and are wiling to give serious consideration to negative comments.

As you no doubt know, there are several other WDW music sites, which, compared to this one, are genuinely easy to navigate. You claim 2100 members. Strive to make your site truly user friendly and you will likely increase that number by ten-fold. Of course, if as you write this is only a, "hobby," perhaps this is not a consideration. It's a shame because, all things considered, Subsonic is graphically attractive and the music presentation is good. You're simply handicapped by a seeming inability to provide new visitors with a quick grasp of how to take full advantage of your service.

As they say, "You only get one chance to make a good first impression." With that I wish you well. You need not respond to this posting as I won't be checking the forum again.

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Post by subsonic » Jan Thu 18, 2007 11:29 am

Well, you could just listen to the streams and then that would simulate most of the other streaming disney sites as they don't offer many features. What I find interesting is most people say SR has the best layout and is the easiest to use. I wonder if those that find it confusing don't take the time to post. In fact, with the release of SR 2.0 there's now multiple ways to request a track through the song information popup. We're always improving the site, but really, I don't see how much easier it can be to request a track.
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