MUWL
From CustardWiki
MUWL stands for MUsic Wish List. MUWL is a desktop application that allows you to create a wishlist of music you would like to see as part of your collection.
The MUWL application is built on Adobe AIR. In order to run the desktop version of MUWL, you will need to have the Adobe AIR runtime installed on your machine. If you choose to install the application using the badge found here, the latest verison of the Adobe AIR runtime will be installed on your machine along with the application. To install the Adobe AIR runtime prior to installing the MUWL application, visit and following the instructions from the official site - http://get.adobe.com/air/
Installation
The installer badge for MUWL can be found at http://www.needlebeamcassette.com/muwl/client/air. Clicking on the badge will start the installation process. If you do not have the Adobe AIR runtime installed on your machine, it will aslo install the runtime for you during the process.
Why Would I Need MUWL?
The MUWL desktop application grew out of a specific need I had. I am a sucker for record shops. I like letting my fingers browse through vinyl and jewel cases rather than scrolling through browser pages to buy music. I have nothing against mp3s, and in fact am enjoying converting my vinyl collection to mp3 format so I can carry it on portable devices. I run a blog at http://www.needlebeamcassette.com/blog about it. I just prefer the smell and experience of being in a record shop.
That said, my mode of discovering new music I wish to bring home with me is still mostly on-line or by word-of-mouth. I kept finding myself writing artist's name and album titles on any spare piece of paper in the hopes I would remember to bring those pieces of paper to the record store next time i went. Sometimes i consolidated the items onto a single piece of paper and went in to a shop with a mission... most times i forgot about them or found them in my back pocket when it was time to do the laundry. Needless to say, there was a kink in my system of how i went about discovering what i was interested in and actually following through on that interest.
Along came my idea for MUWL.
MUWL is a desktop application lets you add album entries to a list that supports 'occasional-activity'. You can add items to the your wishlist without a dependence on an internet connection, and when a network resource is found, your wishlist is saved to a server online which can be accessible from any other machine that has the MUWL desktop application on it. Basically it saves a working copy of data on both your hard-drive and the remote server, eliminating a dependency on one-or-the-other to keep a wishlist of music you are interested in purchasing.
You can drag and drop images onto the application to start enties for your wishlist and can enter information and desired ratings for items. Since all the data is saved to an online service, my intention was to extend the application to other devices, such as the iPhone, which could easily be carried along to the record shop.... relieving the need to keep tabs on all the little pieces of paper laying around and buried on my desk.
As I mentioned, this grew out of an incongruency in how i wanted to remember albums i was interested in when I visited a record shop, however this is still a viable tool if i ever get around to buying albums on line and currently don't have the time to visit amazon or iTunes when I discover something I might be interested in.
As well, though MUWL is tailored to music, it is only so in the field names of the application. The MUWL application can easily be used to save a wishlist of anyItalic text type of product. For instance, it could be used to create a wishlist of books... if you don't mind filling in the author's name in a field that reads 'artist name'.
MUWL allows you to easily create a wishlist of albums you want to pick up the next time you are in a shop.
How Is Offline and Online Data Synchronized
It is not neccesary to have an internet connection to use the MUWL desktop application. When an internet connection is detected and you have previously unsaved work to the online service, the data will be synch remotely. This allows you to move from one device to another and continue working or simply browse your wishlist.
The MUWL application detects the presence of an internet connection AND the availability of the online service. When both of these are available, the application notifies you through the status bar on the bottom of the application. When working online and you are logged in, you will also notice a synch icon. You can force synchronization of offline and online data whenever the service is available by clicking the synch icon.
Synchronization of online and offline data automatically occurs whenever you log into your profile from the MUWL application when online, or when you were previously logged in offline and the service availability was detected.
By default, the MUWL application does not run a timed synchronization operation. It is expected that you will not be working on the wishlist at the same time from two different devices. As such, if you want to force synchronization, select the synch icon when available.
How Do I Create A Profile?
To start creating a wishlist, you must first create a profile. A profile can be created whether a network resource is available of not. The profile will be synched between the local and online databases when an internet connection is detected and the online service is available.
To create a profile, first launch the MUWL application. When launched you will be presented with a welcome screen.
To create a profile, click the 'create profile button' from the welcome screen. You will be taken to the create profile screen.
Fill in the appropriate values for your profile within the required fields and select the 'save' button. A profile will be created for you and you will be automatically logged into your profile to begin creating your wishlist.
How Do I Login?
The Login Panel can be found from the welcome screen once you launch the MUWL application. To login to MUWL, fill in your profile's username and password and select the 'login' button. After logging in you will be automatically taken the wishlist browser section where you can begin adding, updating and deleting items to and from your wishlist.
There are two options within the Login Panel that can facilitate logging into your MUWL profile.
- remember me - The remember me checkbox will tell MUWL that you wish to remember your profile's username and password. If this checkbox is selected, these fields will be automatically filled in whenever you launch the MUWL application.
- auto login - The auto login checkbox will tell MUWL that you wish to login with the credentials filled in the fields whenever the MUWL application is launched.
How Do I Add An Item To My Wishlist?
Once you have created a profile and are logged into MUWL, you can begin to add items to your wishlist. The main view of the MUWL application is the album browser screen.
To begin adding an item to the list, you can do either of the following:
- Drag-n-Drop an image onto the application.
- Select the 'add new entry' button on the bottom right side of the album browser screen.
Either action will open up the album editor screen. Within the album editor screen you can enter the desired information within the fields provided. You can even change the picture by rolling over the current image and selecting the change picture icon.
How Do I Update An Item From My Wishlist?
To update an item within the wishlist, navigate to the album browser screen and click on an item from the list which you wish to update. The album editor screen will appear which has editable fields for the values of the wishlist item. Enter in your desired values and select the 'save' button.
Once the item has been updated and saved, you will be taken back to the album browser screen and the updated information should be reflected in the list.
How Do I Delete An Item From My Wishlist?
To delete an item from the wishlist, navigate to the album browser screen and click on an item from the list which you wish to delete. The album editor screen will appear which provides a means to delete the item by selecting the 'remove' button.
Once the item has been removed, you will be taken back to the album browser screen and the updated wishlist with the item removed should be reflected in the list.
Something Went Horribly Wrong and/or I Think It might be a bug.
Bugs may occur. This application was created in spare time and was a labor of love. A developer's perspective of how the application works can often times be totally different from the intuition of a user. If you have encountered a bug or wish to request an enhancement, please contact the administrator:
todd [at] needlebeamcassette.com
Road Map
More of a wishlist of things to follow...
- Deliver companion iPhone application.
- Publicly expose REST service API.
- Publicly release ActionScript service-integration API fro MUWL.
- Publicly release custom ActionScript occasional-connectivity API.
- Publicly release custom ActionScript database-synchronization API.
Current Version
MUWL is currently at version 1.0. Install MUWL!
Credits
MUWL was created by Todd Anderson. All design, ux and programming for the desktop app and the server app were toiled away at on weekends and nights.
Icons are graciously provided by Mark James under Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 License. Mark James - FamFamFam
