Half a star instead of 1/2

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grasstust
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Half a star instead of 1/2

Post by grasstust »

Any chance of getting the option to display a half star instead of 1/2 for the rating system. I think 1/2 looks real ugly.
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Nora
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Re: Half a star instead of 1/2

Post by Nora »

You can make up your own three-headed aliens (and half them :)). Just replace the ...stars.png image files (0-10) inside the program with your own and make sure you keep a copy of the files since you'll have to replace them again every time you download an update for the program. (To get into the program, ctrl-click the program icon and choose 'Show package contents/Contents/Resources/.)
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sjk
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Re: Half a star instead of 1/2

Post by sjk »

It's puzzling to me why Bruji chose to use symbolic+numeric combo images for displaying half-star ratings.
scooter64
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Re: Half a star instead of 1/2

Post by scooter64 »

sjk wrote:It's puzzling to me why Bruji chose to use symbolic+numeric combo images for displaying half-star ratings.


I was wondering about this too. When I made the request to Conor and Nora a few years back, I was thinking like you. But in the current DVDpedia style format with the current font size, a "½" star actually shows up in the various pedia views clearer and easier to read.

Conor and Nora, is there any way you could slightly increase the font size of the stars, making them easier to read, thus I agree with these guys that an actual half-star (or 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, /10) would look more visually pleasing. Perhaps, a bright orange star with a thin black boarder for a chosen star, and a white star with a thin black boarder for an unchosen star?

I notice Apple App Store uses a similar 5 star rating, and their bright half-stars are very easy to read, and Apple uses a smaller font! Perhaps the secret is using a darker more intense colour for the selected stars? Viewing Detail Style: Collection, the white non-boardered stars against a light blue background doesn't have much contrast.

Personally, I really have enjoyed the option to rate a movie 3/10 (1.5 stars) no matter which format, but perhaps with a little tweaking the stars can look even better? Nora, you mentioned the user option of swapping the "½" to an actual half of a star, but this seems like a lot of work for each update. May I ask, why did you guys choose to go with "½" symbol?

Again, I don't want to appear ungrateful for the effort it took to create this new and improved rating system. I love it either way. :D :D

Regards,

Scott
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Conor
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Re: Half a star instead of 1/2

Post by Conor »

We modeled the half stars after the iTunes ones, they are a hidden feature of iTunes although I access them directly via I Love Stars. But we have learned a lot about star display with Pocketpedia and those of you in the Pocketpedia Beta, you will know that we are actually using half stars there as they look better against the dark background. We did try out half stars in the Desktop Pedias but they get lost in the list view. I do agree that the details view stars would look better with a border to make them stand out and will work on that for the next version. Will test the half stars again with all the different views for a future bigger version as they are not easy to update as many templates include their own stars (for size and color reasons).
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sjk
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Re: Half a star instead of 1/2

Post by sjk »

Thanks for the great feedback, guys.
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Re: Half a star instead of 1/2

Post by scooter64 »

sjk wrote:Thanks for the great feedback, guys.

Ditto!

And Conor, thanks for your detailed explanation regarding the stars, it was great to get a bit more understanding on potential changes to DVDpedia down the road.

Cheers,

Scott
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