Ok, but then it would be more easy to talk about if the title of the page is Plugins instead of Library / Plugins?
The title of the page is “VCV Library - Plugins”. I have no idea what you’re trying to get at.
@Vortico Hey. I’ve been a bit preoccupied lately so I kind of missed the boat on giving feedback during the VCV Library beta. Anyway, here are my thoughts…
Overall I think the new library design is really good, I love that users can see every module, the search and sorting options are easy to understand and use, and the entire experience is a big step up from the old library list. But, there are a couple of rough edges, in my opinion:
1.) I feel like search effectiveness and discoverability is still a little bit lacking. For example, one of the modules in our plugin, “Frames”, is a tracker sequencer–the only tracker module on Rack so far–but when the user goes to the VCV Library, types in “tracker” and hits search, it’s the very last search result when I’d expect it to be the first.
https://library.vcvrack.com/?query=tracker&brand=&tag=&license=
Now obviously I’m biased towards our modules’ search results, but putting that aside I’d imagine that other developers are having similar issues with relevant search results. Good discoverability means showing people what they are looking for as quickly as possible, and if we can do that I think it’ll be good for everybody who makes modules as well as the project as a whole.
2.) On both the search results page and the individual module pages, I think it could be made more clear that modules are part of a multiple module plugin, as well as how many modules are part of that bundle.
This affects all modules to some extent, but premium modules even more so because it’s not immediately clear how many modules the user is getting for their money, in my opinion. Here are some examples:
https://library.vcvrack.com/?page=1&limit=50&query=&tag=&sort=random&brand=&license=premium
Here we have a randomly sorted list of all premium modules. Each of these modules has a price next to it, but of course, that price is actually representative of the cost of an entire plugin (not the individual module).
When the modules from a given plugin happen to be near each other, it’s a little bit easier to piece together, especially given that many of us know how VCV Rack & Library work. (I’m not sure how clear it would be for a new user.) But, even then, I don’t think it’s as clear as it should be–“this is one module, of a pack of X modules, that you can subscribe to or buy for Y dollars”.
The same issue exists on individual module pages. If a user were to see the Vult Rescomb page in isolation, they would be forgiven for thinking that it’s a single, $25 comb filter module, when in reality it’s part of a pack of 38 modules for $25.
Yes, you can click on the Vult Modules page. Yes, you can search by brand. But ultimately, I think it’d be nice if it was made a little bit more clear in general search results and on module pages, even if it was something as simple as saying “Add Stellare Modular’s Creative Suite (12 modules) to cart for $25.”, for example. It gives potential buyers a much better idea of what the value proposition is without too much hassle.
3.) This is probably a known issue, so ignore this if it is, but it looks like some of the tags are overflowing and being cut off at the bottom of the module descriptions on the main browsing/searching page. (Issue can be seen in the search results linked above.)
Slightly related, I think the tags could be made a bit smaller without changing the aesthetics much.
4.) On the Library footer it says, “Purchasing plugins with the “VCV” brand supports the VCV Rack project. See VCV’s Mission Statement to learn how VCV Rack development is funded.” That’s all true and I have no issue with the wording there. But, it would be nice to clarify that a percentage commission of all premium plugin sales also goes to VCV. Because as written right now I don’t think it’s immediately clear.
That’s basically every piece of feedback I can think of right now. Overall, it’s a really solid design. Nice work. =]
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I agree with this. I confused me, and I had to post here to find the answer. I think this needs to be addressed - it puts one off buying modules for a start because it looks like you are up for $25 for each one.
IMO the theory behind fuse.js is incorrect in many places, so the scoring results it gives are poor. But I can’t find a better search library. Maybe I’ll write a quick replacement.
Added e.g. “(15 modules)” to Purchase button.
This is the case for all retail stores.
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I, for one, really like the current (“new”) VCV Library.
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Plugin/module pages for free plugins now show “popularity”, which is the number of VCV accounts that are subscribed to the plugin. Example: https://library.vcvrack.com/AlrightDevices/Zzzorb
This number has limited usefulness (subscriptions do not imply use of the plugin or VCV Rack itself) so you cannot sort by popularity on the index (search) page.
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Thanks for bringing back the popularity value, even if it doesnt reflect actual use it’s still nice to have, it’s better than no info.
One question, is it ok to embed module screenshots from the library server inside my manual? I don’t want to upload screenshots to the source repo, and the way they update in the library with the build updates is very useful to keep the manual synced with the modules, instead of having possibly out-of-date renders inside. It’s not a lot of traffic for sure, but Ive read in the forum guidelines that we shouldn’t embed stuff from here so thought I’d ask…
It’s fine with me if you do that, but the API is not stable. The URL, image size, or file format might change at any time.
Okay, thanks, I’ll keep that in mind. Still don’t know what’s the best way of doing a manual, so I don’t expect it to be in a stable state either.
Small improvement: The Plugins list now includes links directly to changelogs (by clicking the document icon beside the update date) when sorting by “Updated”.
Developers: There are still many plugins without changelogs! If you make an update to your plugin, considering documenting the features there were added and the bugs that were fixed in a URL-accessible document, such as a GitHub file, GitHub Gist, or your website. Then add the "changelogUrl" property to your plugin.json manifest.
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Apologies for bumping an old topic, but didn’t seem worth creating a whole separate one on this…
The library modules list shows modules that are purchased or free ones that have been subscribed to, so could you add an option to hide (or show) modules you have purchased/subscribed to in the filter? It would make the search results more manageable for users and it may lessen the hit from your database queries on your side too.
I can’t add any features to VCV Library that rely the future ability to add/remove individual modules, until Rack v2 is released to support module whitelists.
OK Andrew, thanks for looking at it anyway.
I don’t think that what he’s asking for. He’s asking that when he search the library (manage plugins) that he have an option to filter out whole plugins that are already subscribed. That’s how I interpret, anyway.
Technically I could add a filter for plugins (rather than modules) that a user has or hasn’t subscribed to, but that code and UI would have to be thrown away when it becomes possible to add/remove individual modules, and I don’t like spending time on temporary solutions unless absolutely necessary.
If it would add even a second’s delay to the release of v2 then please disregard it!
VCV Library builds have been halted for the past few days while I reconfigure and rebuild the Library build system. I have no time estimate for when this will be completed.
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The VCV Library build system has re-opened. We have developed a new project https://github.com/VCVRack/rack-plugin-toolchain which builds Rack plugins for Mac, Windows, and Linux in a more consistent/reproducable way on any Linux distro.
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Thank you for all your work!
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