Create a meta "Restore functionality" mod

[yoshiask]

ZMH is supposed to be an easy and intuitive way to mod the Zune software, but as of late it's been challenging to use. For example, if one wanted to use the new Marketplace, they first have to use MusicBrainz Picard, then apply the MBID Locator mod, then apply Community Webservices.

To make using the server recreations easier, there should be one meta mod that applies those two mods. Maybe it can be called "Restore Functionality" or "Restore Online Functionality".

Open questions
Should this meta mod also include the Fix Video Sync mod? Doing so would make this meta mod basically one-click for all the most requested fixes, but it also messes with system files. This could cause issues if ZMH attempts to apply the mod on systems where the mod is not needed, or if the user plans to use Windows Media Player or Windows Media Center alongside Zune.

[gigalasr]

Alternatively you could automatically resolve those dependencies. So if one mod depends on other mods, those dependencies will be selected or installed automatically.

[c0wg0d]

As someone who had a Zune and a Windows Phone back in the day, I have finally now taken the time to get reacquainted with the Zune software, mp3 tagging, and the mods provided here. I consider myself fairly tech savvy, but using these mods was not very intuitive, so I'd love to see things made easier.

For example, I restored the marketplace, but when I go there in Zune software, it tells me to sign in to see recommendations. Sign in to what? And when I click on the various tabs in the marketplace, they are all blank. I realize now this is because the community site that serves those things is down, but that wasn't intuitive to me at first.

Also, my music was all tagged properly with embedded album art, but it would not show up in the Zune software. I came to discover that Zune does not support ID3v2.4 tags, only ID3v2.3. I know this isn't because of the mod, but it's not intuitive to know that for most people.

I do not think the Fix Video Sync mod should be done by default, since some people might just be using Zune software itself without any Zune hardware.

Maybe an install wizard would work well? Explain what each mod does and why and then give the option whether or not to enable it. Just an idea. Either that or have an accompanying readme that explains everything.

[yoshiask]

Alternatively you could automatically resolve those dependencies. So if one mod depends on other mods, those dependencies will be selected or installed automatically.

There's already a system in place for dependencies, the issue is that I can think of a few reasons why you might want to run each of these mods separately. For example, if you applied the MBID Locator and Webservices mods in the past but you've since updated the MusicBrainz tags on your library, you only need to apply the MBID Locator mod again (not Webservices).

Maybe the program should be a little more intelligent and keep track of which mods are installed, and which version of ZMH installed them. I'll investigate that for the next release.

[yoshiask]

As someone who had a Zune and a Windows Phone back in the day, I have finally now taken the time to get reacquainted with the Zune software, mp3 tagging, and the mods provided here. I consider myself fairly tech savvy, but using these mods was not very intuitive, so I'd love to see things made easier.

For example, I restored the marketplace, but when I go there in Zune software, it tells me to sign in to see recommendations. Sign in to what? And when I click on the various tabs in the marketplace, they are all blank. I realize now this is because the community site that serves those things is down, but that wasn't intuitive to me at first.

The next release of ZMH has the ability to check which services the specified host actually supports. This should allow users to pick a custom host and see if it's expected to work. Here's a preview of what that might look like:

Also, my music was all tagged properly with embedded album art, but it would not show up in the Zune software. I came to discover that Zune does not support ID3v2.4 tags, only ID3v2.3. I know this isn't because of the mod, but it's not intuitive to know that for most people.

Can you open a new issue for this? I can look into adding a mod to downgrade the ID3 version.

I do not think the Fix Video Sync mod should be done by default, since some people might just be using Zune software itself without any Zune hardware.

Noted 👍

Maybe an install wizard would work well? Explain what each mod does and why and then give the option whether or not to enable it. Just an idea. Either that or have an accompanying readme that explains everything.

What would such a wizard look like to you? Would it be like the current layout, but with each mod on a separate page and a detailed, high-level explanation? Would adding better descriptions be enough?

[c0wg0d]

What would such a wizard look like to you? Would it be like the current layout, but with each mod on a separate page and a detailed, high-level explanation? Would adding better descriptions be enough?

I think the biggest missing pieces for me were the community webservices and the MusicBrainz ID Locator. I realized after the fact that since the community webservices weren't up and running, most of the features were still technically broken. Your screenshot above should hopefully resolve those issues.

I still have no idea what the MusicBrainz ID Locator mod actually does, even after reading the description multiple times (and I am someone who is very familiar with MusicBrainz and tagging files).

[DavidModPhone]

When you release this version of Zune Modding Helper with this feature?
You didn't release a new version since 2021!