Saving font-size ... conflict

[pheldal]

Isn't the size of the text displayed in lyrics and chords fields saved per user? I've seem occasional conflicts with other users when I hit the save-button. I've also received complaints from band members that they loose the saved text-size from one practice-session to the next. Conflicts with multiple users messing up each others setting would explain that. I've been unable to reproduce the issue at will so there isn't enough for a ticket just yet.

Has anyone else noticed something similar?

[arlo]

Saved font sizes are shared unless you turn on Settings > Account Sync > Personal Sync > Lyrics Font Sizes.

[pheldal]

Has this changed at some point? I can't remember having changed these settings before, yet haven't noticed anyone else messing with my chosen size/zoom for lyrics/chords on individual songs until lately.

I do appreciate the need to individualize attributes such as MIDI-song-number, but have in the past added such things as custom fields with access restricted to specific users.  How are we even supposed to be able to distribute and coordinate changes to shared data if users are allowed to edit and save their individual copy of things such as lyrics, chords or notes as indicated by the prefs-menu? Defaults should separate global (band), user-specific and user-device-specific data/attributes.

For my choice of zoom/size of lyrics or chords for a specific song to propagate to other users doesn't make sense unless the others are using the exact same device and layout ... and even then some will use auto-scroll while others zoom to display the entire song on screen.

Am I interpreting things correctly if I enable the 4 following personal-sync items to keep display-attributes to myself while keep sharing everything else I edit?:
  Text-font-size
  Chord-font-size
  Note-font-size
  Positions for document zoom
(attribute-names translated back to English. May not be accurate)

[arlo]

"Has this changed at some point?"

If the functionality to share text sizes or keep them personal has changed, it was many years ago.

"How are we even supposed to be able to distribute and coordinate changes to shared data if users are allowed to edit and save their individual copy of things such as lyrics, chords or notes as indicated by the prefs-menu?"

For most things, the shared data appears unless you specifically override it with personal data. The exceptions are listed in the Synchronizing Devices tutorial: https://www.bandhelper.com/main/SLM_comparison.html

"my choice of zoom/size of lyrics or chords for a specific song to propagate to other users doesn't make sense unless the others are using the exact same device and layout"

Setting the text size is typically more about controlling the line wrapping than setting the absolute text size. The absolute text size is more a function of the size of your device and the layout you use (how much of the screen you devote to the lyrics). If you want big lyrics on a small device and don't care about line wrapping, you can override all the lyrics sizes on that device from Settings > Appearance > Lyrics Size Override.

"keep display-attributes to myself while keep sharing everything else I edit"

Yes, if you turn on those settings, nobody else will see the text sizes or document zooms that you set. You would only want to do that if you are setting text sizes or document zooms to unusual levels that other people wouldn't want to see. Otherwise it's generally better for someone in the band (typically the account administrator) to set initial values that everyone can see, and then other people can override those only if they have particular needs.

[pheldal]

Ok. I must have missed this change way back, and have considered display preferences as personal till now.

I don't agree that it is very useful to share display preferences, at least not as we use the app in any of the bands I'm part of. There is hardly a single song where I don't zoom lyrics and or chords specifically for the song. Each musician tend to have his/her own prefs all over the place, and hardly 2 people have devices with the same screen geometry. It may work in an iPad-only environment, but my reality is a mix of users using anything from a 5" telephone to a 16" tablet.

Would it be an idea to separate display-prefs from prefs affecting shared song-data in the sync-settings-menu? I.e the 4 attributes I listed above under a label "personified display prefs" or something similar.

[arlo]

As I said, setting the lyrics font size is more about controlling the line wrapping; specifically, choosing a balance between maximizing the font size and minimizing the line wrapping. This process often involves editing the song to break up unusually long lines. I think it is useful for one person to do this for the band and then everyone else can use those font sizes as a starting point. But if you or anyone wants to override that, you can use the size override option at the device level for all songs, or turn on the personal sync option which works at the user level for individual songs. What problem are you trying to solve that isn't already addressed by these options?