One of the things being considered for a future release of Picard is a MAJOR upgrade to the plugin system. If this happens, it is expected that the existing plugins will need to be updated to work with the new system. That got me wondering what plugins people are actually using, which could also indicate some sort of priority for conversion to the new system (if and when it is implemented).
For example, in my case I use the following:
Additional Artists Variables: Installed and always enabled. Use it for every release processed.
Data Dumper: Installed but disabled. This is one of the custom plugins that I developed and is only used as required when developing a new plugin.
fanart.tv cover art: Installed and always enabled. Use it for every release processed.
Format Performer Tags: Installed and always enabled. Use it for every release processed.
Generate M3U Playlist: Installed and always enabled. Rarely used.
Paper CD Case: Installed and always enabled. Rarely used.
Performer Tag Replace: Installed and always enabled. Use it for every release processed.
Persistent Variables: Installed and always enabled. Rarely used.
Submit ISRC: Installed and always enabled. Used often.
View Script Variables: Installed and always enabled. Only used as required when developing a new plugin or tagger / renaming script.
So if you don’t mind sharing, what plugins do you have installed and how often are they used?
Actually I have re-written and expanded Hyphen Unicode with my own version. Which means I’ll wait for that one to be updated and I can then update my own unpublished version of the plugin.
All four are always enabled and in use.
Interesting… I look in my actual plugins folder and find items in there that are now not actually listed as enabled… odd… Used to use Release Type that seems to have disabled itself
In addition to plugins which have already been mentioned, I use the following:
Release tag aggregation functions
Tagger script functions $is_lossless() and $is_lossy() (unofficial)
ReplayGain 2.0
The first two are always enabled and used for my filenaming script, the last one is unused so far because I haven’t made my final decision whether I need ReplayGain tags.
P.S. And two plugins which I had written myself became obsolete with Picard 2.9, yay!
Generate Cuesheet – didn’t work for me, but now there’s an update so maybe I’ll start? Use would be occasional.
Keep tags – always
No release – occasionally. I think it’s important since it doesn’t obligate one to tag rips of unknown origin as an arbitrary (and likely incorrect release). Should be a standard feature really.
Remove perfect albums – rather forgot about this one; unsure whether it’s useful to me or not
Work & movement – don’t recall ever using, but perhaps it’s automatic
Generate M3U Playlist seems very important indeed since Picard can rename files. I’ve been using Kid3 for this, but I expect Picard would be more convenient.
Submit cluster as release is now built in, I believe? Or does the plugin do it differently…
One thing to note is that you may be getting a biased selection from MB forum users, who tend to be advanced users, and MB editors. There’s a lot of plugins there that I would use if I wasn’t willing to edit the release instead (different cover art providers, Title Case, etc)
Huh, it looks like I’ve pruned my plugin use down quite a bit over the years. I remember having around 15 enabled when I first started, but it seems to be just 3 now. In order of personal importance:
Additional Artists Variables: daily use
Keep Tags: daily use
View Script Variables: I’m actually not sure if I have a need for this anymore
Submit ISRC (I’d love to see this as part of Picard, maybe have some “submission” dialog that allows you to review and select what gets submitted, e.g. AcoustId fingerprints, ISRCs and genre tags)
Tagger script functions $is_lossless() and $is_lossy() (I guess this should finally be submitted to the official list)*
TheAudioDB cover art
View script variables (I think this functionality should become part of Picard itself in some way)
Work & Movement
Also I usually have those installed, but use them only seldom:
Copy Cluster to Clipboard
Decade function
Paper CD case
Remove perfect albums
Search engine lookup
Submit to ListenBrainz
Sadly that one does not exist anymore as the service is gone. So you can actually remove that plugin.
That plugin will be removed at some point as the functionality has been integrated into Picard itself. The builtin functionality should actually work better. One of the reasons why the functionality was integrated where issues with using the plugin in some modern browsers. If the plugin does something better than the built-in tool then this should be reported.
