Intuitive opening of Multiple Instances (particuliarly from the file browser)
By default the context menu items in Windows explorer do not allow to open files in a new instance of VLC, unless VLC is set to always open every file in a new instance. This can at times be unpracticle. I suggest changing the default context menu's from:
-
"Play"
-
"VLC Media Player - Add to playlist"
-
"VLC Media Player - Play"
to:
- "VLC Media player - Play now"
(which opens the file in the last opened instance and starts playing it, interrupting anything currently playing)(this option could potentially offer a dropdown-list to select wich instance to open the file in, in case multiple instances are open)
- "VLC meda player- Add to newest playlist"
(adds to the playlist but continues playing whatever is currently playing)
or, if possible, just keep it "- add to playlist" and add a dropdown-list to select a playlist to open the file in. This would be ideal but more complex.
- "VLC meda player- Open in new window"
(or call it new instance)
I belive this will greatly* enhance the ease of use* of VLC media player.
These modification require not only changing the context menu items, but also reviewing how VLC handles file opening and multiple instances in general.
Since this is a change to the way the user interacts with VLC, it might be favorable to bring this change together with the new major build of VLC, so users wont be unexpectedly suprised. I thus label it 3.0 nice-to-have.
For a more detailed explanation I also posted this suggestion in the forum:
https://forum.videolan.org/viewtopic.php?f=7&p=458245#p458245