A usability suggestion
#1
Amazing skin!

I have one usability suggestion though.

When you are in in a certain view, say list view for movies, you have to press LEFT to go to the menu above to change things like watch/unwatched or sorting etc or to change to another view. But when you are in showcase view you have to press UP to get to that same menu.

I think it would be much better to have this stuff in the context menu, this will keep it consistent across all views and be far less confusing for users.
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#2
In my opinion it's quite intuitive as it is now already. I agree it's not very consistant but it never happend to me that I accidentally clicked the wrong key when I wanted to get to that menu.

I mean if I'm in Showcase view I use Left/Right to navigate so I automatically press Up to get to that menu. And if I am in List view I use Up/Down to navigate so I automatically press Left to get to the menu coz it's the only direction where there is nothing to go to otherwise.

Furthermore I (personally) prefer to be able to do most of the navigation with the arrow keys (above all when I use my remote). The chance of pressing a wrong button on my remote just because it's pitch black in my room and I don't exactly remember where one of all those special buttons is, is much higher than if I can just stick with the arrow buttons and don't have to worry about all the other buttons.

Furthermore in some views (e.g. Movies) the context menu is already quite populated and if you now add all these settings from that top menu into the context menu as well it will grow even larger and someday use the whole vertical space available. I prefer slim context menus with only the most important und mostly used entries.
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#3
I agree with Montellese, it is clear as it is. Other skin uses the same way (read MediaStream)
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#4
I also agree with Montellese. Its very natural to just use the direction that isn't in use in the current view.

Although, I don't think that it would be bad to add it as an option in the context menu for those who prefer it that way.
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#5
I agree with automated. Indeed, there are a number of usability issues throughout the skin (more so in others, though there are fewer in PM3 - but even so, the skin is miles ahead of all others).

It's pretty standard practice to not change the methods of activating the same functions in different areas of an interface. Take a look at your OS: change the view for a folder from Details to Icons, do your tool bar buttons change function? No.
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A usability suggestion0