Drag media to specific part of playlist

[NewOrderrr]

I am trying to add media to a specific part of a playlist, like between tracks 20 and 21. In older versions of iTunes I could just open a second window and drag and drop to place the song or podcast where I wanted. In iTunes 11 we can't open multiple windows.

Yesterday I was able to get my playlist to show up and stay shown up on the right side of iTunes 11 as a second sidebar. It was like having two windows open, but all in the same iTunes program.

This acted as if I had two windows open. I had the podcasts in the 'middle' and my playlist on the 'right'. I could then drag files from podcast menu and drop them into the open playlist below song 20 and above song 21.

In the right-side menu I was also able to drag songs up and down to re-sort them as I wanted.

Today I can't remember how I got this to work, and have been trying to get it fixed for hours. Does anyone know how to get this working?

Thanks in advance!

[rockmyplimsoul]

You're bringing up two separate issues -- dragging media from one list to another, and then setting a particular order within a list with the newly added item(s).

You're right in that iTunes 11 doesn't let you open a playlist as a separate window, something I hope gets changed in an upcoming release. So to drag an item from one list (music library, a playlist, a podcast, etc.) into an existing playlist, it seems that you have to first have the Sidebar open (used to be called the "Source Column") so that you can see your playlists and everything else in your library, then drag the item onto the title of the playlist. By default, newly added items go to the bottom of the playlist -- they may appear to be in a different order depending on the default sort order you've defined for the playlist, but appearance and actual playback order are not the same (see below).

As you probably know, you can sort any playlist by clicking on any of the column headers to sort that column (up or down) and then lock that order by right-clicking on the playlist name and select "Copy to play order". That sets the sorting for both appearance, and for playback.

But once you manually add an item to the playlist, that item goes to the bottom of the list for playback order. It may appear sorted by how you've set the default sort order for the playlist, but as far as playback as concerned, the newly item will be the last item played. However, you can restore the playback order to match the sort order by right-clicking on the playlist name again and selecting "Copy to Play Order". That essentially resets the playback order to match the sort order.

But what if you don't want the playback order to be according to any of the columns in the playlist? You can still make a custom sort order. With the playlist in view, first make sure the Shuffle icon is OFF. Then click on the header over left column of the playlist to "unlock" it, then drag the items to the desired custom order. Once you're done, do the "Copy to Play Order" again to save your custom sorting.

[Jesse Hollington]

Originally Posted by rockmyplimsoul

You're right in that iTunes 11 doesn't let you open a playlist as a separate window, something I hope gets changed in an upcoming release. So to drag an item from one list (music library, a playlist, a podcast, etc.) into an existing playlist, it seems that you have to first have the Sidebar open (used to be called the "Source Column") so that you can see your playlists and everything else in your library, then drag the item onto the title of the playlist.

Actually, you can drag to a playlist without using the left sidebar. If the sidebar is turned off, the moment you grab something like a track and begin dragging it, a sidebar will automatically open up on the right side of the iTunes window, containing both your entire list of playlists (with folders expanded) as well as any iPods or iOS devices that are connected to your computer. You can then simply drop your item(s) on the appropriate entry and they will be added accordingly, much as they were in previous versions of iTunes.



When viewing a specific playlist in iTunes 11, there's also now an "Add to" button that appears which will switch you back to the music library view with the current playlist shown in the right-hand sidebar. You can navigate your library as you normally would, even switching categories using the top-left drop-down menu, and from here you actually can drag-and-drop items into a specific order in your playlist. You can also manually re-order existing items, or choose a standard sort order from a drop-down menu at the top.



These methods work not only for tracks, but also for adding collections of items such as albums, artists and genres -- just drag-and-drop the appropriate item using either method.

Basically, the first method is useful when you're exploring your library and suddenly come across something you want to drop into a playlist with a minimum of fuss. The second method is probably more useful if you're managing a given playlist and looking for new stuff to add.

[Jesse Hollington]

Originally Posted by NewOrderrr

Today I can't remember how I got this to work, and have been trying to get it fixed for hours. Does anyone know how to get this working?

Explained in more detail in my previous post, but the short, specific answer is to open a playlist and click the "Add to" button that appears in the top-right corner.

[Cold Irons]

Thanks, Jesse; very good information that I hadn't managed to find yet.

Still don't know that I'll switch over to iTunes 11, but am playing around with it on my netbook as I get time. If they would restore the Coverart/Album grouping within the List View, I think I could like this version.....but really miss this visual aid as I'm working in the list view.

[Jesse Hollington]

The coverart/album grouping is still sort of there, but it's in the Artists view now, so you're basically forced to live with an extra sidebar to filter by artist (conceptually similar to using the left-side column browser in iTunes 10, but I'm not sure how many people actually did that.

[NewOrderrr]

Sorry for not replying sooner (been busy at work and i'm too tired to post when I get home).

I found out how to do it by going to 'Music' on the upper-left, then from across the top selecting playlists, then right-clicking and choosing 'Edit Playlist'. Then I go to 'Podcasts' on the upper left and drag and drop.

This opens the right-side menu just as it does by clicking the 'Add To...' button on the upper right when in a playlist. Thanks for pointing out the easier to find 'Add To...' button for me. (and for others)