XMB organization is ill-equipped to handle any variety of game types, unless you want an ugly, wierd UX. Sane organization options highly desired!

[ghost]

First of all, I would to thank you for your work on webMAN and other similar projects. I am frustrated at the organization, but please don't take it personally. Your work has been phenomenal.

---

I am using webMAN. I have PS1 ISOs, PS2 ISOs -OR- packages (choice between one; packages preferred so no ugly placeholder program is used), PS3 copies -OR- ISOs (choice between one), and PlayStation Network games that have never released disc/ISO versions.

Here's my problem: There has been no combination of settings that I could find that would give me a consistent, clean, and efficient XMB experience. Between the default Square Button sorting, the albums, and the PS?ISO folders, there seems to be nothing I can do to make the XMB consistent. I could disable all folder grouping in webMAN and all albums, but then the order of the games and the general organization would be a lot worse!

• PlayStation Network games apparently can't find their way into the same folder or album as PS3 games and vice-versa, and that's pretty bad. It means that you'll have 2 separate PS3 game folders!

• An album full of PS2 package games doesn't have the nice PS2ISO folder design provided by webMAN; but if I use ISO versions that would allow said folder, I would apparently need an ugly PS2 game launcher app (which is also an extra step to launch the PS2 games)!

• A combination of both albums and webMAN's PS?ISO folders is pretty ugly. Albums' text doesn't load until I am highlighting it, but PS?ISO folders always have text loaded (unless idle), which is much nicer. The two systems clash with each other.

• I can't disable grouping of PS?ISO games if there's no "webMAN Games" folder, or put said games into their own albums. This is just another block from me finding an acceptable UX solution.

---

I would kill for any kind of sane organization on the XMB when using webMAN. Here are some ideas:

Best Option: Put installed PS2 packages in the webMAN's PS2ISO folder. That folder looks great. Also put PlayStation Network games in webMAN's PS3ISO folder. I know that there might be technical reasons why these things can't be in these folders, but they can probably look like they're in there and launch from that folder, right?

Good Alternative: Allow for completely-custom folders, and allow us to put things in them that we can't normally sort/group, such as PS3 ISOs/backups.

Extra, Useful, Possible Option: Give us a "PSNISO" folder or something for PSN games

---

Thanks again!

[aldostools]

Some of your suggested features are already implemented:

• "PSNISO" is possible if you go to /setup.ps3, expand "Scan for Content", check /dev_hdd0/game, save and re-scan.
• Custom folders can be listed as a new group if you create /dev_hdd0/wm_custom.xml A template for wm_custom.xml is found in the link.
• You can move the PS3, PS2, PS1, etc. sub-folders to the root of Game column if you uncheck "webMAN Games" in /setup.ps3. In this mode, the sub-folders appear mixed with the XMB albums.
• Change XMB to group by format or by album pressing SQUARE button or using the side menu. Grouping by album requires that you set an album to each game. That will let you have custom folders for PSN games.

NOTE: PS1 or PS2 games in PKG mode are not listed in webMAN folders because there is a way to launch them directly and mixing them in webMAN games using an XMB query make the list look weird due they use a different aspect ratio and the text disappear like you comment.

[ghost]

"PSNISO" is possible if you go to /setup.ps3, expand "Scan for Content", check /dev_hdd0/game, save and re-scan.

That option does not show up for me.

A template for wm_custom.xml is found in the link.

This looks quite intimidating. I don't see what here is optional, or how it works. Is there documentation for this?

You can move the PS3, PS2, PS1, etc. sub-folders to the root of Game column if you uncheck "webMAN Games" in /setup.ps3. In this mode, the sub-folders appear mixed with the XMB albums.

For some reason it didn't always work, but I see that this exists now.

Change XMB to group by format or by album pressing SQUARE button or using the side menu. Grouping by album requires that you set an album to each game. That will let you have custom folders for PSN games.

This is what I've been doing, which is what I meant whenever I said "albums". It doesn't solve all the problems though.

PS1 or PS2 games in PKG mode are not listed in webMAN folders

Is there a reliable way to convert all PS1 games to packages? Update: I found this: https://www.psx-place.com/threads/webman-classics-maker-boot-isos-straight-from-xmb.21338/ If this reliably makes packages from updated PS3 games too, I will be really happy.

[aldostools]

You need to click on "Scan for Content" to expand the hidden options in that section.

For wm_custom.xml there is some basic documentation here: https://github.com/aldostools/webMAN-MOD/wiki/webMAN-MOD-Customization Follow the links to XMBML coding in psdevwiki.

For the subfolders show always in the root you may need to check the option Disable the content scan on startup.

The albums combined with webMAN folders is the better that we can get as far as I know. If you have a better method, please submit a pull request and I will be glad to integrate it to the project.

webMAN Classics maker relies on webMAN MOD to mount & play the games. I was talking about real PS1 and PS2 Classics (installed packages).

[ghost]

You need to click on "Scan for Content" to expand the hidden options in that section.

I did. It's not there. It's never been there.

webMAN Classics maker relies on webMAN MOD to mount & play the games. I was talking about real PS1 and PS2 Classics (installed packages).

I am using webMAN MOD.

[aldostools]

The option /dev_hdd0/game doesn't show in the settings if the icon app_home/PS3_GAME is not present on Game column or if the folder /dev_hdd0/GAMEZ exists.

What I mean about webMAN Classics maker is that it relies on webMAN MOD. In other words, it only can do what webMAN MOD can do. Therefore it cannot launch PS1 and PS2 Classics (installed packages).

The PS2 Classics that webMAN Classics maker can launch through webMAN MOD are .BIN.ENC stored in PS2ISO and launched through the PS2 Classics Launcher application.

[ghost]

The option /dev_hdd0/game doesn't show in the settings if the icon app_home/PS3_GAME is not present on Game column or if the folder /dev_hdd0/GAMEZ exists.

Thanks for the info!

What I mean about webMAN Classics maker is that it relies on webMAN MOD. In other words, it only can do what webMAN MOD can do. Therefore it cannot launch PS1 and PS2 Classics (installed packages).

Well, I already have PS2 PKG games working, so I'm not worried about that.

So what you're saying is that if I want to install PS1 packages, I need more than just webMAN Classics Maker? What should I do/use?

[aldostools]

What I'm saying is that webMAN Classics maker will only work for games that webMAN MOD can mount.

For PS1 Classics packages you have 2 options:

• Create XMB albums for them
• Or extract them to ISO and put them in PSXISO to let them appear on webMAN Games menu.

[ghost]

Alright, so I am using webMAN Classics Manager and I love it. However, now I have two PlayStation 3 folders-- a webMAN-created one for the games, and an album for the nice-looking launchers.

I don't want the inferior webMAN folder easily seen alongside the better Classics launcher folder. It won't let me put the PS3 games in their own album with a custom album name, and I don't want them cluttering the XMB folder-less; so I guess I need to hide the PLAYSTATION 3 webMAN folder, or make it more inconvenient to find than the launcher folder. If I set webMAN to not scan for PS3 games, webMAN's PLAYSTATION 3 folder won't show, but I also can't launch the games. So that won't work.

Is there any way I can hide webMAN's PS3 folder-- or otherwise discourage its browsing-- without disabling its games? We're back to square one: two PS3 folders. But at least we have the nice launchers back, like when a disc is loaded.

[aldostools]

You can uncheck the scanning of PLAYSTATION3 games. If I recall correctly the folder will not be shown when there are not games listed.

Or as I mentioned earlier, you can check the option /dev_hdd0/games to have all the PS3 games listed in the sub-folder. But you need to rename GAMEZ to GAMES (if the folder exists) and add the app_home/PS3_GAMES to Games column.

[ghost]

You can uncheck the scanning of PLAYSTATION3 games. If I recall correctly the folder will not be shown when there are not games listed.

I did, and now I can't launch PS3 games (including with the Classics Launchers. So that doesn't seem to work.

Or as I mentioned earlier, you can check the option /dev_hdd0/games to have all the PS3 games listed in the sub-folder. But you need to rename GAMEZ to GAMES (if the folder exists) and add the app_home/PS3_GAMES to Games column.

I hate that app_home folder, but I'll look into this option and see what it does.

[ghost]

• If I have no webMAN "PLAYSTATION 3" folder, then I have a bunch of PS3 games outside of a folder and I can't put them in an album. That is bad since I have a lot of games, and only desire to see the nice PS3 launchers from webMAN Classics Maker, not the webMAN PS3 icons themselves.
• But if I have the webMAN "PLAYSTATION 3" folder, then people will see and use it when I really want them to use my custom launchers.

So I need to either:

1. Hide the webMAN "PLAYSTATION 3" folder and its games, while still being able to launch them using my webMAN Classics Launchers -or-
2. Rename webMAN's "PLAYSTATION 3" folder, something like "Don't Bother Browsing This". Moving it below other folders such as the PS3 Classics Launchers folder would be a bonus.

This is basically a problem for anyone who wants a clean UX but doesn't want to lose the nice game launch interface that exists when you run a disc, including in unmodded PS3s-- the launch interface that webMAN Classics Maker provides again.

If you ask me, the functionality of webMAN Classics Maker should be integrated into webMAN (or at least webMAN Classics Maker should be heavily promoted), and webMAN should include some way to not have multiple PS3 etc. game (+launcher if applicable) folders on the XMB. It would save a lot of headaches.

[ghost]

Update: I found an acceptable way to discourage the browsing of the webMAN PLAYSTATION 3 folder, so people will only use the webMAN Classics Launchers: Re-enabling the "webMAN Games" folder. It's not as pretty as not having the folder, but it's acceptable.

There is a way to improve it though: I want to rename the folder "webMAN Games" to something like "webMAN", to discourage the browsing of it. Is that possible?

[aldostools]

The name can be changed in /dev_hdd0/tmp/wm_lang/LANG_EN.TXT

Take in count that the file is replaced every time you update the plugin. So it's better that you edit the LANG_XX.TXT and select the language "Custom" to avoid lose the customizations.

[PS3-4K-Pro]

First of all, I would to thank you for your work on webMAN and other similar projects. I am frustrated at the organization, but please don't take it personally. Your work has been phenomenal.

I am using webMAN. I have PS1 ISOs, PS2 ISOs -OR- packages (choice between one; packages preferred so no ugly placeholder program is used), PS3 copies -OR- ISOs (choice between one), and PlayStation Network games that have never released disc/ISO versions.

Here's my problem: There has been no combination of settings that I could find that would give me a consistent, clean, and efficient XMB experience. Between the default Square Button sorting, the albums, and the PS?ISO folders, there seems to be nothing I can do to make the XMB consistent. I could disable all folder grouping in webMAN and all albums, but then the order of the games and the general organization would be a lot worse!

• PlayStation Network games apparently can't find their way into the same folder or album as PS3 games and vice-versa, and that's pretty bad. It means that you'll have 2 separate PS3 game folders!
• An album full of PS2 package games doesn't have the nice PS2ISO folder design provided by webMAN; but if I use ISO versions that would allow said folder, I would apparently need an ugly PS2 game launcher app (which is also an extra step to launch the PS2 games)!
• A combination of both albums and webMAN's PS?ISO folders is pretty ugly. Albums' text doesn't load until I am highlighting it, but PS?ISO folders always have text loaded (unless idle), which is much nicer. The two systems clash with each other.
• I can't disable grouping of PS?ISO games if there's no "webMAN Games" folder, or put said games into their own albums. This is just another block from me finding an acceptable UX solution.

I would kill for any kind of sane organization on the XMB when using webMAN. Here are some ideas:

Best Option: Put installed PS2 packages in the webMAN's PS2ISO folder. That folder looks great. Also put PlayStation Network games in webMAN's PS3ISO folder. I know that there might be technical reasons why these things can't be in these folders, but they can probably look like they're in there and launch from that folder, right?

Good Alternative: Allow for completely-custom folders, and allow us to put things in them that we can't normally sort/group, such as PS3 ISOs/backups.

Extra, Useful, Possible Option: Give us a "PSNISO" folder or something for PSN games

Thanks again!

I think you want something similar to this?

Backups and installed pkgs in the same folder

[ghost]

I think you want something similar to this?

Yeah, appreciated. How do I do that?

---

Also, through a lot of tinkering, and with the discovery of webMAN Classics Maker, I have updated my goals/tricks to get organized. I actually broke my PS3 software so badly that I'm formatting it and starting again-- WCM for example was unable to make any working launchers after the first one, which was for a PS3 game. It defaulted on the .PNGs instead of what I set it to, and crashed my PS3 upon using the created launchers. Not even sure what happened.

I also just discovered Ultimate Toolbox, which can-- among other things-- sort my games in alphabetical order. So no longer do I need to delete and reinstall many games in a certain order just so I can stay more organized. Though I'm still going to purposely install everything in the order I like anyway, just in case something doesn't work and/or a new opportunity is needed.

It has been a very stressful two weeks or so since I started softmodding my PS3 Super Slim, and I've done little else the entire time. Documentation seems poor, and confusing due to the CFW/HEN split; it's hard to discover the existence of even the best or most-used of tools sometimes; and I've tried like a dozen ways to organize things, but a lot of things just didn't work as expected. And I don't take care of myself when I'm working on something but don't know how to go about it. I don't tend to eat or sleep properly in those situations. I became very depressed and almost cried today, until I found new/more support. ^^;

With that said, thanks for your help, and Aldo's as well! I would appreciate any links to even basic tips and information, because apparently I have been moving too fast without enough knowledge, and I messed up badly because of it!

[aldostools]

I suggest you that visit psx-place forums. There are several threads with the information that you need. Also you will find very nice people willing to answer your questions.

[ghost]

I suggest you that visit psx-place forums. There are several threads with the information that you need. Also you will find very nice people willing to answer your questions.

Appreciated! I don't see any pinned topics though, just a few top-used resources in the left sidebar. How do I find the most-useful and/or most-updated guides?

[aldostools]

Go to https://psx-place.com/forums then use the search box for the topic. Or use google and include psx-place in the keywords.

I recommend that register so you can ask questions and to remove the ads.

[ghost]

Go to https://psx-place.com/forums then use the search box for the topic. Or use google and include psx-place in the keywords.

I can't search for things I don't know about, like what I'm missing or doing wrong. Still, I found a few pinned topics. One of them is both helpful and... confusing. https://www.psx-place.com/threads/journey-of-a-noob-in-the-ps3-world.15845/ So I'll have to read the whole thread for context.

I recommend that register so you can ask questions and to remove the ads.

I was already registered.

[aldostools]

Another source for advanced users is psdevwiki.com But the information is too technical for average users.

For documentation about webMAN MOD check the wiki section in my github.

Also search for Coro's guidelines and Pinky's tutorials in psx-place.

[ghost]

Also search for Coro's guidelines and Pinky's tutorials in psx-place.

I can't see a way to specifically see Coro's stuff, nor can I search "Coro" in the search field, nor click on their profile. That forum is really hard to find anything in.

[aldostools]

Use Google, it is easier to search. Just include psx-place in the keywords.

https://www.psx-place.com/threads/coros-ps3-mini-guides.33508/ https://www.psx-place.com/threads/pinkys-ps3-tutorials.1546/

[ghost]

Ah, thanks.