Tuesday, November 03, 2009

Kyle Week: Quick Tech Tip - Half Stars in iTunes




There is something strangely satisfying about rating a song in iTunes. Sort of like a private, people's choice award - without the Red Carpet. The only problem is deciding how to rank those in-between songs. You know, a song that deserves more than 4 stars, but is not quite worthy of 5 stars? Serious dilemma, right? Not any more.

Here is how you can tweak your iTunes to allow for 'half-star' rankings (it might look more technical/intimidating than it really is):

For Windows Vista:
  • Close out iTunes.
  • Open your Start Menu and type iTunesPrefs.xml into the 'Search' field and hit enter. A new window will open up and you should see a matching search result.
  • Copy the iTunesPrefs.xml file and paste it to your desktop - just so you have a clean copy if things get messed up.
  • Return to the open window and right click the iTunesPrefs.xml file and highlight the 'Open With' menu option. When the submenu pops up, choose WordPad to open the file.
  • Once open in WordPad, search the .xml file (ctrl f) for the following line:

  • Below this line, but above the next line, type

  • Save the WordPad file and close it out.
  • Open iTunes and start giving those in-between songs the love they deserve.
  • Once the half-stars are enabled, you can delete the iTunesPrefs.xml copy you placed on your desktop.
For Mac:
  • Close iTunes
  • Open Terminal (go to 'Applications', then 'Utilities')
  • With Terminal open, type in the following command and press enter
defaults write com.apple.iTunes allow-half-stars -bool TRUE
  • Open iTunes and test it out.
End Result:


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8 Comments:

Becky, yep said...

AND...THAT is why I call Kyle with ALL my computer questions!

Kam - thanks for marrying a
techie-geek!!!
Everyone should have one in the family!!!

Debbie said...

You lost me at itunes. Kyle week is complicated!!

Suzie said...

oh. I see. Looks AND brains.

Way to go KAM!

Erin said...

Only you and Kyle would understand all of this! I'm off to listen to Mother Hips. That really is a great logo. :)

Mindi said...

first of all: what if i don't know if i have a mac or a pc? or where to turn on/off my computer?

why don't we all have a kyle in our life?

oh, wait: WE DO!

thanks to my number one technical support dude.

and will i be mocked if i confess that i have never rated a song? wth is wrong with this scenario?!

i know it would bring me such joy.

Brenna LaPray said...

I love the idea of Kyle week!! What an amzingly, thoughtful wife you are! Happy Birthday Kyle!

J.J. said...

Seriously man...when do you sleep?

Becky, yep said...

Amen to JJ's comment!