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Overview: About
The Four on Four Music Portal was brought online in 2015 by Italian DJ Alexander (Claudio 'Alessandro' Pellegrini) as an online web project to expose great electronic music in the industry as well as his own mixes and music selections.
The Four on Four Music Portal is the digital extension, identity and online presence of DJ Alexander's radio show called "Four on Four Radio".
Overview: Nomenclature
The Four on Four Music Portal uses the following terms across the site:
- Track - signifies a song
- Band - signifies a music artist. A music artist is considered to be a musical group which can be composed of one or more individuals who perform music.
- Producer - signifies the individual responsible for releasing a compilation album containing multiple tracks by different bands
- Object - any entity that is catalogued in the site, e.g. labels, producers, bands, etc.
- References in this guide to any pages of the site are always designated by the icon
Music: Overview
The Four on Four Music Portal has two foundational pillars which drive the majority of its content and functionality. The first of these two pillars is music. The second is mixes, which is discussed in a later section.
Music: Labels
A record label is a brand or trademark of music recordings. As such it is considered by us as an essential component of a music library. The Four on Four Music Portal catalogues labels of the music tracks it inventories.
Labels are classified as 'objects' and are stored in our database with the following attributes:
- Label Name
- Label Foto (Logo)
- Label Website URL
Music: Labels: Navigation
To access the Labels page, navigate to the top menu bar and select Music > Labels to see a list of labels that are catalogued.
Music: Labels: Icons
The icon for a label is
Music: Labels: Relationships: Albums For Labels
The Four on Four Music Portal supports a basic, 1-to-1 relationship between an album and a label as well as a 1-to-many relationship between a label and albums.Each album has a label, given that some music agency or corporation has created it and put it out on the market. That same agency or corporation also has the ability to release or publish one or more albums.
Usage:
By clicking on any label in the Labels page, the user is taken to the Albums for Labels page and shown the first tab (Albums) where all albums under the selected label can be viewed. By default each album also displays its associated label as part of its extended attributes.
Music: Labels: Relationships: Tracks For Labels
The Four on Four Music Portal supports an extended, 1-to-1 relationship between a track and a label as well as a 1-to-many relationship between a label and tracks. This is considered an extended relationship because the primary relationship is between a label and an album.A track also has a relationship to an album which affords the ability to see tracks that are related to albums which are related to a label. A track can only ever tie back to one label.
This extended relationship offers convenience so that users don't have to drill into each of the label's albums to see the corresponding tracks.
Usage:
By clicking on any label in the Labels page, the user is taken to the Albums for Labels page. From here the user can click on the second tab (Tracks) where all tracks belonging to albums under the selected label can be viewed. By default each track also displays its album's associated label as part of its extended attributes.
Music: Producers
With Four on Four, a music producer is considered to be the individual who is responsible for creating an album which is a compilation containing multiple tracks by different bands.
The Four on Four Music Portal catalogues producers of the compilation albums it inventories.
Producers are classified as 'objects' and are stored in our database with the following attributes:
- Producer Name
Music: Producers: Navigation
To access the Producers page, navigate to the top menu bar and select Music > Producers to see a list of producers that are catalogued.
Music: Producers: Icons
The icon for a producer is
Music: Labels: Relationships: Albums For Producers
The Four on Four Portal supports a basic, 1-to-1 relationship between a compilation album and a producer. A 1-to-many relationship between a producer and compilation albums is also supported. Each compilation album has a producer given that some individual had to assemble that compilation of tracks prior to the album being published out on the market. That individual also has the ability to assemble one or more compilation albums.
Usage:
By clicking on any producer in the Producers page, the user is taken to the Albums for Producers page and shown the list of all compilation albums under the selected producer. By default each compilation album also displays its associated producer as part of its extended attributes.
Note:
In the case of DJs, producers can also be a catalogued as a band. In cases where this is true, the album will show the same individual as the band and producer. It's important to note that a producer can be associated to a compilation album that has tracks for albums for which he/she is the band. These relationships are tracked separately in order to display them correctly on the Four on Four Music Portal.
Music: Bands
With Four on Four, a band is considered to be a collection of one or more individuals who perform music, irrespective of the instrument being played.
The Four on Four Music Portal catalogues bands for any of the albums it inventories.
Bands are classified as 'objects' and are stored in our database with the following attributes:
- Band Name
- Band Foto
- Band Description
Music: Bands: Navigation
To access the Bands page, navigate to the top menu bar and select Music > Bands to see a list of bands that are catalogued.
Music: Bands: Icons
The icon for a band is
Music: Bands: Relationships: Albums For Bands
The Four on Four Portal supports a basic, 1-to-1 relationship between an album and a band. A 1-to-many relationship between a band and albums is also supported given that bands can release or publish one or more albums. Each album always has a single band (unless it's a compilation album) given that some collection of one or more individuals had to perform the tracks on the album prior to it being published out on the market.
Usage:
By clicking on any band in the Bands page, the user is taken to the Albums for Bands page and shown the first tab (Albums) where all albums under the selected band can be viewed. By default each album also displays its associated band as part of its extended attributes.
Music: Bands: Relationships: Tracks For Bands
The Four on Four Portal supports an extended, 1-to-1 relationship between a track and a band as well as a 1-to-many relationship between a band and tracks. This is considered an extended relationship because the primary relationship is between a band and an album.A track also has a relationship to an album which affords the ability to see tracks that are related to albums which are related to a band. A track can only ever tie back to one band.
This extended relationship offers convenience so that users don’t have to drill into each of the band’s albums to see the corresponding tracks.
Usage:
By clicking on any band in the Bands page, the user is taken to the Albums for Bands page.From here the user can click on the second tab (Tracks) where all tracks belonging to albums under the selected band can be viewed. By default each track also displays its album's associated band as part of its extended attributes.
Music: Albums
With Four on Four, a music album is considered to be a collection of one or more musical tracks. Albums can be considered singles (containing one track), standard albums (containing multiple tracks by the same band), or compilation albums (containing multiple tracks by different bands).
The Four on Four Music Portal catalogues albums for any of the tracks it inventories.
Albums are classified as 'objects' and are stored in our database with the following attributes:
- Album Name
- Album Foto
Music: Albums: Navigation
To access the Albums page, navigate to the top menu bar and select Music > Albums to see a list of albums that are catalogued.
Music: Albums: Icons
The icon for an album is
Music: Albums: Relationships: Tracks For Albums
The Four on Four Portal supports a basic, 1-to-1 relationship between a track and an album. A 1-to-many relationship between an album and tracks is also supported given that albums can have one (e.g. single) or more tracks from the same band (e.g. standard album) or different bands (e.g. compilations). Each track always has 1 album given that any track is published out on the market via an album.
Usage:
By clicking on any album in the Albums page, the user is taken to the Tracks for Album page. From here the user can see all the tracks belonging to that album as well as the associated band. By default each track also displays its associated album as part of its extended attributes.
Music: Tracks
With Four on Four, a track is considered to be a song. This is the most fundamental and comprehensive object that Four on Four classifies and is the basis for all other entities in the site as well as relationships between those entities.
The Four on Four Music Portal catalogues all tracks that it owns and has a corresponding musical file for (e.g. mp3).
Tracks are classified as 'objects' and are stored in our database with several attributes:
- Track Name
- Track Year
- Track Genre
- Track Beats Per Minute
- Track Harmonic Key
- Track Energy Level
- Track Censorship (clean or dirty with explicit lyrics)
- Track Year
- Track Quality in Kbps (Kilobits per second)
- Track URL (location of the music file)
- Track Lyrics (Flag)
- Track Beats on Intro (Flag)
- Tracks Platinum Notes Analysis (Flag)
Music: Tracks: Attributes: Track Censorship
This attribute indicates if the track has any explicit lyrics or not. A value of 'Clean' indicates that the track does not have explicit lyrics. A value of 'Dirty' indicates that the track has explicit lyrics. This attribute is important to DJs who are performing for audiences where explicit lyrics could be deemed offensive or unwarranted.
Music: Tracks: Attributes: Beats on Intro (Flag)
This attribute indicates if the track has bass beats at the beginning of the track. This is typical with extended remixes of tracks which are designed to allow the DJ to easily beat match into the next track versus trying to transition into a track with vocals or melodies (no beat).
Music: Tracks: Attributes: Platinum Notes Analysis (Flag)
Four on Four uses a software program by Mixed in Key called Platinum Notes which improves the overall quality of the music file by removing imperfections, removing clips and adjusting volume. All of Four on Four's music files go through this process so that tracks across our library play with a consistent decibel level and are easier to mix without having to make gain adjustments.
Music: Tracks: Navigation
To access the Tracks page, navigate to the top menu bar and select Music > Tracks to see a list of tracks that are catalogued.
Music: Tracks: Icons
The icon for a track is
Music: Tracks: Relationships: Related Mixes
Given that a track is the lowest level object in our music library, there are no additional relationships to it beyond what is discussed in other sections of this guide (e.g. labels to tracks, bands to tracks, albums to tracks). The only exception here is the relationship to Mixes which we will discuss here as well as in the Mixes section of this guide.
This relationship is responsible for tying Four on Four's two foundational pillars, which are music and mixes, together. As such, it's an important one.
The Four on Four Portal supports a basic, 1-to-many relationship between a track and a mix. A 1-to-many relationship between a mix and tracks is also supported given that mixes will typically have more than one track in the mix. Each track can also be in one or more mixes.
Usage:
The Related Mixes relationship can be seen by default as part of any track and is available to all users as a clickable function in the tracks' action bar.To see related mixes for that track, click on the icon in the action bar. This will expand the Related Mixes section of the track card to display mixes that contain this track.
Music: Tracks: Functions: Track Recommendations
This function is generally available.
The Four on Four Music Portal has the ability to provide recommendations for a selected track as a feature for advanced DJs who are searching for compatible tracks to include in their mixes. Four on Four's recommendations are in essence a selection of other tracks that have mixing compatibility with the selected track based on similar genre, harmonic key and genre.
More specifically, Four on Four uses a formula to determine tracks that are:
- Of the same genre as the selected track
- Within plus or minus two (2) beats per minute from the selected track's BPM
- Within plus or minus one (1) harmonic note on the same scale (major or minor) from the selected track's harmonic key
- Within the same harmonic note of the adjacent scale from the selected track's harmonic key and harmonic scale. For example, a track keyed in 6A (minor scale), are considered compatible with the same key in the major scale (e.g. 6B)
Note:
Tracks catalogued on Four on Four are notated with harmonic keys using the Camelot system.
Music: Tracks: Functions: Track Play
This function is generally available.
It wouldn't be much good to catalogue an inventory of tracks if we couldn't listen to them. This is why Four on Four's Music Portal allows any visitor on the site to play any available song from start to finish.
The Play function allows a track to be played and stopped. The Play function for a track will not only start playing a track but will also stop any other track currently playing once the current track starts playing. This mechanism is intended to prevent multiple tracks from playing at the same time.
The Play function is limited to tracks that are on the current page the user is on. The user cannot play a track that was on a page they previously navigated away from. Similarly, if a track is playing on the currently displayed page, and the user navigates away from that page while the track is playing, the track will stop playing.
Usage:
To play a track, click the play icon for the track you want to listen to. Once clicked, the track starts playing and the play icon now changes to a pause icon .To stop the currently playing track, click the pause icon. Once the pause icon is clicked, the track stops playing and the icon changes to a play icon.
Music: Tracks: Functions: Track Seek
This function is generally available.
The Track Seek function allows a user to fast forward or rewind the currently playing track by 15 seconds. This feature is useful if the user is searching for a particular section in the track's audio.
Usage:
To fast forward a track, click the fast forward icon for the track you want to seek ahead on. Once clicked, the track position is shifted ahead by 15 seconds.
To rewind a track, click the rewind icon for the track you want to seek back on. Once clicked, the track position is shifted back by 15 seconds.
Music: Tracks: Functions: Continous Play
This function is generally available.
Four on Four Music Portal provides the ability to play music without the user needing to intervene and explicitly play every track they want to listen to. As such it is a convenient 'click and forget' type of feature which adds a lot of value to anyone using the site.
The Continuous Play function is available whenever a track is playing and that track is in a list of tracks and the list has additional tracks left to play. Once the current track finishes playing, continuous play will detect the end of that track's audio and automatically begin playing the next track in the list.
Continuous play will continue until it reaches the end of the list of tracks and finishes playing the last track in the list. Continuous play is not applicable for tracks that are not viewable on the current page. For example, with tracks that are on pages that the user navigated away from or has yet to navigate to.
Music: Tracks: Functions: Track Download
This function is restricted to users with elevated privileges.
The Download function allows a user to download the mp3 file of a track locally to their machine, with several caveats:
- The user must be logged in
- The user must have a valid authenticated session
- The user must have sufficient elevated privileges to perform the action. This is discussed in more detail on the security section of this guide
Music: Tracks: Functions: Track Duration
This function is generally available.
Similarly to the Continuous Play function, this function is not initiated by the user but is provided as part of a track's general functionality.
The Track Duration function simply displays a real-time tally of the track's remaining duration in minutes and seconds followed by the track's total duration in minutes and seconds (e.g. 1:45 / 6:32). This feature is helpful for the user to quickly see how much 'play time' is left on the track that is currently playing.
Music: Tracks: Functions: Social Functions
Functionality related to tracks extends beyond what is documented in this section. Infact, tracks offer an entire suite of social capabilities (e.g. listens, favorites, ratings, etc). Social functions are not discussed here - to see them, navigate to the Social section of this guide. Descriptions of those functions are also provided in the Action Bar section of this guide.
Music: Genres
With Four on Four, a genre is considered to be a style and a classification for a track which is based on a set of musical qualities that a track exhibits. These can be qualities such as BPM ranges, types of melodies, typical energy, mood, vibe, etc.
The Four on Four Music Portal catalogues over 50 different genres that span classical, cultural, alternative, rock and electronic music styles.
Genres are classified as 'objects' and are stored in our database with several attributes:
- Genre Name
- Genre Description
Music: Genres: Navigation
To access the Genres page, navigate to the top menu bar and select Music > Genres to see a list of genres that are catalogued.
Music: Genres: Icons
The icon for a genre is
Music: Genres: Relationships: Tracks For Genre
Although the genre entity is an object of its own, it does not have explicit, formal relationships to other elements on the site. This is because tracks are tagged with their respective genres as part of the track object's own attributes. This is done for reasons related to maintaining the performance of the site.
The Four on Four Music Portal's ability to store a genre as an attribute on a track allows users to search on tracks that belong to a particular genre.
Usage:
To see tracks for a particular genre, navigate to the Genres section under the Music Menu (e.g. Music > Genres). The Genres page is now displayed. Click on any genre to display the Tracks by Genre page and see the tracks belonging to that genre.
Music: Harmonic Keys
With Four on Four, a harmonic key is considered to be a classification for a track which is based on the primary musical note that the track exhibits and is keyed off of. This is a fundamental notion when it comes to identifying tracks which when played together will sound the same harmonically and will not generate dissonant tones. DJs who practice harmonic mixing will be very familiar with this concept.
The Four on Four Music Portal catalogues 24 musical notes that are derived using the Camelot style. This style relies on the Camelot ‘wheel’ which assigns a keycode number from one (1) to twelve (12) for each note on a scale, like hours around a clock. The wheel accounts for both major and minor scales, each with its own ‘lane’ in the wheel thereby accounting for a total of 24 keycodes.
Harmonic Keys are classified as ‘objects’ and are stored in our database with several attributes:
- Key Camelot Name (e.g. 6B)
- Key Classical Name (e.g. B-Flat Major)
Music: Harmonic Keys: Navigation
To access the Harmonic Keys page, navigate to the top menu bar and select Music > Harmonic Keys to see a list of harmonic keys that are catalogued.
Music: Harmonic Keys: Icons
The icon for a harmonic key is
Music: Harmonic Keys: Relationships: Tracks For Harmonic Key
Although the harmonic key entity is an object of its own, it does not have explicit, formal relationships to other elements on the site. This is because tracks are tagged with their respective harmonic keys as part of the track object's own attributes. This is done for reasons related to maintaining the performance of the site.
The Four on Four Music Portal's ability to store a harmonic key as an attribute on a track allows users to search on tracks that belong to a particular harmonic key.
Usage:
To see tracks for a particular harmonic key, navigate to the Harmonic Keys section under the Music Menu (e.g. Music > Harmonic Keys). The Harmonic Keys page is now displayed. Click on any harmonic key to display the Tracks by Harmonic Key page and see the tracks with that harmonic key.
Music: BPM
With Four on Four, a BPM or beats per minute is considered to be a measurement for a track’s velocity based on how many bass beats occur in a minute. In music theory, bass beats are typically measured as bars of 4, 8, 16 or 32 notes where the bass note falls on alternating notes (or on all notes with electronic music).
This is a fundamental notion when it comes to identifying tracks which when played together will sound beatmatched and will not generate dissonant beats that are out of sync. DJs who practice beat matching will be very familiar with this concept.
The Four on Four Music Portal catalogues over 80 different BPMs and supports a range from 80 beats per minute to 166 beats per minute. This encompasses the entire collection of tracks that are catalogue as part of the Four on Four Music Portal.
BPMs are classified as 'objects' and are stored in our database with a single attribute:
- BPM Name (e.g. 128)
Music: Beats Per Minute: Navigation
To access the Beats Per Minute page, navigate to the top menu bar and select Music > BPM to see a list of beats per minute values that are catalogued.
Music: Beats Per Minute: Icons
The icon for a beat per minute is
Music: Beats Per Minute: Relationships: Tracks For Beats Per Minute
Although the BPM entity is an object of its own, it does not have explicit, formal relationships to other elements on the site. This is because tracks are tagged with their respective BPMs as part of the track object’s own attributes. This is done for reasons related to maintaining the performance of the site.
The Four on Four Music Portal's ability to store a BPM value as an attribute on a track allows users to search on tracks that belong to a particular BPM value.
Usage:
To see tracks for a particular beat per minute, navigate to the Beats Per Minute section under the Music Menu (e.g. Music > BPM). The Beats Per Minute page is now displayed. Click on any BPM value to display the Tracks by BPM page and see the tracks exhibiting that value for beats per minute.
Mixes: Overview
The Four on Four Music Portal has two foundational pillars which drive the majority of its content and functionality. The first of these two pillars is music which is discussed in the previous section. The second is mixes, which is discussed here.
The Mixes functional aspect of the portal brings the DJ'ing side of Four on Four whereby DJ Alexander catalogues his mixes, showcases them and associates them to particular tracks as part of the tracklist. Almost all of DJ Alexander's mixes exhibit beat matching, harmonic key matching and phrase matching. The first two techniques are concepts discussed in the Music section of this guide.
Mixes: Mixes
With Four on Four, a mix is considered to be a transitioned blend of many songs that are played as a set. Tracks in a mix will typically follow a specific genre, BPM and abide by harmonic mixing techniques in the Camelot style (although they don't have to). Mixes will also exhibit advanced djing skills related to beat matching, harmonic key matching and energy matching techniques.
The Four on Four Music Portal catalogues all mixes that have been recorded and released by DJ Alexander and for which it has a corresponding mix recording file for (e.g. mp3).
Mixes are classified as 'objects' and are stored in our database with several attributes:
- Mix Name
- Mix Published On
- Mix DJ
- Mix Genre
- Mix Duration
- Mix URL (location of the recorded mix file)
- Soundcloud
- Mixcloud
Mixes: Navigation
To access the Mixes page, navigate to the top menu bar and select Mixes to see a list of mixes that are catalogued.
Mixes: Icons
The icon for a mix is
Mixes: Relationships: Tracks For Mix (Tracklist)
The Four on Four Portal supports a basic, many-to-1 relationship between a track and a mix. This is what makes up the tracklist. Tracks are listed in ascending order by numerical position based on where the track falls in the mix.
Usage:
By clicking on any mix in the Mixes page, the user is taken to the Tracks for Mix page. From here the user can see all the tracks belonging to that mix as well as the associated genre, band, and album of each track. By default each track displays all of same extended attributes that are shown on other pages with tracks.
Mixes: Relationships: Related Mixes
This relationship is already discussed in the Music Section under Tracks.
Mixes: Relationships: Awards
For each mix that is catalogued, the Four on Four Music Portal also maintains a 1-many relationship to awards. A mix can have a single award, multiple awards or no awards.Included in the Action Bar, you'll find the function to see the awards that this mix received. These represent the various Mixcloud Global charts and positions that this mix reached based on likes and listens of the mix on Mixcloud.
Usage:
To see the awards for a mix, click on the award icon on the Action Bar of the mix. The awards section expands to reveal any awards that this mix has received.
Social: Page Visits
Whenever a user visits a page, a global 'visit' counter is incremented for that page and stored in our database. This feature supports charts related to top page views.
You can see the number of page visits on the top right hand side of the page as part of the Breadcrumb banner.
This feature is currently anonymous or not specific to a user, meaning that no details about the user are captured for page visits.
This feature is generally available.
Social: Track Listens
Whenever a user listens to a track, a global 'listen' counter is incremented for that track and stored in our database. This feature supports charts related to top track listens.
You can see the number of track listens on the right hand side of the track card as part of the track details.
This feature is currently anonymous or not specific to a user, meaning that no details about the user are captured for track listens.
This feature is generally available.
Social: Mix Listens
Whenever a user listens to a mix, a global 'listen' counter is incremented for that mix and stored in our database. This feature supports charts related to top mix listens.
You can see the number of mix listens on the right hand side of the mix card as part of the mix details.
This feature is currently anonymous or not specific to a user, meaning that no details about the user are captured for mix listens.
This feature is generally available.
Social: Views on Labels, Producers, Bands, Albums, Mixes, and News Articles
Whenever a user views a label, producer, band, album, mix or news article,, a 'view' count is incremented on that object and stored in our database. This feature supports charts related to top views for various objects on the site.
This feature is currently user anonymous, meaning that no details about the user are captured as part of views.
This feature is generally available.
Social: Favorites on Labels, Producers, Bands, Albums, Mixes, and News Articles
The Action Bar gives a logged in user the ability to perform special actions on various objects across the site. One of those actions is the ability to 'favorite' that particular object, be it a label, producer, band, album, track, mix or news article.
The Favorite feature is a toggle function and provides two states: favorited and non-favorited (default). To favorite an object simply click on the icon in the Action Bar of that object. Once clicked, the heart changes color to red signifying that this object has been favorited and the user selection is stored in the database.
An object must be already favorited in order to 'unfavorite' it. To unfavorite an object, simply click on the icon. Once clicked, the heart icon changes color back to its default color signifying that this object is no longer favorited. The user favorite condition is removed from the database as part of this action.
This feature is user specific and is associated with, the object, the user who performed it and the date and time they performed it.
This feature is restricted to registered users who are logged in. Users must be at least Level 1 (Bedroom DJ) to perform this action. A user's favorites only display while the user is logged in. If the user is logged out, they will not see their favorites on any of the objects they've previously favorited.
This action grants points and increases leveling stats for ranks. Full points are assigned to a user when an object is favorited. A partial number of the points that were originally allocated when the object was favorited are removed when an object is unfavorited. A user only gains points the first time that an object is favorited. A user cannot gain additional points for favoriting an object multiple times. Similarly, points are only partially deducted the first time that a user unfavorites a specific object.
A user can view their favorites as part of their user profile. This function is discussed in more detail in the User Registration, Login and User Preferences section of the guide.
Social: Track Ratings
The Action Bar gives the ability to perform special actions and is available on various objects across the site. One of those actions is the ability to rate a track.
The Rating feature is a toggle function and provides three states: thumbs-up (Like), thumbs-down (Dislike) and non-rated (default).
To rate an object with a Like simply click on the icon in the Action Bar of that object. Once clicked, the thumbs-up icon changes color to solid signifying that this object has been favorited and the user selection is stored in the database. If the object was previously disliked by the user, the thumbs-down icon will return to a regular state (non-solid). The user selection is updated on the database as part of this action.
To rate an object with a Dislike simply click on the icon in the Action Bar of that object. Once clicked, the thumbs-up icon changes color to solid signifying that this object has been favorited and the user selection is stored in the database. If the object was previously liked by the user, the thumbs-up icon will return to a regular state (non-solid). The user selection is updated on the database as part of this action.
An object must already be in a liked state in order to dislike it.
This feature is user specific and is associated with the user who performed it.
This feature is restricted to registered users who are logged in. Users must be at least Level 1 (Bedroom DJ) to perform this action. Ratings only display while logged in. If the user is logged out, they will not see their ratings on any of the objects they've previously rated.
This action grants points and increases leveling for ranks. Full points are assigned to a user when an object is rated either as a Like or Dislike. A partial number of the points that were originally allocated when the object was rated are removed when an object rating is removed by the user (a liked object is no longer liked and is returned to default state or a disliked object is no longer disliked and is returned to default state). A user only gains points the first time that an object is rated. A user cannot gain additional points for rating an object multiple times. Similarly, points are only partially deducted the first time that a user removes their rating for a specific object.
A user can view their ratings as part of their user profile. This function is discussed in more detail in the User Registration, Login and User Preferences section of the guide.
Social: Comments
This feature has not yet been released. This is a placeholder.
Social: Suggestions
This feature has not yet been released. This is a placeholder.
Social: Social Channels
Four on Four has several social channels that it maintains, as follows:
- Soundcloud
- Mixcloud
Charts: Overview
Charts were implemented on the Four on Four Music Portal as a way to see what content was gaining the most interest from users. Several charts are available to show where user activity is prominent. They are described in the sections following.
Charts: Top Views
See which objects are being viewed the most by users during their visits. Views are captured irrespective of whether a user is logged in or not (e.g. guest).
This type of chart is available for the following types of objects:
- Albums
- Bands
- Labels
- Producers
- Mixes
- News
Charts: Top Listens (Plays)
See which objects are being listened to the most by users during their visits. Listens (or plays) are captured irrespective of whether a user is logged in or not (e.g. guest).
This type of chart is available for the following types of objects:
- Tracks
- Mixes
Charts: Top Favorite
This feature has not yet been released. This is a placeholder.
Charts: Top Rated
This feature has not yet been released. This is a placeholder.
Search: Overview
The Four on Four Music Portal offers extensive search capabilities to help users find exactly what they are looking for. Different search functions are available to accommodate different types of searches. Those functions are described in the sections following.
Search: Quick Search (Index)
The Quick Search function is a single numeric and alphabetic search to help move through large lists of content quickly. It's purpose is not to find an exact match but rather to get the user in the general area of what they are looking for.
Quick Search is available for the following objects:
- Labels
- Bands
- Albums
- Tracks
Usage:
You can find the Quick Search feature up at the top of the page just under the Breadcrumb banner. The Quick Search feature lists numbers 0-9 and letters A to Z. Click on any number or letter to have the list updated to reflect entries with that particular number or letter.
Search: Advanced Search (DJ)
The Advanced Search function is intended for advanced users, typically DJs who perform beat matching, and harmonic matching in their mixes and who need to find specific tracks based on a combination of relevant track attributes genre, BPM and harmonic key.
The Advanced Search feature is only available for the following objects:
- Tracks
- Page Visits
- Track Listens
- Mix Listens
- Views on Labels, Producers, Bands, Albums, Mixes, and News Articles
- Favorites on Labels, Producers, Bands, Albums, Tracks, Mixes and News Articles
- Ratings on Tracks
- Comments
- Suggestions
As a user, when you perform these activities you gain points which earn you badges and extend your rank on the site. With extended ranks come more privileges. These aspects are discussed in more detail on the Gamification section of this chapter.