The unofficial TopTV tv guide

T

TivoZA

Well-Known Member
Joined
Sep 21, 2005
Messages
322
Reaction score
0
For those of you wishing to know what's on TopTV, you can now view the TopTV tv guide at: http://www.nantage.com

A couple of things to note:
  • The default "Grid View" lists all channels with all program entries to the right.
  • The channels scroll vertically and the program days scroll horizontally.
  • You can jump to a specific date using the "Date" selector at the top of the grid.
  • There are also jump buttons allowing you to jump to the next/previous timeslot as well as the next/previous day.
  • Clicking on a program entry will open up a space below, detailing all episodes of the show as well as genre, actors, directors, age restriction, movie year and star rating (when available).
  • Clicking on a genre, actor, director, age restriction or movie year will jump to the search "List view" displaying other programs matching your selection.
  • Clicking on an episode time moves the grid to relevant channel and time.
  • Double clicking on a channel name brings up a list of all programs currently airing on that channel.
  • While entering text into the "Search" box, tags (programs, channels, genres, actors, directors, age restrictions or movie years) matching the text will be displayed. You can either select a specific tag from the list or click the search button to bring up all the partial matches.
  • To switch between the default "Grid view" and search "List view", you can make use of the buttons to the right of "TV Guide" on the top bar of the navigator.
  • Hovering the mouse over a channel will bring up the full channel name as well as the channel number, hovering the mouse over a program entry will bring up the program name, start time and duration.
  • Program entries in italics indicate no actual guide data was available and the listed entry has been extrapolated from older data.
  • Clicking on a timeslot or channel will display an underlay which can aid in planning your viewing.
  • The "Record Series" and "Record" buttons allow for schedule planning but work in conjunction with a widget (not publicly released).
  • The "Channels" drop down allowing for the selection of favorite channels has not yet been implemented.
  • If you wish to refine the displayed and searched channels to only those you subscribe too, you are able to select the relevant lineup by clicking on the "+" button in the top left corner.
The site is still in "BETA" stage and there are a few cosmetic inconsistencies between the different browsers. The accuracy of the episode and repeat identification will increase as the system builds up a history of older data.

If you have any suggestions or problems with regards to the site, please feel free to post them to this thread. Comments regarding the actual TopTV channels and shows can be made here.
 
Last edited:
yes, thanx lots!

though where did you get your info from??
the nonstop tv guides for showtime, S!lver etc does not correspond to what our Showtime actually shows. and a lot of the other channels also does not give schedules...
Just interested, not criticizing :P

so yes, thank you!
 
Leakysandwich said:
the nonstop tv guides for showtime, S!lver etc does not correspond to what our Showtime actually shows. and a lot of the other channels also does not give schedules...
Click to expand...
The listings should match what's displayed on the TopTV set-top-box. There is guide data for all the channels, some channels have more days worth of guide data then others but where possible the guide data has been extrapolated to cater for any missing information. The TopTV set-top-box provides between 3-6 days worth of guide data, depending on the channel.
 
TivoZA said:
Suggestions are more than welcome. What aspects didn't you like?
Click to expand...

Shows don't always fit in the space provided (understandably because of the time and the show's name length). I thought that maybe list view would be better but when I click it, it just shows a grey screen.

I like what MNET does, it's simple and clean: http://beta.mnet.co.za/Schedule/
 
DarkStreet said:
Shows don't always fit in the space provided (understandably because of the time and the show's name length). I thought that maybe list view would be better but when I click it, it just shows a grey screen.

I like what MNET does, it's simple and clean: http://beta.mnet.co.za/Schedule/
Click to expand...

And How Long did it take for MNet to get where they are at, I think we really need to TTV some time here guys, i guess sometimes we become unrealistic, thus far i think TivoZA http://www.nantage.com has done a great job, wrt to his interim schedule. let give credit where its due, MC Today are stil struggling with bugs on their decoders, yet how long have they been on this field.

All im saying is, Let us be patient, i know they are working on something, lets just give them this probation month, and from there we will kill them....I Beg of You FORUMITES :D
 
OMG! Wow, that's awesome. :) Glad I can finally get to the info online. ;)
 
DarkStreet said:
Shows don't always fit in the space provided (understandably because of the time and the show's name length).
Click to expand...
Fair comment. It's an unfortunate issue when viewing TV guides in grid format (as on set-top-boxes), no matter how much space you allocate some names will always be longer and get cut-off. If you hover over the program, it will display the full program name.

DarkStreet said:
I thought that maybe list view would be better but when I click it, it just shows a grey screen.
Click to expand...
The list view currently only displays the search results. As you quite rightly assumed, it should and will include the ability to view entries by date. For now you can view the entries by channel by either double clicking on the channel name or by entering in the channel name as the search criteria and then clicking on the suggested item, the programs are however listed alphabetically.

DarkStreet said:
I like what MNET does, it's simple and clean: http://beta.mnet.co.za/Schedule/
Click to expand...
Both the list view and grid view have their benefits and flaws. In the grid view, viewing what's on now on all channels is straight forward, only requiring one page view. The list view would require you browse each channel individually.

The grid format also allows for easy identification of where conflicts may arise as well as displaying shows selected for recording by means of a red circle on the left of the program name (this is an upcoming feature).
 
Last edited:
madlala said:
And How Long did it take for MNet to get where they are at, I think we really need to TTV some time here guys, i guess sometimes we become unrealistic, thus far i think TivoZA http://www.nantage.com has done a great job, wrt to his interim schedule. let give credit where its due, MC Today are stil struggling with bugs on their decoders, yet how long have they been on this field.
Click to expand...

How long it took them to get it right is none of my concern - TivoZA asked for suggestions and that's what I gave. He has provided and awesome service because at the moment it's basically the only way of seeing what's on. As for giving TopTV time: sure thing, but to launch with NO schedule and an inaccurate electronic guide just screams disorganisation, especially since they've been planning this product for quite some time. I'm sure many, like myself, won't bother signing up until a decent and accurate schedule is developed so we can actually see what's on, which season, etc.
 
Great guide. Could be prettier but definitely functional. It would also be nice to view a single (or chosen list) of channels only. (Unless the functionality is there and I just haven't found it yet.)
EDIT: Nevermind, I found out how to customise. Awesome.

Also, noticed a small glitch. Sometimes, when you scroll to the right, on Fox Entertainment and Fox Retro (haven't noticed any others), before the new data loads up, the last show displayed is called "Testees". :P

Yet another Edit:I think a mod should sticky this. It's currently the only guide available.
 
Last edited:
Kheiron said:
Also, noticed a small glitch. Sometimes, when you scroll to the right, on Fox Entertainment and Fox Retro (haven't noticed any others), before the new data loads up, the last show displayed is called "Testees". :P
Click to expand...
There is actually a show on Fox Entertainment by that name, it's about two guys in their early 30s who are human guinea pigs for a testing facility. The nanTaGE system downloads all data dynamically as needed, the show in question falls at the end of the current day slot and hence is the last show visible while the system retieves the next days guide data.
 
This is awesome, now I can see what toptv has to offer before committing. The discovery science channels looks good :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top
Sign up to the MyBroadband newsletter
X