Questions regarding "random shuffle" playlist ordering and refreshing

I can't find this in the search...

How often does Mezzmo reshuffle a playlist when using the "random shuffle" ordering? Does it happen automatically or does it require a user to refresh it?

Also a secondary stupid question, but what's the difference between active playlists and smart playlists? Specifically, does either (or both) automatically repopulate the playlist as I add files that would fall into the playlist criteria, or must I refresh/repopulate the playlist myself?

For example, I want to have playlists for my photos, one playlist for each year (random sorted), and then one for "all photos" (random sorted); I would like the playlists to be auto-populated when I add photos later that would fall into the playlist criteria, and re-shuffle at least daily or so. Can Mezzmo do this, and if so how do I set it up?

I have been searching for years to find a way to use my old windows home server DLNA feed to my ps3 for photos and have it shuffled, and pretty much haven't found options, so I'm very excited if this auto-refreshes the shuffle order--this will be the answer I need!

Mezzmo shuffles the files in the playlist every time you access the playlist. You don't have to refresh it. One caveat - some DLNA devices cache (remember) the contents of a playlist and may keep the files in that order. In this case, you may need to exit the playlist and re-enter the playlist to get the new shuffle order.

Smart playlists and active playlists are both dynamic playlists. Files are added them when they match the criteria you have specified. For smart playlists, they are are a list of files that match the rules you have specified (e.g. 'Artist' 'is' 'Bob Dylan' and 'Year' 'is' '1969'). For active playlists, Mezzmo creates sub-playlists based on the attributes you want to see (e.g. if you specify Genre in your active playlist for video files, you will see Comedy, Drama, Horror, etc. playlists created and each one will have video files with that specific genre).

In your case, you want to create an active playlist for your year-based photo playlists. Here's what I suggest:

• Click on Photos in the tree in Mezzmo
• Click Create Playlist -> Active Playlist to display the Active Playlist Properties dialog
• In the dialog, give your playlist a name (e.g. 'Photo Shuffle').
• Click Add -> Year
• Click the Photos radio button
• Click Sort By and choose Random Shuffle
  
• Click OK and you're done!

You should see a new playlist under Photos in the Mezzmo tree. It should have sub-playlists under the new playlist for each year and under each year will be listed your photos in a random shuffle order. Now, try it on your PS3.

For your All Photos playlist, you will need a smart playlist. Actually there is already an All Photos smart playlist in Mezzmo when you install it. You can edit this to change the attributes as you wish. Simply right-click on it in the tree and click Properties. In the Properties dialog, change the Sort By to Random Shuffle and you're done!

Thank you for the detailed, rapid response. You'll have my purchase!