# 2 iTunes questions **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 30, 2007, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-itunes-questions/421031 "2007-09-30T15:12:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2007, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-itunes-questions/421031/1 "2007-09-30T15:12:46Z")
I use iTunes for one reason and one reason only: the iTunes store accepts gift cards I can buy at Target so I don’t have to give them my credit card number. If Napster did that\*, I doubt I would use iTunes at all. That being said, you may recognize that I have a small chip on my shoulder about this application, which I acknowledge. I find it tedious to use and I find that the iTunes store lies with their samples. Question 1. When I create a playlist for burning a CD, how can I arrange the tracks _other_ than sorting by one of the defined fields? I cannot figure out for the life of me how to put tracks in any order I want to, and I feel like I’m missing something obvious. Question 2. What the hell are the check boxes for? At first I thought that was how iTunes selected multiple tracks for copying, etc., but no, that’s just highlighting like in a regular Windows Explorer list. Then I thought, well, that’s how you tell it which songs to play, but then I thought, no, that’s what playlists are for. Then I realized that I was too confused to figure it out on my own. - They may well do that by now. I started downloading music this way a year and a half ago and bothered to look and see if Napster’s payment methods have changed since then. All I know is, I don’t see Napster gift cards at the places I see iTunes gift cards. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2007, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-itunes-questions/421031/2 "2007-09-30T15:16:15Z")
[QUOTE=KneadToKnow] Question 1. When I create a playlist for burning a CD, how can I arrange the tracks _other_ than sorting by one of the defined fields? I cannot figure out for the life of me how to put tracks in any order I want to, and I feel like I’m missing something obvious. [/quote] Click and drag. Yes, you missed something VERY obvious 😛 > [@](#): > > Question 2. What the hell are the check boxes for? Selecting which tracks to synchronise with an iPod. AFAIK if you’re not doing this, they have no function. ---
**Author:** ![Mayo\_Speaks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c57346/32.png) [@Mayo\_Speaks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mayo_Speaks)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2007, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-itunes-questions/421031/3 "2007-09-30T15:18:08Z")
1. Create a playlist with some songs in it, then at the top choose to sorrt them by the song number, which is the leftmost column. Then you can drag-and-drop songs into place. 2. Check boxes tell iTunes which songs to play or not play. They are universal, so if you uncheck a song in playlist A, it will b unchecked in playlist B and in the library. It’s useful (I suppose) for people who like to listen to their entire library on shuffle but don’t like all of the tracks they own. ---
**Author:** ![Mayo\_Speaks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c57346/32.png) [@Mayo\_Speaks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mayo_Speaks)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2007, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-itunes-questions/421031/4 "2007-09-30T15:19:12Z")
[QUOTE=GorillaMan] \ Selecting which tracks to synchronise with an iPod. AFAIK if you’re not doing this, they have no function. [/QUOTE] I didn’t know this, as I don’t have an iPod. But they also do what I said. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2007, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-itunes-questions/421031/5 "2007-09-30T15:21:34Z")
1. Sorry, I thought I had tried drag-and-drop, and I just double-checked to be sure, and yes, I have tried that. Even following **Mayo Speaks!**'s more detailed instructions, it doesn’t work. 2. Both of the provided explanations work for me. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2007, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-itunes-questions/421031/6 "2007-09-30T15:28:06Z")
[QUOTE=GorillaMan] Selecting which tracks to synchronise with an iPod. AFAIK if you’re not doing this, they have no function. [/QUOTE] At least on Mac having the tracks unchecked doesn’t affect their being synched to an iPod. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2007, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-itunes-questions/421031/7 "2007-09-30T15:30:48Z")
[QUOTE=KneadToKnow] 1. Sorry, I thought I had tried drag-and-drop, and I just double-checked to be sure, and yes, I have tried that. Even following **Mayo Speaks!**'s more detailed instructions, it doesn’t work. [/QUOTE] Strange. You’ve definitely got them sorted by the left-most column? If sorted by another, it gives the impression of letting you drag them, but they’ll remain unchanged. > [@](#): > > At least on Mac having the tracks unchecked doesn’t affect their being synched to an iPod. It’s an option, somewhere in the settings for the iPod. ---
**Author:** ![Cleophus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a88e57/32.png) [@Cleophus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cleophus)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2007, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-itunes-questions/421031/8 "2007-09-30T15:31:04Z")
[QUOTE=Otto] At least on Mac having the tracks unchecked doesn’t affect their being synched to an iPod. [/QUOTE] There is a setting to only synchronize checked songs. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2007, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-itunes-questions/421031/9 "2007-09-30T15:36:31Z")
[QUOTE=GorillaMan] Strange. You’ve definitely got them sorted by the left-most column? If sorted by another, it gives the impression of letting you drag them, but they’ll remain unchanged. [/QUOTE] Yep. The little arrow is in the leftmost column with the track numbers. Funny thing is, when I click on that to change it from ascending to descending, it will resort the tracks, but then it reassigns the numbers so they are always ascending. Now I have something else to not like about iTunes. 🙂 But no, it still won’t let me drag and drop. It does something weird that makes it look like it’s going to, though. Say I grab track number 15 and try to drag it to a new location. Nothing happens when I let go. But now say I grab track 3 and try to drag it: a little vertical bar appears next to track 15 as if to say “did you want to put that here?” Now if I go try to drag track 25, the little vertical bar appears next to track 3. This f&cking thing is taunting me now. ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2007, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-itunes-questions/421031/10 "2007-09-30T15:50:50Z")
Beats me what the problem is. I just opened iTunes and created a new playlist with songs from three different artists. Drag and drop changed the order every time. Do you have the latest version of iTunes? (7.4+) ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2007, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-itunes-questions/421031/11 "2007-09-30T16:02:05Z")
[QUOTE=GorillaMan] It’s an option, somewhere in the settings for the iPod. [/QUOTE] OK yeah, deep in them when you’re actually synching it, at least on mine. ---
**Author:** ![Mayo\_Speaks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c57346/32.png) [@Mayo\_Speaks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mayo_Speaks)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2007, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-itunes-questions/421031/12 "2007-09-30T16:21:17Z")
[QUOTE=KneadToKnow] \ But no, it still won’t let me drag and drop. It does something weird that makes it look like it’s going to, though. Say I grab track number 15 and try to drag it to a new location. Nothing happens when I let go. But now say I grab track 3 and try to drag it: a little vertical bar appears next to track 15 as if to say “did you want to put that here?” Now if I go try to drag track 25, the little vertical bar appears next to track 3. This f&cking thing is taunting me now. [/QUOTE] I’ve never experienced this, and find it fascinating. For reference, when you drag and drop a song into a new location, it should look like [this screenshot](http://img218.imageshack.us/img218/6351/itunesspringsteenzz0.png). In this screenshot, I have drug “Badlands” into the 7th position in the playlist and am about to release it. Specifically, I can tell by the horizontal black line that iTunes is going to let me drop the song there. If I didn’t have a black horizontal bar, I’d know that iTunes wouldn’t let me drop it there. Possible problems: [ol] [li]You may be in shuffle mode.[/li][li]You may not actually be in a playlist. If you’re in the library, you can’t rearrange tracks.[/li][li]Hi Opal![/li][li]There may be a bug in your version of iTunes. I’d update to the latest version, which I believe is 7.3.2.6.[/li][/ol] Otherwise, I got nothin’. ---
**Author:** ![minor7flat5](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minor7flat5/32/258_2.png) [@minor7flat5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minor7flat5)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2007, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-itunes-questions/421031/13 "2007-09-30T18:56:38Z")
[QUOTE=Mayo Speaks!] 2. Check boxes tell iTunes which songs to play or not play. They are universal, so if you uncheck a song in playlist A, it will b unchecked in playlist B and in the library. It’s useful (I suppose) for people who like to listen to their entire library on shuffle but don’t like all of the tracks they own. [/QUOTE] Awesome! Just for fun, I just went into “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” and unchecked the box next to that annoying Harrison tune “Within You Without You” that I always skip over. Now when I play that album, it neatly skips over the unwanted song. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2007, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-itunes-questions/421031/14 "2007-09-30T22:11:18Z")
[QUOTE=Mayo Speaks!] You may be in shuffle mode. [/QUOTE] That was it. Thanks to everyone, especially **Mayo Speaks!**! I work with the public, so the last thing I need in my life is one more thing to get annoyed at. 🙂