Root:  By adding a root, you tell DL to watch a specific folder or playlist. You can add for example C:\Music as root. DL will then add an entry called 'Music' in the left pane (the treeview) of the DL window and list all contents in the right pane (the listview). It will only display the file types that are selected in preferences. You can also add playlists (m3u files). You will see the playlist appear in the treeview and its contents in the listview. You can add as many roots as you want via Roots/cache-management in preferences or via the right-click treeview menu. When we refer to a root, we mean the folder or playlist you added yourself to Dynamic Library, and not its subfolders.

Treeview:  This is the left pane of the DL window where you will find all folders/subfolders and playlists that have been added as roots.

Listview:  This is the right pane of the DL window that displays the contents of the currently selected folder or playlist in the treeview. If you have the option "Display in listview... ...files residing in subfolders" checked in preferences, also files in subfolders of the selected folder will be displayed.

Browse mode:  The actual structure of your folders is preserved. In the treeview you will see the folders and playlists as they exist on your hard disc and in the listview you will find the files that reside in the selected folder or playlist.

Search mode:  Changes the display of the treeview. It now numerically/alphabetically sorts all the folders/subfolders in your roots. In the listview you will find all files found in all roots. You can set in preferences whether you would like to have all playlists and files in playlists listed in Search mode as well.

Cache:  DL cache stores previously scanned file information. The first DL scan of a folder with no cache can be slow, but afterwards, loads should be much faster. There is a separate cache for each root. Information of scanned files in playlists will not be saved in cache. These files have to be scanned everytime you open Dynamic Library.

Searchbar:  The bar at the top of the DL window to search for a specific file (or folder/playlist, in Search mode). Right-click the searchbar for search options.

a. Right-click folder in treeview

(in Browse mode)

(in Search mode)

b. Right-click playlist in treeview

c. Right-click file in listview

Right-click searchbar

Right-click column headers

Choose which ID3-tags are viewable by right-clicking a column header and (un)checking the columns you (don't) want. All columns are resizable by dragging the column header right side. If you double-click the column header divider at the right side of a column, that column will be resized up to the width it can completely contain the longest string. You can change the order of the columns by dragging the column header.

Sorting:  All columns can be used to sort by clicking on the column header. Sort is remembered for folders. Playlists are by default unsorted. You can change the order in playlists by holding the Alt key and dragging.

At the bottom of the DL window, you'll find a display which tells you how many files have been scanned. It shows the amount of files in the listview, and how many files tags are read. To scan more files, scroll down in the listview to display them, or right-click a folder in the treeview > "Read tags in this folder". To stop tag-reading, press 'Escape'. If not all files get scanned, this means there are files like pls, m3u or wave in the list (or tag-reading is turned off). There is also a counter that shows the total playtime of the read files. If not all files are read, a '+' sign is added to the playtime. At the end the total filesize will be displayed of all files in the listview (i.e. also the files that have not been scanned yet).

a. File types:
Pulls supported file types from Winamp. If files do not properly work in Winamp or DL, it is not DL's fault. Your Winamp is not configured to handle that filetype. By default, filetypes selected in Winamp preferences are selected for DL.

b. Double-click action:
Enqueue, Play, Enqueue and Play, Enqueue after Current, or None.

c. Play and Enqueue buttons:
Default action of Enqueue button at bottom left of DL window: Enqueue, Enqueue & play, or Enqueue after current.

"Perform action on all files in listview"
If this option is checked, pressing the Play or Enqueue button will play/enqueue all files currently in listview. If "Only load playlist-files when explicitly told to do so" is checked, playlists (m3u files) displayed in the listview won't be added to the playlist editor when using the Play or Enqueue button.

d. Gen. Miscellaneous:

"Stop searching in subfolders when found a match"
This option is only relevant in Search mode. When this option is checked, subfolders won't be searched when a match is found (in the treeview). For example, if you have a root 'Music' with a folder in it called 'Muse - Showbiz' and you search for 'Mus', only the folder 'Music' will show up in the results. If this option is not checked, both 'Music' and 'Muse - Showbiz' will be returned.

"Display warnings when about to perform potentially slow operations"
A warning will popup when trying to perform potentially slow operations. For example when you try to add more than 500 files to a specific position in the Winamp playlist editor (by dragging them).

e. Playlist options:

"Autosave playlists"
Will save any changes you made in playlists automatically when closing DL and when refreshing roots. If unchecked, a confirmation dialog will popup every time DL tries to save a playlist.

"Only load playlist-files when explicitly told to do so"
When this option is checked, playlists (m3u files) displayed in the listview won't be added to the Winamp playlist editor when you use the Play or Enqueue button (at the bottom left of the DL window) or when you right-click a folder/playlist in the treeview > Play/Enqueue/Enqueue and play/Enqueue after current. If you manually select m3u files in the listview and right-click them to play them, they will always be added to the Winamp playlist editor.

"Ask confirmation before adding playlist files to Winamp"
If this option is checked, a confirmation dialog will popup when you try to add playlists (m3u files) displayed in the listview to the Winamp playlist editor.

Note: only m3u playlists are supported.

a. Display in listview:

"...files residing in subfolders"
Displays files found in subfolders of the selected folder.

"...files and playlists that originate from a playlist root in Search mode *"
When this option is checked, playlists and playlist entries will be listed in Search mode. When unchecked, only real files and folders wil be displayed in Search mode.
Note: playlists automatically added as nodes (and their entries) will never be displayed in Search mode.

"...files sorted disregarding of beginning with "the""
For example: 'The Cure' will be viewed and sorted using 'Cure'.

"...paths in this format"
Displays the path and/or filename of the file in the path column in the listview.

b. Display in treeview:

"...playlist files as nodes"
If this option is checked, m3u files stored in added folders will automatically be displayed in the treeview, like this:

(i.e. 'Downloaded stuff' is added as root; 'paul.m3u' (stored in 'Downloaded stuff') is automatically displayed as playlist)
Files originating from such playlists will never show up in Search mode.

"...empty folders"
When unchecked, empty folders won't be displayed in the treeview.

"...selected node as expanded when switching modes *"
If a folder is selected while in Search mode and you switch to Browse mode, if the selected folder has subfolders, they will be visible (i.e. unfolded).

c. Winamp integration:

"Use playlist editor's font for treeview and listview"
If checked, DL will use the same font as the playlist editor of Winamp. Results may vary per skin and/or font.

"Open Dynamic Library when pressing the lightning-bolt in main window"
If checked, clicking the lightning-bolt in the main window will toggle the DL window. May conflict with the Media Library (Prefs (Ctrl+P) > Media Library > Library Options tab > 'Modify Settings' button > "Main Window lightning bolt opens Media Library instead of About Box"), NxS Thinger, or any other plugin that uses the lightning-bolt.

d. Disp. Miscellaneous:

"Display icon in NxS Thinger (if available)"
Adds icon to Saivert's NxS Thinger plug-in. Please speak with Saivert for any issues related to NxS Thinger.

"Display warning before doing a physical file operation (e.g. delete)"
Will pop up a dialog to ask confirmation before actually copying/moving/deleting a file. Checked by default.

a. Tag-reading:

"Read ID3-tags from file if necessary"
If you wish to display the ID3-tags for your files, keep this option checked.  If you do not wish to show ID3-tags, uncheck it.

"Automatically get ID3-tags for all files in listview"
If this feature is turned off, DL will only gather ID3-tag information for files currently visible in the listview. You can force DL to read ID3-tags of all files in the listview by right-clicking a folder in the treeview > "Read tags in this folder".
If this option is checked, DL will automatically scan all files in the listview. To stop scanning, press 'Escape'.
Note: this option will only work when "Read ID3-tags from file if necessary" is checked, and when the file info is not already in cache.

"If some tags are missing..."
Tag guessing similar/identical to Winamp.

b. Priority class:
Realtime, High, Normal, and Idle. It is not recommended to set this value above normal. For the average user this option is not relevant. It can be useful sometimes when you are also running applications like SETI or BOINC. Those programs could take higher priority than DL which would slow down the scanning of files.

a. Roots/cache management:
This is the list of folders and playlists that will be displayed in the treeview. Each folder root can be configured separately to "auto-refresh" and to use or not use "cache". Use the arrows to move the selected root up or down in the treeview display. Playlist roots cannot be auto-refreshed, nor can they use cache. All options at the right (i.e. 'Add', 'Remove', 'Change' and 'Clear cache' buttons and the 'Auto-refresh' and 'Use cache' checkboxes) affect the selected root at the left.

"Auto-refresh"
Useful to turn off if you are editing/downloading/transfer files into a folder. With auto-refresh off, DL will not notice any changes in that folder, and will not update it in DL. You can press F5 while the DL window is focused to force a refresh. When you restart Winamp, DL will always notice changes.

"Use cache"
Few reasons to turn this off.

b. Language selection:
Select which language you would like DL to be displayed in. Changing the language requires a Winamp restart. The language files that come with the installer are stored in \Winamp\Plugins\dl\Language.

c. Drag 'n Drop:
1) to tree folder: moves or copies the dragged file(s) to the folder ('tree folder' is a folder in the treeview).
2) to another window (explorer folder): copies the dragged file to the location dragged to, or makes a playlist of the selected files and stores it in that folder.
Dragging to a playlist in the treeview will always add the dragged file to that playlist.