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WinXP, fully updated (except for IE7), VLC8.6, Preferences folder nuked.

Attempting to play AVI files with associated English-language subtitle files (identically named, and in same folder).

-- I have no trouble playing the files, but the subtitles submenu will not appear.
-- Subtitles MAY appear even when the file is manually chosen in Settings > Preferences > Video > Subtitles, but MAY NOT [b]unless[/b] VLC is quit and relaunched. And even then, that particular file is then "hardwired" and will play over every subsequent video unless shut off or deselected again (very annoying procedures).
-- The subtitle files in question displayed automatically on older versions.

Subtitles are my A#1 concern with VLC right now -- if a video type won't play, I can always run it through Total Video Converter to turn it into something else, but without subtitles I got nothin'.

IMO, there needs to be a prominent "Subtitles" menu command right smack front & center; no screwing around several evels deep in Preferences.

The external subtitle selection is from the open file menu. The Preferences option is not necessary.

A Subtitles option on the menubar (appearing between Video and Navigation would be the shizzits.

(The main problem, however, remains unaddressed -- that being the poor performance of subtitle auto-recognition.)

Tertiary gripe: Is there are setting hidden somewhere which enable me to open multiple instances of VLC (a la 85 and earlier) rather than adding a new launch to the list and jumping to it? That behavior is driving me nuts, as I frequently desire to have several things open at once for quality comparison purposes.

In VLC 0.8.6 you should be able to drag and drop the subs file on the video. (i don't know if this helps)

For me the subtitles menu item appears as a submenu of Video

[quote="Tappen"]For me the subtitles menu item appears as a submenu of Video[/quote]That's the way it SHOULD work; we're talking about those cases where the app doesn't auto-recognize the files it's seeing in the video's folder.

In preferences, Advanced Settings (Advanced Options on) did you accidentally check "Allow only one running instance"?

Subtitles have worked well for me in 0.8.6, better than 5. Of course all my subtitle files have the same name as the video file with .srt extension, so I haven't tested a lot of variations.

In preferences, Advanced Settings (Advanced Options on) did you accidentally check "Allow only one running instance"?

This is the default in 0.8.6 and has nothing to do with subtitle recognition.

Also all subtitle formats will be recognized if the sub caries the same name as the video file and exists in the same folder.