Skins and compatability

madad · 2008-04-10, 06:37

I guess when you build an application like this, and allow lots of people to contribute to the code, you are always at risk of things becomming fragmented.

I've recently switched my lounge pc from Vista MC to MP and so far I've been pleased with the results. There are certainly some string reasons to use MP.

But last night I decided My TVSeries looked like a good plugin to show off the functionality of MP to my friends. So I installed it. And to my horror, after spending considerable time wading through the huge configuration screens, I fired up MP and tried to go look at my TVSeries.

Black screen. Error message. Bummer.

Turns out BlueTwo doesn't have a skin file for it. TVSeries.xml is nowhere to be found. What? But this is the default skin Mp uses and to be honest it's still the only one I'd use because it looks the cleanest and seems to work with all the other plugins I've tried.

Ok I thought, Ill go try some other plugins. And that's when the fun really started - I'm only using a couple of other plugins (online videos and something else I can't remember right now) but none of the skins I tried seemed to work properly. Missing graphics, error messages, all sorts of problems.

Can someone please point me in the direction of some skins that actually support ALL the plugins PROPERLY (ie no text hanging off buttons, error screens, missing xml files etc). My wife is starting to get really upset at how much time I'm spending "getting it working"

Sorry to sound blunt, I really rate MP as a whole and it's a great effort everyone's put in. I'm sure I'm just missing the point somewhere.

Cheers.

tourettes · 2008-04-10, 07:16

Plugin authors are "responsible" for creating all the skin files for their plugins. My TVSeries is pretty commonly used plugin, so I'm pretty sure that it supports the default skin (as all other plugins as well should do). Maybe the plugin installation didn't succeed and the skin files aren't in a correct place?

Inker · 2008-04-10, 07:57

Quote:

Originally Posted by tourettes

Plugin authors are "responsible" for creating all the skin files for their plugins. My TVSeries is pretty commonly used plugin, so I'm pretty sure that it supports the default skin (as all other plugins as well should do). Maybe the plugin installation didn't succeed and the skin files aren't in a correct place?

No, not really unfortunatly. There is a tvseries.xml provided with mediaportal by default which unfortunatly is ages old and was for the old plugin and doesn't work at all with it anymore. There is a version for B2 and B2 Wide available but it too is outdated and not included anymore in the latest download.

Easiest is to remove the "broken" tvseries.xml from the repository (for RC1) so that at least users get a clear description of skin file missing and not some weird look. I'm surprised madad didn't have the xml? I can't seem to find the b2 skin in svn right now, but I'm pretty sure there is an ancient one provided.

tourettes · 2008-04-10, 07:59

Oh, sorry. Didn't know that MP has the .xml file for that plugin. It definately should be removed and the plugin should provide it (just to keep the skin file up to date when plugin itself updates).

madad · 2008-04-10, 23:39

So what in everyone's opinion is the best skin - ie most compatible, nicest to look at etc (I'm using a 32" widescreen crt, so I need simplicity - what looks good on a high res plasma probably doesnt look so flash crammed onto a tiny 32" screen..)

chefkoch · 2008-04-11, 03:25

Quote:

Originally Posted by Inker

No, not really unfortunatly. There is a tvseries.xml provided with mediaportal by default which unfortunatly is ages old and was for the old plugin and doesn't work at all with it anymore. There is a version for B2 and B2 Wide available but it too is outdated and not included anymore in the latest download.

It has been removed since ages

from mp but maybe it was include in 0.2.3.0 final, so the 1.0rc1 will solve this issue

Darre · 2008-04-11, 12:51

Monochrome or indigo are probably the best skins out there right now. Both support a butload of plugins, and look good, while keeping it simple.

LXTR · 2008-04-11, 14:14

Quote:

Originally Posted by madad

...

Turns out BlueTwo doesn't have a skin file for it. TVSeries.xml is nowhere to be found. What? But this is the default skin Mp uses and to be honest it's still the only one I'd use because it looks the cleanest and seems to work with all the other plugins I've tried.

...

I use Blue Two Wide too. People who hasn't a High Definition TV (that's me) consider this skin the clearest one. If only somebody could update it sometimes...

¿Which other skin would you recommend for no high definition tvs?

Inker · 2008-04-11, 14:21

There is a file for B2 and B2W, as described in this post, so its not like people have to use a diff. skin. It just doesn't come with the plugin because its not very good and doesn't show off the plugin very well. Nobody seems to be interested in making them more interesing though.

Here you can see one for B2W as well.
SourceForge.net Repository - [mp-tvseries] Index of /trunk/skin files

catavolt · 2008-04-24, 00:39

Hi madad,

why not give a try to PureVisionHD 1.2?

2008-04-10, 06:37	#1 (permalink)
madad Portal Member Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 67 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts Country:	Skins and compatability I guess when you build an application like this, and allow lots of people to contribute to the code, you are always at risk of things becomming fragmented. I've recently switched my lounge pc from Vista MC to MP and so far I've been pleased with the results. There are certainly some string reasons to use MP. But last night I decided My TVSeries looked like a good plugin to show off the functionality of MP to my friends. So I installed it. And to my horror, after spending considerable time wading through the huge configuration screens, I fired up MP and tried to go look at my TVSeries. Black screen. Error message. Bummer. Turns out BlueTwo doesn't have a skin file for it. TVSeries.xml is nowhere to be found. What? But this is the default skin Mp uses and to be honest it's still the only one I'd use because it looks the cleanest and seems to work with all the other plugins I've tried. Ok I thought, Ill go try some other plugins. And that's when the fun really started - I'm only using a couple of other plugins (online videos and something else I can't remember right now) but none of the skins I tried seemed to work properly. Missing graphics, error messages, all sorts of problems. Can someone please point me in the direction of some skins that actually support ALL the plugins PROPERLY (ie no text hanging off buttons, error screens, missing xml files etc). My wife is starting to get really upset at how much time I'm spending "getting it working" Sorry to sound blunt, I really rate MP as a whole and it's a great effort everyone's put in. I'm sure I'm just missing the point somewhere. Cheers.

2008-04-10, 07:16	#2 (permalink)
tourettes Portal Developer Join Date: Jan 2005 Age: 30 Posts: 3,443 Thanks: 90 Thanked 114 Times in 92 Posts	Plugin authors are "responsible" for creating all the skin files for their plugins. My TVSeries is pretty commonly used plugin, so I'm pretty sure that it supports the default skin (as all other plugins as well should do). Maybe the plugin installation didn't succeed and the skin files aren't in a correct place? __________________ http://day2.no-ip.org/ "Commy64 - The problem there is that Oprah was on. MP tried to save you by blanking the screen"

2008-04-10, 07:59	#4 (permalink)
tourettes Portal Developer Join Date: Jan 2005 Age: 30 Posts: 3,443 Thanks: 90 Thanked 114 Times in 92 Posts	Oh, sorry. Didn't know that MP has the .xml file for that plugin. It definately should be removed and the plugin should provide it (just to keep the skin file up to date when plugin itself updates). __________________ http://day2.no-ip.org/ "Commy64 - The problem there is that Oprah was on. MP tried to save you by blanking the screen"

2008-04-11, 14:21	#9 (permalink)
Inker Portal Designer Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 1,560 Thanks: 35 Thanked 134 Times in 58 Posts My System	There is a file for B2 and B2W, as described in this post, so its not like people have to use a diff. skin. It just doesn't come with the plugin because its not very good and doesn't show off the plugin very well. Nobody seems to be interested in making them more interesing though. Here you can see one for B2W as well. SourceForge.net Repository - [mp-tvseries] Index of /trunk/skin files __________________ There are only two industries that refer to their customers as "users". - Edward Tufte

2008-04-24, 00:39	#10 (permalink)
catavolt Portal Designer Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Glashütten (Hochtaunus) Posts: 281 Thanks: 62 Thanked 49 Times in 34 Posts Country:	Hi madad, why not give a try to PureVisionHD 1.2? __________________ Best Regards catavolt

2008-04-10, 23:39	#5 (permalink)
madad Portal Member Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 67 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts Country:	So what in everyone's opinion is the best skin - ie most compatible, nicest to look at etc (I'm using a 32" widescreen crt, so I need simplicity - what looks good on a high res plasma probably doesnt look so flash crammed onto a tiny 32" screen..)

2008-04-11, 12:51	#7 (permalink)
Darre Portal Member Join Date: Apr 2007 Age: 23 Posts: 910 Thanks: 104 Thanked 75 Times in 58 Posts Country:	Monochrome or indigo are probably the best skins out there right now. Both support a butload of plugins, and look good, while keeping it simple.

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