Does MP2 not have any active devs? (1 Viewer)

da3dsoul

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  • August 29, 2020
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    It seems odd that most of the problems that people complain about are that we can't switch to MP2 because there's no plugins for it, but there's no plugins because no one uses it.
    Obviously, the solution to that would be to keep chugging along, give incentives to update with impressive new features that warranted a major version change, and make the overall experience of MP2 so much better for new users and devs that they wouldn't consider using MP1. The thing is: I don't see that happening. I don't know if I'm looking in all of the wrong places, but the patch request section on here is long stale and the github seems to not be very active either. I get people have lives, but we're 3/4 of the way to 2021, and the last commit I see is from 2019.
    From what I've seen of MP2, it's nice. It's open source, has a decent starting UI, is built on a good language that doesn't have huge barrier of entry like C++, there's a plugin framework and skinning engine, and it has dedicated users that have been around for decades and can forgive the literal years of stale code and old application design concepts.
    The only thing stopping me from joining is that I don't see anything happening. No offense to anyone here. It's just near impossible to start on a project this complex without some senior devs active enough to get you up and running. So what's up? I'd like to help, but this isn't a cart that one man can pull, especially when there's a flat tire, and I don't know where you keep the pump.
     

    Lehmden

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    Hi.
    Summertime mostly is quiet as people got other (better?) things to do... The latest internal test build of MP2 is from 2020/08/04. Some weeks ago but after that the vacation time starts. As I'm not very familiar with Github I can't tell you where to find the recent WIP 2.3 Branch...
    As far as I know there are 3 active devs ( @morpheus_xx , @henso and @Brownard ) and one designer ( @ge2301 ) working on MP2. But afaik 2 of them are on vacation right now. So at the moment it really is very quiet. Any of them now gets a message (that's why I tagged them) as soon as they are looking into the forum.
     

    ge2301

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  • January 11, 2014
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    Hi,
    as @Lehmden said it's vacation time at the moment. We are just before releasing the new major version 2.3, so most work for it has been doen before the summer vacation.
    The branch is here: MediaPortal/MediaPortal-2
    If you need any help building MP2, please let me know. I'm "just" the designer, but can help with most things, besides detailed #C questions etc.
    May I ask for your program language skills? If you are really interested in supporting, you are more then welcome. We've also started to create a web based client and one vision is to make it work on android.
     

    da3dsoul

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    If I were to say my primary skills, I'd say data aggregation and analysis, bug crunching, and optimization. My best language is C#. I don't know how many people are familiar with My Anime 3, but I'm currently a lead dev of Shoko. I'm not great at design by itself, but I'm good at critiquing designs. At least for now, I don't touch anything with an HTML stack. It's hard to call it web, as nowadays everything is considered web in one way or another. I'm familiar with client-server architecture and whatnot and how to program for it.

    Normally, I see the opposite with vacations. More free time means more work on hobby projects. I'm a poor, sad American, so the seasons all blend together in a continuous cycle of poverty and dread. It's a shitshow here, now especially, in case you haven't heard.
     
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    ge2301

    Lead Design MP2
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    bug crunching, and optimization. My best language is C#. I don't know how many people are familiar with My Anime 3, but I'm currently a lead dev of Shoko. I'm not great at design by itself, but I'm good at critiquing designs.
    Well, I've almost no #C skills, but xaml and design. So for those I can help where needed.
    Regarding how to create plugins @henso @Brownard @morpheus_xx @aspik can help better. I can create only skin plugins ;)
     

    da3dsoul

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    If you can tell me where to start for skinning, then that's a start. I'm familiar with XAML. I saw a post about making the XAML preview work. I'll keep an eye out for that in the future, too. Considering how much I hate making UI, fixing a tool like that is a big deal.
     

    ge2301

    Lead Design MP2
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    If you can tell me where to start for skinning, then that's a start. I'm familiar with XAML. I saw a post about making the XAML preview work. I'll keep an eye out for that in the future, too. Considering how much I hate making UI, fixing a tool like that is a big deal.
    I think I can with a quote from internal forum. The tool is part of the WIP2.3 branch.

    I have started to work on a small helper tool that makes cloning of skins very simple. This helps skinners to copy an existing skin into a new one and all changes that needed to be done by hand before are automatically applied. This contains:
    • Create new project file (NEW.csproj), new ProjectID, renamed Skin folders to match new name
    • Create new PluginId and Name
    • Create unique "Register" keys for language/skin
    • Rename assembly name, namespaces and usings
    • Copy english localization and change names ([WMC.xxx] -> [NEW.xxx])
    Known issues:
    • Settings keys are still required to be unique. At the moment there is no replacement of "Id=" inside
      XML:
      <!-- Contents of '/Appearance/Skin/SkinAndTheme' group -->
      <Register Location="/Configuration/Settings/Appearance/Skin/SkinSettings">
      <ConfigSetting
      Id="EnableFanart"
      Text="[New1.Configuration.EnableFanart]"
      HelpText="[New1.Configuration.EnableFanart.Help]"
      ClassName="MediaPortal.UiComponents.New1.Settings.Configuration.EnableFanartConfiguration"/>
    The tool is located inside branch GitHub - MediaPortal/MediaPortal-2 at FEAT_SkinCloneTool, locally under MediaPortal\Tools\SkinCloneTool. When compiled from that folder you can run it with following arguments:
    Code:
    -s WMC -t New1 -o
    -s: source skin
    -t: target skin
    -o: overwrite existing folder

    @Developers @Testers @Designers
     

    henso

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    I have hurt my shoulder, so I probably won’t do any coding in my free time until it’s better. I will help where I can with guidance.
     

    da3dsoul

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    That's fun. I shattered my kneecap on one of those e-scooters. I'm terribly out of shape from the months of being bedridden. I didn't get fat, at least, but a walk in the park is not an expression of something being easy anymore.
     

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