mpi for version 0.8? (1 Viewer)

[kkendall]

Will there be a MPI installer for version 0.8? That would improve usability and help a lot of people over the edge to try it out, I think.

 

[papas]

tbh i dont care if its released in any format from .zip .rar .ace as long as its released

 

[1stdead]

I don't think so, the reason they used .exe is that mpi misses some features.

 

[kkendall]

tbh i dont care if its released in any format from .zip .rar .ace as long as its released

Me neither, but for some its a nice and familiar way to install/uninstall plugins without searching for the right way everytime.
It§s more user friendly, thats all

 

[fforde]

Out of curiosity, what did you find confusing about the EXE installer?

 

[DieBagger]

The installer works perfectly fine but in terms of usability it would be nice if all plugins/skins could be installed as MPIs...

 

[fforde]

What makes MPIs more usable?

 

[dir]

The only thing I thought was useful about MPIs was that there could be a central place to check for plugin updates and a consistent way to do the updates. I'm probably wrong though - the MPI section of this website still looks really old and sparse.

But... if there's some facility within MP to check for updates (and I think there is in Settings somewhere), then it might only be checking for MPI updates. If that's the case, then it would be great if all plugins could be checked this way so that as a user, all we have to do is occasionally jump to the Settings section of the MP menu and see what's available for updating, rather than reading through the forums all the time.

The problem with reading the forums is that (again, as a User) it forces me to be a technical person rather than just someone enjoying their htpc. I have to keep abreast of all the activity happening on each plugin/skin and evaluate if it's appropriate to update. I'd much rather get to a point where I just do updates like with other consumer products (iPod, mobile phone, Windows Update, anti-virus software etc.) where it just does the update, keeps my settings, and "just works".

In a lot of situations with MP plugins I have to read the forums, work out what's changed and whether those changes are for my setup or not, find the updates on the net, download them, run/install them, go through the setup/configuration dialog, and restart MP. Then hope that it works!

Sure it can be argued that MP is no place for the "user" and that anyone wanting to run a htpc has to remain quite technical. In the short term, yes of course, but in 2 years? 5 years? I'd hope that in the future we're not still having to work out regex syntax and know correct database passwords during updates!

 

[DieBagger]

What makes MPIs more usable?

In a perfect world: being able to select/install/update/remove all plugins from within the mp configuration... (one can dream, right? ) Unfortunately it seems as if the work on the mpinstaller (and the changes to the repository talked about here) aren't making much progress...

 

[fforde]

The problem with reading the forums is that (again, as a User) it forces me to be a technical person rather than just someone enjoying their htpc. I have to keep abreast of all the activity happening on each plugin/skin and evaluate if it's appropriate to update. I'd much rather get to a point where I just do updates like with other consumer products (iPod, mobile phone, Windows Update, anti-virus software etc.) where it just does the update, keeps my settings, and "just works".

There is are several RSS feeds you can subscribe to, one of which is updated when new downloads are available. We have talked about implementing update notification as well to make the process you are describing a bit easier. For what it's worth.

As for the MPI issue, it's possible to wrap a native installer in an MPI, so maybe we will do this sooner or later. To be entirely honest though, i just don't see any benefits in doing so right now...