mpi for version 0.8? (1 Viewer)

[kkendall]

Again, the benefits may not be relevant for you, but they really are for others.
People who are not that into computers like you and me are, people who are not using MP daily or are just want an easy way to update and install without having to remember every procedure for every plugin
.
It is just much more userfriendly if you can install-uninstall-update all plugins from one central, nice looking, MediaPortal environment. It's just smarter marketing to get more people to use your great plugin

 

[Mike1978]

a bit offtopic, but I think it would be interesting for most people:

fforde:
Sorry guys I am closing this thread. I will start a new thread later this weekend with an update on things.

Weekend?

 

[DieBagger]

a bit offtopic, but I think it would be interesting for most people:

fforde:
Sorry guys I am closing this thread. I will start a new thread later this weekend with an update on things.

Weekend?

That's not a little off topic, that's a completely different topic... Let fforde and the guys do their (great) job wo. constantly bugging them for progress reports ....

on topic: There may not be a direct benefit right now, but if the most popular plugins would start using mpi it would maybe get more attention on the side of the core devs.

out of curiosity: what are the missing features of the MP-Installer compared to the (NSIS iirc?) installer you're using?

 

[fforde]

Again, the benefits may not be relevant for you, but they really are for others.
People who are not that into computers like you and me are, people who are not using MP daily or are just want an easy way to update and install without having to remember every procedure for every plugin

The procedure is not hard though. You download the Moving Pics installer. You run the installer. You click okay a few times. You are done. I don't see how using different installer software makes this procedure any more or less difficult. Maybe I am overlooking something though.

out of curiosity: what are the missing features of the MP-Installer compared to the (NSIS iirc?) installer you're using?

Mainly stuff having to do with our generic skin. We want to install the generic skin files in any skins that do not currently support Moving Pictures. We also do a check on existing movingpictures.xml files to see if it is in fact an older version of the generic skin in which case we update it. These conditional file copies are not possible with MPI.

Plus the UI for MPI installers is (or last time I checked was) hideous.

As I have stated above it would be possible to wrap the existing installer in an MPI package. I am just not sure what this would accomplish besides changing the extension though.

 

[Ticiano]

I think that, for the masses, for "non-geek" users, an EXE installer is even more friendly than the MPI installers...

 

[AgeOfPanic]

I really like the integration of plugins into the installation process of the available skins. For instance StreamedMP makes a clean install of MP a breeze, by automatically installing the most used plugins (Tvseries and MovingPictures). I understand the need for a separate process for other skins, but if MP wants to focus on ease of installation they should look into this.

 

[BlackdogZA]

quite happy with the exe installer, the MPI installer adds nothing for me personally

 

[dir]

I haven't checked, but is there a way within the MP gui to check for plugin updates? If there is, then having all the plugins use this method has another benefit. If there isn't, then it seems to me to be just an arbitrary method for updating plugins - you either run an exe or you 'run' an mpi.

 

[kkendall]

Yes, you can check for plugin updates from a central point in MP with mpi.
You should check it out yourself, it's done in about 10 seconds:
MPI is an application that you can run from the mediaportal folder in the Windows START menu (START-Programs-Team Mediaportal-MediaPortal Installer). It is a central point with info about all the plugins, divided in catagories, you can see which are installed and which not, what the latest version is, a one-click update button, uninstall option, etc.

The main reason it is wiser to user mpi (even better, the coming new version of mpi) is that it attracts more users to your plugin. It's that simple. If you want more people to use your plugin, use mpi.

It's just smarter marketing and communication.
Users want to install in the most simple way, all structured the same way, with the user interface the same way all from a central point, with easy central updating.
Heck, that is why people with no or a very basic computer knowledge love htpc mediacenter software so much in the first place!! MP and their (plugin) developers should do everything they can to make the step to install and update plugins as simple as possible. That will attract more people and will make MP even more of a success.
It's just a pitty not everybody understands that...

 

[fforde]

Yes, you can check for plugin updates from a central point in MP with mpi.
You should check it out yourself, it's done in about 10 seconds:
MPI is an application that you can run from the mediaportal folder in the Windows START menu (START-Programs-Team Mediaportal-MediaPortal Installer). It is a central point with info about all the plugins, divided in catagories, you can see which are installed and which not, what the latest version is, a one-click update button, uninstall option, etc.

Dir asked if MPI allows you to check for updates in the GUI. This is not possible, and it is not even possible to do this in the MediaPortal Config either. You have to manually launch a third program that will check for updates. While this is perhaps a useful feature for some it is in my opinion ill conceived and I suspect most users will not bother with the third program. If this functionality were integrated into MediaPortal itself I would jump on MPI in a heartbeat. As it is though, this feature is dead on arrival for me.

The main reason it is wiser to user mpi (even better, the coming new version of mpi) is that it attracts more users to your plugin. It's that simple. If you want more people to use your plugin, use mpi.

This is an absurd statement. Do you realize that the two most popular plugins for MediaPortal do not use MPI? If the lack of an MPI installer is affecting the size of our user base, I assure you the effect is absurdly minimal.

It's just smarter marketing and communication.

The installer application has very little to do with marketing and nothing to do with communication.

Users want to install in the most simple way, all structured the same way, with the user interface the same way all from a central point, with easy central updating.
Heck, that is why people with no or a very basic computer knowledge love htpc mediacenter software so much in the first place!! MP and their (plugin) developers should do everything they can to make the step to install and update plugins as simple as possible. That will attract more people and will make MP even more of a success.

We have used NSIS for several reasons. One of those reasons is we felt we could make a better, more understandable and easier to use installer with NSIS. It is a standard tool that billions of people are familiar with. It is used much much more than MPI. Don't bring the "familiar" argument into this, because MPI in my opinion fails in this regard.

As for a central place to manage plugins and check for updates, I too feel this would be a huge advantage, but as I mentioned above I feel the strategy MPI uses in this respect is very very flawed.

It's just a pitty not everybody understands that...

Show a little respect.

What frustrates me the most is I am just repeating much of what I have already explained above. Have you even read through this thread? Actually don't answer that. Because I am frankly not at all interested in having this conversation again. I feel I have made it abundantly clear why we do not use MPI. If and when features are added to MediaPortal to better integrate MPI plugins we will switch to it. As it is now, MPI is simply an inferior installation package with MediaPortal branding.

EDIT: And to be clear, I think MPI does have some advantages, for example it's much easier to create an MPI package than it is to create an NSIS installer. Especially for skinners who have little experience with programming, this is invaluable. This is not an advantage that really applies to us though. The trade offs do not make MPI worth it for Moving Pictures.