2013-01-06, 21:25
Hi Everyone!
****Updated****
I've written this tutorial to try and assist fellow users of MQ4 who would like to be able to split their children’s media from their own, and be able to access each of these easily through the home screen menu.
If you are anything like me then you love your kids, and are more than happy to have their favourite shows and movies available to them; but would prefer not to have these mixed in with your own well maintained library.
In the spirit of XBMC I will in this post attempt to show any new users with similar ambitions how to accomplish this (if you haven't already).
I would also like to thank Macosqui for all his hard work on bringing us this brilliant skin.
STEP 1
If you haven't already, then you will need to separate your children's media files from your own on your storage device.
For example I have the folder structure on my NAS as follows:
Folder 1: Movies – Where I store my Movies.
Folder 2: TV Shows – Where I store my TV shows.
Folder 3: Kids Movies – Where I store the Children’s Movies.
Folder 4: Kids TV – Where I store the Children’s TV shows.
STEP 2
Now we need to open XBMC, and add each of these folders as a separate source so that we end up with 4 different sources named: Movies, TV Shows, Kids Movies & Kids TV. Each pointing to their respective folders we just created on your storage device.
I won't go into any detail as how to do this as it is covered in the wiki guide here.
STEP 3
Next, we need to create 4 smart playlists for XBMC to store. If you are using MQ4 go to the home screen, move along the menu until 'Movies' is selected, press down so that the sub menu appears, and select 'playlists'.
Now select 'New Smart Playlist' and the below menu will appear.
We will start by creating a playlist for our own movie collection. So select movies as the type, and in the name field type 'Movies'. Now scroll down and select new rule.
A new window will appear and we need to change this so that it reads: Match items where 'Path' 'Contains' and then select the browse button.
This will then provide us with a list of the sources we created earlier. As this playlist is for our grown up movies (I'm trying my up most to avoid saying adult movies :-P), we need to select the 'Movies' Source.
Accept this, and the playlist rule and this will take us back to the first window. We now need to order the list by title, press OK.
The final pop up will ask us to again name the playlist.
Now follow step 3 again until you have a smart playlist set up for all four of your sources.
When adding TV shows be sure to select the 'Type' as TV shows, and sort by 'TV Show' rather than 'Title'.
STEP 4
Ok, now return to the home screen, press the down arrow twice and select 'Customizations'.
Once here press the up arrow and select '+VPLAYLIST'.
This will now produce a window which will list all of the playlists we created earlier. Select one of these.
Finally you need to tell the skin that we want to place the playlist in the Main Menu, so select this option.
A new button should now be showing on your home screen. It will likely be called 'Menu 1' or something similar.
Again, repeat this step for the remaining playlist categories.
STEP 6
Last but not least we need to rename the newly added buttons to something more appropriate, and disable the original 'Movie' & 'TV Show' labels.
While still in the 'Customization' view, highlight one of the new buttons, press enter and this will produce a list of available actions. Simply select 'Rename', and enter whatever you like. Here you can also change the background associated with this button.
Then scroll across to the original 'Movie' and 'TV Show' lables, select these, and choose 'Disable/Reorder' to remove them.
Fingers crossed everything should now be working, and you have your and your children’s media collections neatly separated.
Cheers!
****Updated****
I've written this tutorial to try and assist fellow users of MQ4 who would like to be able to split their children’s media from their own, and be able to access each of these easily through the home screen menu.
If you are anything like me then you love your kids, and are more than happy to have their favourite shows and movies available to them; but would prefer not to have these mixed in with your own well maintained library.
In the spirit of XBMC I will in this post attempt to show any new users with similar ambitions how to accomplish this (if you haven't already).
I would also like to thank Macosqui for all his hard work on bringing us this brilliant skin.
STEP 1
If you haven't already, then you will need to separate your children's media files from your own on your storage device.
For example I have the folder structure on my NAS as follows:
Folder 1: Movies – Where I store my Movies.
Folder 2: TV Shows – Where I store my TV shows.
Folder 3: Kids Movies – Where I store the Children’s Movies.
Folder 4: Kids TV – Where I store the Children’s TV shows.
STEP 2
Now we need to open XBMC, and add each of these folders as a separate source so that we end up with 4 different sources named: Movies, TV Shows, Kids Movies & Kids TV. Each pointing to their respective folders we just created on your storage device.
I won't go into any detail as how to do this as it is covered in the wiki guide here.
STEP 3
Next, we need to create 4 smart playlists for XBMC to store. If you are using MQ4 go to the home screen, move along the menu until 'Movies' is selected, press down so that the sub menu appears, and select 'playlists'.
Now select 'New Smart Playlist' and the below menu will appear.
We will start by creating a playlist for our own movie collection. So select movies as the type, and in the name field type 'Movies'. Now scroll down and select new rule.
A new window will appear and we need to change this so that it reads: Match items where 'Path' 'Contains' and then select the browse button.
This will then provide us with a list of the sources we created earlier. As this playlist is for our grown up movies (I'm trying my up most to avoid saying adult movies :-P), we need to select the 'Movies' Source.
Accept this, and the playlist rule and this will take us back to the first window. We now need to order the list by title, press OK.
The final pop up will ask us to again name the playlist.
Now follow step 3 again until you have a smart playlist set up for all four of your sources.
When adding TV shows be sure to select the 'Type' as TV shows, and sort by 'TV Show' rather than 'Title'.
STEP 4
Ok, now return to the home screen, press the down arrow twice and select 'Customizations'.
Once here press the up arrow and select '+VPLAYLIST'.
This will now produce a window which will list all of the playlists we created earlier. Select one of these.
Finally you need to tell the skin that we want to place the playlist in the Main Menu, so select this option.
A new button should now be showing on your home screen. It will likely be called 'Menu 1' or something similar.
Again, repeat this step for the remaining playlist categories.
STEP 6
Last but not least we need to rename the newly added buttons to something more appropriate, and disable the original 'Movie' & 'TV Show' labels.
While still in the 'Customization' view, highlight one of the new buttons, press enter and this will produce a list of available actions. Simply select 'Rename', and enter whatever you like. Here you can also change the background associated with this button.
Then scroll across to the original 'Movie' and 'TV Show' lables, select these, and choose 'Disable/Reorder' to remove them.
Fingers crossed everything should now be working, and you have your and your children’s media collections neatly separated.
Cheers!