Skin & UI Suggestions for Frodo

Yes we really need support for at least banners and posters (which should be doable since the thetvdb has both images), everything else is not such a problem.

I think a new content type is needed for online content such as youtube.

(2012-03-30 14:10)Big_Noid Wrote:  I think a new content type is needed for online content such as youtube.

I agree, see my first post.

I must say I'm quite annoyed that plugin developers mostly do not bother setting a proper content type so you end up in a situation that metadata are put in labels or content type is set to movies while plugin actually use episode like thumbs.

When plugin is nicely done, like ESPN for example you can still run into minor problems. I was using ListItem.Date for episodes, while plugin is using ListItem.Premiered. And it is impossible to test skin with every available plugin there.

Maybe merging Programs and the rest of the add-ons to, say, MyAddonNav.xml and making unified content types and labels for this window afterwards could help to make add-ons look better integrated into XBMC.

Yes beter addon integration welcome. It's my dream since i start addon coding.

Problem with better addon integration is every single addon wants too show different information and rarely are any 2 alike

(2012-03-30 17:15)Jezz_X Wrote:  Problem with better addon integration is every single addon wants too show different information and rarely are any 2 alike

I understand where you are comming from but still:

- it either has ListItem.Description or not (we can use IsEmpty here)
- little bit info like duration, votes etc. We can use ListItem.Label2 and ListItem.Label3 here + specific ones if really needed
- container.content. I would take a bit different aproach here and go with container.content(posters), c.c(squares), c.c(banners) here. If not set we use generic ones.

(2012-03-30 14:02)pecinko Wrote:  It is planned but JM did not give any ETA.

Personally I would like it rather sooner than later if possible and implemented in such a way that you would switch between posters and banners by switching views rather than making a XBMC toggle option.

For this to work we would need something like ListItem.Banner or ListItem.WideIcon

Yes. I agree.
That is the best way to go so any skinner (depending of the view layout) can choose what to use between ListItem.Thumb and ListItem.Banner.

Even if the multiple thumbs is not going to implement in the near future, I think TV Shows definitely need the banner thumb.

Cheers
Nessus

(2012-01-21 16:15)pecinko Wrote:  Banners and Posters for TV Shows:
I would like to suggest dropping banner support altogether or fetching both posters and banners. Current situation is very confusing and there are many posts like "why my thumbs get stretched/squished"

I follow the thread with the changes to the skinning engine for Frodo waiting for this. Please do not skip this for one more XBMC version. It will resolve many misunderstandings from the users and it will save a lot of time for skinners.

Cheers
Nessus

(2012-01-29 14:44)pecinko Wrote:  <overlaytexture> tag for image control

This should behave exactly the same as <bordertexture> but should be rendered on top of an image instead.

(2012-01-29 23:44)jmarshall Wrote:  <overlaytexture> is unlikely to be added unless there is an extreme need for it. You already have a diffuse + border, do you really need something else? Prove it.

(2012-02-03 01:48)Robotica Wrote:  This could be very usefull for some picture related views.. An overlay with some meta data.

Is this a valid use case scenario?

Metadata is not a texture.