New skinning information in the online manual
#1
hi all,

had a bit of spare time with nothing particularly needing doing with xbmc on the weekend, so i sat down and spent some time writing up some accurate skinning info in the manual.

here's the starting page (this still needs lots of work - it's just the old one, with some new stuff on it):

skinning information

i've done up accurate (hopefully!Wink information on label, image, button, radiobutton and togglebutton controls. there's also a piece on window .xml structure, and a big list of all windows, their id's and their .xml files.

i'm wanting more people to get involved, and you guys are the ones who can help best (as you know what is needed, and know what stuff would help you out).

ideally, i want to include:

all controls + all tags.
all "mandatory" controls (locked to a specific id in a specific window stuff)
a decent overview (replacing the skinninginfo page), including:
* skin structure (which files do what)
* importance of references.xml
* the differing resolutions, and how to minimize workload.
* overscan and aspect ratio concerns.
a new section dedicated to quick tutorials on stuff such as:
* adding buttons to skins (for scripts etc.)
* adding info labels to skins (freemem etc.)
* getting navigation right (tutorial with controlgroups etc.)
* new visibility stuff

anyway, i don't have much time as i'm sure you guys can appreciate, but i'll endeavour to add stuff as i can.

i would appreciate any help you can offer - whether it be just reading it through and offering suggestions/corrections/pointing out where more explanation is needed etc. if you can help writing up some sections, then please go ahead. if you can handle getting the pages laid out a bit nicer, then great Smile

i want this to be the place for skinners both starting out and the veterans among you to get information about skinning. the more skins we have the better!

please don't hesitate to contribute - even if it's just to suggest what you would like to see as far as content goes.

cheers,
jonathan



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#2
i would like to see some info on developing for different resolutions, e.g. that tutorial you wrote on getting the perfect aspect ratio over at chokes forum would be a great addition.

it would also be cool if you could publish some guidelines on how to deal with overscan issues as i know that caused me some major headaches!

from what i remember the key to skinning on xbmc was understanding the references.xml, most of the other xmls (with the exception of font.xml) dealt with the same stuff in different windows.

i hope that helps... Smile
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#3
thanks ph03n1x, i've added your suggestions to my post above Smile
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#4
just an update (i'll update the above post with what has been done) by way to bump this up, given the rather dismal response.

i've written up 3 skinning tutorials, plus a bunch more information on some of the more exciting stuff in doing skins.

ideally others would be contributing, but noone else has thus far - hopefully due to just lack of time??

anyway, i'm looking for more tutorial ideas and actual tutorials. they don't have to be huge, just a quick writeup on something that you've found tricky and might be able to help others out with.

please at least take a look at what is there now (start at the skinning info page and go through from there) and let me know what you think.

i'm not going to be around for at least 2 months starting in around 3 weeks time, so i want to get this well underway so that there is a decent reference place for newcomers and oldtimers alike.

cheers,
jonathan
Always read the XBMC online-manual, FAQ and search the forum before posting.
Do not e-mail XBMC-Team members directly asking for support. Read/follow the forum rules.
For troubleshooting and bug reporting please make sure you read this first.


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#5
i'm new to skinning xbmc, so rather than tell you what i know, i can tell you what i'd like to be there....

at the moment i could use more info on images. file types, recommended sizes etc. i assume there are restrictions as i just tried adding a random animated gif in and it didn't work.

it will help a lot when i download the source images from cvs, i think i'm gonna give up on the orbs ones as http://www.xbox-skins.net is playing up for me.

other than that i'm having no problems, yet. hopefully i can help as i'm very new at xbmc skins, although i am familiar with skinning and xml so i do have a small advantage.
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#6
(manocheese @ july 22 2005,08:09 Wrote:i assume there are restrictions as i just tried adding a random animated gif in and it didn't work.  
there are problems with animated gifs from some programs.

use imagereadycs and make sure you set the gif-anim to "restore to background".
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#7
http://manual.xboxmediacenter.de/wakka.p...agecontrol

that what you are looking for Smile

thanks for the tip, bobrooney_78. i did fix a bug in the anim gif loader a while back that may have helped resolve the issue.

let me know as and when you need more info.

cheers,
jonathan
Always read the XBMC online-manual, FAQ and search the forum before posting.
Do not e-mail XBMC-Team members directly asking for support. Read/follow the forum rules.
For troubleshooting and bug reporting please make sure you read this first.


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#8
ahhh, i thought i'd looked at that, stupid me. thanks.
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#9
nope - i added it in response to your question Wink
Always read the XBMC online-manual, FAQ and search the forum before posting.
Do not e-mail XBMC-Team members directly asking for support. Read/follow the forum rules.
For troubleshooting and bug reporting please make sure you read this first.


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#10
ahh, that was quick, thanks.

i got it working, all i did was open it in imageready cs and do 'save as optimised' and now it works. now to get some screen caps of futurama and start drawing buttons.
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