[Martijn]

There are some amazing skin peeps out there...I really think this might be a good chance to maybe get some improvement to the default skin happening.

If Jezz_X is busy, but there's a new major version coming, why not put a more general call out to help improve the default skin but clearly define the guidelines (e.g. simplicity, lightweight, fast, not too many needed addons or whatever).

[says he who does no skinning at all]

Jezz_X clearly mentioned the guidelines so i doubt any changes should be made within the skin besides these obvious changes needed by core changes.

keep in mind that the default skin needs to remain simple and cohesive and able to be used with stuff that is built into the default install of xbmc only, it can't rely on addons that third parties make.

I am afraid many will just start adding features that are too specific or will slow the skin down. So no addons at all. (i always wondered why the skin even has TV show tunes support while it's not default installed).
So since ronie is also our in-house skinner i'd say he keeps an eye out to keep true to the original design and has say what to include or not

[Ned Scott]

There are some amazing skin peeps out there...I really think this might be a good chance to maybe get some improvement to the default skin happening.

If Jezz_X is busy, but there's a new major version coming, why not put a more general call out to help improve the default skin but clearly define the guidelines (e.g. simplicity, lightweight, fast, not too many needed addons or whatever).

[says he who does no skinning at all]

I'm all for more community involvement/input on the default skin. It would probably be best to start a new topic on that. In Skin Dev forum or the Confluence help forum?

[bossanova808]

Yep that's definitely the danger but there are some obvious UX places that could be improved without addons (I humbly submit).

If Ned Scott wrote a new post outlining the guidelines very clearly but calling for thoughts - explicitly stating no extra addon requirements allowed etc, might that not work?

I'd say Skin Dev forum - might get lost in the Confluence one. But perhaps a pointer thread there...

---

And yeah, ronie seems an excellent choice

[pecinko]

Confluence new settings - my take.

Here's a new XML https://www.dropbox.com/s/pznq7ufhe0sryg...tegory.xml

You can copy-paste it to confluence 720 folder to see it in action. New label is hard-coded ATM, it should be given new localisation ID.

Screen:

[Ned Scott]

Well, I don't want to step on any toes, even if it's just a brainstorming thread, so I'll check with the rest of the Team before starting a thread myself. I don't want to give the impression that we're suddenly going to make drastic changes or anything that might cause panic ;)

[bossanova808]

Panic is motivating

But yeah, that makes sense.

[User 34959]

How about something like this.. Make it a left aligned grouplist and add either these buttons or the ones from spincontrol to switch between levels.

I have not tried Gotham builds so I have no idea what it looks like at the moment and how it behaves.



I think the settings screen could use little less graphics since the background is static



Another option would be to make the gear icon in the breadcrumbs a button like Martijn basically suggested, and have the breadcrumb label indicate what is the current level. Usability with a remote is a question mark though.

[pecinko]

Here's a bit more radical:

The entire blade menu should go - everywhere- or the way you get to it be changed.

I beg to differ

If you take into account various remote controls that are being used I would propose:

Get rid of context menu in a way that its items are moved to the side menu. Use "C" to open up side menu. In short we merge context and side menu and gain dedicated button for it.

[bossanova808]

That has merit.

My main issue with it is in the how you get to it I guess...navigating off a list to the right is just weird, especially in some views like thumbnails.

But the other issue is how hidden it is - nobody knows it is there. But basically all remotes have a menu button and people seem to find the context menu more easily than the blade.

[`Black]

But the other issue is how hidden it is - nobody knows it is there. But basically all remotes have a menu button and people seem to find the context menu more easily than the blade.

People with a remote yes, with a keyboard, no.

For a remote the easiest way would be to use the colored buttons on the remote (if available) and an indicator on the bottom that e.g. green opens the context menu and yellow the view options. I thought about this for a while now but I don't think there is any better solution than showing the view options with left/right on a vertical list or up/down on a horizontal list because there are so many different input devices out there, some have a very limited number of buttons, others come with tons of them. XBMC doesn't come with a dedicated input device so it's obvious that there must be some trade-offs here and there.

[da-anda]

@overall UX improvements - we discussed those a lot at last devcon (also color button indicators etc), but many things are simply not yet possible or not practical because of the different input devices. But feel free to start a thread and collect the ideas.

[pecinko]

@overall UX improvements - we discussed those a lot at last devcon (also color button indicators etc), but many things are simply not yet possible or not practical because of the different input devices. But feel free to start a thread and collect the ideas.

Here's another one. Select (enter?) always open VideoInfo, we use PLAY button to skip that and start playback right away.

[Martijn]

please keep things on track. discuss one thing at a time or open a new thread.

if everything is going to be thrown in one thread no one knows what it's all about and it becomes a big mess.

[Nu7s]

My suggestion would be a tickmark:

[ ] Show advanced settings

I think it should be visible on every settings page so everyone including new members know there are advanced settings, and wether they are visible or not. Maybe add an option to password protect it so when you set up XBMC for someone else, they can't mess with it.

It could also be "Enable advanced settings" and grey out the advanced settings when not activated, so you can see what options are available, just can't set them.

[`Black]

Here is another possibility... the description could also change and explain the levels if the level control is selected.