See The Light - two concept screens for feedback

Which I have now fixed

Considering just over a week ago I'd never done ANY skinning I find it funny that I'm now trying to code TWO skins for TWO programs (Plex and XBMC) lol

I wouldn't bother trying to maintain compatibility. You lose all the background loading goodness for instance. At some point you're simply going to have to choose one or the other.

I don't think I've used background loading yet, not even sure what it's useful for lol

I like it a lot!
I too am thinking about making my own private skin, with just the stuff I really want (never need more than 1 view).
Did you have any XML knowledge before starting this project?

No I had NO knowledge whatsoever of skinning or xml.

I will tell you two things though.

1) Expect to write code that seemingly follows the rules as laid out in the wiki only for it not to work

2) Expect to find people in the XBMC forums extremely helpful, especially mcborzu and hitcher....they rock

If I can help at all I will and I'm more that happy to give you my IM/Email addresses...just post the mockups first!

Thx for the compliment, not to paraphrase a cheesy movie but I believe forum-wise in "Pay it forward". Others help me, I helps others, circle of life...

Sometimes I wander in Plex/Meedios forums for inspiration I notice some of the mockups on that other skin you are trying. That one looks very slick too.

Thanks Mcborzu - my biggest problem is getting bored with what I'm working on, hence "See The Light" I figured that a skin based more on typography than lots of graphics would be easier and quicker to write. I guessed wrong lol.

Also as mentioned above what you think should work often doesn't, which makes looking through your code that much more frustrating because when ur following the rules you can't see why it isn't working.

I hit a problem more or less with every extra piece of code I put in, I know I'm becoming a royal pain in the arse with all my questions. But the wiki just plain sucks at explaining HOW to write a skin.

Everyone learns a little different what really helped me, or made things easier was using a more finished skin as my base. Plus my skinning interest really peaked right around when DJH quit and left this version of Alaska for people to use...HERE.

I assume it works pretty well with a current version of XBMC. What I liked about that version is it's very simple, only like 60-80 lines of code per view made "trial and error" learning easier. I feel the 'empty' skin, for me, was harder to start with because it was so simple and plain.

The wiki is open-access. It will only improve if YOU take the time to add to it.

@Advocate A Small Suggestion