(2016-06-28, 21:54)loggio Wrote:

(2016-06-28, 16:45)Guardian Hope Wrote:

The Road to Danvers and Krypton

a little feedback from the community wouldn't hurt:

I don't mean to be rude, so please don't take this the wrong way. Consider this just constructive criticism.

After reading your post above regarding this skin and it's release, I'm sort of left scratching my head... And just plain confused.

In the single post above you mention: dormer, danvers, summer 2016, preview availability, general availability, seasonal release, anniversary edition... All this, tucked away in a sub section of a forum labelled as a "mod" for a skin that's development has ceased for months.

Perhaps a new forum section for this skin? It doesn't appear to be much of a "mod" but more of a skin of its own.

I mean, most skins just have a point release version, or a simple "Jarvis beta" or "krypton beta" which is pushed to kodi repo when stable. this makes sense and is pretty obvious and simple.

In regards to this skin, my feedback: keep it simple.

I don't mean to be discouraging in any way, it's great to have a lot of skins to choose from so
Keep skinning away!

Cheers,
Loggio.

• Summer 2016 Update - The "seasonal update" that occurs to the skin, in this case the one to be released this Summer. An example of a previous one is the "Spring 2016 Update" which everyone is using and a future one would be the "Autumn 2016 Update" which will be released with Krypton;
  
• Dormer - The branch name for the Jarvis version of Arctic Zephyr: From Ashes (3.x.xx)
  
• Danvers - The branch name for the Krypton version of Arctic Zephyr: From Ashes (4.x.xx)
  [*]Preview Availability - Typically, AZ:FA is updated about once every three to four months (the change of the seasons basically). Preview Availability is like an Alpha and a Beta rolled into one. It's a version of the skin that doesn't abide by "seasonal updates" and will be consistently updated up to the release of the version of Kodi it's intended for. It's rough around the edges and meant for testing.
  
• General Availability - The "current release" version of this skin that is actively supported. It's obviously passed its Alpha and Beta stages and is now stable enough to run and be seasonally updated. The Danvers branch will transition to this upon Kodi 17's release. The Dormer branch is currently in this state.
  
• Anniversary Edition - This is the official name of the next version of Arctic Zephyr: From Ashes as it will be released around the time of the first anniversary of the AZ:FA project. It has the same meaning as "Danvers."
  

(2016-06-28, 22:49)mikeSiLVO Wrote: This is turning into a unique thread...

I gotta agree with the post above about all the naming things being thrown around. Seems like a confusing way to present updates, IMHO simple is 9 times out of 10 the way to go.

Why the need to change the folder name after altering the addon id to include danvers? That shouldn't mean you need the folder name to match the skin id. At least I cannot think of a reason one would need to do that.

On second thought, why even alter the id in the first place as now auto updates from a repo won't ever happen when anyone updates to a newer Kodi version.

I am not criticizing just curious as to why make that decision

(2016-06-29, 06:57)Guardian Hope Wrote: When downloading from GitHub, you always had to change the name of the internal folder in the zip because GitHub appends additional information. This is a limitation of the Skin Helper Service. The Skin Helper Service expects the Addon ID to match the name of the internal folder so if the Addon ID is "skin.arctic.zephyr.fromashes" it can't have the folder within the zip named "skin.arctic.zephyr.fromashes-master." This only effects the GitHub Release Channel and always has been true. So this means that since the next version has "danvers" in it, the folder inside the zip file also needs to be named appropriately.

Now the thought to change the Addon ID for Krypton was a long and hard choice to make but it was done to prevent the mixing of the two versions. This skin also happens to be hosted in the Emby Repo and as such there is a "skin.arctic.zephyr.fromashes" and there can't be another one to use that Addon ID; otherwise Jarvis would get the same version and thus Jarvis users would not have a working skin. So, to rectify that a new Addon ID was needed and in this case it's "skin.arctic.zephyr.fromashes.danvers" which is sort of fitting given that Kodi 17 is named Krypton.

So really, it comes down to technological limitations of supporting two versions concurrently in the same repository.

Hope this helps

(2016-06-29, 07:12)loggio Wrote: Ok...
But why not just call the skin Arctic Zephyr: from ashes (Jarvis) and (krypton)
Just like what marcelveldt does with Titan skin betas in the repository that's hosting your skin.
In the kodi repo, the stable release of titan is simply called titan.

Certainly eliminates confusion. I have no idea what dormer or danvers mean... They both start with "d" and in the emby repo, the descriptions of the skin versions are exactly the same, there's nothing telling me " download this for Jarvis" "download this for krypton" etc...


Just to clarify, I'm not saying Arctic zephyr is dead, simply that there's been no updates now for about 3 months... Nor has there been any appearance from jurialmonkey in this time either... So I'm only assuming this skin has been shelved, until such time there's been an official announcement stating otherwise of course.

Cheers,
Loggio.

(2016-06-29, 10:10)mikeSiLVO Wrote: Now I am even more curious... What feature of the skin.helper script do you use that requires the addon id to match the skin folder? I get the recommendation to change the name as I say the same since it simplifies user error with having the same skin in multiple folders.

Here comes the confusion part... Why does the emby repo stable or beta not separate the content of the repo by kodi version? I do not know much about emby so I could be missing something but it looks like emby just manages the library for kodi therefore the repo should work just like any other repository could

I have one repo for my skin that supports helix, isengard, jarvis, and soon krypton all while using the same addon id.

(2016-06-30, 04:38)Guardian Hope Wrote:

(2016-06-29, 07:12)loggio Wrote: Ok...
But why not just call the skin Arctic Zephyr: from ashes (Jarvis) and (krypton)
Just like what marcelveldt does with Titan skin betas in the repository that's hosting your skin.
In the kodi repo, the stable release of titan is simply called titan.

Certainly eliminates confusion. I have no idea what dormer or danvers mean... They both start with "d" and in the emby repo, the descriptions of the skin versions are exactly the same, there's nothing telling me " download this for Jarvis" "download this for krypton" etc...


Just to clarify, I'm not saying Arctic zephyr is dead, simply that there's been no updates now for about 3 months... Nor has there been any appearance from jurialmonkey in this time either... So I'm only assuming this skin has been shelved, until such time there's been an official announcement stating otherwise of course.

Cheers,
Loggio.

You're literally comparing oranges and apples. At the end of the day, when Krypton is released, Arctic Zephyr: From Ashes is going to drop its (DANVERS PREVIEW) moniker from the name. It has been quite the opposite of what you have said, virtually everyone seemingly knows (perhaps through good communication) that Danvers is intended for Krypton only. You don't label "preview" on something that is the currently generally available release.

On the other hand, several other skins are having issues with users downloading the Krypton preview versions rather than the Jarvis counterparts that they required all because they kept the same name.

It's also really, really hard to miss the reference of Danvers to Krypton if you have watched CBS at least once last year or early this year: http://supergirl.wikia.com/wiki/Kara_Danvers

As for Dormer, it was named on a whim and really had no relation to the name 'Jarvis' although Game of Thrones fans (among others) probably fairly easily got the reference: http://gameofthrones.wikia.com/wiki/Natalie_Dormer

Essentially, there are so many giveaways regarding the two versions it's actually hard to miss. A skin doesn't bump its major version number (3 -> 4) in the middle of a normal release; it's not labeled as "PREVIEW," and yes, the updated descriptions are just further telling you that one is meant for one and the other meant for the other.

(2016-06-30, 07:11)loggio Wrote: It is essentially the same thing but for someone like myself who's never seen an episode of game of thrones or supergirl and has very little interest every doing so, is certainly never going to make that connection.

But i have to say, this is so trivial that i've taken 10 steps back from being confused... I'm now just lost.
Generally, If a skin has BETA releases and is posted on a repository and has different versions intended for certain releases of kodi, i'd expect to find (and i'm sure i'm in a majority) "skin name - 1.0 Jarvis" , "skin name - 2.0 - Krypton" etc...

(2016-06-30, 07:11)loggio Wrote: When a skin is released and pushed to stable, you generally find it on kodi's official repo...

(2016-06-30, 07:11)loggio Wrote: After all said and done, each to their own. Whatever works for you i guess.

(2016-06-30, 07:11)loggio Wrote: I still haven't been able to test this skin though. when i was using Jarvis, i downloaded this from the Emby repo and it never worked...
and now that i'm on Krypton nightlies i download the "danvers preview" from the emby repo after selecting that skin from the interface settings, kodi just reverts back to Estuary.


Anyways, this is drifting far off course. I appreciate your response and wish you all the best with this skin.

Cheers,
Loggio.

(2016-06-30, 09:36)loggio Wrote:


I seriously don't know how else to put it....
Your skin is hosted on a BETA ADDONS repository.... Note:BETA

1.The fact that both versions of your skin are on a BETA Repo, I can any assume both versions are exactly that...BETA

2.In what way does 'danvers preview' relate to krypton in an obvious way according to the image above? It doesn't unless I'm aware of some trivial reference to super girl... I guess you just assume everyone is?

3.Nowhere in the highlighted description does 3.2.12 mention jarvis at all. No does the "danvers preview" mention that it's specifically a krypton preview. it hurts my head just saying that... But you're trying to spin it as if it's obvious, and I'm telling you blatantly that it's not.

4.All titan betas are labled appropriately, you'd have to be a fool to download the wrong version.

5. If you post a stable release on a BETA repository, you'd probably want to make it pretty Damn obvious that's it's a stable release and exactly what version of kodi it's meant for.

I really don't know how else to explain this... No matter how you try and spin your argument, your releases are confusing.

Which brings me back to my main point of criticism:
Keep it simple

That's all. A picture tells a thousand words.

(2016-06-30, 10:53)soxism Wrote: Id just like to take a quick time out and say a massive thankyou to Guardian Hope for this Skin (mod). Regardless of semantics and names etc After reading the first post i found it very easy to follow and understand.

Keep up the top work, and most of all. Name it the however the hell you want. :-)

(2016-06-30, 10:53)soxism Wrote: Id just like to take a quick time out and say a massive thankyou to Guardian Hope for this Skin (mod). Regardless of semantics and names etc After reading the first post i found it very easy to follow and understand.

Keep up the top work, and most of all. Name it the however the hell you want. :-)

(2016-06-30, 10:53)soxism Wrote: Id just like to take a quick time out and say a massive thankyou to Guardian Hope for this Skin (mod). Regardless of semantics and names etc After reading the first post i found it very easy to follow and understand.

Keep up the top work, and most of all. Name it the however the hell you want. :-)