2014-03-14, 20:48
Any one else notice that the weather changes from saying weather to the actual temperature when you highlight some items, but not all? Any idea how to fix that so it stays consistent?
2014-03-17, 18:49
Well, just working on some final refinements and cleaning up really. I promise the update will be released really soon.
I ran into some problems with the home menu. Problems with regards to further future plans I have / had with it. So I have been messing with that. I'm just not sure whether that's all going to be possible. But we'll probably just going to have to wait and see. I've even been experimenting with a horizontal layout for the home menu again...icon based mostly this time.
Also decided to (at least partially) implement content paths / node for things like the watchlist / recommended items instead of the skin widgets add-on as that's an area I'd like to expand in later with regards to the home menu.
Anyway, sorry it's taking a bit longer but it will be here soon.
I ran into some problems with the home menu. Problems with regards to further future plans I have / had with it. So I have been messing with that. I'm just not sure whether that's all going to be possible. But we'll probably just going to have to wait and see. I've even been experimenting with a horizontal layout for the home menu again...icon based mostly this time.
Also decided to (at least partially) implement content paths / node for things like the watchlist / recommended items instead of the skin widgets add-on as that's an area I'd like to expand in later with regards to the home menu.
Anyway, sorry it's taking a bit longer but it will be here soon.
2014-03-18, 09:57
Sorry, missed this one before.
(2014-03-09, 11:45)bakito Wrote: Well you can count me too for advanced launcher support...I'm using refocus for years in my bedroom because I love the simplicity and the design of this skin ( my wife also and its...something) but I'm not using it in my living room because this computer handle media and games.I'll be looking into supporting it. I just hope there will be a Gotham version of the add-on. I haven't been able to use the test setup 'Black posted as the script now fails everytime I start it. Tried everything I could think of to try and get it working but no dice I'm unfortunately. Which is weird because it was working before.
Quote:Anyway great skin as always ( one question thou, can we still use the old menu or is it only the new one now? I think I prefer the old design ...)The old menu is gone for good.
cheers
2014-03-18, 12:34
Spannend is what we Germans would say, too! 
2014-03-18, 19:28
I moved to Gotham several weeks ago (needed to, to fix a problem I had with 12.3). While Refocus works great, unfortunately the one feature I use the most does not (subtitles). Eagerly waiting for the updated Refocus with Gotham support... I keep having to download subtitles manually, and I refuse to switch back to confluence :-)
2014-03-18, 19:43
Yeah that's because the subtitle functionality is now part of XBMC itself. It was done through an add-on before, which is what the current release of reFocus is expecting. It's working fine in the upcoming release
2014-03-19, 18:10
Ok, so I know you want me to hurry up and release the damn thing but I got a little side tracked yesterday in a quest to eliminate some of the limitations of the home screen.
So this is loosely based on the WebOS TV UI and it takes care of most of the problems I've always had with horizontal menus. It also lets me keep the fullscreen featured items I have in the vertical menu. Aside from that it will allow for better notification of recent / featured items.
This would be the main menu:
Depending on what main menu item is selected, the bar underneath will show relevant information related to that menu item.
Pressing down will slide open a panel below the main menu showing recent items. On menu items like pictures and video it could show add-ons for those categories. Thanks to the new content targets in XBMC I can show contents of just about any window here.
Pressing up from the main menu would bring you to in progress movies or episodes, which you can then browse fullscreen by pressing left or right. The main menu will move out of the way to the bottom of the screen.
The biggest downside of this is that there would be no submenu like there is in the vertical menu. Part of that could eventually be remedied by allowing setting more of those panels below the main menu. So, if you want a list of movie actors there for instance, you could.
Note that this is rough and just an idea I'm trying out. I'm curious to know what you guys think of it though.
So this is loosely based on the WebOS TV UI and it takes care of most of the problems I've always had with horizontal menus. It also lets me keep the fullscreen featured items I have in the vertical menu. Aside from that it will allow for better notification of recent / featured items.
This would be the main menu:
Depending on what main menu item is selected, the bar underneath will show relevant information related to that menu item.
Pressing down will slide open a panel below the main menu showing recent items. On menu items like pictures and video it could show add-ons for those categories. Thanks to the new content targets in XBMC I can show contents of just about any window here.
Pressing up from the main menu would bring you to in progress movies or episodes, which you can then browse fullscreen by pressing left or right. The main menu will move out of the way to the bottom of the screen.
The biggest downside of this is that there would be no submenu like there is in the vertical menu. Part of that could eventually be remedied by allowing setting more of those panels below the main menu. So, if you want a list of movie actors there for instance, you could.
Note that this is rough and just an idea I'm trying out. I'm curious to know what you guys think of it though.
2014-03-19, 18:13
This looks brilliant. An option to have the menu on bottom and slide out coming in upward direction would be very much appreciable. On larger TV sets 50inches plus having a view of the full background screen is a pleasant viewing experience.
2014-03-19, 19:51
I normally hate icon based menus because they just look kinda crappy, but this looks slick and professional and the icons are nice. Fantastic job, sir!
2014-03-19, 20:25
The new idea for a main menu is just.. awesome. I guess i could wait a bit longer if this should be implemented. Really good job!!
Really good job!!
2014-03-19, 20:46
Hi jeroen,
It looks cool. But If refocus goes horizontal I'll prob never use it again. The simplified vertical menu is one of the main reasons I love the skin for what it is...
I honestly don't know why it's important to anyone to have all that clutter on the home screen , I've personally never ever clicked on a "recently added" or "in progress" item from home screen, I never even stop to look at all that. If I want movies, I click movies and sort by date added... I if I want tv shows I click tv shows.
wayyyy to many clickable things in the screen... I hope this doesn't become a skin where the mrs looses her shit because she accidentally pushes down or up and gets lost amongst all the widgets and can't find her way back.
Plus, what if in the future you want to add another clickable section to that menu or devs add another menu item to xbmc? How/where do you add it, without it taking you off the screen? It's already full.
Although it looks cool, it's so far from original I don't see the point in all that. I hope you leave an option to stay vertical.
Anyways rant over.
It looks cool. But If refocus goes horizontal I'll prob never use it again. The simplified vertical menu is one of the main reasons I love the skin for what it is...
I honestly don't know why it's important to anyone to have all that clutter on the home screen , I've personally never ever clicked on a "recently added" or "in progress" item from home screen, I never even stop to look at all that. If I want movies, I click movies and sort by date added... I if I want tv shows I click tv shows.
wayyyy to many clickable things in the screen... I hope this doesn't become a skin where the mrs looses her shit because she accidentally pushes down or up and gets lost amongst all the widgets and can't find her way back.
Plus, what if in the future you want to add another clickable section to that menu or devs add another menu item to xbmc? How/where do you add it, without it taking you off the screen? It's already full.
Although it looks cool, it's so far from original I don't see the point in all that. I hope you leave an option to stay vertical.
Anyways rant over.
2014-03-19, 20:49
(2014-03-19, 19:51)BigDaddyRal Wrote: I normally hate icon based menus because they just look kinda crappy, but this looks slick and professional and the icons are nice. Fantastic job, sir!
I think it looks great, but agree with BigDaddyRal that icons could even be omitted to create an even more elegant and cleaner look. You could just have the text for each category floating on top of the fullscreen background (with shadows to improve legibility), and moving left to right would highlight that particular category's text (something similar to Windows Phone 8 which uses typography based menus). When you drill down, you could then expand and show the recent items as you do now. But even for that you could simplify it and just have nice thumbnails of the episodes, movies, etc. floating on the background (again with shadows). So I'd do away with the icons and the blue borders and background of the main menu and go with a more minimalistic look that fits in well with the rest of your theme. Just my two cents of course.
