[Afonzo]

Can the favorites be shown in a list or a "Big list" instead of with big icons?

[koala]

I would also like this, since my aging eyes find it difficult to make out what the favourites are unless I go stand right in front of the tv. Thanks!

[ifelsethenend]

I would like that as well. My preference would be Tall List but it's the same concept.

I'd actually even prefer to have the ability to change the default view type for Amber as a whole and make it 'Tall List' for everything. that would be such a time saver instead of having to change this individually for each window.

[bsoriano]

Can the favorites be shown in a list or a "Big list" instead of with big icons?

@Afonzo, @koala , this is doable, but it is something I need to code specifically for Favourites, since in Kodi this is not a media window that you can select which viewtype you want to use.  That's why there is no sideblade menu in the Favourites dialog.

So, my question back to you both is, which of Amber's list type views would you want for Favourites? I ask since I will only be coding one of them.  Also, it is important to note that there is no additional info for each favourite item other than the thumbnail and a name, so there will be no plot or anything else, which will make for a very sparse list.  This is a limitation of the Kodi skinning engine, and not something I can change.

Please confirm, given the above, that you still would like me to code an option to show the Favourites as a list, and which of Amber's list view types you would like.  Thanks.


Also, are you aware that if you select "Use Alternate Layout for Favourites" (Settings, Amber Settings, General) you get a Big List view? Like so:



Would this be enough for your purposes or would you rather have a different list type view? Please confirm.  Thanks.



Regards,

Bart

[bsoriano]

I would like that as well. My preference would be Tall List but it's the same concept.

I'd actually even prefer to have the ability to change the default view type for Amber as a whole and make it 'Tall List' for everything. that would be such a time saver instead of having to change this individually for each window.

@ifelsethenend, it is possible to have the default view type of Amber be the one you like (Tall List in your case), except for Favourites, as I explained in my previous post.  You need to follow these steps:

1. Ensure that you have the addon script.skinvariables installed and enabled in your system.  Version 0.2.5 or greater.  This should be in the Kodi repo.

2.  Enable "Use new media views selector" in Amber:



3. Then, select "Configure media views".  You should see a dialog similar to this:



In this dialog, you will want to choose which view type you want as the default for the specific media or item type.  For example, if I select "Library - Episodes (List)", I get a selector dialog that allows me to choose which viewtype I want always for Episodes in the library:



There I choose Tall List, and when the dialog closes, you can see that the default view type for Episodes has been changed to Tall List:



4.  Now, do the same for all other media/item types (actors, directors, movies, tv shows, files, videos, etc.).  The list is ordered alphabetically, so the last item you will get to if you want everything to be in Tall List is Years:




This might seem tedious, but you only have to do it once, and it "sticks" through Kodi restarts, so it is really useful.  You can also force a default view type for media types in specific addons, like Netflix or Disney Plus, which might not be showing you the media in the view type that you like.

So, in our example, after setting all of the media types to Tall List, you will see that it is indeed the default view type.  The below show TV Shows, Seasons and Episodes:









I hope this answers your question.  Please let me know if you need any additional help with this.  Thanks.


Regards,

Bart

[Afonzo]

Many thanks, Bart!

Please confirm, given the above, that you still would like me to code an option to show the Favourites as a list

Yes, definitely, no doubt. The huge icons there actually do not make sense, I would thing and take up an incredible amount of space, don't know, but I think you just don't need them. I mean this display:

Also, are you aware that if you select "Use Alternate Layout for Favourites" (Settings, Amber Settings, General) you get a Big List view? Like so:

Sorry, no, not at all. Hmmm, cannot find such an option here:

Is it the wrong place here? Obviously.

Would this be enough for your purposes or would you rather have a different list type view? Please confirm.  Thanks.

Actually a list with less unused space (as unused space as possible space between the lines what be good), to avoid scrolling up and down as much as possible (may be smaller icons / images? Or an option to choose between both of them?). And above all a list going from top to the bottom of the screen (as shown on your screenshot). May be even one, a horizontally splitted list. So the list going on on the right part of the screen.

On your screenshot there is much unused space. But when Kodi lets not give more information there...may be just a bigger image on the left?

Just a thought coming to my mind, if one could display the film information in the favorites, respectively from the context menu or so (just like in the other lists), that would be great.

[ifelsethenend]

@bsoriano

Thank you so much for your detailed reply with steps and screenshots. This is top notch support right there

I read what to do to change the default view type, but frankly this is too much steps. Given I've already set the view type to most add-ons I use, it would not really be worth it for me to do all that.

If I may, this should be automated in one step through that script. Just set 1 view type for everyhting. I think this is doable by code, but I'm not an expert of course.

Anyway, I'd like to second what Afonzo says in his reply as well. The "Favourites" section should be using those icons by default as it's a waste of space. It would be great if it could be a scrolling strip like the ones in Movies or TV or something like that.

Thank you so much for help, and dedication.
Cheers

[bsoriano]

Actually a list with less unused space (as unused space as possible space between the lines what be good), to avoid scrolling up and down as much as possible (may be smaller icons / images? Or an option to choose between both of them?). And above all a list going from top to the bottom of the screen (as shown on your screenshot). May be even one, a horizontally splitted list. So the list going on on the right part of the screen.

On your screenshot there is much unused space. But when Kodi lets not give more information there...may be just a bigger image on the left?

Just a thought coming to my mind, if one could display the film information in the favorites, respectively from the context menu or so (just like in the other lists), that would be great.

@Afonzo , my apologies for a delayed reply.  Unfortunately, there is no other information for favourites, other than a label and an icon.  Thus, I cannot show any film information in this dialog.

Here is what I have been envisioning in terms of a list:



How does that look to you? 

If you need even more items it could look like this:




Please let me know if this is what you were looking for.  Thanks.

Regards,

Bart

[Afonzo]

Many thanks!

Sorry, now I have to say sorry for the delay.

How does that look to you?

Yes, looks good. OK, just no other information available (very strange, by the way). So these ones are the only ones that really can be shown. May be then two columns would fit in the space where now is one column with the titles?

If you need even more items it could look like this:

Yes, that would be better than the above one. A better use of the free space available (there is much space between the items). Needs less scrolling / movement to see all of the items.

May be one could do two options of both of the variantes above?

[Afonzo]

Sorry, no, not at all. Hmmm, cannot find such an option here:

https://imgur.com/j1eAL2T

Is it the wrong place here? Obviously.

[Afonzo]

At the moment I cannot use Amber, I can't open this menu and other, by pressing the left arrow key or moving the mouse pointer to the left (this is in Confluence):


Is there another way to open it?

When I click the gear icon nothing happens:

[bsoriano]

Sorry, no, not at all. Hmmm, cannot find such an option here:
[url=javascript:void(0)][/url]
https://imgur.com/j1eAL2T
[url=javascript:void(0)][/url]
Is it the wrong place here? Obviously.

@Afonzo , please install the latest version of Amber from GitHub (https://github.com/bartolomesoriano/skin...master.zip).  Make sure when you download the zip to remove the "-master" from the folder name inside the zip.  Then, you can replace the skin folder in your install with the folder inside the zip.  Thanks.

If you do not feel comfortable updating from GitHub, please give me a few days and I will update the Amber repo and you can update from there (https://github.com/bartolomesoriano/repo...-1.0.2.zip).  Thanks.

Regards,

Bart

[bsoriano]

Is there another way to open it?

@Afonzo, there is no other way to open it, you either press left, M, or the gear icon if you have enabled the touch controls.  What window are you in? Please remember there will be no side menu for the Favorites dialog.  Thanks.

Regards,

Bart

[Afonzo]

@Afonzo , please install the latest version of Amber from GitHub (https://github.com/bartolomesoriano/skin...master.zip).  Make sure when you download the zip to remove the "-master" from the folder name inside the zip.  Then, you can replace the skin folder in your install with the folder inside the zip.  Thanks.

If you do not feel comfortable updating from GitHub, please give me a few days and I will update the Amber repo and you can update from there (https://github.com/bartolomesoriano/repo...-1.0.2.zip).  Thanks.

Many thanks! I just have downloaded from github (does not seem to be that difficult to handle that) and renamend and moved the folder to its correct place to the Koid installation (actually I use it portably).

I installed (I use it portably) a new Kodi (but I still use - at the morent - the old Kodi as well. Are the dependencies for Amber included in the github download folder? Or do I have to install them from the repo separately? And can I use / copy my old userdata\addon_data\skin.amber\settings.xml to the downloaded skin.amber folder? To not to have to set up Amber again, make all of the cahnges again? I had to copy it to the skin.amber folder after installing it from the repo (I do not do now, but just to know)? And / or after installing Amber's dependecies?

@Afonzo, there is no other way to open it, you either press left, M, or the gear icon if you have enabled the touch controls.  What window are you in? Please remember there will be no side menu for the Favorites dialog.  Thanks.

Yes, I know. I was in the Movie window, I guess. I cannot access the side bar in any window in which it should be accessible (in other skins it works). I do not have enabled the touch controls. Do not have a touch screen.

Thank you very much for coding the new favorites window(s).

[Afonzo]

By the way, may be one could use different colours for "Yes" and "No" in the settings for easier distinction.

Where can I find the favorites view options? To set the new design.

Only key "M" does work to show the side bar, not left arrow and not clicking the gear icon, in each window:


Is there a way / key / shortcut to directly jump to the "Filter"? So that you do not need to use the arrows to get upwards or downwards?

"Page not found". The github download gone?