[gensufz]

It seems that this tutorial only works for the transparency skin, which is a bad skin to begin with (mouse wheel scrolling is very buggy in this skin), so I tried to follow the guide and apply it to the default confluence skin, which works perfect for my needs.

Unfortunately, half the tutorial doesnt work, as the files you are asking to edit do not exist in the roaming folders, I checked the default program file for the confluence/720/includes_home, but no file there called that, found a includes file, and a home file, but neither of them contain the tag you asked to search for.

Too bad this article was written for a custom skin rather than the default one that most use

Would you be able to write the article or point me to someplace where I could do what this thread is doing for the confluence skin?

Thanks

[amducious]

@nfusion2011

I just did this with the confluence skin. What you need to do is edit the home.xml file. Mine was located in C:\Program Files\XBMC\addons\skin.confluence2\720p Im running windows 7 32bit in 64bit I think its located in the c:\Profram files x86\XBMC....

what I did was did a serch (ctr+f) for

Code:

<onclick>ActivateWindow(Weather)</onclick>

what you get is

Code:

<item id="6">
<label>8</label>
     <onclick>ActivateWindow(Weather)</onclick>
     <icon>special://skin/backgrounds/weather.jpg</icon>
     <thumb>$INFO[Skin.String(Home_Custom_Back_Weather_Folder)]</thumb>
     <visible>!Skin.HasSetting(HomeMenuNoWeatherButton)</visible>
     <visible>!Skin.HasSetting(ShowWeatherFanart) | IsEmpty(Skin.String(WeatherFanartDir))</visible>
</item>

That is the code for the Weather Icon on the home page. If you look you can see the code for pictures music video and so on.

All I wanted to do was add an Anime Icon so what I did was add this code after the code for the Weather

Code:

                    <item id="4">
                        <label>Anime</label>
                        <onclick>XBMC.ActivateWindow(MyVideoLibrary,special://profile/playlists/video/Anime.xsp, return)</onclick>
                        <icon>special://skin/backgrounds/pictures.jpg</icon>
                        <thumb>$INFO[Skin.String(Home_Custom_Back_Pictures_Folder)]</thumb>
                        <visible>!Skin.HasSetting(HomeMenuNoPicturesButton)</visible>
                    </item>

as you can see Im still useing the old Pictures backgrould but all you have to do is edit the Icon code to point to background you want.

Code:

<icon>special://skin/backgrounds/pictures.jpg</icon>

[hammerhead69]

Hi, so ive set some time aside to go through this and give it a go but im stumped at the start, i dont have a playlist folder?
Ive just downloaded the latest xbmc for windows (26-03-11) but checked then searched within the xbmc folder,
theres definately not any folder named playlist
any ideas?

[Myth]

For windows, look in "C:\Users\[user]\AppData\Roaming\XBMC\UserData"

[Thermos]

Just sat down to try this and Anime works well for me but Anime Movies doesnt. It just says the library is empty. I noticed that in my skin custom menu settings (Aeon MQ 2) that Anime Movies menu icon is underlined in red like something is wrong. I am guessing the issue is with my playlist. Any ideas?


<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes" ?>
<smartplaylist type="movies">
<name>Anime Movies</name>
<match>all</match>
<rule field="path" operator="contains">smb://xbmc:password@Bean/Anime/Movies/</rule>
<rule field="path" operator="contains">smb://xbmc:password@Bean/Anime HD/Movies/</rule>
<order direction="ascending">title</order>
</smartplaylist>

[Myth]

Just sat down to try this and Anime works well for me but Anime Movies doesnt. It just says the library is empty. I noticed that in my skin custom menu settings (Aeon MQ 2) that Anime Movies menu icon is underlined in red like something is wrong. I am guessing the issue is with my playlist. Any ideas?


<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes" ?>
<smartplaylist type="movies">
<name>Anime Movies</name>
<match>all</match>
<rule field="path" operator="contains">smb://xbmc:password@Bean/Anime/Movies/</rule>
<rule field="path" operator="contains">smb://xbmc:password@Bean/Anime HD/Movies/</rule>
<order direction="ascending">title</order>
</smartplaylist>

<match>all</match>
->
<match>one</match>

[kaczor47]

@nfusion2011

Code:

<item id="4">
<label>Anime</label>
   <onclick>XBMC.ActivateWindow(MyVideoLibrary,special://profile/playlists/video/Anime.xsp, return)</onclick>
   <icon>special://skin/backgrounds/pictures.jpg</icon>
   <thumb>$INFO[Skin.String(Home_Custom_Back_Pictures_Folder)]</thumb>
   <visible>!Skin.HasSetting(HomeMenuNoPicturesButton)</visible>
</item>

This is a great hack, just what I needed! I used it to include a menu item for kids' movies only.

But I wonder how do I go about making it load *not* in library mode, but in plain file mode? The reason is that I have a mix of kids movies and shows, and they have learned to operate it in file mode.

Cheers!

[Thermos]

<match>all</match>
->
<match>one</match>

Thank you that fixed it.

[Myth]

This is a great hack, just what I needed! I used it to include a menu item for kids' movies only.

But I wonder how do I go about making it load *not* in library mode, but in plain file mode? The reason is that I have a mix of kids movies and shows, and they have learned to operate it in file mode.

Cheers!

Try to replace

Code:

<onclick>ActivateWindow(10025,"special://profile/playlists/video/blablabla.xsp", return)</onclick>

with

Code:

<onclick>ActivateWindow(VideoFiles, "folder_here", return)</onclick>

Let me know if it works.

[kaczor47]

Try to replace

Code:

<onclick>ActivateWindow(10025,"special://profile/playlists/video/blablabla.xsp", return)</onclick>

with

Code:

<onclick>ActivateWindow(VideoFiles, "folder_here", return)</onclick>

Let me know if it works.

Works beautifully, thanks!

Not to be too greedy, but I wonder if there is a way to:

- make this the startup location. I know that you can make Videos the Startup Window in Appearance - Settings - Skin, but obviously this won't do.

- map a key to launch this menu item

This would make it child-proof (ie, they would not have to get me out of bed on the weekend to 'fix' the tv!)

thanks in advance!

[Thermos]

Is there a way to add submenus for these new smart playlists like Recently Added and Genres?

[Myth]

probably...

How to add sub menus i've talked about a little bit in the tutorial. As for creating them for a specific genre, try the following in a new smartplaylist:
<rule field="genre" operator="contains">Comedy</rule>

Might be easier to use the editor inside xbmc to create the playlist.

Havent tried it, and at this time i can't as my XBMC box died. Still need to send it for repairs.

[Talontd]

@Myth

First off, thanks so much for this tutorial bro. I would have changed skins long ago if not for this, and I am constantly getting compliments on my HTPC because of you. Your tutorial is extremely well written, and it is insanely cool of you to continue to help people with it.....and that brings me to my reason for posting.

My home menu is getting extremely crowded. I've got about 6TB's of media which i continue to separate to make it easier to navigate. My current home screen menu shows:

Anime
Anime Movies
Cartoons
Animated Movies
TV Shows
Movies
Documentaries
Music
Pictures
Settings

I'd like to clean it up by creating some submenu's, but can't for the life of me wrap my head around it. I'd like the home screen to read:

Anime
-Shows
-Movies
-OVA's
Animated
-Shows
-Movies
TV Shows
Movies
Documentaries
Music
Pictures
Settings

That would eliminate 2 items for the list and give me a separate spot for my OVA's. I've gone over the section of your tutorial that speaks about submenus...

We’re almost there, but I’m still not happy yet. By disabling the default “movies” menu item, I lost access to the sub menu of “files”. And that item is important to manually update the library or add sources. What I choose to do was to add 2 items to my “settings” sub menu, for both the music and video files.

Scroll down until you see the following code:

Code:

<control type="fixedlist" id="8001">
<visible>!Skin.HasSetting(Menu_Settings_Sub) + Container(5040).HasFocus(12)</visible>
<include condition="Skin.HasSetting(HorizontalHomeMenu)">HorizontalSubMenuLayout</include>
<include condition="!Skin.HasSetting(HorizontalHomeMenu)">VerticalSubMenuLayout</include>
<content>

Below the <content> line, add the following:

Code:

<item id="8118">
<description>Menu Video Sub Files</description>
<label>Video Files</label>
<onclick>ActivateWindow(VideoFiles)</onclick>
</item>
<item id="8119">
<description>Menu Music Sub Files</description>
<label>Music Files</label>
<onclick>ActivateWindow(MusicFiles)</onclick>
</item>

And now we’re finally done. A home menu exactly the way I wanted it!

[i][u]Finale
I hope this guide was helpful. It would’ve saved me some time. Should you have any questions or find any mistakes, do tell. And if you found this information useful, leave a thank you message. It might make me write more how-to’s!

...but can't figure out how to create one for a smart playlist. I'm a n00b with xml but pick stuff up quickly and can follow directions. If you could show me how to create one, i'm sure i could apply that to the rest on my own.

Edit: Almost forgot, would you also know of a way to add the "Recently Added" info box to the TV Shows playlist?

Thanks for all the hard work and taking the time to read this.

[Zyeox]

Ok I am using the NEON(SVN) skin everything seems fine they show up in the home list and everything. But the only way I could get them to get the files info is to add them via the video. Which then it adds the exact same anime to my non anime tv show category. I only want them to go to the new playlist under anime not TVshows. I must of missed a step somewhere. Any one have ideas?

Update: Figured out what I was doing wrong. I had to go to the home.xml and make the TV Shows, Movies point to thier playlist. I don't know why I didnt do it but it now works. Except for one issue. For whatever reason I can't get my Anime Movies to show. I tried "all" and "one" but nothing. I am happy So far that I got my anime out of TV shows. Now I am moving on to Concerts.

[Myth]

Except for one issue. For whatever reason I can't get my Anime Movies to show. I tried "all" and "one" but nothing. I am happy So far that I got my anime out of TV shows.

I'll need some more info about where you keep your anime and anime movies, and need to know what your playlist file currently looks like to find out what might be wrong.