Skinning tutorials for Kodi?
#16
It's impossible to fit that in a video or wiki page.
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#17
(2015-11-11, 18:19)ShoRyuKen Wrote: You don't understand : I don't want a WYSIWYG tool, I'm just asking for a true tutorial : a set of wiki pages or youtube videos showing how to create a simple skin or at least parts of skin, something like that. It's really more difficult for a beginner to start on any scripting/programing thing by playing on the code of someone else...

I perfectly get it, was just explaining what I have wanted to see like what you would like. But reality is not that evident when you dig into it. Smile
Assuming learning the skinning engine is just like learning a new language, and assuming I learned it much faster than I did for English or German, the provided tutorials are not that bad Wink
Like Martijn said, how to fit language lessons in the wiki or videos ?

EDIT : If you wish (I think Wink ...) to start and since you spoke about confluence, I think this is not the easiest one to start with. Most of us will recommend to check Hitcher's Conq skin. This one uses most of the features a simple way with many tags in it (in green) to let you know what it does. Helped me a lot. And starting from a white page makes no sens since it's needed to start from something fully working for you to go back and see what you made wrong. Without that, I see no way to achieve something 'blind coded' and fully working, even if you have 6 years coding experience.
[Skin] KOver - V1.1.0 Stable (Repo version)
[WIP] ReKOver - Skinning tool project

If I've been helpful or you like my work, hit "THANK USER" button ;) ...
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#18
Offtopic. Someone knows who created the very first skin for xbmc Atlantis?
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#19
JM?
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#20
Ok forget about that.
I've got another question, simpler than the previous one and lest controversial :

Is there an experienced dev who wanna work with me on a skin? Big Grin
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#21
Post your mockups in WIP Skins and hopefully someone will be impressed enough to help you out.
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#22
Ok thanks
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#23
(2015-11-11, 16:03)ShoRyuKen Wrote:
(2015-11-09, 02:20)ronie Wrote: yup, if you think our skinning manual isn't detailed enough, i find that quite hilarious :-)

I'm pretty sure that the skinning manual is very clear and easy to understand for a 6 years hardcore skinner, but for a beginner, it's another business!

I'm reading for a few days the doc - which is split between unlinked wiki pages and threads on this forum - and I think there's absolutely no guideline. On the pinned thread, beginners are broadly invited to play with Notepad++ and Confluence files, just before talking about submitting process... The wiki is a little bit more clear about files and folders naming and functionnalities but the only tutorial I found on this site is a very basic keymap. The rest is a bunch of "how to edit", not a word about creation.

That's why I'm asking something more detailed and more guided, not a set of descriptions scattered here and there. Sorry for those who wrote it, I know it's a lot of work and I thank them for all they did, but I think, as Toben said, that skinning is much like a "tour de force". I'm not surprised that it takes from 6 months to 1 year to do something mostly if the answer a beginner had when he asked for help from experienced skinners is a "lol" Angry

Not try to stir anything but I found it rude that they laughed at you for saying the tutorial wasn't "deep" enough. I had the same thought when I looked at it. The guide is a good general outline of what you should do when creating a skin but there is almost no info on how to actually do it. Nothing explaining XML files and how they work etc. I did find a link within the thread to the full Skinning Manual which is fairly detailed.

To someone used to XML skinning it would make sense but to anyone else it would be very hard to follow (like the OP, or myself)

I to have spent TONS of time setting up my XBMC only for it to completely change and my skin breaks etc. Long ago I used MQ3 and had a nice custom setup for some things, but I had a data loss and I didn't come back to XBMC til much later. I found that nothing worked anymore and the skin system to be changed and also I couldn't even just go download old XBMC version and use that.

I love XBMC/Kodi so much, but man, it is not user friendly Smile
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#24
(2015-12-17, 18:41)NewYears1978 Wrote:
(2015-11-09, 02:20)ronie Wrote: yup, if you think our skinning manual isn't detailed enough, i find that quite hilarious :-)
I did find a link within the thread to the full Skinning Manual which is fairly detailed.

i'm glad you agree :-)

(2015-12-17, 18:41)NewYears1978 Wrote: Nothing explaining XML files and how they work etc.
have a look here, each line of an xml file is explained:
http://kodi.wiki/view/XBMC_Skinning_Manu..._XML_Files

(2015-12-17, 18:41)NewYears1978 Wrote: I couldn't even just go download old XBMC version and use that.

you can still download older versions of kodi/xbmc.
they're available here:
http://mirrors.xbmc.org/releases/
Do not PM or e-mail Team-Kodi members directly asking for support.
Always read the Forum rules, Kodi online-manual, FAQ, Help and Search the forum before posting.
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#25
Quote:Not try to stir anything but I found it rude that they laughed at you for saying the tutorial wasn't "deep" enough. I had the same thought when I looked at it. The guide is a good general outline of what you should do when creating a skin but there is almost no info on how to actually do it. Nothing explaining XML files and how they work etc.

You're supposed to read it and actually put effort in to learn something, not just look at it. Obviously the latter is what you did.

What info are you expecting on this exactly? Edit Confluence files, study them, see what happens when you change things, get to know the skinning engine, then ultimately create your own. There's not going to be any shortcuts or holding your hand on every step of the way. I don't understand how you can expect it to be. It's called creativity and putting effort in. You want a point and click solution allowing you to crap out a skin in a couple of days. It's not going to happen.

Quote:To someone used to XML skinning it would make sense but to anyone else it would be very hard to follow (like the OP, or myself)

Then explain to me how any of the skinners around here managed to learn? There's no such thing as "XML skinning", everybody around here had to learn at some point. Some may have had prior coding experience, but noone was born with the knowledge to make Kodi skins.

Quote:I to have spent TONS of time setting up my XBMC only for it to completely change and my skin breaks etc. Long ago I used MQ3 and had a nice custom setup for some things, but I had a data loss and I didn't come back to XBMC til much later. I found that nothing worked anymore and the skin system to be changed and also I couldn't even just go download old XBMC version and use that.

What does this have to do with learning to skin? You left XBMC for a long time and found out it had developed?

Frankly, I have a pretty low tolerance for posts / threads like this. It seems this "world" is divided into two kinds of people. People willing to truly learn and invest time and effort and people that don't. You can keep repeating the same old arguments about how only people that know how to code understand, but there's proof all around you of this being false. And even if people have previous coding experience, that doesn't mean you automatically "get" Kodi skinning either. For the same reason you don't know how to speak Spanish just because you know how to speak German.

Also worth noting is that the process of (learning) skinning is something you should enjoy. You need to like the creation process (so including the learning) and feel excited when something is working the way you intended it especially because you have learned how to do it. If you think of skinning purely as a means to get your own skin, then it probably simply isn't something you were meant to do.
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#26
As an absolute beginner for everything Kodi and skinning. I was just wondering if anyone knew where to start, I know absolutley nothing about xml and html etc and I really want to learn it all. I know its all going to take time, patience and a lot of hard work but I am really wanting to do this. Problem is I have found a couple web pages but then it directs me to others and basically Im feeling a bit overwhelmed. I was hoping that with your knowledge you could help me find a starting point and then I can learn myself from there. I am quite a fast learner when it comes to stuff like this but as I said I have no idea where I should start or what I should be reading up on first of all as there are quite a lot of stuff that's outdated. Any help would be much appreciated if you could please
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#27
(2015-12-31, 02:39)awacka2 Wrote: As an absolute beginner for everything Kodi and skinning. I was just wondering if anyone knew where to start, I know absolutley nothing about xml and html etc and I really want to learn it all. I know its all going to take time, patience and a lot of hard work but I am really wanting to do this. Problem is I have found a couple web pages but then it directs me to others and basically Im feeling a bit overwhelmed. I was hoping that with your knowledge you could help me find a starting point and then I can learn myself from there. I am quite a fast learner when it comes to stuff like this but as I said I have no idea where I should start or what I should be reading up on first of all as there are quite a lot of stuff that's outdated. Any help would be much appreciated if you could please
https://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=333279
  kodi-18.0 D.I.Y estuary
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Skinning tutorials for Kodi?0