[Jayz2K]

Thanks for the info Bob. I made a lil rewrite of the SkinShortcuts window since the previous one wasn't fast enough. I previously tried to make it work like my standard dialogs but noticed that placing the controls in an include makes submenu and submenu options to show over the main menu ones. When not in an include, it replaces them. Not a big deal since I can write the dialog without include but just wanted to report

EDIT : Forget what I said, located the problem. I send you an email.

[obsidiancomm]

I have a few issues; not sure if they have been reported or fixed, but I will list them here. (Also a few questions).

When I am in the designer and trying to add a new item to the home screen, after selecting Add New, and going to that entry, KOver always attempts to edit a previously entered item.

Yes I have noticed that when you are running les power devices. This is relative to my code and hardware power. I'm rebuilding the menus to match the current design but on some devices, it has a little timeshift for the updated informations to be shown. I already thought about rewriting this window and will take a look.

Hrm, what type of machine are you using? My test machine is an Intel Quad Core i7 3Ghz, with 16gb of ram. All of the other machines that this will eventually run on are at least Dual Core i5s with 8GB of ram.

When in designer, editing the Home Menu, you can't manually enter a action for 'Choose Shortcut'. You either have to use one of the preset items, or first create a favorite and then select that. This is undesirable, having to have multiple favorites to setup Shortcuts.

You can, but it's a little tricky. You have first to create a new item in Home and the choose "Choose shortcut". In this list, choose anything standard like Common>Videos. Because it's not what you want, then Click on "Change Action" scroll to the last item "Custom shortcut". Here you can set your action. I don't know if it's a standard behavior of skinshortcuts or something missing in my code but will ask Bob for this.

Got ya. Bob further explained what to do, and once I get home I will test.

When pressing the Record button on the remote, nothing happens. Typically, with other skins, when the record button is pressed, Kodi sends the request to the PVR Backend to schedule the recording or start the recording.

Will give this a closer look. I have to admit I didn't test the record button on my remote.

Thanks. Maybe I need to check my mappings again.

I know I was reading about the scrolling issues with wrapping, was wondering if I missed something where this was fixed. When going through LiveTV, once you get to the end of this list, it's annoying having to reverse instead of it cycling through again.

It works on my side. Are you talking about the channel list in widget or when you clicked on the channel icon ? I don't think I have implemented this in the widget., will check if I can add it there too.

I was talking about the widget. When you go to TV, and start scrolling the EPG.

Is there a way to choose either to scroll horizontally or vertically when interacting with addons? Currently, I have a Plex directory hard coded via a favorite for specific categories on the home menu. However, when scrolling, it is set for horizontal and I would like the option to scroll vertically like the TV EPG does.

Is it possible to, on the TV tab under designer to add a second option other than 'EPG-Locked' that shows like 'Recorded Shows'.

Also, this is a question I've asked from a previous post, and I know you said something regarding SkinHelper, but.
If I want to dynamically add something to KOver (a la how Amber does with Plex), what xml file(s) would need to be updated.

Honestly, I have absolutely no idea of what you mean. Since I'm not amber, neither Plex user, it's difficult for me to understand your request. However, what I know and should work is that when you have Plex installed, skin.helper should provide you a list of prebuilt widgets for Plex.

I am going to take a closer look at skin.helper. Basically, if you use the skin Amber, and are using plex it queries that plex server for a list of the libraries you have configured, and adds each on to the home screen. That way you don't have to add each library individually, and worry about maintaining those.

Once again, great skin however. I just wish it worked for Kodi 15 and not just 16.

Sorry again, but this won't happen. Too much features are now missing in 15. Moreover, I prefer to spend time improving KOver to be ready for Jarvis stable release instead of trying to backport it and finally get it working on 15 when it will be obsolete

Oh I understand perfectly why you are doing it just for 16. Jarvis has been pretty stable for me, and i'm doing a lot of testing against the nightly I've installed to ensure that the features that my clients will use will cause no issues.

Once I get home, I will attach screenshots of what I mean.

But I have to keep saying it. Because I truly mean it. KOver is the best skin I've seen and looks beautiful. I haven't even looked at your included examples that change its look. It looks beautiful as is.

[Jayz2K]

@obsidiancomm : Thanks for the kind words. I made a quick rewrite of script.skinshortcuts window. Can you please test if the problem of selection is solved on your side or maybe I misunderstood your request and this is relative to what Bob said with the "add new" ? Regarding LIVE TV Widget, I'll add the wrapping later today.

[Saner]

Hiya, more questions


#1. Any plans to allow customising the Home screen?

#2. I can't get idle fade to work on the Home screen (I presume this is because the blocks can't be customized)

#3. Fanart is fantastic, any chance of upping it to extra fanart, so we can have artwork that cycles in our views.


This is still the best skin out there at this point in time

[Jayz2K]

#1. Any plans to allow customising the Home screen?

In fact the designer's contains the same customization options for Home as other sections. But, even if from a skinner point of view it was a hard choice to disable some of them, I had to do that for many technical reasons. Mostly because of the submenus and widgets I had to lock in positions not matching the global rule. So freeing those options gives weird results. What have you in mind for the home layout ?

#2. I can't get idle fade to work on the Home screen (I presume this is because the blocks can't be customized)

Yes, this is because of blocs limitations. However ... .... I built the designer easily upgradable with possible upcoming features in mind. Maybe I can have a look to free at least this option with selection limited to VISIBLE / IDLEFADE per bloc ? But the most convenient would be to add a IDLEFADE option to the whole window.

#3. Fanart is fantastic, any chance of upping it to extra fanart, so we can have artwork that cycles in our views.

Do you mean for views or from Skinshortcuts ? I would say for views, I can have a look at the addon (I admit I haven't yet). If I can get the path per item, this won't be difficult. For Skinshortcuts, this is more skin.helper relative since it's autofilled by the script. Maybe asking Marcel for this is the best way

This is still the best skin out there at this point in time

Thanks again for your kin words

[Saner]

For Views, with the extraart.

As for the home being able to idlefade all blocks and keep fanart static (rather than moving) would be perfect for me.

I'm not a huge widget fan, so i had wanted to hide that block, but full idlefade would suit me too, if that is easier to impliment

[Jayz2K]

For Views, with the extraart.

As for the home being able to idlefade all blocks and keep fanart static (rather than moving) would be perfect for me.

I'm not a huge widget fan, so i had wanted to hide that block, but full idlefade would suit me too, if that is easier to impliment

That's one problem, hiding widget will also hide submenu since they are sharing the same bloc. One solution is to select widget as "none" in all items of the main menu. So you will only see the submenus. Will see how I can improve the home background selection. Mixing designer's options with SkinShortcuts options is not easy to handle since it makes 2 ways to do "almost" the same thing. Not sure I will have time this WE but will try ASAP.

[Saner]

Hahah that is exactly what i have done, setting the widget as none and using the submenu.

If it is too much hassle like i said, the idle fades a good compromise.

[bakito]

Hello jayz2k, i set up a advance launcher with posters and fanart for my games but they are not showing at all with kover...i assume advance launcher need different kind of parameters or something....if its not too much to ask could you look into this particular problem? I would understant if it is not your priority !
Anyway thx again for your work!
Cheers

[Jayz2K]

... assume advance launcher need different kind of parameters or something....

Not at all, it just uses MyPrograms.xml. Looks like I missed something in my variables. Will fix that.

[fantasticn]

Hi Jayz2k,

I was quiet amazed by the first screenshots you posted and when I now returned from vacation and saw that you already supplied an alpha version I had to give it a try - though it meant updating all my media-PCs to Jarvis. And it was worth it. Although you might have heard it a thousand times right now I have to say it again: You did a really great job!

Now that I have been playing around some time with the skin I have some questions as to your plans for the future. Don't get me wrong: This is no "puhing" for implementing those changes, it is just for knowing what we may expect or not expect for the future development:

1. Are you planning on implementing logo, clearart and maybe CDart support for the video views?
2. Are you planning on implementing logos as well for the music section (which is different from video logos since the logos for music artists are not stored in the music database as I learned).
3. Are you planning on supporting banners for TV-shows?
4. Are you planning on providing additional information as running time, codecs, reslution (720p, 1080p etc.) maybe with text or icons in the info fields?

Some additional questions as to the configuration:

1. If I have a video bloc on top of the fanart bloc the fanart is not shown even though there is no video running. Is there a way I can have the video bloc showing on top (or instead) of the fanart bloc just when a video is running and otherwise only have the fanart displayed (like it is when having the fanart as a wallpaper and selecting "video on top" as visible)? The "idlefade"-option for the video bloc somehow does provide for a workaround but results in the fanart not being displayed right a way but only after some seconds.
2. The Sidebar seems to cover the blocs and thereby also some of the information displayed within these blocs. Is there a way I can have the sidebar staying outside of the blocs (like in the main menu the sidebar is covering the navigational blocs, which does not look very nicely especially with respect to the menu pictures; but when you enter a menu entry the blocs suddenly flip on top of the sidebar; that is the way I want to have the sidebar all the time)?
3. Is there a way to change the menu pictures of certain menu entries? Your skin seems to have adopted my menu and submenu entries from the previous skin I used. But now there are certain menu entries that do not display any picture at all while some others are using kind of standard pictures that come with your skin.
4. I have been playing around with the widgets for the main menu, but I have not been able to get them cycling automatically. I can cycle through their entries manually but as a widget it would make more sense (and give the skin a more professional look) if the entries of the widgets would cycle automatically while idle.
5. I was trying to have a certain pictures folder assigned to the background of the pictures entry in my main menu. But though I selected "multiple pictures" and set the path to the desired pictures folder (smb network path) the background remains empty. It is not starting to display the pictures that are residing in the folder. Any idea?

Thank you very much in advance for your reply and keep up the good work!

Regards,

FantasticN

[Jayz2K]

1. Are you planning on implementing logo, clearart and maybe CDart support for the video views?
2. Are you planning on implementing logos as well for the music section (which is different from video logos since the logos for music artists are not stored in the music database as I learned).
3. Are you planning on supporting banners for TV-shows?

Honestly, nothing is planned for those at the moment. However, for 1&3, as I said, there is a way to code with few lines your own list type. At the moment I removed this for alpha but it will return soon. So undoubtly, more types will appear from KOver enthousiasts or maybe me

4. Are you planning on providing additional information as running time, codecs, reslution (720p, 1080p etc.) maybe with text or icons in the info fields?

In the Bloc2 I don't think so. The fact is the Bloc2 is the same for "All" sections and developped in a 636x356px box which size and texts resize with your parameters. So I had to choose informations to show or not in this bloc to fit this tiny size. But all adavanced informations are available in context menu>informations> and by scrolling up/down to show options, plot, cast and advanced informations. Advanced informations are selectable to see more by scrolling left

1. If I have a video bloc on top of the fanart bloc the fanart is not shown even though there is no video running.

Will try to do something for that.

2. The Sidebar seems to cover the blocs and thereby also some of the information displayed within these blocs. Is there a way I can have the sidebar staying outside of the blocs (like in the main menu the sidebar is covering the navigational blocs, which does not look very nicely especially with respect to the menu pictures; but when you enter a menu entry the blocs suddenly flip on top of the sidebar; that is the way I want to have the sidebar all the time)?

For the sidebar in views, if you have a 3x3 layout, set the sidebar visibility to "AUTOHIDE". This way, the sidebar is semi transparent and hide immediately. This is the only way I found to match all the possible configs without giving weird results in some configurations. What I can add is a "HIDDEN" option to just not show it. For Home, it's a navigation choice. In fact, if the panel doesn't slide, trust me, most of the time you don't know if you are in the main menu or widget/submenu. Tried it and this made my wife crazy. You can test it by setting Home the sidebar "top" and blocs background "bottom" ... really not convenient.

3. Is there a way to change the menu pictures of certain menu entries? Your skin seems to have adopted my menu and submenu entries from the previous skin I used.

I've seen that Script.Skinshortcuts allow a custom entry. Will check with Bob if I can use this to choose the menu item "category" thumb. I think it's doable.

4. I have been playing around with the widgets for the main menu, but I have not been able to get them cycling automatically. I can cycle through their entries manually but as a widget it would make more sense (and give the skin a more professional look) if the entries of the widgets would cycle automatically while idle.

Yes, I didn't made them scrolling because it made it hard to navigate. That was a long time before I know the idletime condition. Will add this. When Idle=3s

5. I was trying to have a certain pictures folder assigned to the background of the pictures entry in my main menu. But though I selected "multiple pictures" and set the path to the desired pictures folder (smb network path) the background remains empty. It is not starting to display the pictures that are residing in the folder. Any idea?

Honeslty, I haven't tested this one. But since it is handled by script.skinshortcuts, I have to ask Bob if I have to handle something special for multi image or if it's just something broken in the script.

Thanks for the kind words

[Jayz2K]

@obsidiancomm : lists wrap should be fixed for widgets including live tv.

@bakito : your games infos should display fine now in advanced launcher (hope that it doesn't display weird things elsewhere )

@fantasticn : Bloc4 should now only show if video / visualisation is running. This sould avoid Bloc3 to be hidden when it's set the same place. Also I've added cycling items in widgets. Should now cycle when idletime=3s but only when the item isn't hillighted (otherwise, makes it to cycle while reading the plot)

Now on Git

For other requests I'm working on them. Will take a bit longer since it's a bit more complicated.

[fantasticn]

Hi Jayz2K,

thank you very much for your reply and your quick adjustments! I can approve video bloc now is only displayed when a video is actually running and widgets are cycling automatically. thanks for that.

As to the widgets: Any chance of having corresponding fanart in background as a wallpaper when a widget is activated? Maybe the widget itself could show the cover of the movie/tv-show (not the fanart) while the respective fanart is shown in the background. Currently the wallpaper displayed in the background does not fit the widgets (e.g. fanarts of my movies being displayed as wallpaper while the widgets shows upcoming movies).

Another question: Fanarts that are displayed in a bloc all show a "play"-button as a watermark. What's the idea behind that and can we turn it off?

As soon as I can adjust the small images for the main menu and (maybe) logos and cleararts are displayed I will start making this my default skin :-)

Brgrds,

FantasticN

[Jayz2K]

@fantasticn : Just detected a problem in sidebar autohide when a 3X3 layout is set. A "dark" area with the same size as the sidebar were showing over the info because of a wrong condition. Maybe that's what you previously talked about. One more fix just right now. Sorry for that. Updated git again.

To have the corresponding fanart for the widget, set the wallpaper as "FANART" in the designer Home>Wallaper>Background Style
The fact is I have to play with 2 differents backgrounds from the designer and from script.skinshortcuts. Fanart as wallpaper is only visible if the widget item is selected. Sadly, the art is dependant of the design and is following the customizable layout. One thing I could take a look to is adding an option to allow the user to choose the desired art > POSTER / FANART / THUMB for bloc3. This could allow more visual possibilities but users will have to complete all their actual views in order to display again.

Removing the Play button has already been requested. Will remove this.

EDIT : After a quick attempt to add a selectable Art type in bloc3, I didn't find a way to combine it with all cases when they are available or not in all sections. Also no way to be handled as per item in main menu since they already are different (fanart/thumb). In order to KOver to work fine I have to keep some parts as "standard" and this feature breaks it. Sorry