[METEMEDO]

Hello everybody, I'm new here.

First of all, sorry about the title, I didn't know what to write there. I've searched for a few hours and I didn't find any thread that answers my question.

So, what I want to do is configure XBMC to be family-friendly and with very limited options.
Specifically, it will be only used for movies that are on an external HDD (USB) and to play DVD. There will be no movies stored in the internal HDD.
Also, it should launch HyperSpin, but let's forget about it, at least for now.

It should behave like this (answered/solved goals are green colored):

• Main menu has 3 options: "Movies", "Play DVD" and "Shutdown"
  
• If the external HDD is not plugged to the USB port, the "Movies" option should be grayed out and disabled
  
• If there is no DVD inserted, the "Play DVD" option should be grayed out and disabled - thanks artrafael
  
• When the external HDD or a DVD is inserted, the respective option becomes available (there should be a file in the HDD that identifies it as the HDD with the movies, like "xbmcLikes.me", and XBMC should only recognize the HDD with this file in it)
  
• There should be no options whatsoever available to the user, besides the basic playback controls (volume +-, chapter +-, enable/disable subtitle, audio language)
  
• Subtitle should be enabled by default - thanks artrafael
  
• The preferred subtitle is the one in a separate .srt file in the same folder and with the same name as the movie - thanks baijuxavior
  
• In case there is no .srt file and if there are embed subtitles in the movie (or in the case of DVD playback), portuguese (PT-PT) should be the default subtitle language - thanks baijuxavior
  

I've found out how to add/remove items, but that's pretty much all I know.
I've also read the Wiki, it says that we are able to develop plugins and scripts in python. I've done some python development before and didn't like the syntax very much, but I can develop if I need to in order to achieve these goals I've posted.

Thanks in advance!

[artrafael]

• If there is no DVD inserted, the "Play DVD" option should be grayed out and disabled
  

The "Play DVD" behavior you describe is already there by default. If you insert an optical disc into your drive, a "Play Disc" option is added to the main menu. Remove the disc and the option disappears.

• Subtitle should be enabled by default
  

When you play a movie, bring up the audio settings menu, enable subtitles and select "Set as default for all videos".

[METEMEDO]

Thanks for your help!

[baijuxavior]

Use a skin like AeonNox and you can edit the home menu to display only the ones you want. You can also add your own menu.

By default xbmc uses the srt subtitle even if the movie has embedded subtitle stream. You can set the preferred subtitle language in settings.

[METEMEDO]

Thanks!
I think the kiosk mode allows me completely disable all the options, right?
And how can I make the settings menu be available only to me (with a password, or something)?
The main goal here is to make a specific external HDD the only source for the movies and to disable the movies menu when there is no HDD connected.