@Mods - Getting your own sub-forum for an add-on
#1
We are a small group and have a PVR add-on (backend and frontend) that has gained a fairly substantial following. The support thread has gotten completely out of hand and support requests not posted there are getting lost in the main forum completely. What do I need to do to get us our own sub-forum in the PVR forum like many of the others?

Thanks!
The XBMC team, plug-in devs, skinners, etc. do this for us for FREE in their spare time because they want to. Think about that for a second before you start bitching...
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#2
Have moved the thread to what I feel is a more appropriate area of the forum.

Techlife, you don't state what PVR add-on but I'm guessing from your post history you'd like a seperate sub-forum for WMC frontend/backend discussed in this thread http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=171216
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#3
That is correct. It is for the ServerWMC backend and pvr.wmc frontend. Thank you for the reply and any additional information and assistance you can offer.
The XBMC team, plug-in devs, skinners, etc. do this for us for FREE in their spare time because they want to. Think about that for a second before you start bitching...
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#4
hmm, I tend to only open up subforums for PVR addons in our official repo. But I guess you'll create a PR once it's somewhat stable? (not sure if you can create a PR on github from your bitbucket repo though)
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#5
It's a very awesome PVR add-on, to boot! (and I'm saying this as a Mac guy)
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#6
Thanks Ned!

da-anda - Please see the developers response below. Thank you very much for your reply and assistance.
The XBMC team, plug-in devs, skinners, etc. do this for us for FREE in their spare time because they want to. Think about that for a second before you start bitching...
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#7
(2013-11-21, 11:53)da-anda Wrote: hmm, I tend to only open up subforums for PVR addons in our official repo. But I guess you'll create a PR once it's somewhat stable? (not sure if you can create a PR on github from your bitbucket repo though)

Hi, I am the author of the wmc addon.

Another user in our group (TheImmortal) has been working on a public repo, we expect its remaining issues to be wrung out in a day or two. Going forward, I am open to any option, whether that's being included in the official repo or just maintaining our own. This is my first project for xbmc so I don't know how this is supposed to go. Any advice is welcome.

As for the sub-forum, this is a more immediate problem for those of us trying to sort out user's issues and requests, its a big job trying to stay on top of a 150 page thread! So if its okay, we would prefer getting the sub-forum as soon as possible. If our path is to be official at some point I think the sub-forum will help us get there quicker, and it will certainly make our users and developers happier.

thanks
--kr
Windows Media Center PVR addon (pvr.wmc) and server backend (ServerWMC)
http://bit.ly/serverwmc
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#8
Generally speaking, we always prefer that addons get included in the official repo, the idea being that if users have to fall back to using a zip to install something, we've done something wrong.
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#9
Ok, I'm adding a subforum for you guys under the condition that it will be submitted to official repo. If you need help getting your addon in feel free to ping me or any other dev (it's as simple as creating a pull request to https://github.com/opdenkamp/xbmc-pvr-addons/ which is currently our github PVR repo). We just don't want to become a 3rd-party support forum where we are the idiots doing the monkey work on XBMC itself and give free support while others earn money with it and just forward their users to us. I know this shouldn't be the case here, it's just a little explanation why I'm a bit hesitant opening up random support sections.

edit: I added TheImmortal, TechLife and krustyreturns as subforum moderators.
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#10
Awesome. Thank you guys so much! We'll discuss the switch internally and start moving things where they need to be soon.
The XBMC team, plug-in devs, skinners, etc. do this for us for FREE in their spare time because they want to. Think about that for a second before you start bitching...
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#11
Thanks from me too!

I take your point about the support thing. I am not accepting donations and don't plan to, but I will be happy to put an xbmc donation link on my page.

I would like guidance on whether the addon is at a mature enough level that it should be pushed to the official hub, but I will take that discussion offline. But if anyone has advice or suggestions on this feel free to PM me.
Windows Media Center PVR addon (pvr.wmc) and server backend (ServerWMC)
http://bit.ly/serverwmc
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#12
Just file a PR and write in the PR description what's currently working and what not. We don't require everything to work (i.e. timeshift is no must have. basic featureset is enough, but has to be stable ofc) Then Lars can decide to pull the trigger or ask for a more complete featureset or code cleanup.

To do so:
a) fork https://github.com/opdenkamp/xbmc-pvr-addons/
b) create a local branch for your addon
c) add your addon code in the correct places and make sure to adjust all compile scripts
d) commit everything to your local repo
e) push your branch to your github repo
f) on github, press the "pull request" button and add a description
g) wait for response Smile

That's pretty much it.

@donations - I like your attitude Smile but you're free to accept donations for your work - you only have to follow our forum rules on where to place the donation link if you want to point to paypal etc directly in our forum.
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#13
Hi da-anda,

We are preparing to push the addon over, we have the code staged in github and could put through the pull request, however we are also just madly trying to knock over a few more items of functionality. Is there a cutoff date we need to work to? Is it better to get a PR in now, then push further updates later, or do we have time to still get some final things in the first push?

Also just wondering once Gotham is released, how do things work then? Can we still make unoficial releases of our addon from our own github clones and download sites, or can newer builds of the addon be released officially even once Gotham is "out the door" ? Not sure how XBMC development works. I assume the nightlies etc woudl move on to the next branch (whatever that is) pretty soon after Gotham is released?

Cheers
pvr.wmc TV addon and ServerWMC Backend Development Team
http://bit.ly/ServerWMC
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#14
I'd say better create PR now but mention that you're working on new features that will be ready until date X, then it's up to opdenkamp to decide when to merge your addon. Problem is that we're currently in the last merge window before hard feature freeze, so after that, no new features (and probably also no new PVR addons) will be added. Bugfixes otoh will still go in until release. So choose your commit messages well after this merge window Smile.

As for the distribution of future versions/releases. Unfortunately we don't yet have binary addons in our repositories so that those can't be updated independently from XBMC. The only way to update them until a new XBMC version (major or 13.x bugfix) is released is to install them from zip. So it's no problem at all if you provide bugfixes as download versions. Your fixes will be part of the nightly builds though (PVR addon versions are bumped form time to time for nightlies).
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#15
Great thanks for the info. We are very stable for core functionality, these were just extra discrete features such as supporting TV Signal Strength or Set/Get last played position on recordings etc. The only obvious omission we have is lack of Android platform but that's pretty much because we have no developer with the skills/toolset required.

I will get a PR across to the official repo soon
pvr.wmc TV addon and ServerWMC Backend Development Team
http://bit.ly/ServerWMC
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