[Asphyx]

I know most of this is dependent on the Skins themselves right now...
But isn't it time to standardize the way Widgets are done in Kodi so we can add these features to any skin?

I would love to see a Widget Download section added to the repository system.

[smitchell6879]

I maybe be totally off base but as of now widgets are pretty standard... You can download skin widgets add-on , extended info, and there may be another one or 2 that will allow you to add widget. The part of using widget in the skin each skin is to there own creator no 2 skins have the same layout so you are stuck with the layout that the skin creator implemented... But widget content is just a path and can be changed to anything you heart desires. As far as I see most skin come with all the available widgets and widget paths anyway. Unfortunately no matter how creative we get we can really make new any more paths then what we have..... Only thing to wish for is a path to online reviews or music playlist...

[Asphyx]

Each skin has it's own layout...But that layout can include where on that layout a particular widget would show. I'm not suggesting changing that aspect of the skin. Various skins also have different places where they show addon shortcuts for each menu entry.
Right now there are very few options to place custom content into a widget. There also aren't very many options for Widgets and I think mostly because that widget system is overly tied to the Skin itself.

I'm currently using Xonfluence Skin. I can create custom Widgets by taking code from the favorites.xml and displaying them in either Poster or Thumbnail format. That's pretty much it.

So what I'm getting at is the Widget is pretty much limited by the Skin used. Some skins have great Widgets built in but are not all that great for other things.
It would be so nice if the Widget system was no longer Skin dependent (other than where a skin would display Widgets in the layout).
By making the Widgets standardized in the same way Addons are it makes it far easier to code widgets that users could then download, install and set to display in the location their chosen skin says is for Widget display. And since it would be standardized the Widgets would not be restricted by display methods or Widget internal layout of the Skin.

I would love to see a TV Guide widget I could display above my TV Menu item. It wouldn't work in Xonfluence but I have seen it in other Skins...
It would be wonderful if I could just download the Widget used in that skin separately and install it in the skin I'm currently using.

Skinning really should be limited to theme configuration of layout and graphic look...But all the INFORMATIONAL coding that Kodi displays should be made into their own addon that can be used in any skin.

We have sections for Scrapers and Scripts and Services...Isn't it time to have a section for Widgets as well?

[smitchell6879]

Skinning really should be limited to theme configuration of layout and graphic look...But all the INFORMATIONAL coding that Kodi displays should be made into their own addon that can be used in any skin.


This is where I totally disagree as the idea of creating a custom skin is that it is custom...One of a kind and unique. If we were limited to just a theme and a few plugins the all the skin would be very generic and look basically the same...

The skinning process now is already limited in some ways as far as what it can be molded into.

Once again all the widget information is already available to download it just dints have a specific section..

The layout one the hand will have to be custom to the skin I would not want to use someone else exact widget in the skin I am working my self because then I would have to form my skin around there layout and it just doesn't work that way.

[Asphyx]

The Skin is meant for a custom Layout...Information displayed in the layout is part of the main core services of Kodi itself.
How and where that skin chooses to display the information provided by that addon is still determined by the skin. But the information itself is outside of any skin responsibility.

Users should be able to customize what appears in a skin just like they do menu entries, sub-menu items and addon shortcuts.

The skin can determine what the layout for these sections are but what information goes into them should be up to the user and Kodi not the guy who made the skin.

I really don't want the person making the skin to have to recreate a TV Guide Widget that may or may not be compatible with the TV Guide and IPTV I'm using.