[bsoriano]

Hello all,

I know it's been a long time, my apologies.  I have just pushed Amber version 3.2.20 to the Amber repo.  This version contains many changes! I will detail the most salient ones below.

Before detailing the changes, some important info for using this version:

1. This version requires script.embuary.helper and script.embuary.info from @sualfred  to work properly and show all information.  These addons can be found in the Kodi repo.
2. This version requires plugin.video.themoviedb.helper from @jurialmunkey .  This addon is still not in the Kodi repo (it soon will be). You can download it from here: https://github.com/jurialmunkey/plugin.v...edb.helper
3.  The addon script.skin.info.service is no longer included in the Amber repo.  You can find it in the Kodi repo, please download the latest version from there.
4.  The version of script.skin.helper.widgets now included in the Amber repo is a modified version of the one found in Marcelveldt's beta repo, not a modified version of the one found in the Kodi repo.  You will see that the version is now 1.0.78.  This version contains my mod to be able to click a grouped item in the Recently Added Episodes shelf(widget) from the addon to go straight to the season of the show.
5.  This version of Amber no longer uses skin.helper.service, so you don't need to have installed to use Amber.  One consequence of that is that there is no longer an "Additional Shelves" entry when configuring your shelves.  You can find all of the shelves that were there before by going to the appropriate entry for the relevant addon (skin.helper.widgets, etc.) in Addons when configuring your shelves.

So what is new?

1. I have added an Alphabet strip in all media views.  This allows you to quickly jump to the movie/tv show/episode/album/artist, etc. that you are looking for.  For the alphabet strip to show up, you need to enable it in Settings,Amber Settings, General: Enable Alphabet Strip.  You get to the alphabet strip by pressing Right from any list item.  In Fanart view, you get to the alphabet strip by pressing Down (if gallery is not enabled).  The alphabet strip only works if the sort order for your view is Name, Title, Album or Artist.  Thank you @jurialmunkey for allowing me to adapt your code.

2. Added new shelves from script.embuary.helper:
   -- Movies and TV Shows from a random genre
   -- Next Up episodes

3.  Added new shelves from plugin.video.themoviedb.helper: (when you click on an item from these shelves, you will browse info from the plugin. If you press I, online info from TMDb will be shown)
  -- Popular Movies & TV Shows
  -- Top Rated Movies & TV Shows
  -- Upcoming Movies
  -- In-Theater Movies
  -- Airing Today TV Shows
  -- Currently Airing TV Shows

4.  Added option to show watched items in recently added shelves.  You can enable this in Settings, Amber Settings, General
5.  Added option to show duration in hours and minutes. You can enable this in Settings, Amber Settings, General

6. Added option to show the name of the background shown in the home window (Settings, Amber Settings, Backgrounds: Show Background Name in Home Window), very useful (I think) for when you choose Playlist, Random Movies, Random TV Shows, etc. as the background for a menu item. 
  -- You can view the background name in a small tab on the top left (horizontal menu) or the top right (vertical menu). 
  -- You can also choose to show the name in the top bar (Settings, Amber Settings, Backgrounds: Place Background Name in Top Bar). 
  -- The background name is clickable; when you click (press Enter) on it, you will be taken to a search window that should have as its first result the movie/tv show/etc. whose name you clicked on.
     To get to the background name shown, press down two (no submenu) or three times (submenu present) if using horizontal menu, or left two (no submenu) or three (submenu present) times if using vertical menu. 
  -- You can also choose the delay in seconds for rotating backgrounds (Settings, Amber Settings, Backgrounds: Home Window Background Rotation Delay); the default is 7 seconds.

7. Skin Settings have been rearranged, Top Bar settings are now grouped together.  Video Info settings are also grouped together.

8.  Many changes to Video Info for Movies/TV Shows. 
    -- script.extendedinfo is no longer supported (as it is not maintained anymore).  Instead of the Extended Info button in video info, there is now an Online TMDb Info button, which will show online info provided by script.embuary.info by @sualfred .  The video info and person info from that script have been skinned.  Please note that I have already added to those windows all of the info that the script provides from TMDb.

    -- There is a new setting in Settings, Amber Settings, Video Info: Show Only Local Info.  This is disabled by default.  With this enabled, the video info dialog will not show additional online info from TMDb that you might not have scraped for the movie or tv show.
    -- If the setting above is disabled, the video info dialog will show additional online info from TMDb alongside the local info you have.  Some of the additional online info provided is:
       --- Budget, Revenue, Awards, amount of RT Fresh reviews, amount of RT Rotten reviews, RT Critic's Consensus, amount of RT audience reviews.
       --- If you do not have locally info like Director, Genre, Studio, Writer, Premiered date, Country or Cast and this info exists in TMDb, this info is also shown for your movie or tv show.

    -- The Director, Writer, Genre, Studio and Country fields are clickable. 
        --- For all except Country, you will be asked if you want to search online in TMDb or locally. 
        --- If the field contains multiple items (several Writers or several Genres separated by / , for example), you will be presented with a list of the individual items so you can choose for which one you want to do the search.
       --- The Country search will always be local.
       --- Once you select how and what you want to search, you will be presented with a window with up to 20 movies or tv shows that match the search (if online tmdb search) or as many items  as you have in your local library that match the search (if local search).

    -- When you click on a Cast or Crew member, you will also be asked to search online or local. 
        --- If you search online, you will be presented with a new Person Info window that will show you the biography and other details of the person.  The window will also show you lists of Movies that the person has acted in, TV Shows that the person has acted in, Movies where the person has been a crew member, TV Shows where the person has been a crew member, and Pictures of the person. 
        --- If you search locally, you will be presented with a window providing the Movies, TV Shows and Episodes in your library that have that person as a cast member.

    -- The video info dialog now has a group of configurable custom info lists below the Cast.  You can decide which info lists will be shown by going to Settings, Amber Settings, Video Info: Select Custom Lists to Display (all lists are enabled by default).  The lists have a maximum number of 25 items.  The available lists are:
        --- Seasons of the tv show
        --- Movies in the Set
        --- Crew
        --- Movies also directed by
        --- Movies/TV Shows from same Studio
        --- Movies/TV Shows from same Genre
        --- Movies/TV Shows from same Year
        --- Similar Movies/TV Shows
        --- Recommended Movies/TV Shows
        --- Movies/TV Shows where the main (first 4) cast members also appear in

    -- You can now have the background in video info blurred.  This uses the colorbox script by @badaas .  The script can be downloaded from the Kodi repo.  There is a new setting in Settings, Amber Settings, Video Info: Blur Background.  If you enable this, an additional setting, Blur Settings is enabled. When you click on this, you will be presented with a dialog where you can choose the effect that you want applied to the background as well as configure the effect.  The dialog has a preview image (usually the fanart from the most recent movie in your library) so you can see how it will look with the effect applied.  Thank you to @mikeSiLVO and @jurialmunkey for their help with this.
 
I am sure there are a few other changes/fixes that are not listed above.

Please test and let me know what you think, I would like this version to be thoroughly tested before submitting to the Kodi repo.  Thank you!

Regards,

Bart