Beta testing - Discussion

[jeroenpardon]

Please use this space for discussion, questions, etc.

[monkeyboyohyeah]

Can't wait to get going. Would it be a good idea for us to uninstall ReFocus? Is there a risk of dependency contamination, etc? Should I run a fresh install of Kodi?

[jeroenpardon]

Got some pesky known issues to solve and some PVR stuff to rework, then we'll be good to go :)

Uninstalling reFocus is not required and should make no difference whatsoever. Doing a fresh install of Kodi shouldn't make a difference either. Actually I prefer you guys to test Grid under normal circumstances, the way you would normally use Kodi using any other skin.

After a first good test it would however be good if you could do some more testing with a fresh profile. No need to delete anything, just make a second profile in Kodi and then set it up like you would do after a fresh install. That way we can see how the skin behaves out of the box starting with an empty library and default settings.

[bigdaddyral]

Just came home and saw the known issues you posted and got a little excited! Did Jeroen just post Grid? I'm staying up late to check it out! :) Anyway, thanks for letting me be involved and for all of the hard work you've put in over the years.

[jeroenpardon]

@bigdaddyral morning here ;) Not sure how late it is where you are, but if it's very late: go to sleep ;) Not sure when it will be uploaded, but it might not be until night here.

[jeroenpardon]

To answer Reynald's question:

This is an important point for me, the possibility of changing the colors of foot, background, transparency Fanart and font. I do not have to change color file for this. Do not hesitate to give flexibility to this. Because it is good to be able to customize the skin and give the impression of having different model (Kodi child, kodi family) and if it is also possible to have several user profiles with different color. I use only 4 different views (Movie, Tv series, addons, and settings) and each seen would like to have different colors as well. I know you'd do the best for us on Grid. Thank you for your work .

You will be able to change background colour, selection colour, focused text colour, unfocused text colour and secondary text colour. You will also be able to change the transparency of the colour (and as a result the visibility of background fanart). The colours are stored as skin settings, so if you use different profiles, they can use different colours. It will not be possible to change the colour per library section. It will also not be possible to change font sizes as Kodi's skinning engine isn't able to have responsive / scaling layouts. So there's no reliable way to do this.

[FrissonReynald]

@Jeroen : Thank you Jeroen for your answer; Can be for font can added in different Font.xml ? I like a Big Police for the menu and plot ( my Tv is far ) For the colors I would do with your coding :) The choices are already interesting. Happy to have possibility of different profile stored (give colors for Madame Frisson: Pink lol)

[jeroenpardon]

@FrissonReynald Yes, you of course could add your own fontset in Font.xml :)

There are 19 colours to choose from, with 4 different variations per colour. So that's 76 colours ;)

But you can also manually enter a colour code (in the skin, no need to edit files) if Madame Frisson is really picky ;)

[loggio]

Am I suppose to be able to download this?? I can't see the download link anywhere

[loggio]

Ha... Pays to read! My bad. I'll hang tight.

[jeroenpardon]

Just a little reminder before I will upload the skin tonight (Dutch time), please make sure you have installed the required add-ons listed here before you install Grid.

[FrissonReynald]

Hi Jeroen Can expect a release of Grid today?

[jeroenpardon]

Really sorry for the delay guys. When updating to the latest version on my htpc I came across a couple of issues that hadn't surfaced before. Addressing these has taken more time than I would have liked. But yes, I will post a release today, 100% guaranteed.

[jeroenpardon]

First commit has been published.

I really hope I haven't introduced any major new issues while fixing the ones mentioned.

I will post a couple of small known issues I am aware of later and also tell you about what I have planned.

Currently there are three home menu layouts. The default one is pretty much how I want it, the others need some more refining and tweaking. I am not even sure if they will all make the final release.

A horizontal layout will be added eventually too, but that will likely be not until after a public release.

I hope you like it,

Cheers, Jeroen

[Slurrrp]

Nice Jeroen. Had a few mins to test it. It crashes for me though. I will look into how to report stuff on github. For now a quick pastebin, have not much time atm. https://pastebin.com/zWKg908Z

[jeroenpardon]

Seems it's complaining about a font that's not used anymore. Hopefully 02cd3a71e0014e65b081291b410d9612e5730931 fixes the issue.

[FrissonReynald]

CONGRATULATION My Friend !! I start playing with Grid. Already my first impression (feeling). It's a wonderful mix between Refocus which is my skin's favorite heart and KOVER (the one that I liked a lot by its square and aligned). Grid is beautiful, very nice, readable. The poster view is sublime. I have not yet push the research of personalization with, but already I'm charmed by the concept. Problem that had already appeared on refocus, I remember when and why , When I ask to change style of menu Stream or Vertical, Kodi fails. http://prntscr.com/f589oj

Ps: Jeroen, I have a problem on the widget, or then I start a conversation?

[jeroenpardon]

Thank you @FrissonReynald, I am glad you like it. For me to be able to investigate any further I am going to need a full debug log (please post in in a paste bin)

As for the widget problem, without knowing what it is I can't say :) If it's a bug, then create an issue please. If it's not, post it here ;)

[FrissonReynald]

Jeroen, how can I extract file debug? Because Kodi stopped before every attempt to change menu style?
I wanted to say to you also, that I've found a great list of bug? How do you proceed to attack the problems and note that on topics? I can give you a list of all this ?

it s good ? : https://pastebin.com/raw/g0hbuiCL

[jeroenpardon]

@FrissonReynald See this guide on how to create a debug log.

I get this notice on your paste:

Error, this is a private paste. If this is your private paste, please login to Pastebin first.

If you have bugs to report, then please create an issue (see the tab above). If there are multiple bug reports that are related you can list them in one issue), otherwise please make separate issues. I will then evaluate each issue, label them and note updates about fixes and such in the report.

[FrissonReynald]

Sorry Jeroen, now it is public. I'll make you a list of the problems meet. I must calm down my ardor and joy, because skin is amazing :)

[FrissonReynald]

Jeroen, I'll post it like that, if I had to do differently, thank you for telling me and I'll fix it. Do you want me to open a problem issue or do you want to do it?

Menu => Home Menu => Customize => Widget. Select => None. 1 / Unable to completely remove Widget - always be present.

2 / Unable to replace widget per Fanart image. (Vertical-Stream & Stream menu only) Always Widget enabled. (See question 1)

3 / Can not set multiple slideshow fanart. The selection folders are not load, only CD player and Virtual CD. DD stokages are not visible. Artwork => Global.

4 / Color mode: Unable to save in Color Manager. The name is store, but never the colors. If I chose this personal style, it is actually empty. http://prntscr.com/f5dsmv 4.1/ For this colors : This works very well, except for the Settings & Keybord virtual http://prntscr.com/f5dt3s http://prntscr.com/f5dtia

5 / The movie is never seen on the Home Menu when it is in progress. Hidden by the menu, and as I can not delete widget location and replace by fanart, the movie is in depth on the menu layers. (I see this when there is a light color on the menu.) "Show now playing on the background" does not work properly. A blow yes, a blow not.

Here are some suggestions: - Possibility to delete icon Menu. Keep only Title Menu. Possibility to put widget in front of tab (Film => Widget Film recent / Music => Widget Music album etc.) If I do not want a widget on Serie Tv, be able to choose image Fanart or Single image. Here I have blank frame with other tabs Widget, but not in front of the corresponding title (I hope this will be clear to you ^^).

• In Gallery view, if I chose color Bacground White and test black, I no longer see the titles and information: Http://prntscr.com/f5dysr Selected colors.

That's what I hope you'll understand. Many thanks to you for this incredible skin.

[jeroenpardon]

@FrissonReynald The only error I see in that log file is the skin referencing a window that has been removed from Kodi. I can't imagine why Kodi would crash on that, but I removed the reference, please check of that fixes it. Do you by any chance have a shortcut in your home menu to the peripherals settings window? Please try resetting the home menu configuration so that it gets rid of any invalid shortcuts. If these don't help, please make an issue for it, I will have to look into it when I am home.

[jeroenpardon]

@FrissonReynald Thanks, I will look into the issues as soon as possible. If I can confirm the bugs, I will make issues for it.

Regarding your suggestions:

Possibility to delete icon Menu. Keep only Title Menu.

Unlikely, sorry.

Possibility to put widget in front of tab (Film => Widget Film recent / Music => Widget Music album etc.) If I do not want a widget on Serie Tv, be able to choose image Fanart or Single image. Here I have blank frame with other tabs Widget, but not in front of the corresponding title (I hope this will be clear to you ^^).

I think you mean having specific widgets per menu item? If so, it's unlikely that I will change that as I don't like having "filler" widgets. My explanation on this earlier:

About widgets. Something I always hated about traditional widget implementations is that there's not many useful widget options available for most menu entries. Sure, for movies, tv shows and music you can show things like recently added. But basically anything else doesn't have useful info. So then people either have an "empty" spot or just put stuff in there to "fill the gaps". So, in Grid I opted for a single "stream" of widgets. That stream is a group of widgets always available by pressing right on the main menu and it shows the same widgets regardless on what menu item is focused. You can of course choose what the widgets display and you can choose from several layout options for each widget.

[FrissonReynald]

@jeroenpardon : Yes jeroen I have 3 shortcut directly on folder seedbox. I am obliged to do this to create specific folder. Film, TV Series and Anime. Is that what creates a problem in your opinion? Ps: I did test with Grid menu reset, and still the problem. I will make skinning of your skin again and see how to work around the problem with custom menu.

[FrissonReynald]

@jeroenpardon > I think you mean having specific widgets per menu item? If so, it's unlikely that I will change that as I don't like having "filler" widgets. My explanation on this earlier:

About widgets. Something I always hated about traditional widget implementations is that there's not many useful widget options available for most menu entries. Sure, for movies, tv shows and music you can show things like recently added. But basically anything else doesn't have useful info. So then people either have an "empty" spot or just put stuff in there to "fill the gaps".
So, in Grid I opted for a single "stream" of widgets. That stream is a group of widgets always available by pressing right on the main menu and it shows the same widgets regardless on what menu item is focused. You can of course choose what the widgets display and you can choose from several layout options for each widget.

I understand and accept things. No problem . On the other hand I want to keep the menu style Vertical Stream, because it is better centered on the top of the screen, better aspect but I want to have Fanart Slideshow with .. How to do this is possible I can not find the action for Put it, if I want to fill it, so have to have active widget is not it?

[jeroenpardon]

@FrissonReynald If I understand you correctly you want to use the Vertical Stream layout but show fanart slideshow instead of widgets? The Vertical Stream menu was specifically built for / around the Widgets really. so there is no slideshow in that case. Hiding the widgets and showing the fanart slideshow functionally makes the Vertical Stream layout the same as the normal Vertical Layout. Changing this would add a layer of complexity for something it wasn't really designed for. I am not ruling it out completely but I will have to think about it. If I would add this, it will not be until after a public release. Just in case you haven't noticed yet, you can scroll down and / or on a widget to go to other widgets you might have chosen.

[FrissonReynald]

@jeroenpardon

If I understand you correctly you want to use the Vertical Stream layout but show fanart slideshow instead of widgets? The Vertical Stream menu was specifically built for / around the Widgets really. so there is no slideshow in that case. Hiding the widgets and showing the fanart slideshow functionally makes the Vertical Stream layout the same as the normal Vertical Layout. Changing this would add a layer of complexity for something it wasn't really designed for. I am not ruling it out completely but I will have to think about it. If I would add this, it will not be until after a public release. Just in case you haven't noticed yet, you can scroll down and / or on a widget to go to other widgets you might have chosen.

Ok, so I'll wait if this is included in Grid. (It is the only thing that could block my joy ^^ lol Noooo I joke). I managed to remove Widget but now it is difficult to deliver widget. I made a small video to show you my first difficulty on Grid. 1 / You will be able to see here, that colors are not all possible on the visual. IF I choose to cut with very light colors or very dark. 2 / Then you can see that it is not reusable. 3 / I can not easily reset widgets (the widget title is not editable directly.) The Virtual Keyboard is blocked. 4 / And finally, if I change a lot of options quickly, the Skinshortcut collapses Kodi. (May be no link with Grid)

Video (pass: Grid) https://pool185.seedbox.fr/files/index.php/s/SRGRZ3aaioPy5yJ

I can not also create a new profile, because the Virtual Keyboard prevents me from entering the name of the profile, so unnecessary at the moment.

[monkeyboyohyeah]

Good looking skin, Jeroen. Congratulations. Nice backgrounds, look and feel. It's a little laggy on Raspberry Pi, but I can cope.

I have posted a bug as it crashed repeatedly on activation from my normal profile - tried a new profile and managed to get it active and was even able to modify settings, but when exiting to home page only able to see wallpaper.

Also, as noted above, virtual keyboard doesn't work currently - can move cursor around keyboard but not enter anything.

Installation has affected ReFocus too. When it reboots back into ReFocus many menus are blank, photo here; https://imagebin.ca/v/3LkTtfjsZg9n

[jeroenpardon]

@monkeyboyohyeah thanks, glad you like it :)

The installation of one skin really cannot directly affect another skin. What that looks like though is a bug in Kodi actually (disappearing localised skin strings) that only shows up when using the login screen. Grid contains a workaround for this bug, whereas reFocus does not. My guess is that you will not see blank controls in reFocus when you turn off "use login screen" in profile settings.

btw: I have a hunch about the keyboard thing, will check.

P.S. on which generation Pi? I haven't tested it on mine yet

[FrissonReynald]

Jeroen, I have checked and tested the function of colors of Grid (it is for me a stage of personalization very important.) I tried to create the simplest configuration, as well as the most crooked. The more flexibility you give to this point, the more parameter there is to codify and the possible problem. Here in Grid the mixes are very beautiful, but there are color ties that brings conflicts. For example:

• If I select White on the Background / Focus selector, there is disagreement with some views if I want black on all other selectors. Is it possible to dissociate these two parameters? If it does not take too long to codify as well. And vice versa. The gallery is the most affected of this worry.

Moreover, if I disable the Keyboard full, we can edit the names of the entries (Widget, Menu etc).

Ps: Should the name of the widget be visible on the active window on the Home menu? I have created Widget Movies Recent and Widget Episodes, but the name is not visible.

and I ask if it would be possible to add Logo on the Fanart in Home menu , as there was on Refocus. :(

[jeroenpardon]

Thanks for all the reports and suggestions people. After spending way longer on coding than I planned I am finishing up for today. I am convinced that with your help, Grid will go out in public rock solid 👍

[bigdaddyral]

Get some rest, I'm surprised at 5pm in California you're still awake there!

[FrissonReynald]

Jeroen, will you add a Kiosk option? ps : And one view for Tv show with Banner ? ^^

[FrissonReynald]

Hi Jeroen, this is not problems here, only findings and ideas for you.

1 / It was good to have an unfocus opacity on the widget not selected. I like to highlight the selected widget. Cf: previous version 2 / Is an additional miniature view for Movies + TV Show, with text and information, like on refocus? May look like a list view? Possibility to choose Large poster or Fanart or Landscape? 3 / Have you added mounted high display text in the "i" section? Can you have you think about putting very big character font? 4 / For the Album view, would it be possible to have a little square view like refocus ?

This is only Jeroen's suggestions, hopefully you take pleasant note / GRID is beautiful. I love it very much and enjoy too with all the family.

[jeroenpardon]

1 / I agree 2 / Not ruling anything out, but probably not. In any case not untill after public release. I want more distinction between viewtypes and I don't want to end up with 20 viewtypes. If more info is needed, list view is simply better suited. 3 / Not sure what you mean. Do you mean a bigger font when pressing up in the movie information window? If so, possibly. If you mean in the movie information screen itself, then no 4 / A smaller version of the current thumbnails view? Probably not, sorry

About kiosk view: not sure, will probably depend on demand after public release. I don't have any need for it, and different people have different views on what Kiosk mode should or shouldn't allow.

Sorry for saying no so often.. ;) I just want a rreaally focused skin that does what it does well and is easier to maintain over time.

[FrissonReynald]

You have added a pop fleche Up to have full screen movie information (enabled disabled in option). Is this final? Need a bigger font, but I do not understand the need? Can be could be timed? And not manually push Up?

It does not matter that you often say no. On the contrary, this makes it possible to define a clear and intelligent product. But maybe I could ask one thing where you're going to give a favorable one :). I keep in mind that Grid is Grid and that Refocus was Refocus. Continue your excellent work, and we are the beta testers, this prepares you for the thousand question that you have to say no for the public release ^^

[jeroenpardon]

It was a request by loggio. Especially in the case of artist or album descriptions which can be quite long, I think it has it's purpose. Automatically opening after a certain time you mean? No, definitely not :-)

[FrissonReynald]

@jeroenpardon

Automatically opening after a certain time you mean? No, definitely not :-)

:( :( :( lol . no problèm ok

[FrissonReynald]

http://prntscr.com/f7ac4y Jeroen, still me with my suggestions :). I find the article list mask not very nice to see. I have the impression that it is an image that is not loaded. I tell you about a conversation with my 15 year old son in front of your skin. That's just right, I think. Maybe this could give you ideas and reflection. All this in order to improve your work

• Is this a new KODI skin?
• Yes -What is he called ?
• grid
• But he has nothing that really makes think of a grid, it is a new refocus? -hum. no ! ?

Voila, and looking good, actually. Your work here (I'm not talking about coding) is not so far away as that of refocus. May be it is not enough expressed towards the name Grid. ? Can the rendering is not representative enough of its name?

[jeroenpardon]

Most of all I wanted to avoid using pictures of cinemas, televisions and things like that. I hate them being there at all in the first place. So then I at least wanted something that would adopt skin colours so it would be an actual part of it. Tried several other things but none that I liked. Maybe I'll change them some day if I have a better idea but for now I think they're ok.

The picture we're talking about here is displaying a Grid.. :) And I have to disagree about the name not being representative of the design. The entire methodology of placing elements on the screen is based on a grid system, which maybe is more obvious in some places than others. Other than that it doesn't have to be an exact description, just as reFocus wasn't a direct description of the visual presentation. Grid takes a clean, minimalistic approach just as reFocus simply because that is "my" style and preference. To me, it is still a very different skin.

[FrissonReynald]

I agree with you, the name is not paramount in the appearance of the skin. Here your work on grid is above all a consistency with navigation and coding. And all in a nice rendering. Personally I am always looking for a supple and light skin that meets the expectations of the family, but also with a fanart, poster and color rendering. Because having plenty of beautiful movie (even if you do not use your skin like me) you have to think how else home your skin. Today I love Grid because he has everything I want to watch a movie. Before I used VLC, there was no menu, no poster etc and I liked the films all the same. I had my period of CD art, logo everywhere, Fanart full screen and full of information. Is this really useful? Do I need to see everything? I spend more time in the end to admire the articles, more than to read them on the player. For example my wife, she does not care about all this, she wants to post it in bulk and the title and text in bulk. Only need this. Children like to see all the posters at the same time. They do not need text. Each person asks for different things. It is complicated I know, to create a skin that gives satisfaction to everyone, but I know that you will give the max of option and sacrifice to give the most satisfaction. I like to be able to discuss it with you, because I do not think you are closed to discussion and suggestion, even if you have a well defined specifications and stopped on your personal ideas. Thank you for your time . Cheers

[bigdaddyral]

There are a bunch of fixes that aren't working for me.

I tried deleting all the skin.grid files on my system and reinstalling and re-configuring grid and everything is the same. No unwatched indicators in all views, the back to menu focus, the inaccessible folder button in artists fanart, crashing when switching to estuary, and overlapping date and time on home screen.

Am I the only one?

[jeroenpardon]

Currently away so can't check. Try clearing the packages sub folder in your addons folder and reinstalll grid, kodi might not be picking up the changes. Another thing to try is to bump the skin version number in grid's addon.xml (just add another .digit)

The crash to estuary hasn't been fixed as i do not know the cause yet. It might not even be a grid issue, even if it only occurs when switching from grid. Kodi simply shouldn't crash because of anything a skin does.

I'll take a look when I get back.

On Sat, May 13, 2017 at 21:09 BigDaddyRal notifications@github.com wrote:

There are a bunch of fixes that aren't working for me.

I tried deleting all the skin.grid files on my system and reinstalling and re-configuring grid and everything is the same. No unwatched indicators in all views, the back to menu focus, the inaccessible folder button in artists fanart, crashing when switching to estuary, and overlapping date and time on home screen.

Am I the only one?

— You are receiving this because you were mentioned. Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub https://github.com/jeroenpardon/skin.grid/issues/2#issuecomment-301268525, or mute the thread https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AAzkdsqnihN-SW4BxJcDpUpweqaducDLks5r5f_mgaJpZM4NNHZd .

[KOKONUTCREME]

Hi

Is anyone else seeing this behaviour?

Configure "set list view artwork type" to poster Configure "landscape art type" to landscape

Enable logos

Open Movies/Tv Shows in list view - are the logos displayed over the posters?

[FrissonReynald]

I have almost the same problem, I corrected your first worries with the obligation to re-download all the logos, close kodi, open kodi, the logos arrive. But personally I still have the title with logo, while the logo should replace title in landscape views. http://prntscr.com/f7lud2

[monkeyboyohyeah]

Wanted to say congratulations everyone on the progress. I've been away a little but returned to find a really good looking skin!

A couple of questions/issues;

In Skin Settings – Menus – Home Menu Type, if this is changed to "Vertical-Stream" or "Stream" this removes the ability to use sub-menus. Is this the correct behaviour? Would be a shame IMO as I think the "Stream" setting looks fantastic! but I really need to be able to access sub menus for kids shortcuts, sport shortcuts, wife friendly functionality, etc.

I'd prefer the "Settings" page to be 2 columns (or 4 if you include the icons as a narrow column). To me the measure is too long.

I have no idea what "Options Menu" – "Customise Options Menu" does, sorry. I placed a new shortcut in there and haven't managed to find where it turns up! Where/what is the options menu? Am I being an idiot? If I'm having trouble I think others might too.

Feature request! Just discovered "Auto complete" addon – it saves a ton of nasty remote presses when you're searching up Rush on YouTube.

Don't want to blow too much smoke but again wanted to say what a fine job you've done, Jeroen, on the colours, typography, icons and functionality. First class.

[jeroenpardon]

@monkeyboyohyeah Good to hear you like Grid, I hope your wife is doing well.

Ability to use submenus will be added to the Vertical Stream menu later, but not on the Stream menu. The latter being purely icon based does not lend itself to use submenus in a sensible way.

The options menu is how I refer to the menu on the left that is accessible from almost every window. There's not really any universal name for it. Anyway, aside from the usual sorting, filtering options and such there is a second tab to the left where you can place custom shortcuts (like the home menu).

Any additional add-ons support will not be before a public release.

[Slurrrp]

@monkeyboyohyeah yes, the landscape and poster options don't work correctly. Fanart does.

[jeroenpardon]

@everyone: I fixed some issues earlier on a separate branch. The issues appear fixed for me, but it seems something went wrong when pushing the changes to the master branch. I am working on getting these changes on Git after all, and also have been working on some bigger issues. I am going to finish those first before pushing to Git, as getting them uploaded partially will only result in confusion.

[jeroenpardon]

There is good news, the cause of the crash to Estuary has been found. It is not a bug in Grid, but in Estuary (well, actually more in Kodi core). Big thanks to BigNoiD for this, you can read about it here: http://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=314185

As you can read there, the crashing didn't stop for me by renaming the window in Grid. I had to adjust the file in Estuary. Hopefully this will be fixed in Kodi soon.

Could you try removing the custom_1100-Debug.xml file from the Grid/xml folder and check whether (after a restart) the switch to Estuary crash is gone? Being able to work around the problem is of course the fastest way to solve this.

edit: after a couple of restarts, no more crashes for me either