A great way to customize the way MediaPortal presents content inside the graphical user interface is to take use of folder.jpg files.When you place such a file inside a folder, then MediaPortal will automatically display that file instead of the default folder, CD/DVD, harddisk icon or the thumbnail it automatically creates based on the videos or pictures inside that folder.This proposal here will show you how pin protected folders are displayed currently inside MediaPortal, and how it can be improved.I am using the videos section of MediaPortal to describe the intended change, yet the functionality is meant to be introduced in the video, music and picture sections of MediaPortal.

The idea:

When you start using MediaPortal, you will most likely configure just one folder/source for each of the Music,Video and Picture areas.But there can be reasons to have more than just one folder/source. i.e. when using multiple hard disks, NAS devices or just a combination of both.Another reason for configuring multiple folders/sources can be that you just want to separate certain content in order to group it nicely, or restrict the access to some files.This example here is mainly focused on the idea of restricting access to certain files.

We will have two separate folders for the video section as sources. One that stores the videos the kids are allowed to see, and one that stores videos only the parents are allowed to have access to.

The Configuration: 

So lets go to MediaPortal Configuration, and enter the video section.
There we will now add two folders. Each one pointing to the folder that stores the media for the "kids" and the one for the "parents".

Now when go to MediaPortal, and enter videos, we will get this.

So far so good!
Parents and Kids sections are selectable individually. But this does not look nice yet. So lets save a folder.jpg in the parents folder, and one in the kids folder, that helps to identify the purpose of each folder instantly, without reading the name of the folder inside the GUI.     

When we enter MediaPortal now, we will get this. The used images might not be everyones taste, but you get the idea.

Now we have created folder.jpg's, and everything looks good. What is missing is the protection of the parents folder, that prevents the kids to access it.

Let's go back to the MediaPortal Configuration, and edit the parents folder inside the videos section to set a pin code (enter 4 numbers)

And now we start MediaPortal again

The Problem:

So we placed our nice folder.jpg's in the kids and parents folders before. But now with setting the Pin Code, we no longer see that folder.jpg in the parents folder.

The reason for that is that MediaPortal automatically hides the present folder.jpg as soon as you set a Pin Code. This is done with good intentions, because if no folder.jpg is present, MediaPortal will automatically generate a folder.jpg from video and images inside a folder. And this could lead to having a folder image that shows content your kids should not see.

Yet we have placed a specific folder.jpg in that folder, and we want MP to display that. Also we do not see that this folder is pin protected, because it uses the default folder icon the skin provides.

The Solution:

Finally, lets get to the core of this proposal!

"locked" icon

Instead of displaying the default folder or hdd icon, allow the skin to provide a specific icon (i.e. something like a defaultLockedFolder.png) for locked folders.
This will allow the user to instantly understand the function of the displayed item.

overwrite hiding of folder.jpg

Ultimately, we want MediaPortal to display the folder.jpg which we manually created and placed inside the parents folder. To achieve that we need a config option that allows us to tell MediaPortal that we know what we are doing here and that it has to display the folder.jpg inside our configured source.

The default option will be to not show a present folder.jpg and have MP display the defaultLockedFolder.png instead. So there is no risk that unsafe content is displayed as icon for a locked folder.

Your opinion counts!

So what do you think about it? Would you like to see these changes introduced in an upcoming release of MediaPortal?

Did you already know about the possibility to change the presentation of folders inside the MP GUI by using folder.jpg files?

Let me know!
Post your comments and vote in the thread I have created about this proposal in our forums. :)

A bit late (sorry!), but here are the answers and the winner of the MediaPortal Xmas Quiz 2012!

Answers - short version: B-A-B-A-B-B-B-A

What? Don't remember the questions? OK - here comes the long version:

Q1: Who is MediaPortal's "founding father"? (A) infinite.loop (B) Frodo (C) Spragleknas
Q2: What used to be infinite.loop's nick? (A) infinity loop (B) i-loop (C) loopy
Q3: Who is the author of MPTagThat? (A) Frodo (B) hwahrmann (C) jameson_uk
Q4: What skin was the first to use full HD resolution? (A) SpinSafe (B) Black and White (C) Maya
Q5: Who is the genius behind the MediaPortal web site and forum? (A) Dadeo (B) high (C) Low
Q6: What is the name of the character in the pic on the right? (A) frodo (B) MePo (C) mPortal
Q7: Who was the creator of the Moving Pictures plugin? (A) ZeFlash (B) fforde (C) inker
Q8: Who created the Monochrome/Indigo and ReVision/Replicant skins? (A) Psycho Reptile (B) Harley (C) mofux

Before I give up the winner, here comes some elaborations and fun-facts:

Q1: Other members did indeed have an essential role in the creation of MediaPortal. Infinite.loop has indeed been - and still is - a great contributor!

Q4: SpinSafe was a quite revolutionary skin created by mirk. Here is a nostalgic thread to read up on. Below is a screenshot of the home screen.

Q5: According to high, alternative A, Dadeo, is not too far off, although we consider high to be the correct answer

Q6: Created by GrassyNoel - used by several other applications as well. Was also used in GrassyNoel's MePo skins 

 
Q7: Inker and ZeFlash were essential for the development of MP TV-series, which kinda led to MovingPictures. Although fforde is the creator of MovingPictures, many other plugin devs should be honoured as well.

Q8: ReVision / Replicant was inspired mofux's nonafo skin idea, and HDTVee from Meedio. These skins later evolved to the legendary Monochrome and Indigo skins. The linked skins are all worth a visit. Here is a little taste from the one of the first Indigo-releases.

Thanks for reading!

Oh, right... I promised to announce the winner... 

Congratulations goes to Samuel Chinellato!

A little something-something will be heading your way :).

WebSkin 2013

Welcome to MediaPortal's first skinning contest for WebMediaPortal.*

Lyfesaver74 (jQui) is challenging all MP users to dust off their old HTML/CSS skills and put them to the test for a chance to win a Google Nexus 7, customized MP gear and more. Even if you don't win, every completed** skin that gets submitted will earn a FREE Basic MediaPortal T-Shirt**.

Prize List:

1st Place - New Nexus 7 (Tablet PC/Android 4.1)

2nd Place - MP GearBox (Customized MP T-Shirt, MP Cap, MP 16GB USB3 Thumbdrive, MP Keychain & more)***

3rd Place - Customized MP Hoodie/Sweatshirt***

All skins submitted meeting the "completed" status will also receive a free basic MP T-Shirt.

Project Details:

WebMP is a popular client for MP-Extended allowing users to browse, watch and download saved media plus record, schedule and watch live TV from almost any browser on any device. While the bulk of WebMP is your standard HTML/CSS, because MP-Extended is an ASP.NET/MVC project, skinners can utilize inline C# syntax (Razor) as well. Pair that with MP-Extended's ability to utilize custom DLLs to give the skinner total control.

The great news is that you don't need to know C# or ASP.NET/MVC to create an awesome skin, as Oxan has already included almost everything the skinner would need.

That's it. it's just that simple. HTML/CSS or go a completely new direction with custom C# code. it's all up to you!

To enter the contest, read the contest details or ask a few questions, follow this link to the contest forum thread.

*While MediaPortal is hosting the contest, all rules, prize choices and prize distribution is all under Lyfesaver74's control.

**See contest details in the forum link above.

***Prizes are subject to change (most notably, the graphics). All prizes will be "new" and it will be up to the winner to handle any returns/exchanges.

Use your favorite movie catalog app in MediaPortal on your big screen TV!

Are you a film buff?  Do you have a movie catalog? Did you know you can use it in MediaPortal to watch, browse and search your movies in a myriad of ways on your big screen TV, all while lying back and using a remote?

The My Films plugin combines the superb media center features of MediaPortal with the powerful features of movie catalog software, such as advanced searching, updating by field, sorting by any field, grouping and viewing your movies however you wish.

Eight different movie catalog apps are supported out of the box: 

• Ant Movie Catalog (4.1 new!)
• EAX Movie Catalog 
• Ember Media Manager (EMM) (new!)
• Personal Video Database
• DVD Profiler 
• Extreme Movie Manager (XMM)
• My Movies
• Movie Collector

(see Supported Catalogs for specific setup and details). 

No need to re-scan your data, you can start using your existing movie catalog in MediaPortal within minutes, and continue to use it with My Films.

My Films 6 adds support for NFO files, so any movie catalog app, or even other media center plugin, that supports NFO files can also be be used with My Films.

If you don't already have a movie catalog, as of version 6.0 you can create one using My Films (in AMC/XML format), which you can use with Ant Movie Catalog software, and take advantage of the many advanced features My Films offers for updating your database.

If you are new to MediaPortal - see the MediaPortal Setup guide in the My Films wiki to learn how to set up MediaPortal for use with My Films and your movie catalog.

Download via the MediaPortal Extension Installer (MPEI) or My Films in the Extensions section of the MediaPortal website.

My Films 6 supports MediaPortal 1.2.x as well as 1.3.0 alpha/beta

^{Once you've used your movie catalog with My Films, you'll never want to use anything but MediaPortal!}

Team MediaPortal is very happy with the positive response the Titan skin has received from both the press and users. Not only is the design concept being ported to other similar products, morpheus_xx and joostzilla have already begun porting Titan to MediaPortal 2!

As a result, morpheus_xx has created a development thread, that has now also become a guide, or step by step tutorial, to skinning MediaPortal 2! The thread is public, but "read only" to keep it clean and thus easy to follow the progress. Comments are more than welcome in the separate Comments thread.

Here is a little teaser of the work done so far:

Development thread (read only)

Comments and questions go here

Ho-ho-ho!

Santa is here, and he is curious how much our beloved community knows about the history of MediaPortal and the MediaPortal team.

Think you are a MediaPortal know-it-all?

Have a go at the questions below and leave your answers as comments on our facebook page

The winner will receive a mystery prize from Team MediaPortal!