Purpose

• Category: MPEI 
• Type of Change:  Rework

Description of Change

The MediaPortal Extension Installer has been renamed MediaPortal Extension Manager because it can also download, update and uninstall extensions.

The rework includes:

• Several bug fixes
• speed-up download of online update info
• easier installation of installers that include other extensions/installers
• support for large DPI setting
• improvements to User interface and graphics 

Functions are now accessible via an easy to use Menu Bar.

Views

MPEM  provides two main views:

1. Installed Extensions  - a list of the extensions you have installed for your current MediaPortal installation
2. Known Extensions  - a list of all extensions, excluding those you have installed, known to support MPEM  from an online repository

After you start MPEM you will first see an overview of Installed extensions (if you have installed any using MPEInstaller).

This quick list shows the name and author(s) of an extensions and the current installed version. When an extension can be updated, the yellow start icon appears. Selecting an extension in the list will open a larger view giving you access to

• the extension description that was provided by the author
• links to the forum discussion and homepage
• a slideshow of screenshots
• Install button that pops up a list of available versions of the extension
• Uninstall button that lets you remove the extension
• Configure button that opens the Configuration page of the extension
• Update button when an update is available

To install an extension simply click the Install button to install the latest version, or click the down arrow to view a list of all available (or previously installed) versions.

View Menu

The View menu allows you to select if you wish to view:

• only stable extensions (i.e. not beta, test releases)
• only compatible - with the current installed version of MediaPortal installed 

Bottom/Status Bar

The bottom of the window displays important information:

• on the left side - a hint if there are any extensions hidden (e.g. via the View menu options)
• on the right side - a date that shows when MPEM last checked the web for new or updated extensions

Settings

You may choose when to automatically download (and install) extenions by selecting Settings from the Options Menu:

Actions

The main menu has a few important actions shown below:

• Open and install an extension file that you have downloaded manually
• Refresh the update information about newer extension versions from the online repository
• Update all installed extensions to their latest versions
• Clean the cache of old and no longer required files - such as versions of an extension you had installed previously

Browse and Install extensions

Once you have Updated Info on all the currently available extensions, you can: 

• browse through all the available extensions, get more info and install the ones you like.
• filter the list by selecting Tags from the drop down list
• Add a search term to the Filter box

The red exclamation icon shows that this extension is incompatible with your currently installed MediaPortal version. You can click on it to see more details about the incompatibilities and inform or ask the author to provide an update.

Additional Information and References