TheShanMan 34 Posted May 22, 2015 Share Posted May 22, 2015 I'd like to learn more about developing a theme, but I'm having trouble finding information on how it's done. Can someone point me to a guide or documentation for that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheShanMan 34 Posted May 24, 2015 Author Share Posted May 24, 2015 Bueller? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angelblue05 4130 Posted May 24, 2015 Share Posted May 24, 2015 I think you need to be more precise. For what platform are you looking to do this for? etc.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheShanMan 34 Posted May 24, 2015 Author Share Posted May 24, 2015 OK, I assumed info on theme development might all be in a central area. For now I'm interested in WMC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ebr 14910 Posted May 24, 2015 Share Posted May 24, 2015 There isn't really a collection of information anywhere but MBC themes are plug-ins that involve both c# and mcml (a dead language just for WMC). I'm not sure I would encourage you to start off on a new theme for MBC right now but the best resource will be to look at the source for the ones that are available (they are in Github) an then ask specific questions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheShanMan 34 Posted May 25, 2015 Author Share Posted May 25, 2015 Thanks. This is sort of a special case that may be just for my own use possibly because I've also got a vintage B&W TV hooked to my HTPC for watching B&W content so I'm hoping to create a theme that is a little more optimized for low resolution, particularly since Chocolate hangs if I try to use it on that screen and was told that wouldn't be fixed. And while I'm interested in MBT, I'm not close to being ready to switch and I'm not convinced I'll want to do that anytime soon. I know c# but mcml will be new for me - hopefully it won't be too hard to pick up. Where do I find the MediaBrowser assembly? The chocolate project references it so I can't build it at the moment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ebr 14910 Posted May 25, 2015 Share Posted May 25, 2015 It is buried in your Global Assembly Cache. Google that and then search for mediabrowser.dll. Or just build MBC from source. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheShanMan 34 Posted June 22, 2015 Author Share Posted June 22, 2015 I've been spending a little time on this and I'm starting to come to the conclusion that the Classic theme is probably a better starting point for what I want to do than Chocolate (i.e. it would require fewer modifications to accomplish what I'm after). However, it looks like the Classic theme isn't in a standalone dll though. Could anyone offer any guidance on how to extract the Classic theme into a standalone dll? Would that be a painful process? I haven't gotten a complete understanding of how the themes and mcml files work (and frankly, I'm not sure I'll need to for the fairly basic changes I want to make), so I don't even have a great feel for basic requirements in terms of files, resources, and whatnot let alone the ins and outs of the mcml "language". I'm sure I can figure it out on my own but I'm guessing a little guidance could save me a lot of time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cheesegeezer 3086 Posted June 24, 2015 Share Posted June 24, 2015 The mcml for the classic theme is under default theme in the source code. Probably under the Markup folder, however you would need to add the code to allow the theme to be used as a plugin. All themes reference the media browser assembly to get relevant objects from there. I would use chocolate as your starting point and remember to give your them a new GUID in the assembly.cs under properties folder or you will have issues when trying to load the theme. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cheesegeezer 3086 Posted June 24, 2015 Share Posted June 24, 2015 (edited) Oh and the best reference for mcml is in the mc sdk there is an app that is part of the sdk called sample explorer, use that it's the best tutorial you'll find. Edited June 24, 2015 by Cheesegeezer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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