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Author Topic: Playing Now Popup Skin - Reload button needed in the settings menu?  (Read 613 times)

markf2748

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I find that after editing main.xml it is necessary to switch skins, then change back to the edited skin, in order to see changes reflected in the display (without relaunching MC).  The "Show" button helps some, but it is still necessary to swap skins.  Keyboard shortcut <CTRL> + i does not solve it.  Am I missing something here?

If not, can you add a "Reload" setting button to avoid cycling through another skin after editing without relaunching MC?
Or a keyboard shortcut to accomplish same thing (maybe <CTRL>+<SHIFT>+i)?

Win 11 Pro 64-bit | MC 33.0.37
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cncb

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Re: Playing Now Popup Skin - Reload button needed in the settings menu?
« Reply #1 on: November 04, 2024, 09:32:55 am »

Good idea.  Next build:

Changed: "Show" button in the PNP Settings dialog also now reloads the current skin.
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-Craig    MO 4Media remote and player:  Android/TV/Auto | iOS | Windows 10/UWP

marko

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Re: Playing Now Popup Skin - Reload button needed in the settings menu?
« Reply #2 on: November 07, 2024, 01:01:35 pm »

Good idea.  Next build:

Changed: "Show" button in the PNP Settings dialog also now reloads the current skin.
Working nicely. Much better like this.

I find that after editing main.xml it is necessary to switch skins, then change back to the edited skin, in order to see changes reflected in the display (without relaunching MC).
What you got cooking? :D

markf2748

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Re: Playing Now Popup Skin - Reload button needed in the settings menu?
« Reply #3 on: November 08, 2024, 05:44:21 pm »

Working nicely. Much better like this.
Glad to hear it.  I'll have to wait until next public release to try it.

What you got cooking? :D
Attached are screenshots of modified versions of JRiver's Control, Basic, and 3-Track, hot off the stove.  The aesthetic is consistent with my Playerbar title in the MC main window (2nd attachment).  Minimalist dark mode style with some bright text highlights.  The skin's custom Control buttons light up in color with mouseover and transferred immediately to the PNP's, as expected.

The FontSize property is set for legibility at Size=100% on my 1920x1200 desktop monitor.  Playing Now Popup > Settings... > Size works nicely to scale them differently.

To keep the position data (as well as bit rate in the Player Bar Status subheading) at fixed width, without jumping around as the track plays, I display that text in a monospaced font.  Shown in Cascadia Code Semibold; Lucida Console Regular also works.  These are compact and good for display compared to many other monospaced fonts, and both are built into Win11.

11/10/2024 Note:  Segoe UI, another built-in Microsoft Windows font, is not strictly monospaced.  However the numerals 0-9 appear monospaced, so it works for display of dynamic numbers, such as position and bit rate.  The colon ":" appears to be half the width of a numeral, resulting in a more compressed presentation than strictly monospaced fonts.

Files are in the attached zip archive, tested on my Win 10 & Win 11 PCs.  To install, unzip the three folders into folder C:\Program Files\J River\Media Center 33\Skins\Playing Now Popup\image.svg files are simple size-matched solid rectangles created in Inkscape and exported to image.png to allow flexibility in the background if desired.  Otherwise you can just specify background color in main.xml and omit image.png.

@marko thanks for your innumerable contributions to skinning and documentation of MC.  It would be beneficial to have an archive or pinned thread dedicated to depositing PNPs.  Maybe a new category in https://yabb.jriver.com/mediacenter/accessories.php ?

11/9/2024 Edited for clarity.

11/11/2024 Replace attached zip archive with updated version mf 1.2.  Adds Playing Now track list to each PNP; updates Tooltips; larger position font. [reposted with minor corrections]
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