Can't add Skin - bad documention?

[quatermass]

Try as I might but VLC has beaten me.

I wanted to add the Skin Phoenix.vlt to V0.7.2 of VLC for windows.

I downloaded the phoenix.vlt.gz file and renamed it to phoenix.vlt

The skins-howto.txt file supplied in VLC says:
"VLC can load directly skins with the .vlt extension."

err no it can't.

I tried a standard drag and drop of the phoenix.vlt file to a open VLC window and nothing seems to happen.

I tiried opening a .vlt file in VLC and directing it to the file and nothing happens.

I read the top of the Skins download page which states:

"To change the skin, if no button is present on the skin to do it, just press CTRL+S on your keyboard then choose the *.vlt or theme.xml file of the new skin you want to use."

Well I give the VLC window the input focus and press Ctrl+S and nothing happens.

I downloaded a zip version of a skin and placed this uncompressed directory in C:\Program Files\VideoLAN\VLC\Skins
and reloaded VLC. There was no extra skin listed.


I searched the forums on how to install a skin and found this:
"See viewtopic.php?t=2194"

This gave me a wee clue.

So what command options do I need to setup in a shortcut to get the skin I want and how come the new skin is not listed in the menu switch interface?

Perhaps some kind dev. person could add a little help text file so us newbies can find out how to use this program?

Thanks.

P.S. The README.txt says that a FAQ, Changelog, HACKING, INSTALL.win32 text file are provided. They are not.

[Sigmund]

On the very main skin page of vlc you have this nice little text:

To launch VLC with the skin interface:
use the special shortcut in the start menu;
or launch VLC with this command line:

vlc.exe -I skins
or go to the preference menu after launching VLC and click on the View/Add Interface/skins menu.

I hope it is clear enough

[AsMaX]

Hi,
you seems to be confused because you think vlc itself can handle directly .vlt files (when you try to open it like a media file, or with a drag and drop), but in fact it is NOT possible, at least at the moment. Skins can only be loaded with the dialogs that appears with a Ctrl+S _on the skins interface_ and not on the standard wxwindows interface. By the way the phoenix skin is made for the old skin interface which will be deprecated soon, so you really have to launch vlc with this interface (vlc -I skins in command line). About selecting a skin in the interface menu, it is not yet implemented so that's why it cannot work !
All that can be a bit tricky but we are in a transition phase, so things will hopefully improve in future releases !
(btw this discussion should take place in the VLC forum)

[leeds]

I have the same problem here. And can't find any clue.

[°tErRiFiC°]

u have to [b]switch to either skin, or skin2[/b] interface according to what kind of skin (1 or 2) standard u have downloaded. then -> press "ctrl-s"
and load it. it should switch now to your new interface. after that u have to go to -> preferences -> view -> and change your default skin (you'll only see the option if u have enabled extended options)

[B Savage]

[quote="Sigmund"]On the very main skin page of vlc you have this nice little text:
[quote]
To launch VLC with the skin interface:
use the special shortcut in the start menu;
or launch VLC with this command line:

vlc.exe -I skins
or go to the preference menu after launching VLC and click on the View/Add Interface/skins menu.
[/quote]

I hope it is clear enough[/quote]

Strange. There is no "view/add interface/skins" menu.

Maybe you have a special version of VLC the rest of us can't hope to obtain.

70% of the documentation referenced by other documentation doesn't exist.
60% of the content of the documentation that does exist provides information that is wholly inaccurate.
The documentation that does exist and is relevent is painfully inadequate and generally grammatically incorrect.

Your comments seem to indicate a smug satisfaction with this sorry set of instructions. If documentation is so trivial then why is it so prevalent? Because documentation is not trivial. No-one is born with all the answers. Not even programmers. 75% of all learned knowledge is through vicarious means. In other words through a surrogate. Like the written word. Like documentation.

I'll write it for you. After I find out all the functions of VLC by trial and error.

It isn't efficient but I have yet to locate a suitable alterrnative.

If anyone knows of some relevent and updated documentation, please respond with its location. Maybe I'm blind, but I sure can't find it.

Am I being "clear enough?"

[ipkiss]

OK, it's not in the View menu anymore, but in the Settings one now: Settings --> Switch interface --> skins2
Was it really so hard to find? BTW, the instructions on the website have been updated some time ago, so the ones taken from this old message are not relevant anymore

Talking about the documentation, we know that it is far from perfect, and for this reason it is being completely rewritten to be more structured and more complete. Your help is of course welcome!

[The DJ]

Exactly. it's not like anyone ever offers to help WRITE the documentation, so as long as people only want to download and use the software, I don;t really see a problem.