Plugin Creation tips

[bcjenkins]

Creating logo packs

Hi All,

Here's a quick post on producing your own logo pack.

1) Secure your own online hosting. I would recommend DropBox public folders. If you don't have a DropBox, here's a referral URL that gives us both free space.

2) Place the channel logos in a zip file. Do not zip a directory of logos, but select all logos and compress them. Make sure all the files are with lowercase file extensions.

3) You need to generate an MD5 signature for the zip file. If you're using Windows, try: http://www.pc-tools.net/win32/md5sums/. On the Mac, use md5. On Linux, use md5sum.

4) Create the XML file Example below and modify the boldface areas.

<SageTVPlugin>
  <Name>Louisville, KY Channel Logo Pack</Name>
  <Identifier>louisvillekychannellogo</Identifier>
  <Description>A collection of channel logos for the Louisville, KY area lineup. This can be used in conjunction with other logo packs to build a complete set.</Description>
  <Author>bcjenkins</Author>
  <CreationDate>2010-05-20</CreationDate>
  <ModificationDate>2010.05.20</ModificationDate>
  <Version>0.0.4</Version>
  <Desktop>false</Desktop>
  <PluginType>Images</PluginType>
  <Package>
    <PackageType>ChannelLogo</PackageType>
   <Location>http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4976/sagetv/louisville-ky-cl-v.0.0.4.zip</Location>
    <MD5>e3039d60716995da4a5f325e92433b20</MD5>
  </Package>
</SageTVPlugin>

5) Visit: http://download.sagetv.com/pluginsubmit.html and submit.

Hope this helps

B

[bialio]

Creating Theme Plugins

http://download.sagetv.com/DevelopingSageTVPlugins.doc

Basically you create a Zip file with the following directory structure:

Themes/PGPTheme/<all your modded files>

Then follow the directions in the document to create the manifest and test it.

Here's the Serenity manifest for reference :

 
<SageTVPlugin>

  <Name>Serenity</Name>
  <Identifier>themeserenity</Identifier>
  <Description>Serenity Theme for SageTV V7.
  </Description>
  <Author>bialio</Author>
  <CreationDate>2010.05.20</CreationDate>
  <ModificationDate>2010.05.25</ModificationDate>
  <Version>1.0</Version>

<Dependency>
  <STV>SageTV7</STV>
  <MinVersion>7.0</MinVersion>
</Dependency> 

<PluginType>Theme</PluginType>

<Package>
  <PackageType>STVI</PackageType>
  <Location>http://serenitybybialio.googlecode.com/files/STV7.serenity.theme.1.0.zip</Location>
  <MD5>4872da66d09afaeed5d0da1c24a08cb8</MD5>
</Package>

<Screenshot>http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh68/bialio/Serenity/Serenity%20V7/screenshot.jpg</Screenshot>
  
<ReleaseNotes>1.0 Full release, highlites changed to orange, grey PVC removed, OSD modified
0.2 Updated a few more button assets to 'serenity orange'
0.1 Original release
</ReleaseNotes>

</SageTVPlugin>

[Opus4]

Thanks for the above posts.

I've put these tips at the top of the forum. If others have further tips to add, please feel free to do so.

Discussion and questions should go in other topics, however, and will be removed from this thread.

- Andy

[Tiki]

I can see a potential for a large number of channel logo packs being posted (while most logos will be the same, every city will have some custom logos for local channels). It might be a good idea if Sage were to publish some guidelines related to naming the plugins...

My suggestion for channel logos would be:

"Channel Logos - Country, State, City"

Example: "Channel Logos - USA, Michigan, Detroit"

Assuming that the plugins are listed alphabetically, this will make it very easy for people to find the best channel logos for their area.