A new version of Media Center Themer has been released. Version 1.40 brings in lots of improvements such as string replacements, reorganization of menus , and the possibility to add your very own menu items to launch custom programs or display web pages inside Media Center. You can download the new version right away from patchou.com, see below for a full list of changes.

http://www.patchou.com/projects/media-center-themer/

Media Center Themer is a lightweight add-on that lets you completely customize the interface of Media Center. Modify text colors and other formatting attributes, pictures, MCML interfaces, and automatically re-colorize most of the built-in pictures with a single setting (say goodbye to the original blue theme). All of it is done in memory, without modifying a single resource file on disk, preventing screws up and the reversal of changes during software updates. and yes, it's entirely free to use.

Change log from version 1.30 to 1.40:

• The <TextFormat> element has been modified to include <LegacyText>  sub-elements in addition to <Text>. They now replace the old <Legacy> and <String> elements for better organization (see the updated schema).
• MCML resource files (mcml and xml extensions) are now modified when extracted to look properly formatted when viewed in any text editor (identation and line breaks).
• The new <Resources>\<Strings> element can be used to replaced any of the text displayed by Media Center, such as menu labels and titles.
• A new <StartMenu> element has been added. Its <Builtin> element can be used to reorder or hide menus and sub-menus in Media Center's start menu.
• The new <Custom> element of <StartMenu> allows for the creation of a custom menu strip with user-defined menu items to launch programs or display web pages.
• Command line parameters can now be used instead of some registry settings. See the updated documentation for more details.
• The documentation has been updated new sections have been added to it for the new features.
• The setup is now copied to Program Files and an uninstall entry is added in Windows' Control Panel to easily uninstall the application.
• The setup now creates shortcuts in the Start Menu of Windows.
• Fixed: the first resource loaded in each DLL was not taken into consideration. This could prevent important files, such as CommonStyles.xml to be logged or replaced.

So I looked at this but for me I got confused. Is what I want to know is how would you do the following -

Reorganize TV layout - I would like it to be say Live TV/Recorded TV/Guide then I would move Internet TV to a new Strip.

For those interested, version 1.41 was released today, adding full support for Windows 8 Consumer Preview.

Hi, Patchou.  Love MC Themer -- there seems to be nothing it can't do.  I have one problem I was hoping you could help me with, though.  Occasionally when I back out of an application (for instance, the media center tv guide, or the Recorded TV HD addin) my menus revert to their non-customized format.  The weird thing is that the string replacements from the Resources section of my xml file will stick, but the visibility settings for the builtin menus won't.

Any ideas what might cause that or where I could begin to look?

Thanks again for a great program!

Hello,

sorry for the late answer. Your problem is definitively a strange one. I have released a new version of Media Center Themer today, it may fix your issues as it includes improvements for menu customization.

Hope it helps :)

I think I have a similar issue.  The theme gets applied except for the background.  I'm using a black theme hut the background remains as some leafy design that  I've never even seen before.  I'll try tthe new verion and seehow that works.

Hi.

Some problems:

• Hide menu: doesn't work
• Add and Hide menuitem works in some menu and not in others one.

Changing background is OK.

My config: win7 x64 (French), Media Center Themer 1.43, 1 in each registery entry

=========================================================================================================

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<MediaCenterThemer xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xsi:noNamespaceSchemaLocation="MCTSchema.xsd">
 <!-- Replaces the default background image -->
 <Resources>
  <Rcdata>
   <!-- Picture Resources. Modification of the default background -->
   <Resource Id="COMMON.BACKGROUND.PNG">
    <Replace File="Theme\fond.jpg"/>    <!-- OK -->
   </Resource>

   <Resource Id="COMMON.ANIMATED.BACKGROUND.PNG">
    <Replace File="Theme\fond.jpg"/>    <!-- OK -->
   </Resource>
  </Rcdata>

  <Strings>
   <!-- Modify four strings of text -->
   <String Id="14030">Musique + Photos + Vidéos</String> <!-- OK -->
  </Strings>
 </Resources>
 
 <StartMenu>
  <Builtin>
  
   <Movies Visible="false"/>       <!-- doesn't work -->      
   
   <Pictures>
   <MenuItem Name="PlayFavorites" Visible="false"/> <!-- OK -->
   <MenuItem Name="PromoItems" Visible="false"/>  <!-- OK -->
   <AddItem Name="Music_MusicLibrary" Order="1"/>  <!-- OK -->
   <AddItem Name="Movies_MovieLibrary" Order="4"/>  <!-- OK --> 
   <MenuItem Name="PictureLibrary" Order="2"/>   <!-- OK -->  
   <MenuItem Name="VideoLibrary" Order="3"/>   <!-- OK -->     
   </Pictures>

   <Music Visible="false"/>       <!-- doesn't work -->          
   
   <TV>
   <MenuItem Name="SearchTV" Visible="false"/>   <!-- doesn't work -->
   <AddItem Name="Movies_PlayDVD"/>     <!-- doesn't work -->
   </TV>

   <Tasks>
   <MenuItem Name="Shutdown" Order="1"/>    <!-- OK -->
   <MenuItem Name="Settings" Order="2"/>    <!-- OK -->
   <MenuItem Name="LearnMore" Visible="false"/>  <!-- OK -->
   <MenuItem Name="Synchronize" Visible="false"/>  <!-- OK -->
   <MenuItem Name="BurnDisc" Visible="false"/>   <!-- OK -->
   <MenuItem Name="AddExtender" Visible="false"/>  <!-- OK -->
   <MenuItem Name="EnterMediaOnlyMode" Visible="false"/> <!-- OK -->
  </Tasks>
    
  </Builtin>
</StartMenu>
</MediaCenterThemer>

Hi,

thx for the report. Unfortunately, the log you attached to this forum is unfrotunately empty. I'd like to help you fix this issue by sending you a debug version of Media Center Themer that will help me diagnose what's going on on your system. Please send me a quidck message at www.patchou.com/.../contact and I'll reply to you by email.

Quick note: "<AddItem Name="Movies_PlayDVD"/> " will not work if the "Play DVD" menu item is not already active in Media Center. The <AddItem> elements don't force a menu item to show, they just allow existing menus to be moved from one menu strip to another. For the other issues you'Re experiencing, it's not normal andI'm confident we'll be able to fix it together.

Cyril

Hi,

Did you manage to resolve the previous posters problem? I have pretty much the same spec (except Win7 Pro 32bit) and also the same problems with the menu config. I even tried the menu config sample from the website but to no avail.

Bazzer.

<MediaCenterThemer xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xsi:noNamespaceSchemaLocation="MCTSchema.xsd">
    <!-- Sample file to modify the start menu of Media Center -->
    <StartMenu>
        <!-- Changes to the built-in menus -->
        <Builtin>
            <Extras Visible="false"/>
            <Music Order="2"/>
            <TV Order="1"/>

            <Tasks Order="3">
                <MenuItem Name="Shutdown" Visible="false"/>
                <MenuItem Name="Settings" Visible="false"/>
                <MenuItem Name="Synchronize" Order="1"/>
            </Tasks>
        </Builtin>

        <!-- Addition of a new menu strip -->
        <Custom Title="My Theme Menu">
            <MenuItem Name="Display web site" HideToolbar="true">
                <Image>Logged Resources\ehres.dll\rcdata\SKITTLE.BOTTOM.PIECE.PNG</Image>
                <Link>http://www.patchou.com/projects/media-center-themer/</Link>
            </MenuItem>

            <MenuItem Name="Launch calculator">
                <Image>Logged Resources\ehres.dll\rcdata\STARTMENU.QUICKLINK.PICTURES.PLAYFAVS.FOCUS.PNG</Image>
                <Program>%windir%\system32\calc.exe</Program>
                <PlayingDirective>pause</PlayingDirective>
            </MenuItem>
        </Custom>
    </StartMenu>
</MediaCenterThemer>

Hi,

BTW, just noticed in the release logs for 1.43 that there were menu issues due to locale. I use English (UK).

Regards,

Bazzer

Hiding and ordering of builtin menu strips is not working for me either.  However, I am able to hide and order menu items within the Task strip.  

I used the sample config on the website.

Hello,

I have now fixed a new issue regarding built-in menus in Media Center. I'm doing a couple more tests now and I'll release an update during the weekend as version 1.44. If you want to help me test the fix, please send me an email:
 www.patchou.com/.../contact

Edit: Media Center Themer 1.44 has been released and the fix for menu customization has been confirmed by several users :).

Patchou