How did you learn this stuff?

[sonofdbn]

I'm just wondering how some of the knowledgeable guys here learnt all this stuff?

I've been trying to get serious about doing a decent xlobby installation for about the third time in three years. Each time I wonder how I can learn more - I read the forums and the documentation but there's a huge amount which isn't covered, yet people somehow know the stuff.

Do they/you learn by trial and error and lots of reading or some other way? My guess is there's either an exclusive xlobby university near Roswell or a secret forum with the good stuff hidden somewhere on this site.

[Marbles_00]

Can't speak for everybody else, but for me it was mainly trial and error. Skrewing up everything in the original default skin, then finally reading Colby's Event Variable Document, Buddabing's KISS setup guide, and the numourous skinning docs, and still asking for help. I would think that most poeple have learned stuff by trial and error.

Skins that I have personally learned tons from are the following:
Steven's default
Buddabing's KISS
Buddabing's Heavy Metal
Buddabing's Burlwood
Buddabing's RedeuxII (current frontrunner for my eventual HTPC skin)
Colby's Blueskin2
Dusk's Element
Rika's Green-skin/Blue Hjackson edition
QTips MediaX 2.11 (may become my eventual HTPC skin)

For my current Zoneskin2, stuff like my zone mapping was totally by trying things out...didn't work, change something and try it again. Stuff like Buddabing's Now Playing screen, I would never have thought of doing what he did to give the impression of animation, but after looking at how he does it, it's a pretty simple concept.

I also think that you have to have a goal/vision, and direction of what you want to achieve. My first skin attempt, I threw so much into it and used other peoples ideas, and I didn't have a clear vision of what I wanted out of it, well it didn't turn out too well. When I decided to build a dedicated music distribution system, I decided to base it on Xlobby for control, then set out to build the system and skin. Without the final vision, I would never have been able to get as far as I have.

Hope this helps.

[Colby]

I'm just wondering how some of the knowledgeable guys here learnt all this stuff?
... yet people somehow know the stuff... an exclusive xlobby university near Roswell or a secret forum with the good stuff hidden somewhere on this site.

:)

I cant speak for other space aliens, but the way I gots so Xlobby smart is by answering stupid questions on the forum. j/k I think the way you become expert at XL is by understanding the theory, the parameters it is designed in, setting out to achieve a goal, learning the limitations and asking questions. It doesnt hurt to have been around through most of its evolution. When Steven was around he used to implement features for us per request, its easy to know of a feature when its your idea in the first place.

I know there are a lot of holes left in the understanding of Xlobby. Alot of Xlobby info was lost in the server crash/hijacking 2 years ago, unfortunately when you look its simply not there, us old timers remember the answers and take things for granted. Searching the forum does not turn up very specific results, well not for me anyway. All I can say when I started XL there was no Skinning Guide, Event Sheet, nor documents by Baddabing, or Jowaldo. You are in a better place now than we were.
There is actually very little documentation on this program considering the # of board members. I could write more, however I alway hope that some other member would step up and document somethings we all know are missing. I refuse to document it all, I feel Ive given my share, it does me no good anyway, I know the stuff.

Anyway, to answer your questions: No there is no University in Roswell, its in Canada. Its not really a University rather a convent where you let your Wife and Kids go and devote all your time to contemplating the grand theories of Xlobby. Yes we all learn by reading posts and trial and error.

[Arthur]

Well, I'm not a skin engineer, but the way I lerned to mod. Xlobby was:
- pick a skin which you like
- try to change it in a way you like it even better.

Don't start fro skratch