Themes

Folder Structure

To create a theme for Seren, you must first create the correct folder structure in your theme's root:

.
└── resources
    └── skins
        ├── Default
        |   ├── 1080i
        |   |   ├── custom_providers.xml
        |   |   ├── get_sources.xml
        |   |   ├── persistent_background.xml
        |   |   ├── playing_next.xml
        |   |   ├── resolver.xml
        |   |   ├── source_select.xml
        |   |   └── still_watching.xml
        |   └── media  // <-- Optional if no custom images will be needed
        └── meta.json

Probably the simplest way to get this structure into your theme is to copy the folder for Seren's base "Seren Fox" theme.

Any .xml files that you won't be theming are optional, and any missing ones will use the "Seren Fox" version of the window.

With the notable exception of not being able to create your own skin includes for use inside of Seren's windows (a base Kodi limitation imposed on addon-created windows), most any technique, information, or parameters outlined in the Skinning Manual should be applicable in any of the following windows as well.

Including Images in Your Theme

If you intend to include extra files/media with your theme, you can access the files by utilizing the skin.dir window property and appending the remaining file structure as it appears in your zip package.

Here is an example path to background.jpg in the optional media that is at the top level of the themes zip package:

<texture background="true">$INFO[Window().Property(skin.dir)]/media/background.jpg</texture>

Common Window Properties

Seren provides information to the themes through the window properties outlined below:

Property	Description
seren.fanart	Path to Seren's fanart image
seren.logo	Path to Seren's icon image
settings.color	The current color code set by the user in Seren's settings
skin.dir	Path to the currently installed theme folder (your theme)
test_pattern	Path to a test pattern that can be helpful when aligning items in the window
texture.white	Path to a plain white image for use in diffusing/overlays

Common Item Properties

The following properties (which may potentially be unfilled) are available to all windows except custom_providers.xml:

Metadata Provider IDs

Property	Description
item.ids.imdb_id	IMDb ID
item.ids.tmdb_id	TMDb ID
item.ids.trakt_id	Trakt ID
item.ids.tvdb_id	TVDB ID
item.ids.tvrage_id	TVRage ID
item.ids.slug_id	Trakt slug
item.ids.tvshow.imdb_id	IMDb show ID
item.ids.tvshow.tmdb_id	TMDb show ID
item.ids.tvshow.tvdb_id	TVDB show ID
item.ids.tvshow.tvrage_id	TVRage show ID
item.ids.tvshow.trakt_id	Trakt show ID
item.ids.tvshow.slug_id	Trakt show slug

Artwork

Property	Description
item.art.banner	URL to banner image
item.art.characterart	URL to characterart image
item.art.characterart[1-20]	URL to extra characterart images, 1-20
item.art.clearart	URL to clearart image
item.art.clearlogo	URL to clearlogo image
item.art.discart	URL to discart image
item.art.fanart	URL to fanart image
item.art.fanart[1-20]	URL to extra fanart images, 1-20
item.art.landscape	URL to landscape image
item.art.poster	URL to poster image
item.art.poster[1-10]	URL to extra poster images, 1-10
item.art.thumb	URL to thumbnail image

For properties that can have multiple artworks, like for fanart, use item.art.fanart1, item.art.fanart2, item.art.fanart3, etc...

Content Metadata

Property	Description
item.info.aliases	List of alternative titles
item.info.aired	The entire airdate/premiere, formatted as mm/dd/yyyy
item.info.aired.day	The dd portion of the airdate/premiere
item.info.aired.month	The mm portion of the airdate/premiere
item.info.aired.year	The yyyy portion of the airdate/premiere
item.info.director	Director
item.info.duration	Duration in seconds
item.info.duration.hours	Hour portion of the duration
item.info.duration.minutes	Minutes portion of the duration
item.info.episode	Episode number
item.info.genre	List of applicable genres
item.info.imdbnumber	IMDb ID
item.info.title	Title
item.info.mediatype	"movie" for movies, "episode" for episodes
item.info.mpaa	MPAA rating
item.info.originaltitle	Original title
item.info.playcount	How many times the item has been played locally
item.info.plot	Short plot outline
item.info.premiered	The entire premiere date, formatted as mm/dd/yyyy
item.info.tagline	Tagline
item.info.trailer	URL to YouTube trailer
item.info.rating	Rating out of 10
item.info.season	Season number
item.info.sortepisode	Episode number
item.info.sortseason	Season number
item.info.sorttitle	Episode title
item.info.tvshowtitle	TV show title
item.info.year	Year of release

All of the preceding common properties can be retrieved using $INFO[Window().Property(...)].

Scraping Window Properties

The following properties (which may potentially be unfilled) are available to the get_sources.xml window:

Property	Description
1080p_sources	Count of playable 1080p sources
4k_sources	Count of playable 4k sources
720p_sources	Count of playable 720p sources
cached_torrents	Total count of all playable torrent sources
cloud_sources	Total count of all cloud sources
hosters_sources	Total count of all hosters sources
process_started	a boolean value to identify that all setup for scraping has completed
progress	Percentage of elapsed time in reference to the timeout for scraping
remaining_providers_count	Count of all remaining providers
remaining_providers_list	Pipe-separated list of remaining provider names
SD_sources	Count of playable SD sources
total_torrents	Total count of all torrent sources

Information Window Properties

The following property (which may potentially be unfilled) is available to the persistent_background.xml window:

Property	Description
notification_text	Text indicating the current step in scraping/playback

Source Select Item Properties

The following properties (which may potentially be unfilled) are available to the sources inside the source_select.xml window:

Property	Description
debrid_provider	Cloud service provider of the identified source
info	Extra information about the identified source
language	Expected language of the identified source
provider	Provider of the identified source
quality	Resolution of the identified source
release_title	Release title (filename) of the identified source
size	Estimated file size of the identified source
sourcec	File locker of an identified Hoster source
type	Source type (Torrent/Hoster/Cloud)

Resolving Window Properties

The following properties (which may potentially be unfilled) are available to the resolver.xml window:

Property	Description
debrid_provider	Cloud service provider of the identified source
source_info	Extra information about the identified source
source_provider	Provider of the identified source
source_resolution	Resolution of the identified source
release_title	Release title (filename) of the identified source

Required IDs

Each window has a set of IDs that must be included in the layout for the window to function correctly. They can be hidden using <visible>false</visible>, or by using a conditional visibility statement, but must be present, or the window will either not launch or not function correctly, or both.

custom_providers.xml

ID	Control Type	Control Description
2000	button	Package List
2001	button	Provider List
3001	button	Enable All Hosters
3002	button	Enable All Torrents
3003	button	Disable All Hosters
3004	button	Disable All Torrents
3005	button	Enable All
3006	button	Disable All
3007	button	Enable Package
3008	button	Disable Package
3009	button	Install Package
3010	button	Uninstall Package

get_sources.xml

ID	Control Type	Control Description
2000	list	Remaining Providers List

playing_next.xml

ID	Control Type	Control Description
3001	button	Play
3002	button	Close
3014	progress	Progress Bar

source_select.xml

ID	Control Type	Control Description
1000	list	Source List

still_watching.xml

ID	Control Type	Control Description
3001	button	Play
3002	button	Close
3014	progress	Progress Bar

Theme Metadata

Located in the "skins" folder of your theme must be a file named meta.json, which contains the following lines:

{
    "skin_name": "Your Theme Name",
    "version": "1.0.0",
    "author": "Your Name"
}

This file tells Seren the necessary information about your theme, as well as allowing Seren to automatically check for theme updates, as long as the theme was installed from a URL.

Hosting on GitHub

One of the easiest ways to distribute Seren themes is to host them on GitHub. If the root of your GitHub repository is the root of your theme directory, then the installation link will be of the form:

https://www.github.com/YOUR_USERNAME/YOUR_REPOSITORY/zipball/YOUR_BRANCH

The final YOUR_BRANCH placeholder will be master in most cases, but can be used with different branches in order to distribute multiple versions (testing, different skin support, etc...) of your theme.

Distributing via Zip

If you opt to distribute your theme "manually", by packaging it into a .zip file yourself, ensure that the root of the .zip file matches the structure shown at the very top of this page, without being nested inside of a top-level "parent" folder.