Playing Now Popup

The Playing Now Popup introduced in MC 33 automatically displays track information when the currently playing track changes. Pressing Ctrl+i on the keyboard will display the popup manually. The amount of time it shows for and other display properties can be edited in the settings accessed through Tools > Options > General > Interface > Playing Now Popup or by clicking on the popup and selecting Settings from the menu. The content and layout is defined by a skin file and there are some built-in skins to choose from (selected in the popup settings). You can also create a custom skin.

Custom Skin Creation

To make a new custom skin, create a new folder under "[MC_PROGRAM_FOLDER]\Skins\Playing Now Popup". For example, create "C:\Program Files\J River\Media Center 33\Skins\Playing Now Popup\My New Skin". A file named main.xml is required in the new folder to define the content so either create one or copy one from a built-in skin.

Skin Example

Here is the main.xml for the Control skin:

<MJPS version="1.0">

<SKIN Name="Control" Author="J River" />

<POPUP>

<Settings Width="300" Height="115" BackImage="" BackColor="" Border="yes" />

<ContentItem Type="image" Name="Thumbnail" X="15" Y="10" Width="75" Height="75" Source="[Large]" />

<ContentItem Type="text" Name="Name" X="100" Y="10" Width="195" Height="15" Text="[Name]" FontStyle="bold" />

<ContentItem Type="text" Name="Artist" X="100" Y="27" Width="195" Height="15" Text="[Artist]" />

<ContentItem Type="text" Name="Album" X="100" Y="44" Width="195" Height="15" Text="[Album]" />

<ContentItem Type="text" Name="Details" X="100" Y="61" Width="195" Height="15" Text="[pn_position] of [pn_count] - [Duration] - [File Type] - [Bit Depth]//[Sample Rate]" />

<ContentItem Type="rating" Name="Rating" X="15" Y="88" Width="100" Height="20"/>

<ContentItem Type="image" Name="Previous" X="115" Y="78" Width="35" Height="35" Source="{PlayerBar,PreviousButton,0}||{PlayerBar,PreviousButton,1}||{PlayerBar,PreviousButton,2}" Tooltip="Previous: Char(10) [Name] by [Artist]" Command="10004,0" TrackOffset="-1"/>

<ContentItem Type="image" Name="Play" X="150" Y="78" Width="35" Height="35" Source="{PlayerBar,PlayButton,0}||{PlayerBar,PlayButton,1}||{PlayerBar,PlayButton,2}" Tooltip="Play//Pause" Command="10000"/>

<ContentItem Type="image" Name="Stop" X="185" Y="78" Width="35" Height="35" Source="{PlayerBar,StopButton,0}||{PlayerBar,StopButton,1}||{PlayerBar,StopButton,2}" Tooltip="Stop" Command="10002"/>

<ContentItem Type="image" Name="Next" X="220" Y="78" Width="35" Height="35" Source="{PlayerBar,NextButton,0}||{PlayerBar,NextButton,1}||{PlayerBar,NextButton,2}" Tooltip="Next: Char(10) [Name] by [Artist]" Command="10003,0" TrackOffset="1" />

</POPUP>

</MJPS>

Skin Reference

<Settings>

This element is required and specifies global settings for the popup.