Skip to main content

Menu Background Changes in Xonfluence

Xonfluence Changing Menu Background (Main & Sub-Menu Bars)


This next article is going to show you how to change the menu background in the Xonfluence skin for both the main and the sub-menu.  This is a request from a member on the Ares Forum who was looking to change colors of the background on the menu and sub-menu bar.  As you may already know in Aeon Nox Silvo you are able to just go into the settings and manipulate the colors quite easily; however, in Xonfluence we have a few changes to make.  This article is going to take you through how to change the basic color of the background on the menu bars; yet it will also help you customize the menu bars.



What’s Required?


Before we jump into trying to make the changes to the menu bar we are going to want to figure out what tools we will need to make the changes.  Don’t worry this isn’t going to get crazy and there is a good chance you already have all you need.  However, if you don’t it’s ok because I am going to give you links to websites to download the needed programs.



Paint.net


You can use any image editing software; however, I like paint.net very much.  It is a very light program and gives you much of the functionality you get with Adobe Photoshop.  If you do not have paint.net you can download it here for free and if you visit their forum you can get many great add-ons to increase your functionality as well.



Gimp


Gimp is another very popular image editing software and again is a free program.  For more information or to download Gimp click here.




Kodi Texture Tool


Now that we have the editing software taken care of we can move on to Kodi Texture Tool.  This is a tool that allows you to compile and decompile  xbt files.  This holds all the images for your specific theme inside the skin.  Xonfluence, as an example, has 4 default themes and when you navigate to the folder you will see all the files (gray, kryptonite, and zik).


If you haven’t already you are going to need to download and install the Kodi Texture Tool here.  Once you have installed and launch the program you will see the following screen.


menu background


***It is important to note Texture Tool cannot use a path with spaces in it.***


I am trying to save you the headache of having to rename the folder without spaces.  Trust me I found out the hard way and it caused me an extra step.



How to Use Kodi Texture Tool


We have all the tools we need to start working on our menu background colors so now it is time to start.  Once you open the Kodi Texture Tool you will use the top section which is for decompiling.


First: Select the input button to find the xbt file.


–You are going to want to navigate to home/addons/skin.xonfluence/media/textures.xbt


Next: You will need to select where you want to decompile the file to.  I typically just create a folder on my desktop and work off the folder as I am constantly in and out of it when I am working on my build.


Finally:  Hit start and let the system do its thing.  It may take a few minutes to decompile all the images in the folder so have a little patience.




Changing Menu Background


Now that your file is completely decompiled you can begin searching through the images in this folder.  As I mentioned, every image you see in Kodi’s UI (User Interface) is right in this folder.  This means any changes you make in this folder will go live in Kodi once you compile and update the textures.xbt file.


We are going to take a look at changing the color for both the main and sub menu inside xonfluence.



Main Menu Bar


The Main Menu bar is listed as homeback.png and you will see a small black rectangle.  If you just want to change the menu bar to another solid color you can open up paint.net, gimp, or whatever image software you use.  Once you have the program open you just want to make sure to paint over the black and change the color.


As you can see I changed the homeback.png file to a light blue for this example.


menu background


Next you just need to save the file and from here you can move on to the next change you want to make.  If you wanted to use a special background or custom picture you may do so by saving your image as homeback.png.  It is worth noting the dimensions for this image are only 16×64.



Sub-Menu Bar


Now that we are happy with the color for the main menu bar we are going to want to take a look at the sub menu.  We are going to return to the decompiled textures.xbt file and locate the homesubnf.png file.  This is going to be the image you need to adjust to change the color of the sub-menu bar.  Once again this can be changed to anything and I just suggest leaving the same dimensions; in this case 128 x 64.


submenu background color


Here you can see I used the same color for this example so you can match them; however you can set this to anything.





Compile Folder


After you have made all the changes you plan to you are going to want to compile the folder and turn it back into an xbt file.  To do this you want to open the Kodi Texture Tool again.  Yet this time you are going to work on the bottom section to compile.


First thing you need to do is to select the input folder.  This is going to be the folder you’ve been working in with all your images.  After this you are going to need to choose the output folder the place you want to save the file.  Remember no spaces in the file path here and you’ll be all set.  Third just click start and again wait because it will take a few minutes to compile.


Finally you can move the textures.xbt file back to your Kodi folder and open your build.  If you followed these instructions when you open your Kodi program it should be showing you the new menu bars.



Conclusions


I thank you for taking the time to read this tutorial and I hope it gave you a stronger grasp on backgrounds.  This is just the beginning of taking a look at small changes you can make your build look great.  This tutorial should compliment the one where we looked at changing text color.  If you haven’t read it take a look here.  If you have any questions it is best to visit us at http://ares-project.uk for more assistance.  We have a whole section dedicated to Builder’s Help & Support and this is the best place for us to talk about your needs.  We thank you again for being a part of our community and stay tuned more will be on the horizon.

Comments

Post a Comment

Trending Posts...

Using TMDb and Alluc API Codes in Kodi Add-ons

Using TMDb / Alluc Codes Together Before explaining how to link your TMDb api code with Alluc code, why does anyone need the code ? When the Add-on Elysium became the “go to” add-on as an alternative to Covenant, the Devs added the api Code. Consequently TMDb began cancelling each new api code generated by the Developers as it was viewed as “abuse of the code”.  As a result the Developers spent more time generating a new code instead of improving the add-on itself. The Solution was to allow each user to generate their own personal IMDb Api code and enter it themselves. Generating your own TMDb Code While other groups were providing a solution, Ares Project Forum had taken it a step further by providing a Blog that gave a more detailed method that others had missed. In addition to generating a TMDb code, you will also need a Alluc code. This can be found by following this link . Add-ons Currently Utilizing both Codes The above list will be updated as ...
Post a Comment
Read more

WiFi Settings & Tweaks for Kodi

I thought I’d cover the one of the most talked about issues in the world of streaming and thats WiFi and how to get the best out of it, practical measures and not some of the voodoo you read on some forums! What is WIFi? The term Wi-Fi refers specifically to the IEEE 802.11 set of standards for wireless networks. Several different standards are designated by a letter suffix on the 802.11, such as in 802.11g or 802.11n. In general all of the 802.11 standards operate on either a 2.4GHz or 5GHz radio frequency. 5GHz has much greater speed capability but a reduced range; generally speaking the lower a frequency the further it will travel, so don’t expect miracles if you switch to 5GHz. A key thing to note here is that if ANY device uses the older “b” standard then ALL devices *could* have their speed reduced to 11mbps on “g” networks, depending on your router. This really applies to older equipment or cheap equipment with old parts used in it *cough* t...
Post a Comment
Read more

Updating Your Add-ons and Repositories in Kodi

Updating Add-ons / Repositories Updating your list of Add-ons and Repositories is the best way to ensure Kodi is functioning properly. Rather than checking, many newcomers think it’s better to just Uninstall the Add-on/Repo and reinstall it again. Totally unnecessary for many reasons. Consider this, if your vehicle runs out of fuel, would you replace it with another of the same make and model ? Of course not, you would find a way to fill it with fuel and carry on. Therefore, updating the Add-ons/Repos is like refueling your vehicle. This is another topic in our continuing effort to help the newcomers/beginners to the world of Kodi. You can view many more Blogs on a wide assortment of helpful topics here at Ares-Project Blog . Updating Repositories Rather than send an update for a single add-on that may be in a repo, the Dev will send one for the entire repo. It faster, more convenient and above all it saves time. Yet how do you know if your repo is up to date? Here are two exampl...
Post a Comment
Read more

Utilizing Alluc.ee in Add-ons for Kodi

This article will show you how to take advantage of the benefits of using a Alluc.ee Account in the Kodi Add-ons Elysium, Placenta, Death Streams and Rebirth. These are just some of the many add-ons for Movies and TV Shows available and are quite easy to navigate. What is Alluc.ee? First off, let’s take a look at what Alluc.ee is about.  Here is a brief description of Alluc.ee  and how you can take advantage of what it has to offer: “Alluc.ee (pronounced: “all-you-see”) is a user-generated link-sharing-website that catalogs links to TV shows, movies, music videos, sport, anime and cartoons. Alluc does not host any content itself. Alluc.ee also does not contain any download links, all are links to streaming video sharing websites. Users provide the links in the right category and they are released to the site after having been checked by the administrators. Video hosting sites that are linked include YouTube, Dailymotion, and Veoh, among others....
Post a Comment
Read more

Removing Old/ Non-Working Add-ons & Repositories

Removing Old Add-ons/Repositories Removing Add-ons and Repositories that no longer function is a natural progression of our theme directed towards new users to Kodi. As we all know, sometimes an Add-on or a Repository will cease to function for no fault of our own. But what is the best way to remove these? We will provide you the easiest method to remove an individual Add-on as well as the associated Repository. In addition we’ll also show you how to remove any URL Sources in File Manager. Why Removing Add-ons/Repos is Important While it appears the advice concerning repositories is factual and from reliable sources, you may have by mistake installed a Repo/ Add-on that may be malicious or may be using addons that are not from reliable sources. A perfect example is this excellent article concerning Kodil-Exodus-Indigo Blog. As a result, these should be removed as soon as possible. Lets start with a single Add-on. Removing Add-ons First step after opening Kodi is to Click Add-0ns...
Post a Comment
Read more