Hello everyone. I have been watching with admiration as forumites post the customized versions of foobar. I would like to do this sort of thing to, but even after searching far and wide(on this forum and others), I cannot find any links on how to do it(fonts, nice visualizations, etc)..

does such a thread exist, or a database with all of the visualizations, fonts, buttons, and a how-to on implementing them? I am a fairly smart guy, but dont know where to start. so far the only visualization I can get to work is the flame and the standard spectrum. would like to use more.

(BTW, is there a more detailed spectrograph(such as inspector XL type?)..I dont like just looking at all the pretty colors(drug days way behind me) but do enjoy seeing an in depth analysis of the audio(I am a recording engineer)

sorry if this is redundant, my motives are pure, and I have looked far and wide.

( I did see the thread with people posting their versions of foobar and their config files, but I dont know how to tweak the config file to do the same sort of thing, or where the config file is)

Have a nice gift for anyone that helps out.

trb

You can find some fairly comprehensive documentation about foobar and its components at the foobar2000 wiki.

To see what others have been doing you can visit the galleries here and here.

I'd suggest browsing through the component list for functionality you think you'd find interesting, then read through the discussion thread for that component and integrate it into your layout. Start simple and concentrate on functionality. Don't expect much eye candy until you think you can take 1 look at someone's foobar in the galleries and name off the components by sight. You could download a readymade configuration from the Configuration Distribution Thread but that really wont help you understand what is going on and chances are you'll probably want to change something on your own.

Basically there are three main interfaces to foobar. The DefaultUI, which is what you get with foobar "out of the box". This has recently been significantly improved and allows you to easily modify your foobar layout. However components for this system are extremely limited because it is so new. Next you have ColumnsUI which is very popular and allows you to add many components in sort of a grid system. Components for ColumnsUI are normally named foo_uie_*.dll. Then there is PanelsUI. PanelsUI allows you to take columns components and define your layout with a big mass of titleformatting pseudocode. It can be extremely complicated for beginners, the component is no longer in development, and is extremely buggy.

I suggest playing around with the default UI and if you still demand additional functionality explore ColumnsUI. Once you think you can re-create vertical/horizontal/tab splitter layouts by simply looking at a screenshot in the gallery, and you are brave enough to start conjuring the black magic that is panels pseudocode... give panelsui a whirl.

Visit the forums frequently and read through the threads dedicated to the component you are having issues with. The forum is really the best source for information and support for foobar.

thank you much.

my only question is this

I have all the downloaded MILK, shpeck and WINAMP components, but how do I utilize them? Nowhere on the forums does it tell how to do that.

Thank you so much.
Huge help.

Generally speaking to add any component to foobar:
- Exit Foobar
- Copy the component .dll file to the foobar compnents directory (C:\Program Files\Foobar2000\components\)
- Restart Foobar
- Add the component to your layout:

• If you are using the Default UI:
  - From the main foobar menubar select View> Layout> Enable Layout Editing Mode
  - Right click on the area where you would like your component to appear, the entire area should change color and a popup menu should appear.
  - Select "Replace UI Element" from the menu, a popup window should appear.
  - Select your new component from the list and click [OK]
  - The colored regions should now contain your newly added component
  - To put more than one component in an area, first add a "Splitter" component to the area then add each component to each side of the splitter.
  - Repeat the process until you have achieved a desirable layout, then select View> Layout> Enable Layout Editing Mode again to lock in your changes.
  
• If you are using the Columns UI:
  - From the main foobar menubar select File> Preferences. The Preferences window should appear, navigate to Display> Columns UI> "Layout" Tab
  - Right click on a branch of the layout tree under which you would like your component to appear, a popup menu should appear.
  - From that popup menu navigate to Insert Panel, then look through the different panel categories and select the name of your component.
  - The ColumnsUI layout tree takes a bit of practice to get used to, basically panels can only be added to splitters (Vertical Splitter, Horizontal Splitter, Tab Stack, Playlist Tabs).
  - Repeat the process until you have achieved a desirable layout, then click [Save All] and [Close]
  
• If you are using the Panels UI:
  - Add the panel to your pseudocode with the function:
  $panel(name,component,x,y,width,height,options)
  
  Where:
  - name is an arbitrary but unique name for the panel
  - component is the CaSe SeNsItIvE name of the component, you can find it by looking at the ColumnsUI add panel lists.
  - x,y is the coordinate for the upper left corner of the panel
  - width,height is the size for the panel
  - options there were never any options
  Example:
  $panel(Test Panel,Track Display,0,20,%_width%,$sub(%_height%,20),)

- For further assistance visit the thread dedicated for the support of the component you are having issues with. If you are having problems with the layout system of a particular UI visit the thread for that UI component. Avoid starting a new thread for each question because it makes it harder for others who have the same problem later to find the answers given.

I am using the default UI. I like its simple way to customize it.
However, I cannot delete the extra space, right click when using Enable Layout Editing Mode can only replace with other things and split the box. But how could I delete the extra area?

The way to delete things is to merge them. Let's say you have a layout like:


(Your window is split into 4 parts). and you want to have 3 parts:


Then simply right click the splitter between your right panels, and replace them with an element such as albumlist (or any other desired component.)

You get the basic idea.

The main roadblock to understand advanced layouting with the defaultUI, is to understand one of its shortcomings: The splitters (seperators)

Technically, splitters are not just seperators. They are NOT what you are seeing. Technically, a splitter actually is a "container" with two elements and a seperator included in it. In other words, those seperators which you are seeing actually invisibly envelope the two adjacent elemets

if you see something like this:



then what technically happens behind the scene actually is THIS:


When you click that seperator line, you are actually interacting with the splitter-container. Or more specific: The seperator and its container are actually ONE element.... its just that it is only partially visible (only the seperator-line is visible).

- Lyx