Modern Skin: Simple Skin Tutorial

From Winamp Developer Wiki

Creating a Modern Skin --> Intro --> Winamp 2 to Winamp 3+ --> Simple Skin Tutorial --> XML Intro --> Simple Skin Tutorial (Continued) --> Container --> Group --> Relative Positioning --> Complex Skin --> Non-Rect Player --> Layer Composition --> Alpha Channels --> Animatedlayer --> Snap Points --> Drawers --> Skin Scripting --> Drawer Scripting --> Animating a Skin --> Maki Overview --> Glossary

In the next section, we will show how to make a simple skin and teach you the basic modern skinning terminologies.

Before you start, you will need these items.

Simple Tutorial Skin File

We're going to show you how to make a simaple skin like the one shown below. Download the "Simple Tutorial Skin" example.

When you save the file, make sure that the type of the file is selected to "All Type" and NOT "Winzip" filetype. You should save the file into your skin subdirectory in your Winamp 5 directory. for most people, that path is "C:\Program Files\Winamp\Skins".

Text Editing Programs

You can use any text editing program to write XML and MAKI script files.

1) The plain Windows Notepad will do. It is under "Start Menu" => "Programs => "Accessories => "Notepad". Here's what it looks like.

2) However, if you intend to do alot of coding rather a quick editing, we recommed you to use something like EditPlus. EditPlus will automatically color your HTML and XML code. The coloring makes it easier for you to see your code and find missing closing tags. Here's what it looks like.