Media sources

Media Sources are virtual links to the content you wish XBMC to use. When you enter any of the Videos, Music, Pictures or the Filemanager, you will see an entry for "Add Sources". When you first start with XBMC you should at least add one source, like a drive or directory on your XBMC device to get you started.

If you select "Add sources" a dialog appears, where you may manually input a path, or browse to a source that contains media that you would like XBMC to use and display. As an example, if you enter the Music section, you could tell XBMC where it should look for your music. This can be as simple as selecting a folder on your computer or you can also choose to browse your home network for media. These two options would be the most widely used places for sources.

You can select as many sources you like if you have content in different places. When you have finished browsing and found the folder you would like, you should input a name for your source. This name will be displayed when you browse your sources. To finish, simply confirm by selecting "OK". You will now see a new entry in the list with the name you gave it.

Through the User Interface
By default every root section includes a Add Sources button that you can click to start adding sources. This can be disabled though Settings/Appearance/View Options/Disable add source buttons in file lists.

Locking
If you want to make a source more private, you can use lockcodes or passwords to protect that source. The easiest way to accomplish this in XBMC, is using the GUI dialogs. First, enable the Master Lock in Settings/System/Master lock. After enabling the Master Lock, a Set Lock button will pop up in the Context Menu allowing you to set a lock on specific sources. XBMC will ask for the master lock code and then give you the opportunity to set a unique Password on that specific share. To Remove the Lock you need to remember the Master Lock code.