XBMC Quick Start Guide

Congratulations, new user, in your choice of media center software: XBMC!

This guide is designed to get you up and running with XBMC in the shortest time possible, and was written with the most typical use cases in mind. For more in depth information please refer to the XBMC online wiki manual.

The XBMC interface is designed with the 'Home Theater' in mind. This means it is best viewed on a large-screen TV while you sit on your couch 10-feet away from that TV, rather than on a small monitor while you sit at your desk. Because everything is designed with the home theater experience in mind, the best way to interact with XBMC is with a remote control, rather than a computer mouse. If it helps, think of XBMC as the ultimate DVD-player/set-top-box.

Installing XBMC
If you haven't already done so, download XBMC from http://xbmc.org/download/ or see the installation guides here:

See the Installing page for additional guides.

Adding files
While you can just use XBMC with plain file views, adding/scanning files to the library will add rich features such as cover art, summaries, thumbnails, trailers, and more.

To just quickly add files see Adding videos to the library/Adding media sources.

Adding music to the library

 * See main page: Adding music to the library and Music library

In order to be able to include information on your music collection in the library, XBMC needs your music to be tagged. When your collection is scanned, XBMC stores all the tagging information (artist, album, year, genre, etc) in the database which allows you to efficiently search and manage your music collection. Today most media applications and players (e.g. iTunes / iPod) organize music by this ID tag information.

Adding pictures
Adding sources for your pictures follows the same method as adding other media sources. From the Home Page navigate to Pictures, select Add Source and browse to the location of your picture files.

Changing the look and feel of XBMC
XBMC is unlike many contemporary media and gaming centers, in that it can be easily customized to look completely different using skins while still remaining equally as useable and providing access to all your videos, music, and more.

To get new skins, go to: System -> Appearance -> Skin -> Skin Confluence

You will be provided a list of currently installed skins and an option to "Get More..." where you can download additional skins.

Important note about the Context Menu
As you read this wiki and experiment on your own, you will quickly learn about the value of the context menu.

To use it, while highlighting an item, press the key on the keyboard. If you are using a mouse, you can right click while hovering over an item. With remote controls, this is normally the button.