Custom home items

A common question people have after setting up their library is how can they separate their library so not everything is just in one big section, and how to have that as an option on the home screen in XBMC.

XBMC can already filter and separate library items using a number of methods mentioned above, and combined with a skin that supports custom home items, the library can be laid out exactly was you want, right from the home screen.

A quick 101
The easiest method is to use something like favorites, smart playlists, custom video nodes or video library tags (or even a mix of those) and create a list for each special type (like anime, documentaries, westerns, etc) and create one for "general TV shows". Basically, "TV shows" becomes a smart playlist where it's all TV shows except for the ones with special playlists. Then grab a skin that lets you use custom home items, such as Transparency!, Hybrid, or Aeon Nox, and set those as home buttons while hiding the original "TV shows" button.

Some skins even let you use custom video nodes (which are based on smart playlists) to automatically alter what is displayed on the home screen.

If you want to completely separate the library you can also use profiles, where each profile has their own XBMC library and settings.

Video examples

 * Aeon Nox example

Other guides

 * (How To) Separate Your Kids Media From Your Own on MQ4