Download Distributions

Introduction

We are using the Netlify CMS to manage the distributions (i.e. downloads). To access the editor, go to https://kodi-tv.netlify.app/admin. (this URL will change to https://kodi.tv/admin once we move everything into production). You will need to login with your GitHub credentials, and only team members who have write access to the kodi-tv repo can add or edit distributions.

The Anatomy of a Distribution

Distributions have the following items:

• Platform
  Platform is a select field that allows you to select one of our supported platforms (Windows, Linux, Android, Raspberry Pi, macOS, iOS, tvOS).

• Image
  There are images pre-loaded for each supported platform, so you can select one of the images from here. You can also upload a new image if the distribution needs a special image for some reason.

• Kodi Version Number
  This is used to help differentiate distributions for a given version of Kodi. So, for instance, when Kodi 19.1 is released, the new distributions would have that version number rather than 19.

• Sort Order
  This is the order in which the distribution icons will show on the downloads page.

• How-To Wiki Link
  A link to the how-to page for the distribution.

• Releases
  You can have Recommended, Pre Release, and Development Builds releases. None are required, but if you don't have at least one, you'll end up with a distribution that just has a How-To link. Please see the Releases section for more information.

Releases

Releases are specific versions of Kodi for a given platform distribution. To create a new release for a given distribution, click on the ADD RELEASE button. Releases have a type (Recommended, Pre release, or Development Builds), a title, a description (which can contain rich text and things like links), and downloads. Releases can be reordered by clicking and holding on the double lines in the middle of the release's header and dragging it where you want.

Downloads

You can have as many downloads as you want for a release. To create a new download, click the ADD DOWNLOAD button. Downloads have a title and a URL that is a link to the downloadable executable (or installer) or instructions on how to install. Downloads can be reordered by clicking and holding on the double lines in the middle of the download's header and dragging it where you want.

Workflow

When you first log in, you'll be presented with a list of existing blog posts. To get to the distributions, click the DISTRIBUTIONS link in the left hand bar. Once there you're looking at the Contents list. From here, you can search, sort, select - and then either edit a published distribution, or create a new one.

Editing a Distribution

Find the distribution you want to edit and open it. Once you open adistribution, you get the same editor you used to create a post. To expand the releases or downloads, you can click on the arrow next to the X releases (or X downloads) text.

You can save distributions at any time, and a distribution must be saved at least one before you can publish it. Once saved, to publish a disatribution you set the status to READY and then select the PUBLISH NOW option from the publish menu. This will generate a series of commits to the main branch, and that will trigger a site build.

Previewing a Distribution

The preview pane on the left of the page is active by default and can be toggled on/off using the eye icon. That preview will be 99% exactly what you will see on the site once it is published. The only difference is that because of a Gatsby bug, the footer for the site is not shown.

Editing a Draft Distribution

When you save a distribution, but don't publish it, it will not appear on the initial contents list: this is purely a list of published distributions.

Instead, go to Workflow at the top of the screen to call up distributions in various stages of their lifecycle: Draft, In Review, or Ready (based on whatever status is set when editing a distribution).

Formatting Entries

The release descriptions editor gives you the choice of a WYSIWYG editor or raw markdown. Either gives the usual basic formatting: bold, italic, code blocks, numbered/bullet lists, image insertion, etc.

Adding a New Distribution

For existing platforms, the recommendation is to edit the exiting distribution for that platform. If you need to add a new platform, you can just click on the NEW DISTRIBUTION button. Please note that if we add a new distribution platform, that needs to be added to the CMS admin so it will show up in the dropdown. If a platform you need is not in the dropdown, please submit an issue to this repo so one of the website admins can address this for you.