[Opera 8]Winamp Control

[Chode]

Okay, here is a custom modification by me to add buttons for controlling Winamp from within Opera (Previous, Play, Pause, Stop, Next).

Edited 14 July 2004

-error corrections

-new custom icons (thanks hush66)

Edited 14 November 2004

-added music location menu

Edited 25 April, 2005

-alternate file browsing addition (suggested by nant)

Edited 8 May, 2005

-corrected dialog names for Opera 8

MAKE SURE OPERA IS CLOSED DURING THIS ENTIRE PROCESS

AND BACKUP BEFORE YOU BEGIN THIS, JUST IN CASE

1) First of all, you will need WA Command, a winamp frontend that allows command-line control of Winamp.

2) Find your profile folder either under "c:\program files\Opera8\profile" or under "documents and settings". (I use c:\program files\Opera8 for my current install)

3) Make a subfolder called "Winamp" (without the quotations). Put the contents of WACommand.zip (step 1) into the folder.

4) Rename "WACommand.exe" to "WAC.EXE" (thanks hush66)

5) Now you need to go back to your profiles folder, and in the subfolder "toolbar" open "standard_toolbar (1).ini" (this file should exist if you have rearranged your button layout in Opera. If not, create it.)

6) Under [Customize Toolbar Custom.content], add the following lines:

Button0="Execute program, "c:\progra~1\winamp\winamp.exe", , , "WinLogo" + Show popup menu, "Winamp Menu""
Button1, "Prev"="Execute program, "C:\Program Files\Opera8\profile\Winamp\wac.exe", "/prev", , "WinPrev""
Button2, "Play"="Execute program, "C:\Program Files\Opera8\profile\Winamp\wac.exe", "/play", , "WinPlay""
Button3, "Pause"="Execute program, "C:\Program Files\Opera8\profile\Winamp\wac.exe", "/playpause", , "WinPause""
Button4, "Stop"="Execute program, "C:\Program Files\Opera8\profile\Winamp\wac.exe", "/stop", , "WinStop""
Button5, "Next"="Execute program, "C:\Program Files\Opera8\profile\Winamp\wac.exe", "/next", , "WinNext""

You will need to change the folder name I have used here to reflect where you have installed Opera/where your profile folder is.

If you have other custom buttons installed, you may need to change the numbers for the beginning of each entry.

Save and close.

7) This will be enough for just the buttons to exist, but now we need the custom images for each button.

8) Go to your opera folder, then the subfolder "Skin". You need to extract the contents of "standard_skin.zip" to a subfolder.

9) Make a subfolder under where you extracted the "standard_skin.zip" called "custom", and add into this the contents of the attached Zip file.

10) Open "skin.ini". Under the "[images]" section, add the following lines:

WinPlay ? ? ?= custom/play1.png
WinPause ? ?	= custom/Pause1.png
WinStop ? ? ?= custom/Stop1.png
WinPrev ? ? ?= custom/previous1.png
WinNext ? ? ?= custom/Next1.png
WinPlay.Hover ? ?	= custom/play2.png
WinPause.Hover ? ?	= custom/Pause2.png
WinStop.Hover ? ?	= custom/Stop2.png
WinPrev.Hover ? ?	= custom/previous2.png
WinNext.Hover ? ?	= custom/Next2.png
WinLogo ? ? ?= custom/Logo.png[[b]11)[/b]ve and close.



11) Now this is a little tricky. You need to zip the files you extracted from "standard_skin.zip", and replace the old "standard_skin.zip" with the new archive. You can then delete the files [b]12)[/b]ad extracted.



12) Open up Opera. You will see no changes. You need to right click on your Main Bar and select "Customize toolbars", then go to the "button[b]13)[/b]ds" tab.



13) At the bottom of the list you will see "My Buttons". Click this and you will see all of the buttons that you have just made (if they don't have icons, something has gone wrong). You should be able to drag them to your mainbar in whatever order you like. My personal preference is 

Winamp Logo | Previous | Pla[b]14)[/b]| Stop | Next



14) Not done yet, now we will modify our little Winamp Logo so that it will drop down into a list of folder shortcuts. I find this useful for where I store all my mp3's so it's easier to pull up [b]15)[/b]to listen to.



15) Go to Tools > Preferences > Toolbars. Under menu setup, highlight "opera standard" and click duplicate. Rename this duplicate to whatever you like (I use Winamp controls). Make sure your new setup is highlighted, close prefere[b]16)[/b] close Opera.



16) We need to go back to your profile folder, and go into the &quo[b]17)[/b]t; subfolder.



17) Open the ini file in notepad or similar - Standard_menu [b]IMPORTANT: You now have two choices: 
If you wish to use windows explorer to browse throu[i]18a[/i]sic, follow step 18a. 

However, if you would prefer to use Opera's own file explorer to brow[i]18b[/i]sic, follow step 18b.[/b]foll[b]18a)[/b]18b.



18a) Scroll down to the bottom and look for an entry called "[Voice Menu]". Just before it, enter the following:

[code][Winamp Menu] 
Item, "Music" = "Execute Program, "C:\WINDOWS\EXPLORER.EXE", "C:\Documents and Settings\Moth\My Documents\Music",, "WinKazaa"" 
Item, "KCEasy" = "Execute Program, "C:\WINDOWS\EXPLORER.EXE", "C:\Program Files\KCeasy\My Shared Folder",, "WinKazaa""

You can modify these entries, add new ones, etc. Just use18b) a template.

18b) Scroll down to the bottom and look for an entry called "[Voice Menu]". Just before it, enter the following:

[Winamp Menu]
Item, "Music"="New page,,,,"WinKazaa" & Go to page, "file://localhost/C:\Documents and Settings\Moth\My Documents\Music""
Item, "KCEasy"="New page,,,,"WinKazaa" & Go to page, "file://localhost/c:\Program Files\KCeasy\My Shared Folder""

You can modify these entries, add new ones, etc. Just use19)s a template.

19) Open Opera. And there you go, WinaRemember that you must have winamp open for the previous|play|pause|stop|next buttons to work, or you can open Winamp with the winamp logo to the left of these controls left of these controls

If you are using Mozilla, I recommend the use of the FoxyTunes extension.

Anyway, here are the custom images (thanks to hush66) and a quick screenshot.

custom.zip

Edited August 13, 2005 by Chode

[Chode]

Here is a screenshot of my setup. To keep the icons on the right, I used a dynamic spacer.

[cmove]

That's interesting, thanks :)

[frease]

WOw.... It's a great add-on :)

What about making smaller icons?

[Chode]

WOw.... It's a great add-on :)

What about making smaller icons?

To be honest, I don't know how to decrease the space between each button :blush:

I could make the icons smaller, but I figured that I had plenty of free space on the right there and could use it.

If you desire though, you should be able to resize the png's I included above to whatever size you wish (Currently they are 22x22)

[hush66]

I gave this a try but it doesn't seem to work; clicking on the buttons yields no response whatsoever.

I followed the steps correctly, I think.

For step 5, there wasn't a section named [Customize Toolbar Custom.content] in my standard_toolbar (1).ini file, so I added that section at the end of the file, and then added the code you said to add.

Steps 6 to 13 were done correctly I think, cos I can see my new button images under "Buttons and fields" ->

"My Buttons" option. (See attached image below)

At first, clicking on the buttons brings about an error message "File not found". I then realised that the exe file of the program WACommand was not "wac.exe" (as you have put in your 1st string of codes). Instead, it's "WACommand.exe". So I made the relevant changes.

Now, clicking on the buttons yields no response. No error message, nothing. I suspect it's got to do with your 1st string of codes, but I don't know which parts.

Edit: Okay, I just realized that all the buttons work, except for the one that is suppose to start Winamp (the 1st button in my image). :(

Edit 2: I looked through the help file of WACommand, and found that the command line for starting the Winamp program is "/start" and not "/vol=100" (as stated in your code). However, even after replacing "/vol=100" with "/start", it still does not work. Anyway I can just link it directly to my Winamp.exe file, and not through WACommand?

Edited July 13, 2004 by hush66

[Chode]

Edit: Okay, I just realized that all the buttons work, except for the one that is suppose to start Winamp (the 1st button in my image). :(

Edit 2: I looked through the help file of WACommand, and found that the command line for starting the Winamp program is "/start" and not "/vol=100" (as stated in your code). However, even after replacing "/vol=100" with "/start", it still does not work. Anyway I can just link it directly to my Winamp.exe file, and not through WACommand?

Whoops. I renamed WACommand.exe myself to make it more manageable when I was editing the .ini thanks for pointing that out.

That first button I never intended to open winamp, I just wanted the logo there and couldn't find a NULL command in Opera so I just made the button set volume to 100, though your idea is better. Give me about 10 minutes and I'll try to set some code up to load winamp.

[Schmoove]

The question is, why would you want to control winamp from your browser??? :s

[Chode]

Okay, I linked the winamp icon directly to winamp.exe....and have encountered a side effect that I quite like. It will maximise a minimised winamp :)

Anyway, the code for this is:

[Customize Toolbar Custom.content]
Button0, Play="Execute program, "c:\progra~1\opera75\profile\winamp\wac.exe", "/play",, "WinPlay"""
Button1, Pause="Execute program, "c:\progra~1\opera75\profile\winamp\wac.exe", "/playpause",, "WinPause""
Button2, Stop="Execute program, "c:\progra~1\opera75\profile\winamp\wac.exe", "/stop",, "WinStop""
Button3, Prev="Execute program, "c:\progra~1\opera75\profile\winamp\wac.exe", "/prev",, "WinPrev""
Button4, Next="Execute program, "c:\progra~1\opera75\profile\winamp\wac.exe", "/next",, "WinNext""
Button5,="Execute program, "c:\progra~1\winamp\winamp.exe",,, "WinLogo""

you may wish to change wac.exe to WACommand.exe, or just use this code and rename WACommand like I did;)

Before this code will work, you will have to remove your existing buttons from the mainbar and re-add them. Opera remembers the settings for the old button if you don't do this.

By the way, I love your icons. Can you please post them here? They better suit the sexy blue visual style I'm trying to keep consistent on this computer :)

The question is, why would you want to control winamp from your browser???

I like having handy access to my winamp controls, whilst keeping maximum screen real-estate. Attached is how I used to control my winamp, a way which I was desperate to find an alternative for. Look at the top of the screen, in the title bar:

Edited July 14, 2004 by Chode

[hush66]

Thanks a lot! It works nicely now! :D

Here's the image files I use:

custom.zip

[Chode]

Updated for some Opera 7.6 details, and also my new Winamp Menu addition.

[hush66]

Thanks for the update Chode. I'm still using this and loving it. But what does this new Menu addition do? Is it a menu that displays shortcuts to folders?

[Chode]

Thanks for the update Chode. I'm still using this and loving it. But what does this new Menu addition do? Is it a menu that displays shortcuts to folders?

584919034[/snapback]

Yep. Shortcuts to locations where you may find your mp3's/other music on your computer.

[YtseJam]

Just thought I'll let you guys know that this also works with Opera 8 beta 1. :D

Some suggestions for this I've been thinking about...

* Would it be possible to make it so whenever I hover the Winamp logo icon, it'll display a tooltip and that tooltip will be the currently played song? That would be awsome.

* Instead of opening Explorer.exe to browse through my various music files, is it possible to use Opera to browse my files and execute them through the 'plug-in'?

Edited February 6, 2005 by nant

[Chode]

* Would it be possible to make it so whenever I hover the Winamp logo icon, it'll display a tooltip and that tooltip will be the currently played song? That would be awsome.

Not that I know of, unfortunately :(

Foxytunes for Firefox still owns this, and probably always will (unless someone codes something really good).

* Instead of opening Explorer.exe to browse through my various music files, is it possible to use Opera to browse my files and execute them through the 'plug-in'?

Hmmm, interesting idea. Give me a week or two to experiment with this....

[Chode]

It seems that a couple of weeks turned into a couple of months...I was busy for a while there.

But once again I have updated this mod, after experimenting with nant's suggestion.

I'm not sure if I like using Opera as the file browser for my music, but I'll try it for a while (I've left the guide open so that you can choose which one you would prefer to do).

A lot of things have changed though. I no longer use a mainbar in Opera, and have moved my Winamp Controls down to the far right of the page bar.

[....]

Title Edited

[blik]

Hmm, wonder if you could help me Chode, I've got the winamp control working, but cant get the file browsing working...

There are no files under the Menu subfolder in my profile folder so I created Standard_menu (1).ini and entered in the code you said should go in, modifying it to have my directory where my music is, but it just doesnt work.

BTW im using Opera 8.01 preview 1... i.e. the latest...

Any help appreciated :)

[Chode]

Hmm, wonder if you could help me Chode, I've got the winamp control working, but cant get the file browsing working...

There are no files under the Menu subfolder in my profile folder so I created Standard_menu (1).ini and entered in the code you said should go in, modifying it to have my directory where my music is, but it just doesnt work.

BTW im using Opera 8.01 preview 1... i.e. the latest...

Any help appreciated :)

585887096[/snapback]

sounds to me like you accidently missed step 15

15) Go to Tools > Preferences > Toolbars and Menus. Under menu setup, highlight "opera standard" and click duplicate. Rename this duplicate to whatever you like (I use Winamp controls). Make sure your new setup is highlighted, close preferences, then close Opera.

Make sure that under Opera's preferences, you have selected your modified menu as well. By default it will stay on Opera's default.

If this doesn't help, what exactly is happening? Is there a submenu appearing at all? Or is it that clicking on menu options is producing an error?

Edited May 8, 2005 by Chode

[Bts]

Foobar also has a remote control under Opera.

[blik]

Cheers Chode, I hadn't selected the custom menu, infact I hadn't even noticed it until running through step 15 again, thanks (Y)

Now to find out if it's possible to have a right click option to play a folder in winamp through Opera's file browser...

[Chode]

With some brief thought, I'd say that it is not.

Opera's file browser is extremely limited, and non-customisable (as far as I know). And the developers have no plans of updating or modifying it, as "Opera is a web browsing suite, not a file browser".