Creating Skins

Skins can change the look and feel of Mixxx. Some skins merely make the program more aesthetically pleasing while others rearrange elements of the interface to fit different use-cases.

Getting started

A skin for Mixxx is basically a folder with various images, a text file named skin.xml, other XML template files and a style.qss file. The skin.xml and template files define all the elements (widgets) of the skin, what the images are used for and where they are placed on screen.

To create a new skin, navigate to your local Mixxx resource folder, duplicate the directory of the skin you want to base your work on and rename it. Use the content of the new folder as starting point for your first skin. Read this page, understand how things were done in the skin you copied and try to work from there. Familiarity with HTML will have you feel at home editing the skin.xml.

You can download the most recent source files for skins from Github, our code hosting platform.

It is helpful to run Mixxx in Developer Mode when working on a skin. Use the --developer command line option to start Mixxx in Developer Mode. A new Developer menu will appear with a Reload Skin item so you do not have to restart Mixxx to test every change. Also, Developer Mode fills tooltips with a lot of helpful debugging information. If you do not see tooltips when you hover your mouse over parts of the skin, go to Options > Preferences > Interface and select "Skin and Library" for the Tooltip option.

Keep in mind the Skin Guidelines.

Things to know

Positioning

Images are in the .png format and Mixxx does support png transparency. Element colors are defined in hexadecimal values.
Element positions are defined with X,Y coordinates (from upper left ). Element sizes are defined with W,H values (width,heigh). All values are given in pixels.

Structure

General structure of the skin.xml. See Skin.xml in-depth review for more in-depth informations on elements and their attributes defined in the skin.xml.

<!--Comment--><!-- Optional comments (i.e. skin changelog) -->
<!DOCTYPE skin><!-- Doctype declaration -->
<skin><!-- Skin opening tag -->
  <manifest>...</manifest><!-- Manifest describing skin properties (author, title, version, etc.) -->
  <elementname><!-- Elements opening tag -->
    <TooltipId>...</TooltipId><!-- Tooltips to display on mouse-over, available IDs are in src/skin/tooltips.cpp -->
    <Pos>X,Y</Pos><!-- Position on the screen, relative to parent widget -->
    <Size>W,H</Size><!-- Size (depending on the element) -->
    <MinimumSize>W,H</MinimumSize><!-- Minimum Size -->
    <MaximumSize>W,H</MaximumSize><!-- Maximum Size -->
    <SizePolicy>WPolicy,HPolicy</SizePolicy><!-- Size Policy -->
    <options>values(depends)</options><!-- Options(depending on the element) -->
  </elementname><!-- Elements closing tag -->
</skin><!-- Skin closing tag -->

Skin 101

Lets have a look at this simplified example of the Mixxx user interface (deprecated Outline skin template).
The various elements of the skin are marked and explained below.

1.General

Manifest - specifies information about the skin (title, artist, description, version) and allows you to set Mixxx controls when the skin is loaded (e.g. enable 4-deck mode).
Skin Colour Scheme - allows the creation of different colour schemes of a skin
Library display - Widget holds all your music information, playlists, search bar etc.

2.Visual

Waveform - shows the loaded tracks waveforms near the playback position
Waveform overview - shows a waveform visualization of the whole song
Volume level display - shows the playback volume of the song / master
Peak indicator - shows if a songs / master volume is too high

3.Text

Label (not shown) - displays a text label
Clock (not shown) - displays the current time
Track information - shows some ID3 information of the song ( Name, Artist )
BPM Information - shows the tempo of the song
Playing position / Time remaining - shows current playback position or remaining time (click to switch)
Pitch rate information - shows how much the song is speed up / slowed down (in percent)

4.Slider

Channel Volume - controls the volume of the selected channel
Crossfader - fade between the channels
Pitch control - changes the tempo of a song
[InternalClock], bpm - tempo of the internal master sync clock (also viewable as plain text)

5.Buttons

Play - plays / pauses a song
Cue - places a Cue-point at the current position
Hotcue - places a Hotcue-point at the current playback position
Looping - places start- and endpoint of a loop , enables the loops playback
Reverse play - toggles reverse playback during regular playback
Fast forward/rewind - seeks trough a song fast in both directions
Sync Enabled - Tap to match bpm of playing tracks, or hold to enable sync mode.
Master - Push to designate an explicit deck master for sync mode.
Pitch adjustment - apply fine adjustment to the tempo of a song
BPM tap - sets the bpm to the average value of the last 4 taps
Key lock - activate pitch-independent time stretch
Pitch bend - apply a temporary pitch-bend to the tempo of a song
Pre-listen - sends the channel's audio to the Headphones
Repeat - repeats track if you go past the end or before the start
Frequency Kill - cuts the high, mid and low frequencies

6.Knobs (Rotary fader)

Master Volume - controls the volume and of the master output
Balance - controls the balance (stereo distribution) of the master output
Headphone volume - controls the volume of the headphone output
Headphone mix - controls what you hear on the headphone output
Gain - apply extra amplification to a song
Channel filter - perform equalization on the high, mid and low frequencies

7.Special nodes (not displayed)

TrackProperty - pull advanced informations from tracks and display them
WidgetGroup - make a group of relatively positioned widgets
Splitter - allows proportional splits between WidgetGroup
WidgetStack - allows to switch between multiple different widgets to occupy a certain space

The filters (e.g. blur) used in my svg files are not visible. Why ?

So you created a nice button with a drop shadow blur effect in svg format, only to find the button is displayed without the drop shadow in Mixxx? Qt supports the static features of SVG 1.2 Tiny. ECMA scripts and DOM manipulation are currently not supported, see http://doc.qt.io/qt-5/svgrendering.html

How to install a skin

Additional skins for Mixxx can be downloaded in the skin section of the Mixxx forum.

In this example we are going to install the file "NewSkin.zip"

Close Mixxx.
Create a folder skins in the folder where the Mixxx config file is located:
Linux: ~/.mixxx/
Windows (Vista and up): %LOCALAPPDATA%\Mixxx\
Windows (XP and below): %USERPROFILE%\Local Settings\Application Data\Mixxx\
macOS (Mixxx 2.2.x and earlier): ~/Library/Application Support/Mixxx
macOS (Mixxx 2.3.x): ~/Library/Containers/org.mixxx.mixxx/Data/Library/Application Support/Mixxx
Download & unzip NewSkin.zip and copy the whole unzipped folder NewSkin to the new skins folder
Start Mixxx
Open Options > Preferences > Interface, in the Skin drop-down menu select NewSkin
Save preferences with Apply.
Done, the new skin should now be displayed.

If you want to tweak an existing skin the procedure is the same, except that you pick (and rename) an existing skin folder from the Mixxx resource directory:
Linux: /usr/share/mixxx/skins/
Windows: C:\Program Files\Mixxx\skins
macOS: /Applications/Mixxx.app/Contents/Resources/skins
TODO Verify paths for Mixxx 2.3

Skin licensing & copyright

The principles on licensing found on the Creative Common Wiki apply for other licenses too.

If you are going to make a skin from scratch , think about which license to choose for your work. Make sure you have the rights to apply the license.
Popular choices are GPL and Creative Common license.

**The skins license must be compatible with the DebianFreeSoftwareGuidelines or they can not be distributed with Mixxx. **
If you are going to make a skin based on others work, make sure you comply with their license terms. If you are not sure, ask the original author.

Add the license in the manifest at the beginning of skin.xml (see example).

Further reads:

Tools

Free Code editors - Cross-platform (Visual Code Studio), (Atom)
Free Images editors - Online (Phoenix, Pixlr), Windows (Paint.net) macOS (Pixelmator -trial-), Linux (Gimp, Inkscape)
Free color tools - Online (Color Palette Generator, Colorblender , Paletton, the color scheme designer)
Free knob tools - Cross-platform (JKnobman)

Skin.xml in-depth review

In this section all elements and the values of their keys are explained with examples.
Open up the skin.xml in the skin folder you duplicated earlier with your favorite text editor and get started :-)

Section: General

Skin Manifest

The skin manifest section tells Mixxx details about the skin:

<manifest>
  <title>...</title>
  <author>...</author>
  <version>...</version><!-- Skin version (not the Mixxx version) -->
  <description>...</description>
  <language>en</language><!-- Skin language (if language-independent, omit or put *) -->
  <license>...</license>
  <attributes>
    <!-- Set "[Master],num_decks" config key to 4 when skin is loaded.-->
    <attribute config_key="[Master],num_decks">4</attribute>
    <attribute config_key="[Master],num_samplers">16</attribute>
    <attribute config_key="[Master],num_preview_decks">1</attribute>
    
    <!-- Persist a custom skin config key "[Skin],show_some_widget". 
         This allows for hiding/showing/highlighting widgets. (see <Connection> )-->
    <attribute persist="true" config_key="[Skin],show_some_widget">1</attribute>
  </attributes>
</manifest>

The main part of the manifest that is the <attributes> section. Attributes can specify changes to Mixxx controls that should be executed when the skin is loaded.

For example, Mixxx defaults to 2-decks in its mixing engine but when you load a skin that supports 4-decks, the skin can specify that the control [Master],num_decks should be set to 4 (as in the above example). This will enable a 3rd and 4th deck in Mixxx's engine for the skin to interact with. This attribute list can change any Mixxx control but will only take effect when the skin is loaded.

Attributes can also be used to persist settings specific to the skin itself. Config keys in the form [GroupFoo],control_bar (see control naming) can be set or unset in conjunction with <Connection> in order to show, hide or highlight widgets particular to the skin.

QSS Style

To specify how skins look (for example colors and text sizes), skins use a Qt Style Sheet (QSS) file which is similar to a Cascading Style Sheet (CSS) file used to specify how web pages look. The QSS file is linked to the skin XML with a <Style> element that is a child of the root <skin> element:

    <skin>
      <manifest>
        <!-- skin manifest goes here -->
      </manifest>
    
      <Style src="skin:style.qss"
             src-windows="skin:style-windows.qss"
             src-mac="skin:style-mac.qss"
             src-linux="skin:style-linux.qss"/>
    
      <!-- rest of skin goes here -->
    </skin>

All the skins included in Mixxx name the QSS file as style.qss in the root directory of the skin. Any name with the *.qss or *.css file extension will work. Optionally, you can add up to three additional QSS files to your skin directory, e.g. to work around platform-dependent quirks in styling: src-windows="...", src-mac="..." and src-linux="..."

Note: You can add style sheets to colour schemes, as well. They are added to the style sheets described above and will override attributes in case of conflicts.

Widgets are selected in QSS by the name of their widget type (the "Mixxx internal name" column in the table below) or by a defined name. To define a name for a widget, use the <ObjectName> element. For example:

    <WidgetGroup>
      <ObjectName>SomeWidgetGroup</ObjectName>
      <Children>
        <!-- A group of widgets you want to apply style to go here -->
      </Children>
    </WidgetGroup>

This is similar to setting an id attribute on an element in HTML except that multiple widgets can share the same <ObjectName>. To style the above <WidgetGroup> in QSS, you would select it with #. For example:

    #SomeWidgetGroup {
      background-color: black;
    }

Knowing what options are available to style is tricky and it involves knowing what Qt widget the associated Mixxx widget derives from.

Handy resources:

Qt Style Sheet Documentation
Qt Style Sheet Syntax
Qt Style Sheet Widget Reference -- tells you what widgets support which properties.

Here is a potentially out-of-date list of which Mixxx widgets derive from which Qt widgets. If not listed, the widget inherits from QWidget.

Skin Tag	Mixxx Internal Name	Qt Widget
`WidgetStack`	`WWidgetStack`	`QStackedWidget`
`WidgetGroup`	`WWidgetGroup`	`QGroupBox`
(none)	`WTrackTableView`	`QTableView`
(none)	`WLibraryTableView`	`QTableView`
`Library`	`WLibrary`	`QStackedWidget`
`LibrarySidebar`	`WLibrarySidebar`	`QTreeView`
`SearchBox`	`WSearchLineEdit`	`QLineEdit`
`Spinny`	`WSpinny`	`QGLWidget`
`Visual`	`WWaveformViewer`	`QWidget`
`NumberRate`	`WNumberRate`	`QWidget` with a QLabel child
`NumberPos`	`WNumberPos`	`QWidget` with a QLabel child
`NumberBpm`	`WNumber`	`QWidget` with a QLabel child
`Number`	`WNumber`	`QWidget` with a QLabel child
`Label`	`WLabel`	`QWidget` with a QLabel child
`Text`	`WTrackText`	`QWidget` with a QLabel child
`TrackProperty`	`WTrackProperty`	`QWidget` with a QLabel child
`Time`	`WTime`	`QWidget` with a QLabel child
`Key`	`WKey`	`QWidget` with a QLabel child
`Splitter`	`WSplitter`	`QSplitter`
`DefineSingleton`	`WSingletonContainer`	`QWidget`
`EffectSelector`	`WEffectSelector`	`QComboBox`

Using Variables

You can use variables throughout the skin templates for various purposes, as well as in colour schemes, to set channel numbers, effect numbers, <ObjectName>s or to define colors for widgets, just to name a few.

Set variables like this:

<SetVariable name="veryDescriptiveName">String</SetVariable>

and recall variables like this:

<Variable name="veryDescriptiveName"/> <!-- replaced with String -->

Global variables are inherited by all child templates. Scheme specific variables should be set under <Scheme> nodes whereas other global variables in skin.xml should be set directly after the first <Children> opening tag, before any other template is loaded.

Variables can also be passed to templates explicitly. For example, here we load a deck template, specifying the channel number, side and background color it should use:

<Template src="skin:deck_container.xml">
   <SetVariable name="side">Left</SetVariable>
   <SetVariable name="channum">1</SetVariable>
   <SetVariable name="SignalBgColor">#0a0a0a</SetVariable>  <!-- dark grey -->
</Template>

The variables defined above might be used in the template to set up a waveform overview widget for example:

  <!-- deck_container.xml -->
  <Overview>
    <Size>...</Size>
    <Objectname>Overview<Variable name="side"/></Overview> <!--  <Objectname>OverviewLeft</Overview> -->
    ...
    <Channel><Variable name="channum"/></Channel> <!--  <Channel>1</Channel> -->
    <BgColor><Variable name="SignalBgColor"/></BgColor> <!--  <BgColor>#0a0a0a</BgColor> -->
    ...
  </Overview>

Note: Variables cannot be used within tags or within values:

<Template src="skin:deck_container_<Variable name="side"/>.xml"/> <!-- Wrong -->
<Template <SetVariable name="Alignment">left|top</SetVariable>src="skin:library.xml"/> <!-- Wrong... -->

Properties Common to All Widgets

Every skin widget is declared in a block with an opening XML tag and a closing tag. For example, this block defines a musical key widget that shows the current key of a playing deck:

    <Key>
        <TooltipId>visual_key</TooltipId>
        <Pos>X,Y</Pos>
        <Size>W,H</Size>
        <Connection>
            <ConfigKey>[ChannelX],visual_key</ConfigKey>
        </Connection>
    </Key>

Sub-tags like the <Size> tag tell Mixxx how it should size, style and layout the widget. There are certain sub-tags that are common to all widgets and behave in the same way regardless of the widget type.

<Pos>

<Pos> tags tell Mixxx where to position a widget. The position is relative to the widget's parent. For example, if the position is 0,50 then this means position the widget 0 pixels from the horizontal location (left edge) of the parent widget and 50 pixels from the vertical location (top edge) of the widget's parent.

Examples:
`<Pos>0,50</Pos>`	0 pixels from top left edge of the parent, 50 pixels from the top edge
`<Pos>50,0</Pos>`	50 pixels from the horizontal position of parent, 0 pixels from the vertical position
`<Pos>50,50</Pos>`	50 pixels from the horizontal position of parent, 50 pixels from the vertical position

<Size>

<Size> tags tells Mixxx what size to make a widget. The size tag has a lot of historical baggage associated with it because it has been around since the first version of Mixxx and has a bunch of hacks added to it.

It is formatted as the horizontal size and the vertical size in pixels separated by a comma. You can also specify a size policy as shown below, however later versions of Mixxx add the <SizePolicy> tag for this.

Examples:
`<Size>100,50</Size>`	100 pixels wide and 50 pixels tall.
`<Size>100me,50p</Size>`	100 pixels wide and 50 pixels tall. The horizontal size policy is MinimumExpanding and the vertical policy is Preferred.
`<Size>100me,50</Size>`	100 pixels wide and 50 pixels tall. The horizontal size policy is MinimumExpanding.
`<Size>me,e</Size>`	The horizontal size policy is MinimumExpanding and the vertical size policy is Expanding. No explicit size is set.

<MinimumSize>

New in Mixxx 2.00.0

<MinimumSize> tags tell Mixxx the smallest size a widget should be. The widget will never be resized to be smaller than this size.

It is formatted as the minimum horizontal size and the minimum vertical size in pixels separated by a comma. A value of -1 for a dimension means no minimum in that dimension.

Examples:
`<MinimumSize>100,50</MinimumSize>`	minimum width 100, minimum height 50
`<MinimumSize>200,-1</MinimumSize>`	minimum width 200, no minimum height
`<MinimumSize>-1,300</MinimumSize>`	no minimum width, minimum height 300

<MaximumSize>

New in Mixxx 2.00.0

<MaximumSize> tags tell Mixxx the largest size a widget should be. The widget will never be resized to be larger than this size.

It is formatted as the maximum horizontal size and the maximum vertical size in pixels separated by a comma. A value of -1 for a dimension means no maximum in that dimension.

Examples:

value	result
`<MaximumSize>100,50</MaximumSize>`	maximum width 100, maximum height 50
`<MaximumSize>200,-1</MaximumSize>`	maximum width 200, no maximum height
`<MaximumSize>-1,300</MaximumSize>`	no maximum width, maximum height 300

<SizePolicy>

New in Mixxx 2.00.0

<SizePolicy> tags tell Mixxx how widgets should grow or shrink based on the available space. Size policy refers to the Qt QSizePolicy.

SizePolicy	Skin Abbreviation	What it does
Fixed	f	The size in the given dimension is fixed and should not grow or shrink.
Minimum	min	The widget size in this dimension is the minimum it should be. It can grow but will not be smaller than this.
Maximum	max	The widget size in this dimension is the maximum it should be. It can shrink but will not be larger than this.
Preferred	p	The widget size in this dimension is the preferred size. It can be shrunk and still be useful. It can grow but there is no advantage to it growing.
Expanding	e	The widget size in this dimension can be shrunk and still be useful. The widget can make use of extra space in this dimension so it should receive as much space as possible.
MinimumExpanding	me	The widget size in this dimension is the minimum it should be. The widget can make use of extra space in this dimension so it should receive as much space as possible.
Ignored	i	The widget size in this dimension is ignored. The widget will get as much space as possible.

The <SizePolicy> property is formatted as the skin abbreviation (from the above table) for the horizontal size and the skin abbreviation for the vertical size policy separated by a comma.

Examples:
`<SizePolicy>f,min</SizePolicy>`	Fixed horizontal, Minimum vertical
`<SizePolicy>me,me</SizePolicy>`	MinimumExpanding for both horizontal and vertical
`<SizePolicy>p,f</SizePolicy>`	Preferred horizontal, Fixed vertical

<TooltipId>

<TooltipId> tags indicate what tooltip Mixxx should use for the widget. We used to embed tooltips directly into skins but then we found this was impractical to keep up to date and translate into different languages. As a result, we have created a list of standard tooltips that you can use in most cases.

The <TooltipId> tag tells Mixxx to use an existing tooltip that is built into Mixxx.

For an up to date list of tooltips, see src/skin/tooltips.cpp and look at all the add("some_tooltip_id") lines in the file. You'll use whatever some_tooltip_id actually is as shown below:

Examples:
`<TooltipId>track_artist</TooltipId>`	Use the `track_artist` tooltip from the tooltip file.
`<TooltipId>eject</TooltipId>`	Use the `eject` tooltip from the tooltip file.

<Tooltip>

If no existing tooltip meets your needs, you can create a custom tooltip using the <Tooltip> tag.

Examples:
`<Tooltip>My Custom Tooltip</Tooltip>`	Use the phrase "My Custom Tooltip" as the widget tooltip.

Translation or internationalization of these tooltips is not currently possible, so avoid using them unless really necessary.

<Connection>

The connection block is a means for widgets to interact with Mixxx's control system.

It requires the <ConfigKey> tag to specify the control to be bound to the widget.

If no further tags are present, the widget is bound on its default connection. For example a <PushButton> or a <Knob> will update the control specified by <ConfigKey> with their state as it changes.

The following optional tags are also accepted within a <Connect> block:

Tag
`<BindProperty>`	specify a widget property to bind the control to
`<Transform>`	transform the value of the bound control

<BindProperty> only accepts one of the following two values:

visible displays the widget when the value of the config key is 1
highlight apply a qss style to the widget based on the config key value:

For example, for a widget with <ObjectName>Foo</ObjectName>, when <ConfigKey>'s values is N, apply the QSS defined by #Foo[highlight="N"] {...} to the widget.

A <Transform> block can accept the following tags:

Tag	Config Key Value	Transformed Value
`<Invert/>`	value	-value
`<Not/>`	value	!value
`<Add>n</Add>`	value	value + `n`
`<IsEqual>n</IsEqual>`	value	value == `n`

Illustratory example (look at existing skins for actual use cases as they're more complex):

<!-- Show the label below when pressed -->
<PushButton>
  <NumberStates>1</NumberStates>
  <Size>me,me</Size>
  <State>
    <Number>0</Number>
    <Text>Show</Text>
  </State>
  <Connection>
    <ConfigKey>[Foo],show</ConfigKey>
  </Connection>
</PushButton>


<Label>
  <Size>me,me</Size>
  <Text>Hello</Text>
  <Connection>
    <ConfigKey>[Foo],show</ConfigKey>
    <BindProperty>visible</BindProperty>
  </Connection>
</Label>

Library display

The library manages all of your music files. This is where you can find the tracks you want to play and load them into a deck or sampler.

The library typically consist of:

library sidebar: Contains different collections of music, and let you browse for files.
library table: The track list view displays the tracks in those collections.
Library searchbox: The search function filters the currently displayed list (e.g. a playlist, a crate, or even the whole library) for tracks that match your search query.

FIXME: Add code example for typical library

Library Sidebar


`<LibrarySidebar></LibrarySidebar>`

Library Table


`<Library></Library>`

Library SearchBox


`<SearchBox></SearchBox>`

Section: Visual

Waveform


`
waveform_display
X
X,Y
W,H
#
custom_background.png
X
X
#
#
#
#
#
#
#
#
#
#
#
#
#
#
#

| ``begin Visual tag Tooltip to be displayed on mouseover, depends on selected IDs. Make sure to select the correct ID for each key, available IDs are in //src/skin/tooltips.cpp// Which channel the settings are connected to (X=1 or 2) Defines the element position Defines the element size Color of waveform background (until Mixxx 1.10. a default gradient was added , not for #000000) New in Mixxx 1.10: Loads a background image and will tile it when smaller than the waveform widget New in Mixxx 2.1: Indicates whether to display horizontal or vertical waveform ( X = "horizontal" or "vertical" ). Default is horizontal. New in Mixxx 1.11: Show full waveform centered (default) or only bottom/top half ( X = "bottom" or "top" ) (for horizontal waveform) or only left/right half ( X = "left" or "right" ) (for vertical waveform). Color of waveform New in Mixxx 1.11: Colors of low frequencies in waveform. If no low/mid/high colors are provided, fallback to New in Mixxx 1.11: Colors of mid frequencies in waveform New in Mixxx 1.11: Colors of high frequencies in waveform New in Mixxx 2.00: Colors of low frequencies in RGB waveform. Allows separate color config for RGB waveforms, if selected in ''Preferences>Waveforms>Summery Type>RGB (GL)'' New in Mixxx 2.00: Colors of mid frequencies in RGB waveform. New in Mixxx 2.00: Colors of high frequencies in RGB waveform Color of beatgrid (multiple vertical lines) New in Mixxx 1.11: Color of notification overlay displayed within the last seconds of a track New in Mixxx 1.11: Color of static horizontal line New in Mixxx 1.11: Color of static vertical line Deprecated in Mixxx 1.11: Highlight color when beatgrid is near playback position Deprecated in Mixxx 1.11: Color of horizontal line Deprecated in Mixxx 1.11: Color center marker (single vertical line) Deprecated in Mixxx 1.11: Color of Cuepoint marker end Visual tag

`` |


`
cue_point
custom_marker.png
CUEPOINT
X\|Y
#
#

|begin Mark tag Defines the Cuepoint, max. one cuepoint per channel Optional: Uses an image from the skin's folder to define a custom marker, if available it overrides the default triangle Text visible when Cuepoint is set (and no custom marker is defined) Defines where text is positioned (X = "left" or "hcenter" or "right"; Y = "top" or "vcenter" or "bottom"). Note: "center" can be used as a shorthand for "hcenter|vcenter". Defines text background color Defines text color end Mark tag ` |


`

hotcue_X_position custom_marker.png HOTCUE X X\|Y # #

|begin Mark tag max. 36 Hotcues(X=1-36), define every Hotcue for its own Optional: uses an image from the skin's folder to define a custom marker, if available it overrides the default triangle Text visible when Hotcue point is set (and no custom marker is defined) Defines where text is positioned (X = "left" or "hcenter" or "right"; Y = "top" or "vcenter" or "bottom"). Note: "center" can be used as a shorthand for "hcenter|vcenter". Defines text background color Defines text color end Mark tag ` |


`

hotcue_X_position custom_marker.png HOTCUE X X\|Y # #

|begin Mark tag max. 36 Hotcues(X=1-36), define every Hotcue for its own Optional: uses an image from the skin's folder to define a custom marker, if available it overrides the default triangle Text visible when Hotcue point is set (and no custom marker is defined) Defines where text is positioned (X = "left" or "hcenter" or "right"; Y = "top" or "vcenter" or "bottom"). Note: "center" can be used as a shorthand for "hcenter|vcenter". Defines text background color Defines text color end Mark tag ` |


`

custom_marker.png X\|Y # # %1

|begin Mark tag Optional: Uses an image from the skin's folder to define a custom marker, if available it overrides the default triangle Defines where text is positioned (X = "left" or "hcenter" or "right"; Y = "top" or "vcenter" or "bottom"). Note: "center" can be used as a shorthand for "hcenter|vcenter". Defines text background color Defines text color Is filled with Hotcue number when not defined by respective custom mark end Mark tag ` |


`

loop_end_position custom_marker.png LOOP OUT X\|Y # #

|begin Mark tag Defines a loops end point Optional: Uses an image from the skin's folder to define a custom marker, if available it overrides the default triangle Text visible when end point is set (and no custom marker is defined) Defines where text is positioned (X = "left" or "hcenter" or "right"; Y = "top" or "vcenter" or "bottom"). Note: "center" can be used as a shorthand for "hcenter|vcenter". Defines text background color Defines text color end Mark tag ` |


`

loop_start_position loop_end_position loop_enabled # #

|begin MarkRange tag
|---for drawing the color overlay between loop-in & loop-out, these lines are not variable / Defines overlay color when loop is enabled Defines overlay color when loop is disabled end MarkRange tag ` |

Waveform overview


`
waveform_overview
X
X,Y
W,H
#AARRGGBB
custom_background.png
#
#
#
#
#
#AARRGGBB
#AARRGGBB
#AARRGGBB
X
#
#
X

[ChannelX],playposition false ` | ` begin Overview tag Tooltip to be displayed on mouseover Which channel the settings are connected to (X=1, 2, or more, depending on the number of decks in the skin) Defines the element position Defines the element size Background color. New in Mixxx 1.9.1: If is not provided, the background is treated as transparent. New in Mixxx 2: Support ARGB notation, e.g. ``#B3000000`` for semi transparent black New in Mixxx 1.10: Loads a background image and will tile it when smaller than the waveform widget Color of waveform overview New in Mixxx 1.11: Colors of low frequencies in waveform overview. If no low/mid/high colors are provided, fallback to New in Mixxx 1.11: Colors of mid frequencies in waveform overview New in Mixxx 1.11: Colors of high frequencies in waveform overview New in Mixxx 1.11: Color of notification overlay displayed within the last seconds of a track New in Mixxx 1.11: Color of static horizontal line. New in Mixxx 2: Support ARGB notation New in Mixxx 1.11: Color of moving vertical line (playing position indicator). New in Mixxx 2: Support ARGB notation New in Mixxx 2.1: Color of overlay for the played portion of the track. Support ARGB notation New in Mixxx 2.1: Orientation of waveform overview. (X = "horizontal" or "vertical") Default is horizontal. Deprecated in Mixxx 1.11: Color of vertical line Deprecated in Mixxx 1.11 (was new in v1.10): Color of track analysis progress visualization, color defaults to the signal color if not set Deprecated in Mixxx 1.11 (was new in v1.10): Alpha of track analysis progress visualization, default alpha is 80 out of 255

Must be same value as under above, (X = 1 or 2) Defines if action is performed on click on element ( true or false); Can be omitted in Mixxx >= 2.00

end Overview tag ` |

Spinning vinyl image (Spinny)

New in Mixxx 1.10.0


`
spinny
X
W,H
background.svg
mask.svg
foreground.svg
foreground_ghost.svg
true

` | `Beginn Spinny tag Tooltip to be displayed on mouseover Optionally, defines the appearance of the Spinny widget Which channel the settings are connected to (X=1, 2, or more, depending on the # of decks in the skin) Defines the element position Defines the element size Background image (from the skin's folder, shows as bottom layer). Sets the spinny's overall size, unless scalemode="STRETCH" is set (New in Mixxx 2.00). New in Mixxx 2.00: Mask image (from the skin's folder, shows above the cover layer but below the foreground image. This is often used to overlay a circular outline on top of the cover art so it appears like a round record label. Foreground image (from the skin's folder, shows as top layer). New in Mixxx 1.11: Center the images according to their own size Ghost Foreground image (from the skin's folder, shows as top layer on right-click) New in Mixxx 2.00: Set to true to enable showing of covers in spinny widgets (default false). Spinny background images will only appear if there is no cover art, or if this feature is off. End Spinny tag ` |

Volume level display


`
channel_VuMeter
active.png
default.png
X,Y
false
5
400
80
5

[X],Y

|begin VuMeter tag Tooltip to be displayed on mouseover Button/slider main image (from the skin's folder, shows as top layer) Button/slider background image (from the skin's folder, shows as bottom layer) Defines the element position Orientation (false=vertical, true=horizontal) Size of peak (in pixels); cropped from top of image defined in , default is 5 Time a peak is displayed (in ms), default is 400 Time a peak falls down (in ms), default is 20 Number of steps (in pixels) a peaks falls down in , Default is 1

Defines connected Channel & Stereo-balance (X = Channel1 .. 4 or Master), (Y= VuMeter or VuMeterL or VuMeterR)

end VuMeter tag ` |

Volume peak indicator


`
PeakIndicator
active.png
default.png
X,Y

[X],PeakIndicator

|begin StatusLight (Volume Peak Indicator) tag Tooltip to be displayed on mouseover peak indicator main image (from the skin's folder, shows as top layer) peak indicator background image (from the skin's folder, shows as bottom layer) Defines the element position

Defines connected Channel (X = Channel1 .. 4 or Master)

end StatusLight (Volume Peak Indicator) tag ` |

Section: Text

Label

| | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | <Label> <Pos>X,Y</Pos> <Size>W,H</Size> <Text>Hello</Text> </Label> | | ` Displays a text label. Defines the element position Defines the element size The text to be displayed

` |

Clock

New in Mixxx 1.10

| | | | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | <Time> <TooltipId>time</TooltipId> <Pos>X,Y</Pos> <Size>W,H</Size> <ShowSeconds>false</ShowSeconds> <ClockFormat>24</ClockFormat> </Time> | | This widget displays the current time. Tooltip to be displayed on mouseover Defines the element position Defines the element size Determines, whether seconds are shown ("true") or not ("false"). Default is "false". Deprecated as of v2.00. We display the time with a format appropriate to the chosen locale instead. Has determined, whether the time is shown in 24 hour format or 12 hour format. "24" and "24hrs" set the format to 24 hour format. "12", "12hrs" and "12ap" set the format to 12 hour format (e.g. 1:45 am). "12AP" sets it to 12 hour format with capitalized AM/PM (e.g. 1:45 AM). Default is "12AP". <ShowSeconds> determines, whether seconds are shown or not. Default was false. You could set a custom format with <CustomFormat> instead of <ClockFormat>, which accepts the same expressions as QTime::toString (https://doc.qt.io/qt-4.8/qtime.html#toString) |

Track information

New in Mixxx 1.9

You can replace the whole <Text> node with TrackProperty`s to display more advanced track informations.

| | | | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | --------------------------------------------- | | <Text> <TooltipId>text</TooltipId> <Channel>X</Channel> <Pos>X,Y</Pos> <Size>W,H</Size> </Text> | | `

Defines connected Channel (X = 1 or 2)

` |

BPM number display

Changed in Mixxx 2.00

Use visual_bpm key instead bpm

| | | | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | <NumberBpm> <TooltipId>visual_bpm</TooltipId> <Channel>X</Channel> <Pos>X,Y</Pos> <Size>W,H</Size> <NumberOfDigits>6</NumberOfDigits> <Connection> <ConfigKey>[ChannelX],visual_bpm</ConfigKey> </Connection> </NumberBpm> | | `

Defines connected Channel (X = 1 .. 4)

?

Must be same value as under above, (X = 1 or 2)

` |

Effective musical key display

New in Mixxx 2.00

| | | | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | --------------------------------------------------------------- | | <Key> <TooltipId>visual_key</TooltipId> <Pos>X,Y</Pos> <Size>W,H</Size> <DisplayCents>true</DisplayCents> <Connection> <ConfigKey>[ChannelX],visual_key</ConfigKey> </Connection> </Key> | | `

Display the distance to the next key

(X = 1 .. 4)

` |

Playing position / Time remaining

| | | | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | <NumberPos> <TooltipId>track_time</TooltipId> <Channel>X</Channel> <Pos>X,Y</Pos> <Size>W,H</Size> <NumberOfDigits>6</NumberOfDigits> <Connection> <ConfigKey>[ChannelX],playposition</ConfigKey> </Connection> </NumberPos> | | `

Defines connected Channel (X = 1 or 2)

?

Must be same value as under above, (X = 1 or 2)

` |

Recording duration

New in Mixxx 2.1

| | | | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | <RecordingDuration> <Pos>X,Y</Pos> <Size>W,H</Size> <InactiveText>foo</InactiveText> </RecordingDuration> | | ` Displays the duration of the running recording. Defines the element position Defines the element size Custom text to be displayed when recording is inactive/stopped, default is “–:–”

` |

Pitch rate display

| | | | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | <NumberRate> <TooltipId>rate_display</TooltipId> <Channel>X</Channel> <Pos>X,Y</Pos> <Size>W,H</Size> <Connection> <ConfigKey>[ChannelX],rate</ConfigKey> </Connection> </NumberRate> | | `

Defines connected Channel (X = 1 or 2)

Remove the whole block for Mixxx v1.10+, needed in older versions Must be same value as under above, (X = 1 or 2)

` |

dB display

New in Mixxx 2.00

| | | | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | <NumberDb> ... <Text>Gain %1 dB</Text> <Connection> <ConfigKey>[Channel1],pregain</ConfigKey> </Connection> </NumberDb> | | `

Optional Text. %1 is replaced by the bB value. If this is missing the value is displayed like "-39 dB"

` |

Section: Slider

Channel Volume


`
channel_volume
handle.png
slider.png
X,Y
false

[ChannelX],volume false ` | `

Slider image (knob) which can de dragged with mouse Slider background image the moves up and down on

Orientation (false or true, means vertical or horizontal)

Defines connected Channel (X = 1 or 2 ) Can be omitted in Mixxx >= 2.00

` |

Crossfader


`
crossfader
handle.png
slider.png
X,Y
true

[Master],crossfader false ` | `

Slider image (knob) which can de dragged with mouse Slider background image the moves left and right on

Orientation (false or true, means vertical or horizontal)

Use always default value Can be omitted in Mixxx >= 2.00

` |

Pitch control


`
rate
handle.png
slider.png
X,Y
false

[ChannelX],rate false ` | `

Slider image (knob) which can de dragged with mouse Slider background image the moves up and down on

Orientation (false or true, means vertical or horizontal)

Defines connected Channel (X = 1 .. 4 ) Can be omitted in Mixxx >= 2.00

` |

Section: Buttons

Hint:
The <NumberStates> key means "number of states" for the respective element (Buttons or Knobs/Rotary Fader).
For example a Repeat button is a 2-state button (off/activated).
The <Number> key identifies the index of the <State> block. Each time you click on one of these multi-state buttons, it flips to the next state.

The <EmitOnDownPress> key determines when Mixxx will get feedback when the button goes down or/and when it comes up.
If you compare that with a regular push button in your OS, the button triggers only when you release the button (not when you press it). See Hotcue for example.

The <ButtonState> key tells Mixxx that the given connection should be triggered when that particular mouse button (left or right) is down.

Recording


`
???
3
true
true

0 btn_record_over.png btn_record.png 1 btn_record_over.png btn_record_over.png 2 btn_record_over.png btn_record_over.png 199,114 [Recording],toggle_recording true LeftButton false [Recording],status false ` | `New in Mixxx 1.11

Button that allows toggle of recording and notifies "[Recording],status" of status changes. Can be omitted in Mixxx >= 2.00 Can be omitted in Mixxx >= 2.00

Can be omitted in Mixxx >= 2.00

The latest no button connection is the Display connection

Can be omitted in Mixxx >= 2.00

` |

Play


`
play_cue_set
2

0 pressed.png unpressed.png 1 pressed.png unpressed.png X,Y [ChannelX],play true LeftButton [ChannelX],cue_set true RightButton [ChannelX],play_indicator ` | `

Left Click: Pause/Play, Right Click: Set cue point Overall quantity of states the button have

First state Default image displayed Image displayed on mouse-down

Second state Default image displayed Image displayed on mouse-down

Left Button connection Defines connected Channel (X = 1 .. 4), performed action (play) Defines if action is performed on down-click on element (true or false) Which mouse button must be clicked so the action is performed

Right Button connection Defines connected Channel (X = 1 .. 4), performed action (cue_set) Defines if action is performed on down-click on element (true or false) Which mouse button must be clicked so the action is performed

No button connection = Display connection Defines connected Channel (X = 1 .. 4), performed action (cue_set)

` |

Cue


`
cue_default_cue_gotoandstop
2

0 pressed.png unpressed.png 1 pressed.png unpressed.png X,Y [ChannelX],cue_default true LeftButton [ChannelX],cue_gotoandstop true RightButton [ChannelX],cue_indicator ` | `

Go to and play (while playing), Set cue point (while stopped), Go to and stop (right-click)

Defines connected Channel (X = 1 .. 2) , performed action (cue_default) Defines if action is performed on down-click on element (true or false) Which mouse button must be clicked so the action is performed Hint: Default cue behavior can be changed in Mixxx preferences

Defines connected Channel (X = 1 .. 2) , performed action (cue_gotoandstop) Defines if action is performed on down-click on element (true or false) Which mouse button must be clicked so the action is performed

` |

Hotcue

Hint: Hotcues can utilize more functions in the <ConfigKey> then shown in this example. See MIDI Controller Mapping File Format for details


`
hotcue
1

0 pressed.png unpressed.png X,Y [ChannelX],hotcue_Y_activate true LeftButton [ChannelX],hotcue_Y_activate false LeftButton [ChannelX],hotcue_Y_clear true RightButton ` | `

Set and play Hotcue (while playing), play Hotcue (while stopped), delete Hotcue (right-click)

Channel (X=1 or 2), Hotcue # (Y=1-36) & performed action (activate), depends on # of Hotcues defined , see hotcue_X_position Action is performed while playing (true) on click on element

Action is performed while down pressing the element and playback is stopped (false) Playback from Hotcue X position when the player is stopped (aka Hotcue preview ) Which mouse button must be clicked so the action is performed

Channel (X=1 .. 4 ), Hotcue # (Y=1-36) & performed action (clear)

Which mouse button must be clicked so the action is performed

` |

Looping


`
loop_in
1

0 pressed.png unpressed.png X,Y [ChannelX],loop_in true LeftButton [ChannelX],loop_in false LeftButton ` | ` Click on button sets a "Loop-In" point. The point can not be cleared. It is instead overwritten by a new "Loop-In" point by clicking the button again.

Channel (X=1 or 2), performed action (loop_in) Action is performed when clicking on element Works when playback has stopped too

` |


`
loop_out
1

0 pressed.png unpressd.png X,Y [ChannelX],loop_out true LeftButton [ChannelX],loop_out false LeftButton ` | ` Click on button sets a "Loop-Out" point. The point can not be cleared. It is instead overwritten by a new "Loop-Out" point by clicking the button again.

The "Loop-Out" point can not be set if:

No "Loop-In" point has been set before
The "Loop-In" point has been set before but the current playback position is prior to the "Loop-In" point

Channel (X=1 or 2), performed action (loop_out) Action is performed when clicking on element Works when playback has stopped too

` |


`
reloop_exit
1

0 pressed.png unpressed.png X,Y [ChannelX],reloop_exit true LeftButton [ChannelX],reloop_exit false LeftButton ` | ` Click on button activate the "Looping" feature. The playback jumps to "Loop-In" point and loop from there until "Loop-Out" point. Click on button while "Looping" is activated will de-activate the Looping and ignore "Loop-Out" point.

The "Looping" feature can not be activated if:

No "Loop-In" point has been set before
No "Loop-Out" point has been set before

Channel (X=1 or 2), performed action (reloop_exit) Action is performed when clicking on element

` |

Reverse playback


`
reverse
1

0 pressed.png unpressed.png X,Y [ChannelX],reverse true LeftButton [ChannelX],reverse false LeftButton ` | ` Reverse playback Channel X while playing

Defines connected Channel (X = 1 or 2) , performed action (reverse)

` |

Fast forward (or rewind)


`
fwd_end
1

0 pressed.png unpressed.png X,Y [ChannelX],Y true LeftButton [ChannelX],Y false LeftButton [ChannelX],Y true RightButton ` | ` Fast forward (rewind), Right-click: Jump to end (start) of track

Defines connected Channel (X = 1 or 2) , performed action (Y=fwd or back)

Defines connected Channel (X = 1 or 2) , performed action jump to (Y=end or start)

` |

Beat sync


`
???
1

0 pressed.png unpressed.png X,Y [ChannelX],beatsync true LeftButton ` | ` Synchronize tempo with other channel

Defines connected Channel (X = 1 or 2) , performed action (beatsync)

` |

Pitch control (up and down)


`
???
1

0 pressed.png unpressed.png X,Y [ChannelX],Y true LeftButton [ChannelX],Y true RightButton ` | `Left Click: Temporary increase (decrease) pitch, Right Click: Temporary increase (decrease) pitch in small step

Defines connected Channel (X = 1 or 2), performed action (Y= rate_temp_up or rate_temp_down)

Defines connected Channel (X = 1 or 2), performed action (Y= rate_temp_up_small or rate_temp_down_small)

` |

Pitch bend (Nudge)


`
???
1

0 pressed.png unpressed.png X,Y [ChannelX],Y true LeftButton [ChannelX],Y false LeftButton [ChannelX],Y true RightButton [ChannelX],Y false RightButton ` | `Left Click: Temporary increase (decrease) pitch, Right Click: Temporary increase (decrease) pitch in small step

Defines connected Channel (X = 1 or 2) , performed action (Y= rate_temp_up or rate_temp_down)

Defines connected Channel (X = 1 or 2) , performed action (Y= rate_temp_up_small or rate_temp_down_small)

` |

Pre-listen / Monitoring


`
pfl
2

0 pressed.png unpressed.png 1 pressed.png unpressed.png X,Y [ChannelX],pfl ` | ` Headphone pre-listen for Channel X

Default button visible

Button visible when active

Defines connected Channel (X = 1 or 2) , performed action (beatsync)

` |

BPM tap


`
???
1

0 pressed.png unpressed.png X,Y [ChannelX],bpm_tap true [ChannelX],bpm_tap false ` | `

Takes the progressive average of the last 4 taps and sets the bpm of the deck to that value

Defines connected Channel (X = 1 or 2) , performed action

` |

Key lock


`
keylock
2

0 pressed.png unpressed.png 1 pressed.png unpressed.png X,Y [ChannelX],keylock ` | `

Activates position-independent time stretch

Defines connected Channel (X = 1 or 2) , performed action

` |

Repeat


`
repeat
2

0 pressed.png unpressed.png 1 pressed.png unpressed.png X,Y [ChannelX],repeat ` | `

Track repeat if you go past the end or reverse before the start

Defines connected Channel (X = 1 .. 4) , performed action

` |

Frequency Kill


`
???
2

0 pressed.png unpressed.png 1 pressed.png unpressed.png X,Y [ChannelX],Y true LeftButton ` | `

???= filterHighKill or filterMidKill or filterLowKill Cuts the high, mid and low frequencies on Channel X

Default button visible

Button visible when active

Defines connected Channel (X = 1 .. 4), performed action (Y= filterHighKill or filterMidKill or filterLowKill)

` |

Section: Knobs (RotaryFader)

Master volume & balance


`
???
X
knob_rotary_s%1.png
X,Y

[Master],Y ` | `

???= master_volume or balance You need X single knobs where #(X/2)+1 is the 0-state. Example: X=41 states (270 degree rotation / 40 knobs + the 0-state) . You need 20 knobs rotate from -135 degree to 0 degree, one knob 0 degree (default knob visible) , 20 knobs rotate from -135 degree to 0 degree Defines connected Channel (Master) , performed action (Y=volume or balance)

` |

Headphone volume and mix


`
???
X
knob_rotary_s%1.png
X,Y

[Master],Y ` | `

???= headVolume or headMix

Defines connected Channel (Master), performed action (Y=headVolume or headMix)

` |

Channel filter and gain


`
???
X
knob_rotary_s%1.png
X,Y

[X],Y ` | `

???= pregain or filterHigh or filterMid or filterLow

Defines connected Channel (X = 1 or 2), performed action (Y= pregain or filterHigh or filterMid or filterLow)

` |

Special nodes

Check out the skins in Mixxx 1.11 as blueprint, they make heavy use of these special nodes.

TrackProperty

New in Mixxx 1.9

Replace the Text node with TrackProperty`s to display more advanced track informations. You can display more than one TrackProperty node in a skin.


`

  <TooltipId>???</TooltipId>
  <Property>...</Property>
  <Channel>X</Channel>
  <Pos>x,y</Pos>
  <Size>a,b</Size>

` | `

???= check //src/skin/tooltips.cpp// for the correct tooltip ID for each key

The "Property" field can be any of: artist, title, album, genre, year, track_number, times_played, comment, bpm, bpmFormatted, duration, durationFormatted, key (new in Mixxx 1.11)

bpm will be the full precision number (i.e. 1.333333333) while bpmFormatted is to 3 decimal places (1.333), duration is the duration in seconds, while durationFormatted is the duration in hh:mm:ss.xx format. ` |

WidgetGroup

New in Mixxx 1.9

It is probably cumbersome to have to give the absolute positions of every node in the tree. WidgetGroups allow to make a group of relatively positioned widgets. You can display more than one WidgetGroup node in a skin.


`
100,200
w,h
background.png
alt.png

0,0 20, 0 [EffectRack1_EffectUnit1],single_effect_focus highlight 2 ` | `

New in Mixxx 1.11 New in Mixxx 2.1: if highlight > 0

New in Mixxx 2.1: Can be used in styles

New in Mixxx 2.1

` |

<size> is optional, this will limit the size so that any part of a child widget outside of the size rectangle is not shown

In that example, the PushButton child will be at 0,0 relative to its parent, or the absolute position 100,200. The SliderComposed widget will be at 20,0 relative to its parent or 120,200.

New in Mixxx 1.11: Loads a background image from the skin folder. Support resizing and color schemes. Note: The style sheet is painted on top of the new background set by the <BackPath> node.

New in Mixxx 2.1: The highlight property is used to restyle the widget with CSS. The declaration #MyGroup[highlight="1"] { } will define the style for the highlighted state. Note: The background property does not support color schemes for images, a workaround is to set the background image via <BackPath> and <BackPathHighlighted> from the skin.

WidgetGroup Layouts

Never have to specify <Pos> again!

You can use a <Layout> tag in a WidgetGroup to have the widget group automatically layout its children according to their size policies and minimum/maximum widths (see <SizePolicy> info above). As of Mixxx 2.00.0 the valid layout types are "horizontal" and "vertical". These correspond to putting all the child widgets in a QHBoxLayout and QVBoxLayout, respectively.

Example:

<WidgetGroup>
  <Pos>100,200</Pos>
  <Size>w,h</Size>
  <Layout>horizontal</Layout><!-- Layout widgets horizontally -->
  <BackPath>background.png</BackPath><!-- New in Mixxx 1.11: Loads a background image from the skin folder. Support resizing and color schemes -->
  <!-- Note: The style sheet is painted on top of the new background set by the <BackPath> node -->
  <Children>
    <PushButton>
      ...
    </PushButton>
    <SliderComposed>
      ...
    </SliderComposed>
    <!-- as many regular widgets as you like in here -->
  </Children>
</WidgetGroup>

The result of this is that the pushbutton and slider will be automatically sized and laid out horizontally within the widget group.

Splitter

New in Mixxx 1.11.0

This allows you to create a QSplitter dynamically and to control the size of child widgets by dragging the boundary between the children.

New in Mixxx 2.10: Allows to specify which children can be collapsed

New in Mixxx 2.00: Remember splitter layout

    <Splitter>
      <Pos>100,200</Pos>
      <Size>w,h</Size>
      <SplitSizesConfigKey>[$skin_name],$config_key</SplitSizesConfigKey>
      <SplitSizes>60,60,600</SplitSizes>
      <Orientation>horizontal</Orientation>
      <Collapsible>0,0,0</Collapsible>
      <Children>
        <WidgetGroup>
        </WidgetGroup>
        <WidgetGroup>
        </WidgetGroup>
        <WidgetGroup>
        </WidgetGroup>
        <!-- as many regular widgets as you like in here -->
      </Children>
    </Splitter>

SplitSizes gives the absolute splits between the children of the 'Splitter' in pixels. There must be as many split sizes as there are children or else it will be ignored. From the example, the first 2 WidgetGroups will each have 60px of the splitter width initially and the 3rd WidgetGroup will have 600px. Any additional/missing space is distributed amongst the widgets according to their size policies.

Orientation holds the orientation of the splitter. Default is horizontal (i.e. the widgets are laid out side by side). The possible orientations are horizontal or vertical.

Mixxx remembers remember the position of moveable GUI elements, SplitSizesConfigKey saves the splits in ConfigKey provided by the skin e.g. <SplitSizesConfigKey>[Deere1280x1024-SXGA],LibrarySidebarSplitSize</SplitSizesConfigKey>.

Collapsible gives which of children can be collapsed. From the example, none of the 3 WidgetGroup can collapse. E.g. if you wish to have the 1st widgetgroup collapsible, just change to <Collapsible>1,0,0</Collapsible>

NOTE: Splitter derives from QSplitter. As of Qt 4.8.3 the default SizePolicy for QSplitter is QSizePolicy::Expanding horizontally and QSizePolicy::Preferred vertically. If you do not provide a size for the splitter this is the default policy.

WidgetStack

New in Mixxx 1.11.0

A WidgetStack is a widget that only shows one widget at a time. By default, the shown widget is the first child in the <Children> block. If the NextControl or PrevControl is set to 1, then the next or previous widget in the stack is shown and the current widget is hidden. If an optional trigger attribute is given to any child, then the control named by the attribute will automatically switch to the widget when the control is set to 1 and when the widget is hidden the control will be set to 0 by the WidgetStack. This allows you to create radio buttons that let the user switch between multiple different widgets to occupy a certain space.

Example:

<WidgetStack>
  <NextControl>[Channel1],hotcuepage_next</NextControl> <!-- Optional: Control that switches to the next widget in the stack. (will be created if doesn't exist) -->
  <PrevControl>[Channel1],hotcuepage_prev</PrevControl> <!-- Optional: Control that switches to the previous widget in the stack. (will be created if doesn't exist) -->
  <Children>
    <WidgetGroup trigger="[Channel1],hotcuepage_show1"></WidgetGroup> <!-- A WidgetGroup that is shown when the 'trigger' control is set to 1. (will be created if doesn't exist) -->
    <WidgetGroup trigger="[Channel1],hotcuepage_show2"></WidgetGroup> <!-- A WidgetGroup that is shown when the 'trigger' control is set to 2. (will be created if doesn't exist) -->
    <WidgetGroup trigger="[Channel1],hotcuepage_show3"></WidgetGroup> <!-- A WidgetGroup that is shown when the 'trigger' control is set to 3. (will be created if doesn't exist) -->
    <!-- as many regular widgets as you like in here -->
  </Children>
</WidgetStack>

Some example applications:

Multiple pages of hotcue buttons.
A collapsed/expanded view of a deck: two children in a WidgetStack, one with the full deck widgets and one with the collapsed deck widgets. A single <NextControl> and a <PushButton> attached to that control allows the user to toggle between the collapsed and expanded view of the deck.
Tabbed UIs / Screen Sets. The entire skin could be one large WidgetStack that lets you switch the UI between different layouts.

New in Mixxx 2.00.0:
If you need the stacks to remember which index they were closed with so they can start back up in the right state, do it like this:

<WidgetStack currentpage="[EffectRack1],current" persist="true">

The "currentpage" CO doesn't need to be defined anywhere else.

New in Mixxx 2.00.0:
You can define which page to select if a group gets a hide signal. on_hide_select adds a page to the stack. If this page is hidden, the the page with the 0-based index given by on_hide_select will be shown. If this value is -1, the next page on the stack will be shown.

Example:

<WidgetStack>
  <Children>
    <WidgetGroup on_hide_select="0"></WidgetGroup> <!-- First page of the stack -->
    <WidgetGroup trigger="[Channel1],hotcuepage_show1" on_hide_select="0"></WidgetGroup> <!-- When any page is hidden, go back to the first page. -->
    <WidgetGroup trigger="[Channel1],hotcuepage_show2" on_hide_select="0"></WidgetGroup> <!-- When any page is hidden, go back to the first page. -->
    <WidgetGroup trigger="[Channel1],hotcuepage_show3" on_hide_select="0"></WidgetGroup> <!-- When any page is hidden, go back to the first page. -->
    <!-- as many regular widgets as you like in here -->
  </Children>
</WidgetStack>

SizeAwareStack

New in Mixxx 2.00.0

A SizeAwareStack selects the best fitting widget based on available space. It allows GUI elements to easily adopt to window size without manual actions.The algorithm is very basic and requires children sorted by size, smallest first.

Example:

<SizeAwareStack>
  <Children>
    <WidgetGroup>
      <MinimumSize>10,10</MinimumSize><!-- A WidgetGroup that is shown when the available screen estate -->
      <MaximumSize>10,10</MaximumSize><!-- is at least 10x10 pixel -->
      <Style>QGroupBox {background: blue;}</Style>
    </WidgetGroup>
    <WidgetGroup>
      <MinimumSize>100,10</MinimumSize><!-- A WidgetGroup that is shown when the available screen estate -->
      <MaximumSize>199,10</MaximumSize><!-- is 100x10 up to 199x10 pixel. -->
      <Style>QGroupBox {background: red;}</Style>
    </WidgetGroup>
    <WidgetGroup>
      <MinimumSize>200,10</MinimumSize><!-- A WidgetGroup that is shown when the available screen estate -->
      <MaximumSize>200,10</MaximumSize><!-- is at least 200x10 pixel -->
      <Style>QGroupBox {background: green;}</Style>
    </WidgetGroup>
  </Children>
</SizeAwareStack>

ComboBox

New in Mixxx 2.00.0

    <ComboBox>
      <State>
        <Number>1</Number>
        <Text>Text</Text>
        <Icon>icon.png</Icon>
      </State>
      <State>
        <Number>2</Number>
        <Text>Text</Text>
        <Icon>icon.png</Icon>
      </State>
      <Connection>
        <ConfigKey>[XXX],combobox_selector</ConfigKey>
      </Connection>
    </ComboBox>

Both <Text> and <Icon> tags are optional. The order in which the states are displayed is determined by the order they have in the xml, not by the <Number> tag. What does the <Number> tag do?

The control object that holds the state of the combobox is determined with the <Connection> tag.

Singleton widgets

New in Mixxx 2.00.0

Defines widgets that should only be instantiated once but may appear in multiple places in a skin definition. This is useful for complex widgets like the library, which are memory intensive. The container mostly looks like a special WidgetGroup which is defined in special ways.

Usage:

First, the Singleton container is defined, meaning it is described to the skin system by name, and what the singleton consists of. This definition should be very early in the skin file. Note that the singleton does not actually appear where it is defined.

Example definition:

<SingletonDefinition>
  <ObjectName>LibrarySingleton</ObjectName>
  <!-- The ObjectName is used to identify this singleton elsewhere in the skin files -->
  <Children>
    <Template src="skin:library.xml"/>
    <!-- The skin:prefex is replaced by the skin folder first, if this fails the current directory is used -->
  </Children>
</SingletonDefinition>

Example usage:

<WidgetGroup>
  <ObjectName>SomeUiElement</ObjectName>
  <Layout>vertical</Layout>
  <SizePolicy>min,i</SizePolicy>
  <Children>
    <SingletonContainer>
      <ObjectName>LibrarySingleton</ObjectName>
    </SingletonContainer>
    ...
  </Children>
</WidgetGroup>

The skin system sees the Singleton tag, and any time the containing group gets a show event, the Singleton widget is reparented to this location in the skin. Note that if a Singleton is visible twice at the same time, behavior is undefined and could be crashy.

Skin Preview Image

New in Mixxx 2.1.0, changed in Mixxx 2.3.0

To provide users a rough impression of what skins look like before they switch to a different skin, show a preview screenshot when a skin is selected with the combobox in Preferences --> Interfaces --> Skin.

The screenshoot should show skins in their default configuration. Save as skin_preview.png in the root folder of the corresponding skin (was preferences_preview_screenshot.png prior to Mixxx 2.3). Is no screenshoot provided, a placeholder is displayed.

New in Mixxx 2.3.0
If color schemes are supported by the selected skin, show a preview screenshots for a set of color variations to choose from in Preferences -> Interface -> Color Scheme. Save as skin_preview_$SchemeName.png ( replace $SchemeName with the actual value of the respective <Name> key) in the root folder of the corresponding skin.

Launch Image

New in Mixxx 2.00.0

Mixxx features a default launch image that is shown during Mixxx launching. It features a centered label with a progress bar below.

All elements are style-able by Qt stylesheets as shown in the example below:

Example definition:

<LaunchImageStyle>
  LaunchImage { background-color: #202020; }
  QLabel {
    image: url(skin:/style/mixxx-icon-logo-symbolic.png);
    padding:0;
    margin:0;
    border:none;
    min-width: 208px;
    min-height: 48px;
    max-width: 208px;
    max-height: 48px;
  }
  QProgressBar {
    background-color: #202020;
    <!-- You can also use an image instead. To avoid blur, size it according to data below -->
    background: url(skin:/style/progressbar_bg.svg);
    border:none;
    min-width: 208px;
    min-height: 3px;
    max-width: 208px;
    max-height: 3px;
  }
  QProgressBar::chunk {
    background-color: #ec4522;
    <!-- You can also use an image instead. To avoid blur, size it like the QProgressBar -->
    background: url(skin:/style/progressbar.svg);
  }
</LaunchImageStyle>

Battery

New in Mixxx 2.1.0

A a widget to show the laptop battery status.

<Battery>
  <BackPath>battery_background.png</BackPath><!-- default background -->
  <PixmapUnknown>battery_unknown.png<PixmapUnknown><!-- displayed when battery status is unknown -->
  <PixmapCharged>battery_charged.png</PixmapCharged><!-- displayed when battery is full -->
  <NumberStates>10</NumberStates><!-- number of charging / discharging pixmaps -->
  <PixmapsCharging>battery_%1_charging.png</PixmapsCharging><!-- displayed when battery is charging -->
  <PixmapsDischarging>battery_%1_discharging.png</PixmapsDischarging><!-- displayed when battery is discharging -->
</Battery>

The charging/discharging pixmaps are 0-indexed, %1 will be replaced with 0 to [NumberStates - 1].

Changed in Mixxx 2.3:
The Battery widget is hidden by default and only becomes visible once the status is known. This means that the unknown-icons are never presented to the user.

The status can be unknown if there is no battery present or if there are problems reading the status.

Deprecated keys

Main background

Deprecated in Mixxx 1.11.0, use WidgetGroup instead.

<Background><!-- start background tag -->
  <!-- Defines which image in the skins folder to use for the background. All elements are displayed over this image and its size defines the skin size (see Guidelines) -->
  <Path>background.png</Path>
  <!-- Defines a background color. Example: <BgColor>#000000</BgColor> (000000 being the hex value for black) -->
  <BgColor>#</BgColor>
</Background><!-- end background tag -->

Library TableView

Deprecated in Mixxx 1.11.0, use the different keys of the Library display instead


`
X,Y
W,H
#
#
#
#

|start TableView tag Defines the element position Defines the element size Background color library widget (i.e. background color search widget) Foreground color library widget (i.e. text in "Analyze" widget) Background color even line right library pane Background color uneven lines right library pane end TableView tag ` |

End of track mode

Deprecated in Mixxx 1.9.0, use the Repeat button instead


`

3

0 stop.png stop.png 1 next.png next.png 2 loop.png loop.png X,Y [ChannelX],TrackEndMode ` | `

End of track mode control (see manual)

Button visible in STOP mode

Button visible in NEXT mode

Button visible in LOOP mode

Defines connected Channel (X = 1 .. 2) , performed action (TrackEndMode)

` |

FX (Flanger)

Deprecated in Mixxx 1.11.0, use the effects framework instead


`
flanger
2

0 pressed.png unpressed.png 1 pressed.png unpressed.png X,Y [ChannelX],flanger ` | `

Apply flanger effect to Channel X

Default button visible

Button visible when active

Defines connected Channel (X = 1 .. 4) , performed action (flanger)

` |

Flanger (FX) setting

Deprecated in Mixxx 1.11.0, use the effects framework instead


`
???
X
knob_rotary_s%1.png
X,Y

[Flanger],Y ` | ` ???= lfoDelay or lfoDepth or lfoPeriod

Defines connected Channel (Flanger), performed action (Y=lfoDelay or lfoDepth or lfoPeriod)

` |

Useful Links

Skin Colour Scheme Architecture - Explains how color schemes work in Mixxx 1.6.0+
Mixxx Skinning Guidelines
Skin Color Schemes Tips and Tool - A "walkthrough" on creating schemes, includes a link to an online Javascript tool that will help determine correct HSVTweak values.
Skin layout tutorial - A walkthrough on creating a minimal skin, with focus on the common problems a skin designer will encounter when setting the layout of various skin elements.
Skin System Changelog - Follow the changes as Mixxx evolves, and learn how to apply these changes when creating skins.

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Mixxx is a free and open-source DJ software.

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