Adding More Content to vmcPlayIt

If you’ve added the PlayOn media server and vmcPlayIt to your Media Center system the content already provided is great.  There’s a lot more out there however and it’s surprisingly easy to add!  Media Mall, the company behind PlayOn has made it extremely easy for developers to push plugins for the system and users at PlayOn Plugins are hard at work.  Using the plugins they’ve created, you can add even more great content to this application.

This is a relatively straight forward process.  PlayOn uses OPML files to grab internet content and these aren’t that difficult to create.  I haven’t taken a crack at it myself yet but again, these files have been created by the users of the community and are ready for download from the forums.

The easiest way I’ve found to add OPML files to your app is to go to the forums at PlayOn Plugins.  The first stop you should make is to this thread.  This is a general Podcast plugin and it comes not only with the plugin itself, but OPML files for some really good content.  Installation is simple:  Unzip the files and drop both the Podcast.plugin file and Podcasts folder in to /Program Files/MediaMall/Plugins folder.  Restart your PlayOn server using the settings panel and you should be all set! 

Once you have the plugin installed, if there are any netoworks you don’t want, simply delete the OPML file for that feed.  As well, if you want to add more content (like TWiT shows or PCMag.com as I did) you can simply visit the forums and look to see if what you want is there, grab the OPML file and copy it into the Podcasts folder.  Also, there are individual plugins available such as Food Network and Adult Swim.  I’ve installed both and haven’t had much a chance to test them this morning but overall this is very promising!  There are other plugins available as well so take a look around and see if someone has created something you’ll enjoy.  Alternatively, if you have the know-how, apply it and create one of your own.

The more I mess around with PlayOn and vmcPlayIt, the more I love it.  While PlayOn will run you $40 it’s well worth the cost of admission as I have a feeling that vmcPlayIt is only going to get better.

Gotta give credit where credit is due:  Thanks to Scott Kingery of TechLifeWeb for his twitter help on adding content to PlayOn and vmcPlayIt!