summaryrefslogtreecommitdiffstats
path: root/doc/en/configuration.docbook
blob: bed6af51b77bab81528f64f1de0d12fe44c6e0b1 (plain)
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221
222
223
224
225
226
227
228
229
230
231
232
233
234
235
236
237
238
239
240
241
242
243
244
245
246
247
248
249
250
251
252
253
254
255
256
257
258
259
260
261
262
263
264
265
266
267
268
269
270
271
272
273
274
275
276
277
278
279
280
281
282
283
284
285
286
287
288
289
290
291
292
293
294
295
296
297
298
299
300
301
302
303
304
305
306
307
308
309
310
311
312
313
314
315
316
317
318
319
320
321
322
323
324
325
326
327
328
329
330
331
332
333
334
335
336
337
338
339
340
341
342
343
344
345
346
347
348
349
350
351
352
353
354
355
356
357
358
359
360
361
362
363
364
365
366
367
368
369
370
371
372
373
374
375
376
377
378
379
380
381
382
383
384
385
386
387
388
389
390
391
392
393
394
395
396
397
398
399
400
401
402
403
404
405
406
407
408
409
410
411
412
413
414
415
416
417
418
419
420
421
422
423
424
425
426
427
428
429
430
431
432
433
434
435
436
437
438
439
440
441
442
443
444
445
446
447
448
449
450
451
452
453
454
455
456
457
458
459
460
461
462
463
464
465
466
467
468
469
470
471
472
473
474
475
476
477
478
479
480
481
482
483
484
485
486
487
488
489
490
491
492
493
494
495
496
497
498
499
500
501
502
503
504
505
506
507
508
509
510
511
512
513
514
515
516
517
518
519
520
521
522
523
524
525
526
527
528
529
530
531
532
533
534
535
536
537
538
539
540
541
542
543
544
545
546
547
548
549
550
551
552
553
554
555
556
557
558
559
560
561
562
563
<chapter id="configuration">
<title>Configuring &kplayer;</title>

<para>Like other &kde; programs, &kplayer; is highly configurable. When you
<link linkend="howto-installation">install &kplayer;</link> and its multimedia
playing backend <link linkend="howto-installation-mplayer">&mplayer;</link>,
the default settings should enable your system to play multimedia content
without any additional configuration. This chapter describes ways to make
&kplayer;'s user interface best fit your tastes and configure media playback
for optimal quality and performance.</para>

<sect1 id="configuration-ui">
<title>User interface</title>

<para>When &kplayer; is first installed, its window contains a
<link linkend="parts-menu-bar">menu bar</link>, a
<link linkend="parts-toolbar-main">main toolbar</link>, a
<link linkend="parts-toolbar-playlist">playlist toolbar</link> and a
<link linkend="parts-status-bar">status bar</link>. Additionally, a
<link linkend="parts-toolbar-slider">progress toolbar</link> will usually appear
when you start playing a file.</para>

<para>On the <link linkend="menu-settings"><guimenu>Settings</guimenu>
menu</link> you will find options to hide toolbars that you do not need and to
show <link linkend="parts-toolbar-slider">other available toolbars</link>. Some
of them will only be available for video files, while the progress toolbar is
available when &kplayer; can detect the time length of the current file.</para>

<para>The menu bar itself can be toggled on and off with the shortcut key
combination <keycombo action="simul">&Ctrl;<keycap>M</keycap></keycombo>.
You can also hide the status bar if you do not need the information it
displays.</para>

<para>To show or hide the
<link linkend="parts-library">multimedia library</link>, press
<keycombo action="simul">&Ctrl;<keycap>L</keycap></keycombo> or choose
<menuchoice><guimenu>Settings</guimenu><guimenuitem>Show
Library</guimenuitem></menuchoice>. To show or hide the
<link linkend="parts-message-log">message log</link> detailing internal
operation of &mplayer; backend as well as &kde; <acronym>I/O</acronym> Slaves,
press <keycombo action="simul">&Ctrl;<keycap>G</keycap></keycombo> or choose
<menuchoice><guimenu>Settings</guimenu><guimenuitem>Show
Message Log</guimenuitem></menuchoice>.</para>

<para>Each toolbar has a small area on one of its sides where you can press and
hold the &LMB; to drag the toolbar into a new position. You can place most
toolbars either horizontally at the top or bottom of &kplayer; window or
vertically at the left or right side of it, while the playlist toolbar can only
be positioned horizontally.</para>

<para>Similarly, you can move around the multimedia library and the message log
by pressing and holding the &LMB; on the title area of the window and dragging
it above or below the <link linkend="parts-video-area">video area</link> and
positioning it in relation to the toolbars.</para>

<para>If you <mousebutton>right</mousebutton> click a toolbar, you will get a
<link linkend="popup-toolbar">menu</link> to configure it. You can choose the
toolbar orientation, text position and icon size.</para>

<para>&kplayer; will of course remember all the settings you choose and the
positions where you put your toolbars. It will remember visibility settings
for <link linkend="howto-full-screen">full screen mode</link> and for normal
mode separately.</para>

</sect1>

<sect1 id="configuration-playlist">
<title>Playlist</title>

<para>&kplayer;'s <link linkend="toolbar-playlist">playlist toolbar</link> has
a drop down box that shows the current playlist. It stores files and streams
that have been played or are going to be played and lets you easily switch to a
different item and play it. For details on the playlist feature see the
<link linkend="howto-playlist">Playlist micro-HOWTO</link>.
Following is a description of options that affect the playlist behavior.</para>

<itemizedlist>

<listitem><para><guimenuitem>Loop</guimenuitem> option is available from the
<link linkend="menu-player"><guimenu>Player</guimenu> menu</link>, the
<link linkend="toolbar-playlist">playlist toolbar</link> and the
<link linkend="popup-playlist">playlist popup menu</link>. When enabled, it
makes &kplayer; start playing items from the beginning of the list after it
finishes playing the last item on the list.</para></listitem>

<listitem><para><guimenuitem>Shuffle</guimenuitem> option is also available from
the <link linkend="menu-player"><guimenu>Player</guimenu> menu</link>, the
<link linkend="toolbar-playlist">playlist toolbar</link> and the
<link linkend="popup-playlist">playlist popup menu</link>. When enabled, it
makes &kplayer; play items in a random order. When the
<guimenuitem>Loop</guimenuitem> option is also enabled, items will be reshuffled
every time &kplayer; restarts playback from the top of the list. To reshuffle
immediately, disable the <guimenuitem>Shuffle</guimenuitem> option and then
enable it again.</para></listitem>

<listitem><para><guilabel>Allow duplicate entries on playlists</guilabel> option
is available on the
<link linkend="settings-general"><guilabel>General</guilabel> page</link> of the
&kplayer; Configuration dialog. When enabled, it allows &kplayer; to put
identical entries on the playlist. By default it is disabled, and if you queue
the same file twice, the old entry will be removed before adding the new one at
the bottom of the playlist.</para></listitem>

</itemizedlist>

<para>The <guimenuitem>Edit</guimenuitem> command opens the current playlist in
the <link linkend="parts-library">multimedia library</link> where you can add
new items and remove or change the order of existing ones. It is available from
the <link linkend="popup-playlist">playlist popup menu</link> that you can open
by <mousebutton>right</mousebutton> clicking the playlist drop down box on the
<link linkend="parts-toolbar-playlist">playlist toolbar</link>.</para>

<para>To save the current playlist in the <guilabel>Playlists</guilabel> section
of the <interface>multimedia library</interface>,
<mousebutton>right</mousebutton> click the playlist drop down box on the
<link linkend="parts-toolbar-playlist">playlist toolbar</link>, select
<menuchoice><guisubmenu>Add
to</guisubmenu><guimenuitem>Playlists...</guimenuitem></menuchoice> and enter a
playlist name. The new playlist will then be added to each menu that works on
playlists. See the <link linkend="configuration-playlists">multimedia library
configuration</link> for details.</para>

</sect1>

<sect1 id="configuration-library">
<title>Multimedia library</title>

<para>&kplayer;'s <link linkend="parts-library"><interface>multimedia
library</interface></link> is the place to access all your multimedia and
arrange it into playlists. The things you create in the library affect other
parts of &kplayer;, in particular some menus and the current playlist. For
details on the multimedia library feature see the
<link linkend="howto-library">Multimedia library micro-HOWTO</link>.</para>

<sect2 id="configuration-now-playing">
<title>Now Playing</title>

<para>This section shows the contents of the current playlist and lets you
modify it, for example by adding new files, streams and directories, removing
existing items or changing their order. The changes are reflected on the current
playlist shown on the <link linkend="parts-toolbar-playlist">playlist
toolbar</link>. The commands to modify the playlist contents are available from
the <link linkend="menu-library"><guimenu>Library</guimenu> menu</link> or the
<link linkend="popup-library">library <mousebutton>right</mousebutton> click
menu</link>.</para>

</sect2>

<sect2 id="configuration-recent">
<title>Recent</title>

<para>This section shows the recently played files and streams and lets you
modify the list. The top few entries are shown on the <guisubmenu>Play
Recent</guisubmenu> submenu of the
<link linkend="menu-file"><guimenu>File</guimenu> menu</link> and
<mousebutton>right</mousebutton> click <link linkend="popup-menus">popup
menus</link>.</para>

<para>The <guilabel>Maximum Recent entries in the library</guilabel> option on
the <link linkend="settings-general"><guilabel>General</guilabel> page</link> of
the &kplayer; Configuration dialog gives the maximum number of files, folders
and streams the <guilabel>Recent</guilabel> section can hold. When a new entry
is added and the total number of entries exceeds this number, the bottom entry
is removed from the list.</para>

<para>The <guilabel>Maximum entries on Play Recent menu</guilabel> option on the
<link linkend="settings-general">same page</link> of the global settings gives
the maximum number of commands the <guisubmenu>Play Recent</guisubmenu> submenus
can have. When a new entry is added and the total number of entries exceeds this
number, the last entry is removed from the menus.</para>

</sect2>

<sect2 id="configuration-playlists">
<title>Playlists</title>

<para>This section stores the playlists you create and lets you add new
playlists and change or remove the existing ones. You can also add new playlists
by selecting files, folders or streams elsewhere in the multimedia library,
<mousebutton>right</mousebutton> clicking the selection and choosing
<menuchoice><guisubmenu>Add to</guisubmenu><guimenuitem>New
Playlist...</guimenuitem></menuchoice> from the popup menu.
<mousebutton>Right</mousebutton> clicking a folder and choosing
<menuchoice><guisubmenu>Add
to</guisubmenu><guimenuitem>Playlists</guimenuitem></menuchoice> will also add
the folder to the list of playlists.</para>

<para><guisubmenu>Play List</guisubmenu> submenu on the
<link linkend="menu-file"><guimenu>File</guimenu> menu</link> and
<guisubmenu>Add to</guisubmenu> submenu on the
<link linkend="menu-library"><guimenu>Library</guimenu> menu</link> as well as
their equivalents on <link linkend="popup-menus">popup menus</link> each have a
list of commands to either play a playlist or add new content to it. Each
playlist in this section has its own command on each of those menus. When you
add, remove or rename a playlist, the menus are updated to reflect the
changes.</para>

<para>The <guilabel>Maximum entries on playlist menus</guilabel> option on the
<link linkend="settings-general"><guilabel>General</guilabel> page</link> of the
&kplayer; Configuration dialog gives the maximum number of playlists that will
be included on the submenus that work on playlists.</para>

</sect2>

<sect2 id="configuration-devices">
<title>Devices</title>

<para>This section lists the disk and tuner devices available on your system
as well as the <acronym>CD</acronym> tracks and <acronym>DVD</acronym> titles
found on the disks you insert into the disk devices and the channels available
on the tuner devices. &kplayer; puts any devices it finds on this list, and you
can add new devices or remove existing ones.</para>

<para>The <link linkend="menu-file"><guimenu>File</guimenu> menu</link> and some
of the <mousebutton>right</mousebutton> click <link linkend="popup-menus">popup
menus</link> have submenus that let you easily access and play multimedia
available on these devices. Each device from this section has its own
<link linkend="submenu-device">submenu</link>. When you add, remove or rename a
device, the menus are updated to reflect the changes.</para>

<para>When &kplayer; finds titles on a <acronym>DVD</acronym> disk or tracks on
a <acronym>CD</acronym> disk, it updates the corresponding menu to include
commands to play the individual titles or tracks. &kplayer; looks for titles and
tracks when you insert a disk into a drive or when you select <guimenuitem>Play
Disk</guimenuitem> or <guimenuitem>Load Disk</guimenuitem> command for a disk
device that does not yet have any titles or tracks listed.</para>

<para>Similarly, when you change the channel list for a tuner device, &kplayer;
updates the corresponding menu to include commands to play each of the available
channels. The option to change the channel list is on the
<link linkend="properties-general"><guilabel>General</guilabel> page</link> of
the device properties dialog that you can open by selecting the device in the
multimedia library and choosing the <guimenuitem>Properties...</guimenuitem>
command from the
<link linkend="menu-library"><guimenu>Library</guimenu> menu</link> or the
<mousebutton>right</mousebutton> click <link linkend="popup-library">popup
menu</link>.</para>

<para>To add a new device, select the <guilabel>Devices</guilabel> node and
choose <menuchoice><guisubmenu>Add</guisubmenu>
<guimenuitem>Device...</guimenuitem></menuchoice> command from the
<link linkend="menu-library"><guimenu>Library</guimenu> menu</link> or the
<mousebutton>right</mousebutton> click <link linkend="popup-library">popup
menu</link>. This will bring up a dialog box as shown below.</para>

<mediaobject>
<imageobject>
<imagedata fileref="device-add.png" format="PNG"/>
</imageobject>
<textobject>
<phrase>Add device dialog</phrase>
</textobject>
</mediaobject>

<para>Enter a unique descriptive name for the device into the
<guilabel>Name</guilabel> field and the path to the device node under the
<filename>/dev</filename> directory into the <guilabel>Path</guilabel> field.
Select the device type from the <guilabel>Type</guilabel> drop down box.
For a tuner device you will need to choose a channel list, and for TV device
also an input driver. Click the <guibutton>OK</guibutton> button to add the
device to the <interface>multimedia library</interface> and to the
<guimenu>File</guimenu> menu and various <link linkend="popup-menus">popup
menus</link>.</para>

<para>There are many more device specific options that you can see and change
in the <link linkend="properties">device properties dialog</link>. To open it,
select the device in the <interface>multimedia library</interface> and choose
the <guimenuitem>Properties...</guimenuitem> command from the
<link linkend="menu-library"><guimenu>Library</guimenu> menu</link> or the
<mousebutton>right</mousebutton> click <link linkend="popup-library">popup
menu</link>. For more information on disk and tuner device support in &kplayer;
see the <link linkend="howto-devices">Devices micro-HOWTO</link>.</para>

</sect2>

<sect2 id="configuration-list-view">
<title>List view</title>

<para>There are several ways you can customize the <interface>list
view</interface> where the library shows the multimedia found in the folder you
select from the <interface>tree view</interface>.</para>

<para>The <guisubmenu>Columns</guisubmenu> submenu of the
<link linkend="menu-library"><guimenu>Library</guimenu> menu</link> and the
<link linkend="popup-library">library popup menu</link> allows you to choose
what columns to show in the <interface>list view</interface>. Each available
column has a command on this submenu that either shows or hides that column.
What columns are available depends on the folder selected in the tree view and
on its contents.</para>

<para>To change the order of columns in the <interface>list view</interface>,
click and drag a column header with the &LMB;. However, the
<guilabel>Name</guilabel> always has to be the first column. To change the width
of a column, click and drag the divider on the right side of the column
header.</para>

<para>To change the sorting order of items in the <interface>list
view</interface>, <mousebutton>left</mousebutton> click the header of the column
you want to sort by. To sort in the reverse order, click the same header again.
The new sorting order will apply to all folders in the multimedia library,
except for <link linkend="howto-library-playlist-folders">playlist
folders</link> with a <link linkend="howto-library-ordering-sorting">custom
order</link> of items.</para>

</sect2>

</sect1>

<sect1 id="configuration-shortcuts">
<title>Shortcuts</title>

<para>To change the shortcut key arrangements used by &kplayer; select
<menuchoice><guimenu>Settings</guimenu><guimenuitem>Configure
Shortcuts...</guimenuitem></menuchoice>. This will open a dialog box
as shown below.</para>

<mediaobject>
<imageobject>
<imagedata fileref="shortcuts-configure.png" format="PNG"/>
</imageobject>
<textobject>
<phrase>Shortcut configuration dialog</phrase>
</textobject>
</mediaobject>

<para>If you change the key bindings, make sure not to duplicate an existing
shortcut and also not to use the &Shift; key for your new shortcuts, because
the &Shift; key has a <link linkend="howto-properties">special function</link>
in &kplayer;.</para>

<para>Search through the list to find the action for which you want to add or
change the shortcut keys and select it by <mousebutton>left</mousebutton>
clicking the name. You will then be able to change the shortcut by selecting
the <guilabel>None</guilabel>, <guilabel>Default</guilabel> or
<guilabel>Custom</guilabel> radio button or by clicking the large button in the
<guilabel>Shortcut for Selected Action</guilabel> area. The <guilabel>Define
Shortcut</guilabel> dialog box will then open.</para>

<mediaobject>
<imageobject>
<imagedata fileref="shortcuts-define.png" format="PNG"/>
</imageobject>
<textobject>
<phrase>Define Shortcut dialog</phrase>
</textobject>
</mediaobject>

<para>Choose whether you want to change the <guilabel>Primary</guilabel> or 
<guilabel>Alternate</guilabel> shortcut, then press the key or key combination
you want to act as the shortcut. If the <guilabel>Auto-Close</guilabel> box is
checked, the dialog will vanish  as soon as you enter the key combination, else
it will remain until you press <guibutton>OK</guibutton> or
<guibutton>Cancel</guibutton>. Clicking the little black icon with a white
cross in it clears the shortcut.</para>

<sect2 id="configuration-userdefmenus">
<title>User defined menus</title>

<para>You can add your own pop up menu to &kplayer;, so that pressing one key
combination will make the menu appear, then pressing a second key, or using the
<keysym>Up arrow</keysym> and <keysym>Down arrow</keysym> keys and pressing
<keycap>Enter</keycap>, will select an item from it.</para>

<para>To do this add a <guilabel>Custom</guilabel> shortcut for each of the
actions you want to appear in the menu and in the <guilabel>Define
Shortcut</guilabel> dialog check the <guilabel>Multi-Key</guilabel> box, press
the key combination that you want to bring up your new menu, then, separately,
press the key that will choose that item from the menu.</para>

</sect2>

</sect1>

<sect1 id="configuration-toolbars">
<title>Toolbars</title>

<sect2 id="configuration-toolbars-style">
<title>Toolbar style and position</title>

<para>The <link linkend="popup-toolbar">toolbar popup menu</link> has several
options to change the toolbar appearance. To display this menu,
<mousebutton>right</mousebutton> click the toolbar for which you want to change
the options.</para>

<para>The <guisubmenu>Orientation</guisubmenu> submenu contains options to place
the toolbar at the <guimenuitem>Top</guimenuitem>,
<guimenuitem>Bottom</guimenuitem>, <guimenuitem>Left</guimenuitem> or
<guimenuitem>Right</guimenuitem> side of the &kplayer; window. You can also
click and drag the toolbar by the handle on its left border with the &LMB; to
move it to a new position. The <guimenuitem>Floating</guimenuitem> option
displays the toolbar on top of other parts of &kplayer; window. The
<guimenuitem>Flat</guimenuitem> option makes the toolbar show as small lines
that you need to <mousebutton>left</mousebutton> click to expand the
toolbar.</para>

<para>The <guisubmenu>Text Position</guisubmenu> submenu allows you to display
a description of each icon on the toolbar either underneath or alongside the
icon, or display only the description instead of the icon. By default only the
icon is displayed without the description.</para>

<para>The <guisubmenu>Icon Size</guisubmenu> submenu allows you to choose the
size of the icons on the toolbar. The choices are
<guimenuitem>Default</guimenuitem>, <guimenuitem>Small</guimenuitem>,
<guimenuitem>Medium</guimenuitem>, <guimenuitem>Large</guimenuitem> and
<guimenuitem>Huge</guimenuitem>.</para>

</sect2>

<sect2 id="configuration-toolbars-dialog">
<title>Toolbar configuration dialog</title>

<para>To configure &kplayer;'s toolbars, select
<guimenuitem>Configure Toolbars...</guimenuitem> from the
<link linkend="menu-settings"><guimenu>Settings</guimenu> menu</link> or from
the <link linkend="popup-toolbar">toolbar popup menu</link>. This will open a
dialog box as shown below.</para>

<mediaobject>
<imageobject>
<imagedata fileref="toolbars-configure.png" format="PNG"/>
</imageobject>
<textobject>
<phrase>Toolbar configuration dialog</phrase>
</textobject>
</mediaobject>

<para>The drop down list box at the top of this dialog shows the name of the
selected toolbar and lets you switch to another toolbar. The <guilabel>Current
actions</guilabel> list box shows the actions included on the currently selected
toolbar, and the <guilabel>Available actions</guilabel> list box shows all the
other actions that exist in &kplayer;.</para>

<para>The buttons in the middle part of the dialog let you include or exclude
actions from the selected toolbar and change the order of buttons and other
elements on the toolbar. The right arrow button puts the action selected in the
<guilabel>Available actions</guilabel> box on the toolbar, and the left arrow
button takes the action selected in the <guilabel>Current actions</guilabel>
box off the toolbar. The up and down arrow buttons move the action selected in
the <guilabel>Current actions</guilabel> box back and forward within the toolbar
respectively.</para>

<para>To be included on a toolbar, an action needs an icon that will be shown on
the toolbar if the action is shown as a button. Some actions already have icons,
but for others you need to choose one. The <guilabel>Change Icon...</guilabel>
button opens a dialog box that allows you to choose an icon for the selected
action.</para>

<mediaobject>
<imageobject>
<imagedata fileref="toolbars-change-icon.png" format="PNG"/>
</imageobject>
<textobject>
<phrase>Change icon dialog</phrase>
</textobject>
</mediaobject>

<para>When the <guilabel>System icons</guilabel> option is selected, the drop
down box on the right lets you select a category of system icons to choose an
icon from. By default the <guilabel>Actions</guilabel> category is selected
that shows the action icons in your system icon theme. If you have icons other
than the system icon theme that you want to choose from, select the
<guilabel>Other icons</guilabel> option and click the
<guibutton>Browse</guibutton> button to open the standard dialog to find the
directory where your icons are stored. The <guilabel>Search</guilabel> box lets
you filter the icons by name.</para>

</sect2>

</sect1>

<sect1 id="configuration-dialog">
<title>Other settings</title>

<para>&kde; is known as the most flexible and configurable desktop environment,
and &kplayer; is no exception. In addition to the configuration options
described in previous sections, there are many more options, most of which
are accessible through the <link linkend="settings">&kplayer; configuration
dialog</link>. Select <menuchoice><guimenu>Settings</guimenu><guimenuitem>
Configure &kplayer;...</guimenuitem></menuchoice> to open it.</para>

<para>The dialog is divided into several sections. Some of them affect &kplayer;
behavior, including <link linkend="settings-general">general</link> options. The
<link linkend="settings-controls">Controls section</link> tells &kplayer; which
changes it should remember globally and which ones it should store in individual
<link linkend="howto-properties">file properties</link>, and its subsections
allow you to fine tune individual &kplayer; controls, including
<link linkend="settings-progress">progress</link>,
<link linkend="settings-volume">volume</link>,
<link linkend="settings-contrast">contrast</link>,
<link linkend="settings-brightness">brightness</link>,
<link linkend="settings-hue">hue</link>,
<link linkend="settings-saturation">saturation</link>, and
<link linkend="settings-sliders">slider controls</link> in general. Other
sections affect options that &kplayer; uses for interaction with
<link linkend="howto-installation-mplayer">&mplayer;</link> and control various
aspect of multimedia playback, including
<link linkend="settings-video">video</link>,
<link linkend="settings-audio">audio</link>,
<link linkend="settings-subtitles">subtitles</link> and
<link linkend="settings-advanced">advanced</link> options.</para>

<para>The <link linkend="settings">Configuration dialog chapter</link> gives
complete details on each section and all the available options. Also the
<link linkend="howto-settings">Advanced configuration micro-HOWTO</link>
describes some of the more advanced options in more detail.</para>

<para>Some additional options that apply to the main &kplayer; window are
available from the <link linkend="popup-title-bar">title bar popup menu</link>
that you can get by <mousebutton>right</mousebutton> clicking the
<link linkend="parts-title-bar">title bar</link> or
<mousebutton>left</mousebutton> clicking the little button in the top left
corner of &kplayer; window or by pressing
<keycombo action="simul">&Alt;<keycap>F3</keycap></keycombo>.</para>

</sect1>

<sect1 id="configuration-properties">
<title>File properties</title>

<para>&kplayer; has a unique feature that lets you choose many different options
on per-file basis. These options are called File Properties and are stored along
with the <acronym>URL</acronym> of each individual file or network
location.</para>

<para>There are two ways to set a file property. The easiest one is by holding
down the &Shift; key when changing a setting like video size or aspect, sound
volume, video contrast or brightness, etc. &kplayer; will apply the change to
the currently loaded file and remember it in the corresponding file property.
When it loads another file, it will revert the setting back to where it was
before the change (unless the other file also has the same property set). When
you load and play that first file again, &kplayer; will again apply the change
you made to the setting and keep it until you load another file or
<acronym>URL</acronym>.</para>

<para>The other way to set a file property is through the
<link linkend="properties">File Properties dialog</link>. The properties in the
dialog are arranged according to their function. General properties like
<guilabel>Name</guilabel>, <guilabel>Length</guilabel> and others are in the
<link linkend="properties-general">General</link> section. Properties that
control the video size are in the <link linkend="properties-size">Size</link>
section. Other sections contain properties that affect &kplayer; interaction
with <link linkend="howto-installation-mplayer">&mplayer;</link> and control
multimedia playback, including <link linkend="properties-video">video</link>,
<link linkend="properties-audio">audio</link>,
<link linkend="properties-subtitles">subtitles</link> and
<link linkend="properties-advanced">advanced</link> properties.</para>

<para>Select <menuchoice><guimenu>File</guimenu>
<guimenuitem>Properties...</guimenuitem></menuchoice> to open the properties
of the current file or <acronym>URL</acronym>. You can also
<mousebutton>right</mousebutton> click an item in the
<link linkend="parts-library"><interface>multimedia library</interface></link>
and select the <guimenuitem>Properties...</guimenuitem> command to open the
properties dialog for that item.</para>

<para>The <link linkend="properties">File properties dialog chapter</link> gives
complete details on each section and all the available properties. Also the
<link linkend="howto-properties">File properties micro-HOWTO</link>
describes this feature in more detail and gives some examples.</para>

</sect1>

</chapter>