| Make Foobar2000 Look Like iTunes
Table of Contents
Installation
- Download and install Foobar2000 0.9.
- Download libpng and zlib libraries (under Requirements) and extract them to Foobar's root folder (C:\Program Files\Foobar2000). You may need to download 7-Zip to extract the contents of this file.
- Download Columns UI and extract foo_ui_columns.dll to Foobar’s components folder (C:\Program Files\Foobar2000\components).
- Download foo_browser and extract foo_browser.dll to Foobar’s components folder. Note that this component uses Foobar2000's media library to function. Setup Foobar2000's media library in Preferences and have it scan your music folder so it can gather artist and album information.
- Download foo_uie_albumart and extract foo_uie_albumart.dll to Foobar's components folder. Note that this component will only read album art that is stored in the album's folder as an image file. It will not read images embedded in audio file tags.
- Download foo_uie_quicksearch and extract foo_uie_quicksearch.dll to Foobar's components folder.
- Download Album List Panel (under Extras) and extract foo_uie_albumlist.dll to Foobar's components folder.
Configuration #1 (using foo_browser)
- In Foobar2000, click File > Preferences.
- Click Display in the Preferences window and change User Interface Module to Columns UI.
- Click Columns UI underneath Display and then click the Layout tab.
- Click the New button and enter a preset name such as "iTunes".
- Now we can start adding panels to the Columns UI interface. Right-click Columns Playlist and click Change base > Splitters > Horizontal splitter.
- Right-click Horizontal Splitter and click Insert Panel > Splitters > Vertical Splitter. Now click on Vertical Splitter and under Item Details uncheck Show Caption.
- Right-Click Vertical Splitter and click Insert Panel > Panels > Playlist Switcher.
- Right-click Vertical Splitter and click Insert Panel > Panels > Album Art. From now on, I will not show the menus in the screenshots or a screenshot for each step. A screenshot of how all the settings should look when finished is in step 15 for reference.
- Right-click Horizontal Splitter and click Insert Panels > Splitters > Vertical Splitter. Now click on Vertical Splitter and under Item Details uncheck Show Caption.
- Right-click the second Vertical Splitter and click Insert Panels > Splitters > Horizontal Splitter. Now click on Horizonal Splitter and under Item Details uncheck Show Caption.
- We will now add 3 browser panels to this horizontal splitter that is in the second vertical splitter and configure each one to display something different. Right-click the Horizontal Splitter and click Insert Panel > Panels > Browser Panel. Now click on Browser Panel and under Item Details uncheck Show Caption. Then click the Configure button and click Genre.
- Right-click the Horizontal Splitter and click Insert Panel > Panels > Browser Panel. Now click on the second Browser Panel and under Item Details uncheck Show Caption. Then click the Configure button and click Artist.
- Right-click the Horizontal Splitter and click Insert Panel > Panels > Browser Panel. Now click on the third Browser Panel and under Item Details uncheck Show Caption. Then click the Configure button and click Album.
- Now right-click the second Vertical Splitter and click Insert Panel > Playlist Views > Columns Playlist.
- Your screen should now look like this:
- Click Apply, then click Save All, and then click Close to the Preferences window.
- Your Foobar2000 player, with a little resizing of your own, should now look like this:
- Now, for a final finishing touch, right-click on the toolbar of Foobar2000 at the top and click Toolbars > Quick Search Toolbar. You can click the magnifying glass icon in the search bar to see other options and change how it functions. Now you have a search bar to search through your Foobar2000 database just like in iTunes!
- Congratulations, you have transformed Foobar2000's minimal GUI into a GUI very similar to iTunes and other media players. Enjoy!
Configuration #2 (using Album List Panel)
- In Foobar2000, click File > Preferences.
- Click Display in the Preferences window and change User Interface Module to Columns UI.
- Click Columns UI underneath Display and then click the Layout tab.
- Click the New button and enter a preset name such as "iTunes".
- Now we can start adding panels to the Columns UI interface. Right-click Columns Playlist and click Change base > Splitters > Horizontal splitter.
- Right-click Horizontal Splitter and click Insert Panel > Splitters > Vertical Splitter. Now click on Vertical Splitter and under Item Details uncheck Show Caption.
- Right-Click Vertical Splitter and click Insert Panel > Panels > Playlist Switcher.
- Right-click Vertical Splitter and click Insert Panel > Panels > Album Art. From now on, I will not show the menus in the screenshots or a screenshot for each step. A screenshot of how all the settings should look when finished is in step 12 for reference.
- Right-click Horizontal Splitter and click Insert Panels > Splitters > Vertical Splitter. Now click on the second Vertical Splitter and under Item Details uncheck Show Caption.
- Right-click the second Vertical Splitter and click Insert Panel > Panels > Album List. Now click on Album List and under Item Details uncheck Show Caption.
- Right-click the second Vertical Splitter and click Insert Panel > Playlist Views > Columns Playlist.
- Your screen should now look like this:
- Click Apply, then click Save All, and then click Close to the Preferences window.
- Your Foobar2000 player, with a little resizing of your own, should now look like this:
- Now, for a final finishing touch, right-click on the toolbar of Foobar2000 at the top and click Toolbars > Quick Search Toolbar. You can click the magnifying glass icon in the search bar to see other options and change how it functions. Now you have a search bar to search through your Foobar2000 database just like in iTunes!
- Congratulations, you have transformed Foobar2000's minimal GUI into a GUI very similar to iTunes and other media players. Enjoy!
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