This page provides a tour of some of the many features available to a running Andromeda site. We'll take it from the top and work our way down. (Other pages cover how to set it up or change the look or integrate it with another site).
It's worth noting that Andromeda's flexible interface is designed to run in almost any space, on devices ranging from PCs (including Windows, Macs, and Linux boxes), to TabletPCs, to PocketPCs, to web-enabled cell phones.
We'll also introduce you to a few of Andromeda's preferences along the way (you don't need to know any programming to customize your Andromeda site).
Andromeda's "stacked row" design ensures that pages display quickly, even as they continue to load. The first row identifies your site by name. The home icon links to the 'root' (or 'top') of your Andromeda site.
Tip: Andromeda is designed so that you can customize it without any programming -- you just create a simple text preferences file (see #4 and #11 in Getting Started).
Some relevant preferences:
siteName
changes the name of your Andromeda site
hideMenubar
hides the menubar (set it to true)
ftpPath
adds a link to your FTP site, you get the icon (more info)
To change the color scheme try a skin. For tips on integrating Andromeda into another site see #9 in Getting Started, as well as the integration docs.
Use the built-in logon feature for a quick and easy way to restrict access to your collection.
please logon
logon:
password:
requireLogon
turns on the logon feature (set it to true); download a sample logon file
logonMessage
adds a note above the logon
2
Pictures, text and HTML
It's easy to include extra information about the contents of your site. Add text descriptions, pictures (such as album art), and HTML (such as purchase links or anything else you can think of). See #10 in Getting Started for details.
Some relevant preferences:
customHeader
adds a note that appears on every page
folderOpenImage
if you already have consistently named image files mixed in with your music, configure Andromeda to use them
3
Search
You can search your Andromeda site without having to set up a database or index engine. By default, Andromeda uses a 'split' search that lets you specify whether to search folder, file, or folder + file names. You can play music directly from the search results page.
search andromeda
Andromeda can also be configured to use a simpler "compact" search box:
search andromeda
Press the enter key or to perform the search.
Some relevant preferences:
permitSearch
turns off the search tool (set it to false)
compactSearch
runs the search tool in "compact" mode (set it to true)
4
Navbar
This is the main tool for getting around your Andromeda site, and it changes to reflect where you are within your collection. For instance, if you're on your Andromeda home page, it may look something like:
My Music
The name of the currently open folder
Plays everything within the currently open folder
Metaserch for related info
If you drill down into your collection, you may now see something like:
My Music /Pop /The Beatles /
In this example we're in the folder Please Please Me by The Beatles. Click to play all the songs in the folder (no need to manually make a playlist). Click to search for related information about "Please Please Me" from other sites like Google, Yahoo, Amazon, Allmusic, etc.
You can easily navigate up the tree by clicking the parent folders "The Beatles," "Pop" or "My Music." Or switch directly to a sibling folder (in this case, other Beatles albums) by selecting from the pull-down menu.
Some relevant preferences:
rootName
changes the displayed name of your root folder
hideMetasearch
hides the Metasearch button (set it to true) -- full versions only
5
Contents
This where you come to browse, click, and play. The content section reflects how you organize the files and folders on your server -- simply drag new stuff in and it automatically shows up, ready to stream.
Andromeda also uses ID3v1 and ID3v2 tags when it detects them, and dynamically cleans up file names, replacing underscores with spaces and removing leading track numbers.
For info about how to configure your site for Real Media files, click here.
Subfolders Click a subfolder icon to see what's inside, or the play button next to it to play all of its contents.
Play button Click the play button to stream a file (or the contents of a folder) without having to download it all first.
Audio files This indicates an audio-type file, and along with the file name link, can be used to download files (download links can be turned off via prefs).
Video files This indicates a video-type file, and along with the file name link, can be used to download files (download links can be turned off via prefs).
Playlist files This indicates a playlist-type file, and along with the file name link, can be used to download files (download links can be turned off via prefs).
Default types: M3U, ASX, RAM
These 'experimental' icons are included with the download set, and might be used with pictures, downloads, and pages, respectively.
The checkbox is used with the playlist functions described in the next section.
Tip: you can also include text, pictures, and HTML in the content area, see #10 in Getting Started for details.
Some relevant preferences:
displayNew
automatically highlights recent additions (set it to true)
fileCount
displays track numbers (set it to true)
fileLinks
turns off the download links on the file icons and names (set it to false)
playLinks
turns off the play buttons (set it to false)
folderSkipNames
hides specifically named folders
getID3info
turns off the ID3 reader (set it to false)
audioFileTypes
sets the types identified as audio files
videoFileTypes
sets the types identified as video files
playlistFileTypes
sets the types identified as playlist files
6
Playlist
When you click to play a folder, you get a dynamically generated playlist of everything in it -- but what if you want a hand-picked assortment? Use the playlist button bar to play selections and build custom playlists:
Playing a selection Click to play the files and folders that you have checked, in the order that they are listed.
Building a playlist To build a more sophisticated playlist, start by clicking to add files or folders. Return to your collection by clicking the home icon or using the navbar (see above), and add more files. Return to the playlist view by clicking . When viewing the playlist, you can remove files by clicking , and you can play it all by clicking the up at the top.
Tip: to save your playlist, just right-click the play button (Macs, control-click) and choose "save target as" to save a playlist.m3u file.
Some relevant preferences:
permitPlaylists
disables the playlist functions (set it to true)
checkboxDefault
controls whether the checkboxes default checked (set it to true)
7
AMG search
This feature is most useful with a personal music collection. As you drill down into your site, the Allmusic search box will auto-populate and make it easy to find additional information about artists, albums and songs from one of the Web's leading music databases.
search allmusic.com
Choose the category you want to search from the pull-down menu, and press the enter key or to perform the search.
Some relevant preferences:
displayAMG
disables the AMG search box (set it to false)
8
Footer
Wrapping up our tour of the Andromeda interface, down at the bottom you can select from over 35 built-in languages, include a contact email address, or add a note to appear at the bottom of every page.
For tips on integrating Andromeda into another site see #9 in Getting Started, as well as the integration docs.
links to the 'root' (or 'top') of your Andromeda site.
icon (
, and you can play it all by clicking the 
