Introduction
Welcome to the new Theme Creator for Menaco for Renault and Dacia. This theme creator gives you full control to customize the skin/theme of not only Menaco, but your whole MediaNAV and MediaNAV Evolution system.
Before we start, choose the canvas (that’s the thing below). It will return in step 1, but trust me, it’s handy to do this now just in case:
4 icons REGULAR | 6 icons REGULAR | 4 icons EVOLUTION | 6 icons EVOLUTION
This customization consists of a number of steps:
- EXPLANATION: ALWAYS READ THIS, IT EXPLAINS HOW IT ALL WORKS
- Decide how many icons you want to have (layout)
- Position the icons to your liking
- Put your programs on the USB drive
- Choose the application paths
- Generate and Save MENAVRUS.CFG
- Adjust MENAVRUS.CFG to your liking
DESIGN - Download the Menaco TDK (Theme Design Kit)
- Change the design of the buttons/backgrounds
- Save the design to the original paths
- ZIP the changed designs and send them to us
MARKETING - Choose if you want to give it for free or sell it
- We will check the theme/skin/designs
- We compile the theme/skin
- We offer the theme/skin for free or for sale
CONFIGURATION
Of course you can also compile yourself, but we cannot offer these themes on our website, because of security risks. All themes must be checked by us and compiled by us to ensure 100% workability and safety
EXPLANATION: How does it work?
There are TWO parts when designing themes for MediaNAV and MediaNAV Evolution:
- MENAVRUS.CFG
This is the file that lets the system know where the buttons are located, which BMP (bitmap) file/visual they should show and what happens when you click the button (which program to open). - DESIGN FILES
These are the actual images of background, buttons and different states and icons that are used in the system.
Renault and Dacia MediaNAV/MediaNAV Evolution systems consist of a number of directories and files containing these images and configuration. The design files are stored on the Storage Card in directory “System/Img”. Here you can find 300+ files that you can adjust in total. Thankfully you don’t need to do them all, but just the ones that you want to change and that will adjust the overall look and feel and the buttons. This usually comes down to changing around 25 files.
Every installation also contains the Menaco menu. This has 40-60 files (depending on the installation). Also here you do not need to change ALL files, just the ones you want. The menu is located in the “Storage Card/Menavrus” directory. Here you will also find the MENAVRUS.CFG
Every theme needs to be either manually copied to the internal memory OR compiled into UPGRADE.LGU, so it is easily upgradeable for you and the users of your skin/theme. For this all the files need to be in order, correctly generated and correctly compiled. We ask you for screenshots to make sure it works before we unleash it to our community of 20.000+ customers
People DO NOT need Menaco in order to use the themes. If they are compiled correctly, they can just put it on a USB stick and it will automatically update the themes for them. Also every theme needs to be made for Renault and Dacia models. We make sure that this happens. The secret lies in the M0/M1 directories.
You will find M0 and M1 directories in the TDK (Theme Design Kit) depending on the type you choose. We will however copy all files to all directories, because else you will create a theme that is not compatible with either of the two types. Don’t worry, we will take care of everything if you use the TDK
The last, important thing, is the file format. All images are in BMP (lossless Microsoft format). You NEED to use this BMP ver.3 8 bit (72dpi) format, else the device will not read them. So don’t make it PNG, GIF, JPG or change to 16 bit, this will fuck up the whole thing.. and that would be a shame!
Our tool (Theme Creator) allows you to do what you can do best and make sure that it’s EASY to design your own theme. What does the tool do?
- Lets you generate MENAVRUS.CFG, without having to code yourself
- Lets you choose the correct position of the buttons
- Gives you full access to MENAVRUS.CFG if you want more/advanced customizations
- Compiles the theme, so everyone can use it easily
Layout
The first step to start designing your own theme is to choose the layout. Currently we support two basic layouts, the 4 and 6 button layouts. Before you start, choose the correct layout here:
4 icons REGULAR | 6 icons REGULAR | 4 icons EVOLUTION | 6 icons EVOLUTION
The size of the icons of MENACO Menu is now set to 155x155px for MediaNAV regular and 204×131 for MediaNAV Evolution. Of course depending on this you can calculate your own canvas and button sizes, and this will be ready in the future of the Theme Creator (v2.0).. but not for now.
The screen size of MediaNAV is 800x480px and for symmetry we advise to calculate and position correctly.
Position icons
Now you can drag and drop the icons by clicking on them and dragging them across the canvas. Sure, you can go negative, but that just won’t work, because it will be outside of the screen. The icons themselves will reflect the exact position. You don’t HAVE to reposition the icons, if you don’t change anything, they will just remain like they are now.
If you have accidentally moved the icon, just refresh the page and they will reset position. YOU WILL LOSE ANY OTHER CHANGES
Also pay attention to the bmp file names like 1-1.bmp on the buttons, you will need them later to know which button to change visually to match the application! This will return in step “Change design”.
Programs on USB
The following programs are delivered with Menaco and are addressed by the green buttons on the right:
- 7ways
- Navitel
- CorePlayer
- Web browser
- Total Commander
- (H)OBD
You can see these programs in the canvas on the right. You can change any of these programs to go somewhere else. For instance you can change the buttons internally (7ways buttons opens Total Commander for instance). Also you can find WINCE MIPS programs that can be run on the device. We do not give any warranty on these third party programs, however here are some ideas:
- WOLFNCU (nice speed/car info)
- Calculator
- Bubble game, solitaire and other WINCE MIPS games
- Sygic navigation for MIPS
- WAZE for MIPS
- Navigator free
You can put these apps in their own directory on the USB drive and link to them from the Menaco Menu. This is explained in the next step. We will take the example of bubble player. You can place it on the USB drive, so the path is:
F:\bubbles\bubble.exe
Of course make sure it is reliable first and not a virus :P. You can also check if it works on the MediaNAV by clicking it open from Total Commander on the USB drive.
Choose application paths
Now that you have chosen your applications, it is time to make the buttons open these applications. In our previous example, we are going to open bubble shooter! Double click in the button input field for the button you want to link to bubble shooter. You can use one of the 4 basic buttons, the Total Commander button or the Custom buttons in the 6-button layout.
Now remove the path of the application and insert: \bubbles\bubble.exe.
That’s it! Even with this small change, you can now save MENAVRUS.CFG and your button will link to bubble shooter :). Of course the button will still show the original icon, such as Navitel. This needs to be changed in the DESIGN steps below!
Generate and save
If all positions and button paths are correct, you can now click “SAVE AND GENERATE” to create your personal MENAVRUS.CFG file that can be used! After this has been generated, open it up in Notepad or Notepad++ to check if everything is ok. DO NOT CHANGE ANYTHING IF YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING!!!. If you do know what you are doing, go to the next step 😉
Adjust MENAVRUS.CFG
We have a short manual of what is inside MENAVRUS.CFG: https://mena.co/frequently-asked-questions/ – QUESTION 24. Read this first to know what everything means :).
If you have any experience with programming/developing, you will know what to do! Else, we advise to close it and send the files to us!
Download the Menaco TDK
You need to register as a designer in our system to be able to design and download the themes. It’s a one-off fee and you can create as many themes as you want! Buy your designer license here:
https://mena.co/downloads/design-theme-skin-medianav-evolution
After your purchase, you will receive four links:
- MediaNAV Regular DACIA TDK
- MediaNAV Regular RENAULT TDK
- MediaNAV Evolution DACIA TDK
- MediaNAV Evolution RENAULT TDK
Pick MediaNAV Regular vs. Evolution first. After that choose the base design, either Dacia or Renault. It doesn’t matter, both will be able to be used for both Renault and Dacia, it’s just for the buttons/backgrounds you DON’T redesign 🙂
Change design
The next step is to adjust the design. We advise to use Adobe PhotoShop for this. Now some words of warning:
WARNING DO NOT CHANGE THE FILE FORMAT (it must stay BMP)
WARNING DO NOT CHANGE THE RESOLUTION (must remain 72×72)
WARNING DO NOT CHANGE THE SIZE (except for buttons, if you want)
WARNING DO NOT CHANGE THE BITRATE (it must stay 8 bit)
WARNING DO NOT CHANGE THE NAME OF THE FILES (it will make them invisible to the system)
WARNING DO NOT ADD FILES (use the files that are already there)
WARNING DO NOT REMOVE FILES (we will replace the files anyway)
WARNING DO NOT MOVE FILES (this can brick your device)
WARNING DO NOT USE COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL (we are not responsible for any breaches, but will remove after any protest)
For the buttons, you can check the name on the button of the bmp file (like 1-1.bmp and S-2.bmp). Usually 1-1.bmp is the NOT-PRESSED version and the 1-2.bmp is the PRESSED version of the button. You can find these in the MENACO folder.
You will know which files are for what by simply opening them and seeing what they do. It will become apparent immediately. If you do not recognize it, you do not have to change it, it will simply take the regular design!
Apart from this, you can go ahead and make some really wonderful stuff. Google “Menavrus themes”, “Menaco themes” or “MediaNAV themes” for some inspiration, such as transparent buttons or up to 10 buttons on one screen.
Save the design
Keep all files in the same directories and overwrite the original files. Of course we adivse to keep a copy for yourself to revert to if you make a mistake or want to head back a step, but I guess that’s superfluous information for designers :). You don’t need to worry about M0 or M1 maps here, we will fill up the files that are not there.
Files that you do NOT change, will be kept and will be showing the base version. So suppose you chose Dacia Regular and only change the Map-button; the rest of the buttons will function and look like the regular Dacia buttons.
ZIP and SEND
When you have finally saved all your files and of course listened to all our warnings, you can ZIP (or RAR) your file and send it to us. We advise to use something like WeTransfer or Google Drive instead of sending it by mail as attachment. This is to ensure there is a bigger chance it will arrive. You can mail your themes to [email protected]. MENTION IF IT IS ABOUT REGULAR OR EVOLUTION VERSION
Choose revenue model
We offer a number of options for you to make money with your themes. Here they are:
- The theme is free, we put it on our site and no-one earns anything
- We buy the theme from you for a fixed price. The price depends on the quality of the theme and usually varies between 5 and 50 Euro
- We arrange a split-revenue scheme. You get real-time access to our analytics for your specific themes
As soon as we have agreed, we will sign a short contract for the revenues and we will pay out monthly if we agree on the split-revenue scheme.
Checking
After we receive the theme, it can take up to a week to check and approve the theme. We will usually compile and ask you to install it on your device or send us screenshots of how it looks. This is a security measure and .. well .. we cannot install 200 themes :).
We may give you some feedback if files are corrupt, missing or uninstallable. We will kindly request to recheck and recreate when possible
If the theme is complete, we will notify you that it has been approved and will start compiling
Compiling
Only themes compiled by us are allowed to our theme database. This is to ensure no harmful code is inserted and we have done our compilation check using the newest versions of dir2lgu. Of course you can compile your own themes, but we cannot offer these on our site and have to restrict this on our forum. There is one exception; gold theme providers are allowed to upload an post themes without limits.
Offering
After we have checked, approved and compiled the theme, we put it online in our theme section and it goes out for sale. Every month we will send a mail to our customers giving them a nice overview of the newest themes and offering them to purchase/download them 🙂