[Android Themes] m4570d0n:
So after searching the intarwebz for considerably longer than should have been necessary, I decided to write this up, hoping it might save someone else some time with this.

First of all, I really liked this one photoframe mod called StickyTape. After a while of searching (and a dozen or two dead download links later), I finally found a working link, only to see the MIUI theme manager not recognize it. Long story shot, it came down to two issues.

1) the mtz was in the wrong folder. For previous releases, I found somewhat conflicting info. One source said the photoframe should go in /sdcard/MIUI/gadget/. Another said it should go in /sdcard/MIUI/gadget/photo_frame. I also read sources that said the archive should be extracted into that folder, and others that said not to extract it. Both are wrong.

2) format of the files in the mtz was incorrect.

Here's how it works now.

1) For many of the current photoframe mods you might come across, the file structure will be pretty much the same. If you download an .mtz file, rename it to a .zip file. Then extract the contents of that zip file. (If you use 7zip, you should be able to right-click it and extract it using the 7zip options in the context menu without renaming the file extension.)

The files in this archive are always the same.

image.png

frame.png

filter.png

description.xml

a folder named "preview" with an image preview for the mod. for the photoframe, it will be one or both of these:

preview_photo_frame_big_0.png

preview_photo_frame_small_0.png

The problem is that many of the mods you currently may come across, will not have the files compressed. It will look like this:

2)What's different now is that the preview folder and xml file are not compressed, but the 3 images must be bundled into a zip file called "photoframe_2x2", where the 2x2 part changes, depending on whether it's a 2x2, 2x4, or 4x4 photoframe. Regardless of what frame it is, that is always the file name. The mtz that it's in, will tell you which one it is. This is true of other theme mtz files now as well. The content must be compressed in a zip file (with the .zip extension removed).

3) after you have extracted the images and made the changes you want to make, select the 3 images, right-click and select "Add to Archive." I'll continue with the StickyTape as my example:

For Archive Format, select zip. For compression method, I don't know if it matters, but I chose "Store." The default option is "Normal."

4) Once you have created the zip file, rename it by removing the ".zip" from the end of the file name. If it's not already names "photoframe_2x2" or whatever size it is, then do that as well. When you get a warning about changing the extension possibly making the file unusable, just tell Windows to shut up.

5) Now you should have 3 items. The preview folder, the description.xml file, and the photoframe zip archive that does not have a .zip file extension. For the description.xml file, it contains the following:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<photo_frame>
<!-- t: hxw 1: 1x2 2: 2x2 8: 4x4 -->
<type>2</type>
<title>StickyTape2x2</title>
<version>0</version>
<platformVersion>0</platformVersion>
</photo_frame>

The only thing you will need to change is the "type" option and the title. As indicated by the line above it, enter type "1" if it's a 1x2, "2" for a 2x2, etc.

Also, give the mod a name on the title line.

6) Now you'll do the same thing as you did in step 4 with these 3 items. Highlight all 3, right-click and "add to archive" and select zip.:

7) rename the zip file by changing the file extension from ".zip" to ".mtz"

8) Copy the mtz to /sdcard/MIUI/theme. the /MIUI/gadget folder is not used. On some builds (like the unofficial port for my Skyrocket) the location is /emmc/MIUI/theme as /emmc is the internal sdcard while /sdcard or /mnt/sdcard is the external sdcard. Now, just add a widget and select the frame you added and enjoy.

link for the StickyTape2x2 mtz:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/mhbfu390alhzb4d/StickyTape2x2.mtz