Foobar2000 Tagz Scripting

Last updated: 14 February 2007
Russian translation (thanks to the foobar2000.ru team, especially Mishail).

Foobar2000 is a really advanced audio player and media manager and even when used as a mere playback device, configuring it to meet your individual needs can be a challenging task. In this tutorial we concentrate on the most massive part of this configuration process: using the Columns UI interface and Tagz scripting language to build a complete playlist design.

Should you feel like contacting me, have a look at the contact page. Or discuss the tutorial on the Foobar2000 Forums.

Why a custom design?

Public Columns UI setups exist and are used by lots of people. Especially Lyx’ Navigator Suite has shaped Foobar2000’s appearance to a significant extent. So why not use a public script and save all the work and time involved with making an individual design?

Public designs are necessarily slow because they have to meet the needs of a vast diversity of users though you might need only half the functionality yourself. Also, keeping your personalized tagging scheme and/or folder structure might require making time-consuming changes to the public design’s code. Isn’t spending this time on a fast and individual design more worthwhile? If yes, you definitely should read on. And if no, the tutorial at least gives you a thorough insight into Tagz, which is used not only to define the playlist layout but essentially is the major tool for any advanced customization in Foobar2000.

What you should know already

You should be familiar with Foobar2000 and Columns UI in general. Also knowing about audio file tagging is essential because the whole example design relies on properly tagged files. On top of that you only need some time and motivation. And be aware that you might get infected and eventually spend more time adapting Foobar2000’s look than listening to music. :-)

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