Five must have plug-ins for Mediaportal

In no particular order, these five plugins are my personal favorites. They are the ones that, to me, best capture the flexibility that an HTPC offers.

Update: This topic was revisited here: Five more Mediaportal Plugins. Links have been refreshed here too

1. MP TV Series

This plugin is a beautiful way to display and organize your favorite TV series. It automatically searches for video files and, based on their filenames, looks up information from a database online. Summaries, art, episode names, and more are automatically synced up with the files. The only downside is your files have to be named in a way the plugin can understand. Read more about MP TV Series.

Download MP TV Series

2. My Emulators

Here’s a plugin that will really wow your friends. It organizes your emulators and displays screenshots, remembers play counts, and allows for ratings. A brilliant way to keep your favorite, classic games just a click away.

Download: My Emulators

3. Multishortcut

Multishortcut allows your to put a shortcut to any program directly on Mediaportal’s main menu. Seems like something that should be built in, doesn’t it? It’s a bit of a hack (as admitted by the author) but works beautifully. Now I can boot iTunes and BeyondTV up straight from Mediaportal.

Download: Multishortcut

4. My Podcasts

Here’s a great way to keep your favorite podcasts at your fingertips. Drop in a podcast’s web address and Mediaportal will stream each episode to your HTPC. Even easier than iTunes.

Download: My Podcasts

5. My Trailers

I know this one is included with the package nowadays, but it was the plugin that completely sold me on Mediaportal. It uses Yahoo’s movie directory to stream movie trailers to your HTPC. The UI is elegant, the concept is very fun, and it’s something that a normal cable box doesn’t do.

Got a favorite Mediaportal plugin that wasn’t included? Let me know!