VLC Media Player To Get Extensions Starting With Version 1.1

Starting with version 1.1, VideoLan Media Player (VLC) will get extensions support, and anyone will be able to write their own - like it is with Firefox extensions:

Jean-Philippe André, one of the VLC developers explains on it's blog:

The difference with other VLC modules consists in the language used to write these Extensions: Lua, a simple a lightweight scripting language, embbeded inside VLC media player.

I must say this is great news but a somewhat expected move since VLC has all the features a media player needs so it's time to give power to the users. Also, just like it is with Firefox extensions: if you would incorporate all the extensions in the default installation, VLC would be bloated, but if you allow users to use extensions, everyone will have the features he wants, without bloating this great app.


There are already some VLC extensions you can try (you will need VLC 1.1 but if you use Ubuntu, fear not: the latest VLC 1.1 from GIT is available in the Web Upd8 PPA, build as of today - read on for installation instructions):

• IMDb: read the plot summary, learn about the cast of a movie and get a direct link to the Internet Movie Database.
• Last.fm: Read useful information fetched from the artist's page on Last.fm.
• Lyrics: Automatically get the lyrics of the current song.
• Subtitles: Find and insert subtitles on top of the video in two clicks.

Here are a few screenshots with some of these extensions:

And two concept extensions (or they might already exist, but I couldn't find a link to download):

• Wikipedia: get information about the artist, the album or the movie from Wikipedia.
• Concerts: Learn about the next concerts of this artist.

Installing and using the VLC extensions

1. Install VLC 1.1

The first thing you need is to use the latest VLC 1.1.


Ubuntu Karmic and Lucid users can download it from Web Upd8 PPA (don't forget to also download the x264 package).

Alternatively, add the PPA (although I recommend just downloading the packages manually):

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:nilarimogard/webupd8

And then:

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get dist-upgrade

Like I said when announcing the Web Upd8 PPA, use it at your own risk. Also note that VLC 1.1 is not stable, so expect to find a lot of bugs. It might or might not work. If you want to remove any changes made by this PPA and reinstall the packages in the Ubuntu repositories, see this (will do it automatically).

If the VLC in this PPA doesn't work, or just want to compile VLC 1.1 from GIT yourself, see How To Compile VLC and VLMC (From GIT) In Ubuntu

If you are not using Ubuntu, download VLC nightlies from here: http://nightlies.videolan.org/

2. Download the VLC extensions

Download the extensions from HERE.

3. Installing and using the VLC extensions

Copy each of the .lua files downloaded in step 2, to the following location:

Linux: ~/.local/share/vlc/lua/extensions/ (you can enter: sudo nautilus ~/.local/share/vlc/lua/extensions/ in a terminal to open Nautilus with root permissions to the location where you must copy the .lua files).

Windows: %APPDATA%\VLC\lua\extensions


Extensions are scripts running inside VLC, that will popup windows and fetch information on the web for you. To use an extension, all you need is to activate it from the View menu. Then, it should be all self-explanatory:

Courtesy: webupd8