XML configuration files have the following general format:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<slideshow version="4" name="test0">
    <htmlTemplateMetaData ... />
    <styles>
        ...
    </styles>
    <effects>
        ...
    </effects>
    <kenburns>
        ...
    </kenburns>
    <ui>
        ...
    </ui>
    <galleries ... >
        ...
    </galleries>
</slideshow>

The first lines is the encoding declaration.    This ensures that foreign characters can be used without issues; it should not be removed.

Using HTML in Various String Values

Most strings in the slideshow (such as gallery and image titles and descriptions) can contain basic HTML, including formatting tags and <img /> tags.    However, this HTML must be encoded before being added to the XML.    For instance, the following replacements must be made:

Entity	Proper Replacement
"	"
<	&lt;
>	&gt;

 

Instead of manually replacing all of these values, you can instead use free HTML encoders available online.    For example, see this encoder.    It takes HTML content and encodes all of the necessary entities.    If using a language such as PHP, you can do this with the htmlspecialchars function.

The Main <slideshow> Node

Next is the main <slideshow> ... </slideshow> node, which holds all of the slideshow configuration information.    There are two attributes on this node:

Attribute	Description
version	Set to 4; this is just used to clarify which version of the slideshow configuration file format the document is using.    It has no direct effect on the slideshow.
name	This is the name associated with the slideshow.    It is used to identify each slideshow when you are given the option to copy an existing slideshow when creating a new one.

 

The rest of the XML document is made up of several subnodes which are placed inside the <slideshow> holder node.    An overview of each is given below.

The <htmlTemplateMetaData> Node

This section of the file is generated by the wizard.    It is used when templating to include all Slideshow HTML initialization parameters in the XML configuration file, so that all templating data is centralized.

Details in The <htmlTemplateMetaData> section.

The <styles> Node

This section contains all of the global style selectors.    These specify global settings (which have no direct visual representation) as well as default styles for various visual components.    

Details in The <styles> section - Styles and Configuration.

The <effects> Node

This section contains the definitions of all reusable user-interface effects.

Details in The <effects> section - UI Effects.

The <kenburns> Node

This section contains the definitions of all reusable Ken Burns effects (which incorporate both panning and zooming and can be applied to slides).

Details in The <kenburns> section - Panning and Zooming Effects.

The <ui> Node

This section contains the Layout XML, which defines the layout and user interface.

Details in The <ui> section - User Interface.

The <galleries> Node

This section contains all of the actual image data.

Details in The <galleries> section - Image Data.