Roku Developer Program

[MTM2021]

In light of the Hero Grid template no longer working (as confirmed by Roku Support), I thought I'd ask the community if they know of any working template examples beyond those on GitHub that are a good basis for novice developers can base a channel on?

[Baradanikto]

If you're truly a novice, consider using Direct Publisher as a fast way to get your channel up and running.  Then, you can take time learning BrightScript and the coding that is necessary if you want to add more features to your channel.

[MTM2021]

Thanks @Baradanikto 

Done that but want to get to something like Hero Grid, which alas is a defunct template now, and I don't have the depth of programming knowledge to fix it.

[Baradanikto]

I have two channels.  One uses the Hero layout.  I was able to specify it in the developer portal for Direct Publisher.

[MTM2021]

Good spot!

Have tried that but whilst it shows the content populating in the preview (using a Vimeo feed) no content loads when Sideloaded onto the device. Have reached out to Roku but they don't seem to know why this is happening.

Which route did you go for your feed?

[Baradanikto]

My channel uses the Direct Publisher framework.  Therefore, all I needed to do was to create a json feed file and specify some parameters (ie. channel layout=Hero) in the developer portal.

There's nothing to sideload if you use Direct Publisher.

[RokuJonathanD]

@MTM2021 Have you looked at the master sample channel? It's specially designed for novice developers. It walks developers through each step in building a channel, including the channel UI.

The linked github repo contains all the sample channels that accompany the lessons in the SceneGraph: Build a Channel online video course.