Tartube ======= **Tartube** is a GUI front-end for `youtube-dl <https://youtube-dl.org/>`__, partly based on `youtube-dl-gui <https://mrs0m30n3.github.io/youtube-dl-gui/>`__ and written in Python 3 / Gtk 3. It runs on MS Windows, Linux and BSD. It probably works on MacOS, but the authors have not been able to confirm this. **Tartube** is beta software. **Test it carefully before you allow it to use your 100TB hard drive**, as it might not behave in the way you're expecting. Problems can be reported at `our GitHub page <https://github.com/axcore/tartube/issues>`__. Downloads --------- Latest version: **v1.1.0 (18 Aug 2019)** - `MS Windows (32-bit) installer <https://sourceforge.net/projects/tartube/files/v1.1.0/install-tartube-1.1.0-32bit.exe/download>`__ from Sourceforge - `MS Windows (64-bit) installer <https://sourceforge.net/projects/tartube/files/v1.1.0/install-tartube-1.1.0-64bit.exe/download>`__ from Sourceforge - `Source code <https://sourceforge.net/projects/tartube/files/v1.1.0/tartube_v1.1.0.tar.gz/download>`__ from Sourceforge - `Source code <https://github.com/axcore/tartube>`__ and `support <https://github.com/axcore/tartube/issues>`__ from GitHub Why should I use Tartube? ------------------------- - You can download individual videos, and even whole channels and playlists, from YouTube and hundreds of other sites (see `here <https://ytdl-org.github.io/youtube-dl/supportedsites.html>`__ for a full list) - You can fetch information about those videos, channels and playlists, without actually downloading anything - **Tartube** will organise your videos into convenient folders - Certain popular websites manipulate search results, repeatedly unsubscribe people from their favourite channels and/or deliberately conceal videos that they don't like. **Tartube** won't do any of those things - **Tartube** can, in some circumstances, see videos that are region-blocked and/or age-restricted Screenshots ----------- .. image:: screenshots/tartube.png :alt: Tartube screenshot Installation - MS Windows ------------------------- MS Windows users should use the installer available at the Tartube website. The installer contains everything you need to run Tartube. You must be using Windows Vista or above; the installer will not work on Windows XP. **Some users report that Tartube will install but won't run**. If you have problems, `read this page <docs/mswin_install.rst>`__. Installation - MacOS -------------------- Tartube should run on MacOS, but the authors don't have access a MacOS system. If you are a MacOS user, open an issue at our Github page, and we'll work out the installation procedure together. Installation - Linux/BSD/MacOS ------------------------------ Linux/BSD users can use any of the following installation methods. Linux/BSD Installation requirements ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ - `youtube-dl <https://youtube-dl.org/>`__ - `Python 3 <https://www.python.org/downloads>`__ - `Gtk 3 <https://python-gtk-3-tutorial.readthedocs.io/en/latest/>`__ - `Python Requests module <https://3.python-requests.org/>`__ Optional dependencies ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ - `Python pip <https://pypi.org/project/pip/>`__ - keeping youtube-dl up to date is much simpler when pip is installed - `Python moviepy module <https://pypi.org/project/moviepy/>`__ - `Ffmpeg <https://ffmpeg.org/>`__ Install using PyPI ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 1. Type: ``pip3 install tartube`` 2. Type: ``tartube`` Install from source ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 1. Download & extract the source 2. Change directory into the **Tartube** directory 3. Type: ``python3 setup.py install`` 4. Type: ``tartube`` Run without installing ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 1. Download & extract the source 2. Change directory into the **Tartube** directory 3. The executable is inside a further sub-directory, so do **cd tartube** again 4. Type: ``python3 tartube`` Getting started --------------- 1. Choose where to save videos ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ When you first start **Tartube**, you will be asked to choose where Tartube should save its videos. .. image:: screenshots/example1.png :alt: Setting Tartube's data folder You can change the location later, if you need to. - Click **Edit > System preferences...** - Click the **General** tab - Check the location of the **Tartube data directory** - If you want to change it, click the **Change** button 2. Check youtube-dl is updated ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ **Tartube** uses **youtube-dl** to interact with websites like YouTube. You should check that **youtube-dl** is also installed and running correctly. If you are using MS Windows, you will be prompted to install **youtube-dl**; you should click **Yes**. .. image:: screenshots/example1b.png :alt: Installing youtube-dl on MS Windows **youtube-dl** is updated every week or so. All users can check that **youtube-dl** is installed and up to date: .. image:: screenshots/example1c.png :alt: Updating youtube-dl - Click **Operations > Update youtube-dl** 3. Setting youtube-dl's location ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ If the update operation fails on MS Windows, you should `ask the authors for help <https://github.com/axcore/tartube/>`__. Users on all other systems can modify Tartube's settings. There are several locations on your filesystem where youtube-dl might have been installed. .. image:: screenshots/example2.png :alt: Updating youtube-dl - Click **Edit > System preferences...** - Click the **youtube-dl** tab - Try changing the setting **'Actual path to use during download/update/refresh operations'** - Try changing the setting **'Shell command for update operations'** - Try the update operation again 4. Introducing system folders ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ On the left side of the **Tartube** window is a list of folders. You can store videos, channels and playlists inside these folders. You can even store folders inside of other folders. **Tartube** saves videos on your filesystem using exactly the same structure. .. image:: screenshots/example3.png :alt: Tartube's system folders When you start **Tartube**, there are five folders already visible. You can't remove any of these folders (but you can hide them, if you want). Videos saved to the **Temporary Videos** folder are deleted when **Tartube** shuts down. 5. Adding videos ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You can add individual videos by clicking the **'Videos'** button near the top of the window. A popup window will appear. .. image:: screenshots/example4.png :alt: Adding videos Copy and paste the video's URL into the popup window. You can copy and paste as many URLs as you like. When you're finished, click the **OK** button. Finally, click on the **Unsorted Videos** folder to see the videos you've added. .. image:: screenshots/example5.png :alt: Your first added video 6. Adding channels and playlists ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You can also add a whole channel by clicking the **'Channel'** button or a whole playlist by clicking the **'Playlist'** button. **Tartube** will download all of the videos in the channel or playlist. .. image:: screenshots/example6.png :alt: Adding a channel Copy and paste the channel's URL into the popup window. You should also give the channel a name. The channel's name is usually the name used on the website (but you can choose any name you like). 7. Adding folders ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The left-hand side of the window will quickly still filling up. It's a good idea to create some folders, and to store your channels/playlists inside those folders. Click the **'Folder'** button near the top of the window, and create a folder called **Comedy**. .. image:: screenshots/example7.png :alt: Adding a folder Then repeat that process to create a folder called **Music**. You can then drag-and-drop your channels and playlists into those folders. .. image:: screenshots/example8.png :alt: A channel inside a folder 8. Things you can do ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Once you've finished adding videos, channels, playlists and folders, there are basically four things **Tartube** can do: - **'Check'** - Fetch information about videos, but don't download them - **'Download'** - Actually download the videos. If you have disabled downloads for a particular item, **Tartube** will just fetch information about it instead - **'Update'** - Updates youtube-dl, as described above - **'Refresh'** - Examines your filesystem. If you have manually copied any videos into **Tartube**'s data directory, those videos are added to **Tartube**'s database .. image:: screenshots/example9.png :alt: The Check and Download buttons To **Check** or **Download** videos, channels and playlists, use the buttons near the top of the window. To **Refresh** **Tartube**'s database, use the menu. **Protip:** Do an **'Update'** operation before you do a **'Check'** or **'Download'** operation **Protip:** Do a **'Check'** operation before you do **'Refresh'** operation 9. General download options ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ **youtube-dl** offers a large number of download options. This is how to set them. .. image:: screenshots/example10.png :alt: Opening the download options window - Click **Edit > General download options...** A new window opens. Any changes you make in this window aren't actually applied until you click the **'Apply'** or **'OK'** buttons. 10. Other download options ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Those are the *default* download options. If you want to apply a *different* set of download options to a particular channel or particular playlist, you can do so. At the moment, the general download options apply to *all* the videos, channels, playlists and folders you've added. .. image:: screenshots/example11.png :alt: The window with only general download options applied Now, suppose you want to apply some download options to the **Music** folder: - Right-click the folder, and select **Apply download options...** In the new window, click the **'OK'** button. The options are applied to *everything* in the **Music folder**. A pen icon appears above the folder to remind you of this. .. image:: screenshots/example12.png :alt: Download options applied to the Music folder Now, suppose you want to add a *different* set of download options, but only for the **Village People** channel. - Right-click the channel, and select **Apply download options...** - In the new window, click the **'OK'** button The previous set of download options still applies to everything in the **Music** folder, *except* the **Village People** channel. .. image:: screenshots/example13.png :alt: Download options applied to the Village People channel 11. Favourite videos ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You can mark channels, playlists and even whole folders as favourites. - Right-click the channel, playlist or folder, and select **Mark videos > Favourite** When you do that, any videos you download will appear in the **Favourite Videos** folder (as well as in their normal location). 12. Watching videos ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ If you've downloaded a video, you can watch it by clicking the word **Player**. .. image:: screenshots/example14.png :alt: Watching a video If you haven't downloaded the video yet, you can watch it online by clicking the word **YouTube** or **Website**. (One or the other will be visible). If it's a YouTube video that is restricted (not available in certain regions, or without confirming your age), it's often possible to watch the same video without restrictions on the **HookTube** website. Frequently-Asked Questions -------------------------- **Q: I can't install Tartube / I can't run Tartube / Tartube doesn't work properly / Tartube keeps crashing!** A: Tartube is beta software. Please report any problems to the authors at our `Github page <https://github.com/axcore/tartube/issues>`__ **Q: After I downloaded some videos, Tartube crashed, and now all my videos are missing!** A: Tartube creates a backup copy of the database, before trying to save a new copy. In the unlikely event of a failure, you can replace the broken database file with the backup file. To find Tartube's data directory (folder), click **Edit > System preferences... > General**. - You can discard the broken **tartube.db** file - Find the **tartube_TEMP_BU.db** file, and rename it **tartube.db** - Restart Tartube - Click the **Check All** button. Tartube will find all the last set of videos you downloaded, and add them to its database (without having to re-download them) Tartube can make more frequent backups of your database file, if you want. See the options in **Edit > System preferences... > Backups**. Note that Tartube does not create backup copies of the videos you've downloaded. That is your responsibility! **Q: I want to see all the videos on a single page, not spread over several pages!** A: At the bottom of the Tartube window, set the page size to zero, and press ENTER. **Q: I just want to check for new videos, but it takes so long!** A: By default, the underlying **youtube-dl** software checks an entire channel, even if it contains hundreds of videos. You can drastically reduce the time this takes by telling Tartube to stop checking/downloading videos, if it receives (for example) notifications for three videos it has already checked/downloaded. This works well on sites like YouTube, which send information about videos in the order they were uploaded, newest first. We can't guarantee it will work on every site. - Click **Edit > System preferences... > Performance** - Select the checkbox **Stop checking/downloading a channel/playlist when it starts sending vidoes we already have** - In the **Stop after this many videos (when checking)** box, enter the value 3 - In the **Stop after this many videos (when downloading)** box, enter the value 3 - Click **OK** to close the window **Q: The toolbar is too small! There isn't enough room for all the buttons!** A: Click **Edit > System preferences... > General > Don't show labels in the toolbar**. MS Windows users can already see a toolbar without labels. Future plans ------------ - Fix the endless crashes **DONE** - Support for multiple databases (so you can store videos on two external hard drives at the same time) - Add download scheduling - Add video archiving - Allow selection of multiple videos in the catalogue, so the same action can be applied to all of them at the same time - Tie channels and playlists together, so that they won't both download the same video - Add tooltips for everything - Add more youtube-dl options Known issues ------------ - Tartube crashes continuously and often **FIXED** - Alphabetic sorting of channels/playlists/folders doesn't always work as intended, due to an unresolved Gtk issue **FIXED** - Channels/playlists/folder selection does not always work as intended, due to an unresolved Gtk issue **FIXED** - Users can type in comboboxes, but this should not be possible **FIXED** - Some MS Windows users report that `Tartube will install, but not run <docs/mswin_manual_install.rst>`__ Contributing ------------ - Report a bug: Use the Github `issues <https://github.com/axcore/tartube/issues>`__ page Authors ------- See the `AUTHORS <AUTHORS>`__ file. License ------- Tartube is licensed under the `GNU General Public License v3.0 <https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-3.0.en.html>`__. ✨🍰✨