How Preen Works:

First an overview of how Preen works when everything is going properly:

1. 1.On initial launch, Preen loads an xml file from this website listing all currently available skins.  This list is re-loaded when the Find New Skins button is pressed or if Preen is left running for more than 24 hours.
   

2. 2.Preen then checks for an installation of git in one of three places:
   

3. •/usr/local/git/bin/git
   

4. •/opt/local/bin/git (MacPorts install)
   

5. •/usr/local/bin/git
   

3. 3.If git is not found a "download git" screen is shown and the bottom button is changed to read "Quit and Download Git".  Pressing that button should launch the open the Mac Git download page in the default web browser.
   

4. 4.If git is found, Preen's normal spash screen will be shown instead.
   

5. 5.Users can check the skins they wish to install.
   

6. 6.When the user has finished marking skins for download, they press the "Install/Update Skins" button and waits for git to do its thing.
   

7. 7.Preen creates a shell script in the temp directory.  This shell script checks for an existing installation of the skin in and either asks git to download it for the first time or pulls the latest version of the skin.  (The first download of a skin can take quite a while.)
   

8. 8.The skin is put into the Plex skin folder, ~/Library/Application Support/Plex/skin
   

9. 9.Once all of the skins are downloaded (Preen downloads the skins, one at a time, in a background process) Preen stops the spinning indicator and the "Install/Update Skins" button can be pressed again.
   

10. 10.Every 24 hours Preen will automatically perform the "Install/Update Skins" function if Preen is left open.
    

11. 11.The user opens Plex, goes to the Preferences/Settings, and selects the skin from Appearances.
    

Troubleshooting:

The key to troubleshooting Preen not working is to identify where in the process it is failing.  There are three main checks that can be performed:

1. 1.The first check is to see if Skins were created in the ~/Library/Application Support/Plex/skin folder once Preen is finished running the Install/Update Skins step.  If they're not there you have a problem before Step 8.  If they are there, try restarting Plex and your computer to see if that makes the skins appear.
   

2. 2.The second step is to check the Console to see what Preen has done.  Open Console from /Applications/Utilities/Console.app and filter for Preen.
   

1. a.There should be a line which says found git path: and one of the paths listed in Step 2 of how Preen works.  If that isn't there there is a problem with your git setup.  Launch Terminal (/Applications/Utilities/Terminal.app) and type 'which git' and make certain that the path for git is one of the three listed above in Step 2.
   

2. b.Next there should be a line for each skin checked in Preen with the results of the attempt to download the skin.  There are many potential errors here but you may be able to decipher the message to see what is going wrong.
   

3. 3.Try removing the Preen preferences file (<your user folder>/Library/Preferences/com.anomiesoftware.Preen.plist) and running Preen again.
   

Help:

If the troubleshooting doesn't help, post a message in this thread of the Plex forums with the following content:

1. 1.What skin(s) you are trying to download.
   

2. 2.Are there any folders in your Plex/skin folder (Troubleshooting step 1)
   

3. 3.What the result is when you type 'which git' into Terminal (Troubleshooting step 2a)
   

4. 4.What does the Preen Log in Console say about git being found (Troubleshooting step 2a)
   

5. 5.What specific messages do you get for the skin(s) you are trying to download (Troubleshooting step 2b)