Installed 2015. No Plugins folder???
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Always a hard time with every new release. (Why is SU so poor at migrating existing files?)
So- new 2015. Loaded applicable plugins that HAD been imported from Extension Store. OK. Now the rest of them, they are in a folder Plugins on my old copy of 2013. In 2015, I see no such folder. The only folder that I CAN see which contains .rb files is "Shipped Extensions". Is THIS where I should put plugins?
Can someone help out? thanks.
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There is quite lot of info around regarding plugins.
One I remember posting is here.
http://sketchucation.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=15%26amp;t=59648%26amp;start=150#p543753 -
OK, doing some reading online...Sketchup wants "plugins" (OK, now, called Extensions)in a folder under Application Data (or Program Data)...located completely separate from the installed SU program.
So, under Program Data, I get Sketchup 2015\Sketchup...and no "Plugins" folder. I have to manually go and get all my old Smustard rb files again, one at a time from Smustard, and get them manually installed into this folder...but I can't find it.
If the folder is hidden (and why would it be?)- how do you "unhide" it?
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@box said:
There is quite lot of info around regarding plugins.
One I remember posting is here.
http://sketchucation.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=15%26amp;t=59648%26amp;start=150#p543753Yes..got it. Thanks for that. I did search but there's lot of varying data, none of which was as specific as your post.
So there are THREE places where program data resides. The one you described under Users, the one under Program Data, and in the program itself. How much more confusing could it possibly be made? wow.
OK, so now I go back to smustard and manually dl everything again.
I guess this is why I never even bothered with 2014.Time consuming and kludgey. OK, thanks for the help. sorry for belly-aching.
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The only Plugins folder you should be putting plugin files into is the one under User/AppData. The reason it is where it is has to do with Windows applying security settings to folders in Program Files which prevented users from installing files. This caused users all sorts of trouble because many didn't know about the security settings or how to change them. You can see evidence of that by looking through some of the longer threads in the Plugins folder. An endless run of questions about how to install plugins and claims that the plugins didn't work in this version or that. In most cases, the problem was found to be the security setting for the Plugins folder.
Now, the folder is not secured by the operating system. Also, between Preferences>Extensions>Install Extension, The Extension Warehouse and the Sketchucation Plugin Store, there's no need to directly access the Plugins folder under AppData. Those three tools will auto-install plugins at the click of a button.
In order for plugins to be installed by these tools, they need to be packaged as .rbz files. And plugins you download from the Extension Warehouse or the Plugin Store will come as .RBZ files. For files you might get from elsewhere such as Smustard, you can package them yourself so Install Extension will handle them. If you download a .rb file, use a zipping application such as 7Zip to create a zip file. Then change the extension from .zip to .rbz. If the file you've downloaded is already a zip file, just change the extension. It's easy and you don't have to go hunting for the folder.
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DaveR just posted before me, and said much of this...
But as I had justed typed this I'll still post it anyway
You only place you actually need to install Plugins is in your default AppData User's Plugins folder, which is pre-made by SketchUp.
To find its path copy/paste+<enter> this in the Ruby Console:
Sketchup.find_support_file('Plugins')
BUT why do you need to look in it ?The EWH auto-installer, Preferences > Extensions > Install... button and/or the SketchUcation PluginStore dialog's AutoInstall button, all extract the contents of the RBZ files into there...
When SketchUp starts all RB/RBS files in there are auto-loaded.
Only you, logged in as your User-name loads those.Do NOT make a Plugins folder in the ProgramData path UNLESS you want to share plugins with other users on the same PC, as if that Plugins folder exists any RB/RBS files in there are also auto-loaded as SketchUp starts, this time for any user logged into that PC.
You cannot use the native Installer with that folder, however the SketchUcation PluginStore AutoInstall and Archive-Installer submenu item does see and offer it as an alternative 'custom-plugins-folder' destination.
It's pointless having the extra folder unless you want to share...There are a couple of other folders that you should NOT add files to, these are reserved for SketchUp's use: they often have little security permissions of mere Users [even Admins].
They are 'Tools', which contain some 'system' ruby stuff, and 'ShippedExtensions' - which, as its name suggests, contains some extension files [aka plugins] that come with SketchUp's installer - like Sandbox and DC stuff...In passing, you can also install your Plugins in any folder you like [provided you have security clearance], and link it into SketchUp's
$:, so that its contents auto-load with SketchUp.
You need to install a tool into the default Plugins folder, like Fredo's AdditionalPluginsFolder, which does this for you... Read up on it if you feel you really need this level of sophistication...It is usually unwise to copy your plugin files from one SketchUp version's Plugins folder to another.
Many were updated to be compatible with v2014, and a few more recently for v2015.
So it's best to get fresh copies of all extensions/plugins whenever possible.
Also you need to ensure all related files and subfolders of files are copied - a mega-balls-up is waiting in the wings...
It may be that copying some over will do no harm, but if you subsequently get initial loading errors or just missing tools, then that's a sign of an issue, and time for an updated version...
If you have the SketchUcation Toolset then the PluginStore's dialog had a MySetup page which includes 'Bundles' - a tool which lets you let you duplicate/manipulate sets [aka Bundles] of plugins from an earlier SketchUp version and then make a bulk auto-installation of all of those into your newer SketchUp version's Plugins folder... -
must be a criminal mind at work when it comes to where the mystical "plug in" folder is lurking--i have looked in evry nook and cranny on my hd--nada--zip--kudos folks for creating the most obfuscating piece of ******* every conceived
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@baggins said:
must be a criminal mind at work when it comes to where the mystical "plug in" folder is lurking--i have looked in evry nook and cranny on my hd--nada--zip--kudos folks for creating the most obfuscating piece of ******* every conceived
Evidently you didn't look in "every nook and cranny" because it is there. And you didn't read this thread before posting in it because it has been explained, above. On the PC, it is under your username/App Data/Roaming/SketchUp/SketchUp 2016/SketchUp/Plugins. It is located there because Windows set security so users can't install files in directories in Program Files and way too many users weren't able to figure out how to change permissions. The "criminal mind" as you call it also made it so that you shouldn't need to access the Plugins folder directly by offering the Install Extension tool as well as the extension Warehouse. And for extensions available here on Sketchucation, there is the Plugin Store tool which, like Extension Warehouse installed extensions/plugins automatically.
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