Correct way to install add-ons?

How To
1

It looks like if my editors and translators use Komodo, they are going to have to install several add-ons to get it working the way I expect. How do I tell them to do that?

For example, let’s say I want to install HTML Tools. I pull up Tools > Add-ons, and I get a list of add-ons. I expect to type “HTML” to search for plugins with “HTML” in the name (like I can with e.g. Atom under File > Settings > Install). But nothing comes up.

If I click the down triangle by the package icon and go down to Packages, the whole dialog disappears! But if I instead go to Everything, and then click the down triangle again to go down to Packages, I would expect it to either go back to where I was (I was already at Packages), but suddenly I’m given options “Addons”, “Userscripts”, “Toolbox”, etc. If I select “Addons” suddenly I’m given a list of available add-ons.

This is all very convoluted and confusing. Surely I’m missing a simple menu option for “install new add-ons” that immediately gives me a search/filter dialog…

2

That’s a bug I guess.

This item opens Packages Scope with “Installed packages” subscope so you can manage your packages. Just press left key after that and type “HTML”.

I’ve recorded a video how to install HTML Tools :smiley:

3

Ah, beautiful—exactly what I was looking for.

However, there’s a big problem: how on earth was I supposed to know to press the left key? Nothing whatsoever on the screen indicates this. There is no button equivalent to pushing the left key.

We have to consider: when I send instructions to my translators in setting up Komodo, do I really want to trust that they’ll find the tiny line in the list of instructions that says “press the left key at this point”? That would be a very brittle procedure, as it would be easy to get lost.

It should be evident at this point how to install new add-ons. Requiring the user to press some “magical incantation” of key presses is not sufficiently user friendly. How can we make this better?

4

There is already a bug logged for this, it’s on our radar :slight_smile: I suggest you use tell your users to press the “Go To Anything” search field in their toolbar, then navigate to “Packages” and search from there.

1 Like
5

Which bug is that? I want to go vote on it…

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