I’ve downloaded several plugins. I moved the .rbz files from my default download location to the SketchUp > Tools folder. I closed and restarted SU but the plugins aren’t there.
I searched here and didn’t find anything I understood. Is there a simple, step 1-2-3 wiki somewhere that will show me how to install them?
TIA
That’s not how you install extensions in SketchUp. What version of SketchUp are you using? Please complete your forum profile.
If you are using a later version of SketchUp, go to Window>Extension Manager, click on Install Extension. Then navigate to where you saved the .rbz file, select it, click on Open.
And don’t put anything in the Tools folder. Move those files back out into Downloads or where ever the were before.
Try the SketchUp Help files:
https://help.sketchup.com/en/extension-warehouse/adding-extensions-sketchup
Thanks for the link. It is the info I’m looking for. I’ll get the plugins installed as soon as I sort out my sign credentials with Trimble.
I’m using SketchUp Make 2017, the free version. Are plugins installed in the same way as extensions? I thought there was a difference but I haven’t done this is 5 or 6 years.
How do I get to the profile page?
“plugin” is the older more general term for a Ruby program that automates some operation in SketchUp. An “extension” is a variety of plugin that is organized in a way that lets the SketchUp Extension Manager handle it. At one time, plugins were distributed as single Ruby (.rb) files that one copied into the Plugins folder. But today they are usually multi-file and are distributed as a .rbz file. The Extension Manager knows how to install a .rbz, which eliminates the need for you to worry about the details. In SketchUp 2017 the Extension Manager is accessed via the Window menu.
Click your avatar at the upper right corner of the forum page. Then click the icon that looks like a person. Then click Preferences. And finally, click Profile. Edit the appropriate entries and then click “Save Changes” at the bottom of the page (probably have to scroll down to see it).
OK. I updated my profile. There was an old email addy there that I got rid of and supplied a new one. Filled in or fixed other data as well.
I have tried to follow the instructions for adding extensions (now that I know that they are the same as plugins these days) but could not. The instructions call for going to the Extensions Warehouse in SU. It says that I should find an install button there but I did not. Is this due to my using the free version? I downloaded the extensions using my browser, I think. They currently reside as .rbz files in my Programs > Sketchup 2017 > Tools folder. Should they be somewhere else?
Thanks for the help. I hope I won’t be a nuisance as I relearn things I haven’t retained since my last regular use of SU.
Please read what I wrote in my previous post about installing extensions.
As @DaveR explained earlier in the thread…
You do NOT put downloaded .RBZ files into your Tools [or Plugins] folder.
Leave them in your Downloads folder.
They need to be installed by you - they don’t ‘run’ magically.
First launch the Extension Manager…
It appears in different menus depending on your OS and SketchUp version.
In v2017 it’s accessed through the menu Window > Extension-Manager
Open it and the dialog has a ‘Install Extension’ button.
Click that, find the .RBZ you need, and it will be automatically installed for you…
Pleased to report success. I followed TIG’s instructions after moving the .rbz files from the Tools folder and all went well. There is one extension that did not install. I’ll investigate further to be sure I didn’t do something wrong.
There are some out of date or bad articles that a search finds. I was following them in putting the files in the Tools folder.
Thank you, all, for the help.
Here is a tutorial that explains where to find and how to install plugins.
You have to display the subtitles
Remember that some Extensions also need an additional helper Lib RBZ installing - e.g. thomthom’s and Fredo’s various tools…
Restart SketchUp after installing the Extension and its supporting Lib, to sync everything properly…
Yes indeed it is important, but fortunately this is generally noted with the extensions to be installed, it is still necessary to read it.
So you did well to note it here because I did not mention it.
Thank you.