Plug in location and installation

Looking at my old machine, it looks like my memory is little off. Google SketchUp 8 was dated 2012, and the last version with Google in the name? It looks like the plugins were in the global Library folder not the user Library folder.
Root > Library > Application Support > Google SketchUp 8 > SketchUp > plugins

Your profile says you are using the Free Web version. There is no facility for using extensions or plugins with the web versions. If your profile was correct there’d be no confusion.

Well i guess that answers my original question. I cannot afford to buy a version that supports extensions or plugins. The version i am using is the Google SketchUp 8.0.16846 version. So i will have to live with that. Thank you all for your time and help on this.
Chuck Stewart
I am a retired mechanical design engineer. Have used Autocad and solid modeling software.

That version does support the use of extensions. The free web version does not.

As you’ve been asked repeatedly to correct your profile because it is confusing. SketchUp 8.0.16846 is not the free web version that your profile indicates you are using. The free web version runs in an internet browser. SketchUp 8 is locally installed.

Why are you using SketchUp 8 at all? Since you are using SketchUp as a hobbyist you could be using SketchUp 2017 Make. At least it’s reasonably current and you can more easily install extensions than you can in SU8.0.

If you plan to continue using that ancient version, you’ll need to download the extensions to your computer, change the file extension from .rbz to .zip, and extract the contents to the Plugins folder in C:\Program Files\Google\Google SketchUp 8\

Keep in mind that some newer extensions may not working in SU8.

Why is there a Ruby Console in the menu and a place for plug ins listed in the program files in this version of SketchUp 8 (ves. 8.0.16846)? I assume you cannot use the global library folder or down load it to get plug ins?

As I wrote in my previous post:

You don’t need the Ruby Console to install extensions. In the version you indicate you are using you need to follow these instructions.

This was answered for you months ago.

Dave’s suggestion is a good one: you can run plugin in version 8 (2010), but since you can still download version 2017 for free, why not just use that? Plugin installation is easier on it.

Thanks Dave. I will follow your instructions. I tried to change my profile version to SketchUp 8.0.16846 but it is not listed. How do i do that?

The Ruby Console is a window where you can type or paste snippets of Ruby code to see what they do. Plugins can display diagnostics in the Ruby Console, but otherwise it has nothing to do with installing or running plugins.

Thank you.

If i downloaded free 2017 i assume i can bring up any of my 100 mechanical and architectural models constructed in SketchUp 8. Where do i find that download?

Find it HERE

Yes, and I believe you can also save files back to version 8 from 2017.

I would like to get 2017, or is it Make 2017. I brought up the Trimble site you mentioned and do i simply download Make 2017. It doesn’t say it is free. Another question: my models are listed in my documents folder, is that the right location?
Thank you so much for time and effort.
Chuck

Yes, the one called SketchUp Make 2017. That was the last free desktop version. All the ones marked Pro are paid by subscription now, though you can download and run them for a period as a trial.

Most people keep them somewhere in their user account documents folder. What doesn’t work is cloud storage like iCloud or Google Drive. You can save backups to places like that, but don’t work in SketchUp on a file there.

Thank you. One last question: once i download Make, do i uninstall SU 8 so there is no conflict? I appreciate forum experts that help by answering all questions in a timely manner and don’t make you look like a fool for asking them. Dave was also very helpful.

I’ve kept all my old versions, so you can leave both. Dave’s actually more knowledgeable than I, but he’s a Windows guy. I’ve been using Macs since 1985.

Each version of SketchUp installs separately from other versions. Yes, you can keep 8 when installing 2017 Make.

I can think of very few reasons to keep v8 once you have installed Make 2017.

Solid Tools are included in v8 if you have a license for the Pro version, but not in Make once the Pro trial expires after 30 days. So if you needed to use Solid Tools, you could save your new 2017 models back to v8 and use Solid Tools there.

And some import/export options in v8 Pro aren’t available in Make.

Otherwise, pretty well everything else is better in Make 2017.

And it will open all your v8 SU files.

Thanks John. Good information.