Total Commander

Would you be interested in a plugin manager which would be able to connect to TC's site, show you a list of the available pugins and related data (approved, version, category, etc) and then give you the ablility to download a plugin and automatically install it?

Related forum link:

http://ghisler.ch/board/viewtopic.php?p=5477&sid=f3535a100f8f49236bad386644046c6b#5477

A nice living example of a similar tool would be Object Desktop from Stardock and specifically the Component Manager tool of the above package. For those who know what this tool does they know what I mean. For those who don’t, in simple terms, it’s a tool which has the task to check for available newer versions of applications of the aforementioned company and organise them in a user friendly manner. It also incorporates a backup system for all tools as well as an installation system for the applications.

Of course those tools are mainly for desktop enhancements, but what concerns us here is not the type of those tools but rather how Component Manager itself organises and collects online the availability of newer version and how it backs them up and installs them.

IMHO, it’s a nice living example for whoever is willing to implement this colossal task!

More info here:

http://www.stardock.com/products/odnt/cm.html

Here is an extract from the above link on how Component Manager actually works:

“Component Manager then connects to Stardock.Net (or any other server that has been put into configuration) which then directs it to the Object Desktop Network's Component Manager Server. The server lists all the currently available components, their version, size, and some descriptive text. The client side (your version) is given these details and if a component is newer than the one you already have installed, it will list it as available for download.”

In my opinion the task should be splitted into two major elements. One developer should deal with the server hosting of plug-ins and one developer should deal with the development of the application that will gather and organise information (plug-ins) retrieved from that server. Of course there should be a collaboration between the two developing teams (or developers) for better integration. It’s not an easy task but it’s not an impossible one also. A push start in similar cases is not to try and complete the whole idea in one go, but to implement a very simple striped down tool to do the pretty basic functions and then provide the additional feature as newer versions.

Kind regards,
Panos

Hmmm, it's a little different than what i had in mind (it has more features!). I must admit it's seems very complete. Thanks for the info.

Frankly there are not THAT many plug-ins and they are simple to install..

Orchistrating some sort of plug-in 'live-update' sounds like a PITA.

Besides, I'm old skool -- don't really trust the reliability of automated updates..

(john) wrote:Frankly there are not THAT many plug-ins and they are simple to install..

Orchistrating some sort of plug-in 'live-update' sounds like a PITA.

Besides, I'm old skool -- don't really trust the reliability of automated updates..

The figure is coming close to a 3-digit number. Check this out: www.clubtotal.tk

And they ARE more complicated (sometimes) to install than other plug-ins available for other applications.

Being an old school user you can always follow the manual way but we don’t need this tools just for automation reasons. It can be also considered as an information tool where users can be informed about the availability of newer versions or new plug-ins. You can easily then download the plug-in you want and skip the automatic installation by following the old school way if you like.

Whoa! Quite a bit more there than on the official site.

As long as it doesn't somehow tangent too much development focus from TC I'll remain on the fence so to speak.

I must admit, I see a project of this magnitude begging for Christian's time.

(john) wrote:Whoa! Quite a bit more there than on the official site.

As long as it doesn't somehow tangent too much development focus from TC I'll remain on the fence so to speak.

I must admit, I see a project of this magnitude begging for Christian's time.

“We” never asked for Christian’s contribution on this matter. We have clearly (I believe) stated that this task should be assigned to hardcore users!

That’s the idea after all of plug-ins. To take the load of the basic development and to increase flexibility based on individual user needs. Otherwise Christian could “easily” implement new features as part of TC’s core structure without the need of plug-ins.

The main reason for plugins is that user's needs differ a lot - a programmer needs different viewers than a Web designer or someone who mainly works with Word and Excel. Adding all these things to TC would make the program big and slow, and would also be too much for a single person.

Whoa! Quite a bit more there than on the official site.

I'm trying to link to every plugin when the author asks me to do so, and if the plugin is sufficiently stable. I will not link to multimedia plugins for Lister at this time, because they aren't supported well by the latest version of TC yet.

I appreciate the inofficial plugins site a lot - thanks, Maxwish!

The site is excellent and almost makes the idea of a TC plug-in manager application obsolete yet if someone is willing to implement a front-end application that can gather up information from Maxwish’s site that will be great!

Even though I use TC every day, I have never considered adding any plugins. A plugin manager that makes it easier to find, install, upgrade, and uninstall plugins would definitely make a difference to me. These are some of the things I would expect from such a manager:

1. Able to search for and list plugins by category.
2. A link with each entry to a web page that explains what the plugin does.
3. A stability indicator like beta, public release, TC Approved.
4. The ability to activate/deactivate.
5. The ability to install/upgrade/uninstall.

The following would be nice to haves:
6. Notification of updates (in an unobtrusive or configurable way).
7. I don't like auto-install of updates, but I can see that others might. This option could be configured to only install certain kinds of releases, like only TC Approved.
8. Other information, like votes from users, number of users, etc. This info could also be on the web-page with the description.

Nice idea ! I like it.

Here's an example...

Miranda IM
http://www.miranda-im.org/

File Listing > Plugins > Services > Wassup
http://miranda-im.org/download/details.php?action=viewfile&id=358