Managing plugins using the AddOn Manager¶
Each functionality in the Builder is a plugin. A plugin is a small or large piece of Python code that defines its functionality.
An add-on is a collection of plugins; some contain just one, to define a single button/filter etc, while others contain a whole set of plugins which are related to each other.
Using the AddOn Manager (.zip
files or a folder by clicking Install zip/folder. Normally you can just update the add-ons by clicking the “Update” or “Update All” buttons in the AddOn Manager in QuantumATK. If, however, you are behind a firewall that prevents QuantumATK from accessing the add-on server directly, you can instead download the add-on and install it manually, following the steps outlined below in Fig. 20.

Fig. 20 The add-on can be manually installed by clicking the buttom install zip/folder in the AddOn Manager in QuantumATK. Restart QuantumATK to activate the new add-on.
Tip
Make it a habit to check the AddOn Manager now and then, to see if there are any updates available.
Add-ons are installed in quantumatk/lib/site-packages/AddOns
on Windows, quantumatk/lib/python2.7/site-packages/AddOns
on Linux, and quantumatk/.../Contents/Resources/Frameworks/Python.framework/
Versions/2.7/lib.packages/AddOns
for Mac, relative to the QuantumATK installation directory. There you can inspect the source code of almost all plugins provided with QuantumATK, and use them for inspiration to create your own!