Excuse me for not knowing more about this. I suspect there will be a lot of users with questions.
So then is it possible to turn off the extensions manager in Blender 4.2+ ? I think I read where you can actually turn off internet access but I suspect there are many custom add-ons that would be used inside a corporate environment that would require internet access.
It would make sense if the extension manager could be disabled while still allowing for legacy add-ons to access the internet. Nick, do you know if that is possible? Thanks.
The online access setting in Blender has NO impact on actual installed addons. If the addon needs or wants to access the Internet, then there is basically nothing within Blender to stop it.
I think (and correct me if Iâm wrong) that you think only extensions.blender.org was added. But to sum up what is added is ability to have remote repositories from which you can pull add-ons. extensions.blender.org is just one of them, official one. It is never going to take legal liability for all products there for obvious reasons, and if corporations are not ok with that itâs absolutely fine, they can just remove that repository from repositories list in Get Extensions tab.
But, what is a giant good news for corporations and studio environments is that they can set up their own remote repository, where they themselves put add-ons they themselves review and/or maintain, connect their employees to that repository and those artists will enjoy automatic additions and updates.
Proper protected environment might never allow any script to be deployed without someone reviewing it from inside the corporation, so they can either deploy those add-ons in their own remote repositories, or just use download and use locally.
To sum up again nothing has be removed from corporate/pipeline workflow perspective, but A LOT has been gained.
Nick, that is a super explanation. I have been following this for months but not actively participating much in the threads as Iâm still trying to get my head around all of it. Your explanation is the first time Iâve been able to fully understand the value proposition. Thank you for making that clear.
Howdy yaâll! I donât get why the âPhotographerâ and âUVPackmaster 3â addons show up in the âGet Extensionsâ tab under âInstalledâ, but the other addons which I also installed manually do not show up in this tab. Theyâre only shown in the âAdd-onsâ tab.
So, correct me if I am wrong. I thought one could drag drop a âlegacyâ addon (one that has not been modified to work with 4.2) and it would install. Furthermore, I thought I could also install a legacy addon using the Install from disk (see picture) button in the addons panel. This does not seem to work for any addons Iâm trying it with. Am I missing something?
Is there a âproperâ way to install legacy addons without having to modify their script to run with 4.2?
Both of those methods should work. I would assume zip files of addons are not correct, but if you tested on many of them you might be experiencing some unrelated os issue. Can you share an example of zip file youâre installing?
Blender complains in both cases (D&D and install from disk) about missing the manifest.toml file.
It is missing from the zip file, so that pans out
edit:
Remove the bl_info part from the init.py file. and create a new blender_manifest.toml file.
I did this quickly from the docs, but add this to it:
id = "Simple_Sketch"
version = "1.0.1"
name = "Simple Test Extension"
tagline = "Simple Sketch Style Renderer"
maintainer = "Chipp Walters"
# Supported types: "add-on", "theme"
type = "add-on"
# Optional link to documentation, support, source files, etc
# website = "link goes here"
# Optional list defined by Blender and server, see:
# https://docs.blender.org/manual/en/dev/advanced/extensions/tags.html
tags = ["Animation", "Sequencer"]
blender_version_min = "4.2.0"
# # Optional: Blender version that the extension does not support, earlier versions are supported.
# # This can be omitted and defined later on the extensions platform if an issue is found.
# blender_version_max = "5.1.0"
# License conforming to https://spdx.org/licenses/ (use "SPDX: prefix)
# https://docs.blender.org/manual/en/dev/advanced/extensions/licenses.html
license = ["SPDX:GPL-2.0-or-later"]
This zipped addon I can install by D&D, or install via disk.
Hope it helps.
Definitely and Iâm glad people are bringing this up. Moderation happens by a team of volunteers. Anyone can help testing and leaving comments on there extensions (look at the review of other extensions to understand the process a bit, but making sure the extensions is working, flagging anything strange on the code and the manifest has all the correct information goes a long way already).
On top of that the moderation team (kudos to @nickberckley for the initiative) is finalising some guidelines for advanced corner cases so review can happen faster.
That said, most of the extensions in your screenshot have been posted less than a day ago.
Was testing installing an update of an extension I develop. Blender thinks the version on the extensions platform is newer (?) and shows the Update button. Not sure if intended or a bug, not critical at all, maybe just worth noting knowing.
Installing extension with id name that is already taken is not ideal. I suggest that you create folder in Blender installation folder called âportableâ and launch Blender. When that folder exists Blender is launched with factory defaults and stores/reads extensions from/to that folder. You can install, test, and then remove portable folder when youâre done.
