How to use plugins
From LoTROInterface Wiki
This is a simple walk-through on how to use LoTRO plugins.
Contents |
Exposing the plugins to your client
Navigate to your documents folder for The Lord of the Rings Online (for Windows XP users, this is usually " C:\Documents and Settings\<your user name>\My Documents\The Lord of the Rings Online" while for Windows Vista\7 Users, this is usually "C:\Users\<your user name>\Documents\The Lord of the Rings Online").
Create a folder named "Plugins" inside of this folder. Place all plugins inside of this new folder (most plugins are organized into their own folder meant to go inside of the main "Plugins" folder).
Getting the Turbine API Files
If you haven't already done so, you'll need to get the API files from Turbine. These are bundled in with the example scripts provided by Turbine. The link is: http://content.turbine.com/sites/lotro/lua/Beta_LuaPlugins.7z. You'll want to right click and choose Save As or Save Link As to save it to your machine.
Now you will likely need to get and install 7-zip as you need it to unarchive the file from Turbine. Not sure why they didn't just go with zip files. So, first things first, go to http://www.7-zip.com/ and download/install the program.
Now extract the "Turbine" folder inside that Beta_LuaPlugins.7z file you downloaded into your newly created Plugins folder (see above step).
Getting your plugins
Now go to the list of plugins, and choose those you want to download. When the download completes, you need to extract the file, just as above. This will usually produce a folder. Do not open this folder. Just as above, drag the entire plugin folder to My Documents>The Lord of the Rings Online>plugins folder. You will probably want to download several plugins and they all go in this same folder.
Viewing the list of available plugins in game
(For updated information see Turbine Plugin Manager below.)
In your client (once you have dropped the plugins into your new plugins directory), type the following command in your chat window to make sure the client has an up-to-date list of your available plugins:
- /plugins refresh
Next, type the following command to dump the list of all currently available plugins to your chat window:
- /plugins list
The list will show you all plugins that your client is currently capable of loading as well as any plugins you already have loaded. If the plugins you want to use are not listed there, make sure the plugins are properly located in the "Plugins" folder created in step 1. If they are still not showing in the list, try restarting your LOTRO client.
Loading your plugins
(For updated information see Turbine Plugin Manager below.)
Please note: You will have to do this step EVERY time you log in your character if you want to run your plugins. For the "BETA" release of the Lua plugin system, plugins cannot be set to automatically load upon logging in
Once the plugins you want to load are displaying in the list of available plugins seen in step 2, it is now time to load your plugin! To load a plugin, use the following command:
- /plugins load <Plugin Name>
- replace <Plugin Name> with the desired plugin's name as listed in the available plugins list from step 2
If no errors are reported in your chat window, then you have successfully loaded the plugin and can now begin using/enjoying it! If script errors are reported in the chat window, then report them to the author of the plugin you tried to load.
Unload plugins
(For updated information see Turbine Plugin Manager below)
Plugins are automatically unloaded when you log out but if for any reason you would like to manually unload a plugin you have running, you must use the unload command to unload all of your running plugins:
- /plugins unload
Please note, this command unloads ANY plugins you have running so at this stage of the system, once that command is used, you must then individually re-load any of the plugins you want to continue running.
Suggested Commandlets
(For updated information see Turbine Plugin Manager below.)
These are merely suggestions and with some implementations of certain mods only alleviates the need to type but can be clicked to obtain the same effect.
- Alias'ing
- type '/alias ;pil /plugins load', this could be a stepping stone to load other plugins.
- type '/alias ;man /plugins load manager' or '/alias ;man ;pil manager', this would be used in conjunction with Lotro Plugin Manager
An alternate solution is to create a shortcut (button) for it on your toolbar.
- Unlock your toolbars if you have them locked.
- Move the current item out of your very first toolbar button slot on your main toolbar (this is just temporary... drop it into an open slot).
- Issue the command: /shortcut 1 /plugins load manager
- Now drag that shortcut to where you want your "click here to load your plugins" button.
- Move your original toolbar button item back into the first slot.
- Lock your toolbars if you want.
Turbine Plugin Manager
The sections above still probably work. But now the easiest way to do it is to use the Turbine Plugin Manager built into the game. Although there were some problems at first, almost all plugins are now compatible with the in game Plugin Manager. On your loading screen, in the right hand column, you will see MANAGE PLUGINS. This will open a screen which will list all the plugins the program recognizes in your My Documents>Lord of the Rings Online>plugins folder. You can specify which ones you want to automatically load, and even choose different ones for different characters. This is by far the simplest way to load plugins.
Once in the game, you now only need to type /plugins manager to bring up the screen to manage all your plugins and set their options. It is a great improvement over the old system described above.
Keeping up to date
Plugins are mostly written by dedicated amateurs. They are constantly being updated and improved, and made compatible with new game features. It has been hard to keep up with them, involving going back every few days to see what has been updated. Now there is a program you can download named Plugin Compendium which will actually do the work for you. It is NOT a plugin itself, and does NOT go in your plugins folder. Leave the icon on your desktop and just remember to click it every few days. It will check your plugins and automatically download and install the newest versions.
The process of using plugins has come a long way since the original days. It is a great way to improve your game experience!