I recently found out plugins can be added to kicad and I would like to use the replicatelayout one. I am working on Window 10 with the Kicad 5.0 testing release (which seems to allow the use of plugins).
I downloaded the git repository MitjaNemec Kicad_action_plugins then I added the *.py files in the plugin repository C:\Program Files\KiCad\share\kicad\scripting\plugins
but I do not see the plugin in Tools/External Plugin, even after a refresh or a kicad restart.
I came across a similar issue. Try moving the plugin folder up one level to the “scripting” folder to see if that works.
Also, the program files location probably isn’t the best place for 3rd party plugins. It may be wiped out when you next update. (It might not, but why take the chance?) A better place for personal and 3rd party plugins is “C:\Users<your user name>\AppData\Roaming\kicad\scripting”, also accessible by typing “%appdata%\kicad\scripting” into the windows explorer address bar.
Thank you for your answer, I followed your advise and put the plugins folder in C:\Users\AppData\Roaming\kicad\ but it did not work.
Then, I check init file in C:\Program Files\KiCad\share\kicad\scripting\plugins and figured out tit was emply. I replaced it by the one in the git repository and it works !!
But still it has to be in C:\Program Files\KiCad\share\kicad\scripting\plugins for me.
Did you use this (creating the paths as needed), or did you mistype and mean C:\Users\SimonE\AppData\Roaming\kicad\scripting instead? (Replace “SimonE” with your computer’s username…)
Note: if you haven’t accessed your AppData folder before your system may not be showing it. You would need to change your folder settings to “Show hidden files, folders, and drives” here:
Windows by default hides your settings folder from you.
The plugin has to be in plugins subfolder either in appdata or in kicad location. But, as the plugin is coded as a complex plugin it jas to reside in its own subfolder in the plugins folder (e.g. C:\Program Files\KiCad\share\kicad\scripting\plugins\replicate_layout)
And you need a V5 build with action plugins support enabled
I meant C:\Users\SimonE\AppData\Roaming\kicad\scripting, I did mistype sorry.
I only copy and paste the 3 .py file from the git repository to C:\Program Files\KiCad\share\kicad\scripting\plugins, I did not copy the whole folder as you mention MitjaN and it worked for me. Why including the test board … ?
As stated in the repository documentation (README.md) only .py files are required. As this is my first publicly available project, obviously I’ve made a lot of mistakes setting the repository.
The test board is mainly there for my purposes in order to automatically test the plugin. It has to be in the repository, as the test board changes as I add features to the plugin, which require testing. If somebody has an idea how to approach this in a better way, I want to hear it.
But the biggest mistake was bundling all my plugins in a single repo. This way, I can not really use github release feature, which would be the proper way of doing it.
I’ll probably try supporting the @bobc’s KiPi installer, but at the moment this is only a wish.
