Extensions: First time dialogs and setups #120665

New Issue

Dalai Felinto · 2024-04-15T17:04:37+02:00

Dalai Felinto commented

2024-04-15 17:04:37 +02:00

With the introduction of the extension system, Blender needs a clear way for users to grant access to online repositories. Even Blender's own extensions.blender.org should be explicitly authorized (enabled) before Blender starts accessing it.

When will Blender access the remote repositories:

Every time you open the Preferences → Extensions: ALL the enabled repositories get checked for the latest info (json).
Every time you try to install by dragging: ALL the enabled repositories get checked for the latest info (json).
Every time you start Blender: selected repositories get checked for the latest info (json).

Proposed changes:

The extensions.blender.org repository will be disabled by default.
The extensions.blender.org repository will have "Check for Updates on Startup" enabled by default.
The "Check for Updates" operator shouldn't be exposed on the UI.

In the future the Extensions system will likely also be used for assets. Making the definition of extensions close to: "External resources to extend Blender functionality".

The remaining of this task specify how we should handle all the scenarios when users first interact with extensions.

Preferences
Drag in a extensions.blender.org URL extension
Drag in a extension URL from a repository not added yet
Drag in a extension URL from a unknown repository

Preferences

A welcome panel will greet users when they open Preferences → Extensions. The panel can be collapsed. But to remove it permanently users need to either:

Enable: This will enable the extensions.blender.org repository.
Dismiss: This will close the panel permanently (saved with preferences.blend).

If the extensions.blender.org repository was enabled via the drag to install popup dialog, this is dismissed as well.

Text

Online Extensions

Welcome! Access community-made add-ons and themes from the extensions.blender.org repository.

This requires internet access.

Drag in a extensions.blender.org URL extension

If an extension from extensions.blender.org is dragged in while the repository is disabled we get a special dialog.

Text

You need to enable access to extensions.blender.org to download this extension. This requires internet access.

You can always change this later in Preferences.

Drag in a extension URL from a repository not added yet

Extensions download URLs have an optional parameter to specify which repository they come from.

https://extensions.blender.org/add-ons/mypackage/1.0.0/download/?repository=/
https://aws1.com/mypackage.zip?repository=http://mysite.com/blender.json

If this extension is not in any of the available repositories (even after the check for updates that happens automatically) the user first has to setup the repository:

Text

This extension cannot be found in any of the existing repositories.

If you trust its source, proceed to add this repository to your Preferences. This requires internet access.

You can always edit this later in Preferences.

Drag in a extension URL from a unknown repository

If this extension is not in any of the available repositories and no repository information is available:

Text

This extension cannot be found in any of the existing repositories.

If you trust its source, add the corresponding repository to get updates. This requires internet access.

Alternatively manually download the extension and Install from Disk.

Install an Extension

In all these cases, after you click on "Enable..." or "Add Repository...", the next dialog shown is the "regular" Install Extension dialog. Similar to a Wizard (first-time setup).

It would be nice if both set of dialogs were shown centralized (like "Saving changes before closing"), instead of where the cursor is.

Design done together with Pablo Vazquez.

With the introduction of the extension system, Blender needs a clear way for users to grant access to online repositories. Even Blender's own extensions.blender.org should be explicitly authorized (enabled) before Blender starts accessing it. When will Blender access the remote repositories: * Every time you open the Preferences → Extensions: ALL the enabled repositories get checked for the latest info (json). * Every time you try to install by dragging: ALL the enabled repositories get checked for the latest info (json). * Every time you start Blender: selected repositories get checked for the latest info (json). Proposed changes: * The extensions.blender.org repository will be disabled by default. * The extensions.blender.org repository will have "Check for Updates on Startup" enabled by default. * The "Check for Updates" operator shouldn't be exposed on the UI. In the future the Extensions system will likely also be used for assets. Making the definition of extensions close to: "External resources to extend Blender functionality". ---- The remaining of this task specify how we should handle all the scenarios when users first interact with extensions. - [ ] Preferences - [ ] Drag in a extensions.blender.org URL extension - [ ] Drag in a extension URL from a repository not added yet - [ ] Drag in a extension URL from a unknown repository # Preferences A welcome panel will greet users when they open Preferences → Extensions. The panel can be collapsed. But to remove it permanently users need to either: * `Enable`: This will enable the extensions.blender.org repository. * `Dismiss`: This will close the panel permanently (saved with preferences.blend). <img src="https://projects.blender.org/blender/blender/attachments/c00a7948-af0f-4aea-83fe-32e59b7375a3" width="550"/> If the extensions.blender.org repository was enabled via the drag to install popup dialog, this is dismissed as well. ### Text ``` Online Extensions Welcome! Access community-made add-ons and themes from the extensions.blender.org repository. This requires internet access. ``` # Drag in a extensions.blender.org URL extension If an extension from extensions.blender.org is dragged in while the repository is disabled we get a special dialog. ![image](/attachments/cf5315ee-4ff3-4fb8-b7a4-d840cff90734) ### Text ``` You need to enable access to extensions.blender.org to download this extension. This requires internet access. You can always change this later in Preferences. ``` # Drag in a extension URL from a repository not added yet Extensions download URLs have an optional parameter to specify which repository they come from. * `https://extensions.blender.org/add-ons/mypackage/1.0.0/download/?repository=/` * `https://aws1.com/mypackage.zip?repository=http://mysite.com/blender.json` If this extension is not in any of the available repositories (even after the check for updates that happens automatically) the user first has to setup the repository: ![image](/attachments/2b39bbec-7aff-4b28-b074-14a13f137c9b) ### Text ``` This extension cannot be found in any of the existing repositories. If you trust its source, proceed to add this repository to your Preferences. This requires internet access. You can always edit this later in Preferences. ``` # Drag in a extension URL from a unknown repository If this extension is not in any of the available repositories and no repository information is available: ![image](/attachments/c60757f4-7a14-4c2b-8a94-33bb49fb76e0) ### Text ``` This extension cannot be found in any of the existing repositories. If you trust its source, add the corresponding repository to get updates. This requires internet access. Alternatively manually download the extension and Install from Disk. ``` ## Install an Extension In all these cases, after you click on "Enable..." or "Add Repository...", the next dialog shown is the "regular" Install Extension dialog. Similar to a Wizard (first-time setup). ![image](/attachments/3f6c3b72-479a-401d-9234-c9ea693fe7c5) It would be nice if both set of dialogs were shown centralized (like "Saving changes before closing"), instead of where the cursor is. Design done together with Pablo Vazquez.

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👍 5

Dalai Felinto added the

Type

To Do

label 2024-04-15 17:04:37 +02:00

Dalai Felinto added this to the Python API project 2024-04-15 17:04:40 +02:00

Dalai Felinto referenced this issue

2024-04-15 17:10:59 +02:00

WIP: Extensions: Option to Check for Updates on Startup on new Blenders #120614

Dalai Felinto referenced this issue

2024-04-15 17:11:44 +02:00

Extensions Platform: beta launch #119521

Brecht Van Lommel commented

2024-04-16 14:42:48 +02:00

What is confusing to me is this concept of checking for updates, which includes both refreshing the list of extensions, and doing that refresh on startup and notifying the user about updates.

I would rather expect that as soon as you have enabled a repository, it is fine to refresh the list of extensions when going to the extensions preferences. That's like browsing a web page, you don't expect it to be out of date. What I think you want permission for is (a) to enable/add the repository, and (b) for Blender to automatically access the internet in the background.

So from that point of view, I would expect the welcome message to be asking to enable or add the extensions.blender.org repository, rather than having it already enabled and only a refresh away from being used.

For the dialog when installing an extension, maybe it would be better to have a single dialog instead of two, with a Add Repository checkbox? I can imagine some confusion with this intermediate step, and it not being obvious that it will be possible to install the extension in the next dialog.

What is confusing to me is this concept of checking for updates, which includes both refreshing the list of extensions, and doing that refresh on startup and notifying the user about updates. I would rather expect that as soon as you have enabled a repository, it is fine to refresh the list of extensions when going to the extensions preferences. That's like browsing a web page, you don't expect it to be out of date. What I think you want permission for is (a) to enable/add the repository, and (b) for Blender to automatically access the internet in the background. So from that point of view, I would expect the welcome message to be asking to enable or add the extensions.blender.org repository, rather than having it already enabled and only a refresh away from being used. For the dialog when installing an extension, maybe it would be better to have a single dialog instead of two, with a Add Repository checkbox? I can imagine some confusion with this intermediate step, and it not being obvious that it will be possible to install the extension in the next dialog.

Dalai Felinto commented

2024-04-16 19:34:18 +02:00

Task updated with new design iteration. We may still iterate over the text after (or before?) this is implemented.

👍 1

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Extensions: First time dialogs and setups #120665

Preferences

Text

Drag in a extensions.blender.org URL extension

Text

Drag in a extension URL from a repository not added yet

Text

Drag in a extension URL from a unknown repository

Text

Install an Extension