Relink plugin installation on Node.js TW

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#21

I feel like at some point we should compare notes, as it seems like we’ve got very similar usage styles. ie, each TW is it’s own folder, own port, etc, plugins via dragging in. Easy integration to git, and MWS more of interest for multi-user than multi-wiki.

It’s also true to say “Subwikis simply don’t figure into it”, but for me that just leads into the question “what is a subwiki in this context?” That word exists exactly one note on tiddlywiki.com, in “TestCaseWidget”, and doesn’t help explain what it is as it seems to be referring to a different thing.

#22

I wonder if there are many others out there with a similar pattern. I have a feeling it might be an intermediate users usage: it’s something that works and feels fairly simple, but might be missing some additional power afforded by more advanced tools… But I’m not too worried about it.

While I simply repeated the word @TW_Tones had used without thinking about it, what I mean here is the sort of configuration found in tiddlywiki.info Files, tiddlywiki.files Files, environment variables, etc., to build multiple wikis with overlapping content from one folder structure. It looks as though MWS will be a more structured and thorough version of a similar idea.

#23

In both cases the “work”, but I see here a clear differentiation between installation of plugins via the interactive wiki “get new plugin” and placement within the file system as seperate files and setting tiddlywiki.info.

  • A few comments here suggest this is not the case, and I no longer trust what I am told.
#24

As I understand it, there are two types of plugins: official and community made. And two ways of installation: an entry in tiddlywiki.info, and drag-and-drop.

For official plugins, tiddlywiki.info is the way to go. It’s relatively easy to update that config, and then the new versions come along with any new TW release. Installing official plugins by drag and drop would not be ideal.

For community plugins, drag and drop is super convenient and Just Works, and by chat here on the forum, is the recommended way by a number of folks. By contrast, even after reading the docs a few times about installing community plugins via OS environment variables, or PluginFolders, this method leaves my head spinning and anxious. Either way though, updating a community plugin means getting the latest version and updating by basically repeating the original install)

There are caveats to the above though.

  • The tiddlywiki.com documentation for official plugins for node suggests you find what official plugins exist via the control panel. This does not work as described (to great frustration).
  • The documentation for community plugins suggests the most common method is PluginFolders and Environment Variables. Which based on reading the doco and reading the forum, I find highly suspect. I still neither understand how this works, not seen anyone advocate it. By contrast, the official doc says drag-and-drop should only be used for “testing and debugging”, which is basically the opposite to what others (more knowledgable than I) have recommended, and what I ended up doing because all the other options looked complicated and/or badly documented.

I stress again all the above is what I’ve concluded from a combination of using TW5 node and never using TW5 single file (though I generate single-file versions from node in a couple of cases), and reading doco and forum here.

#25

We still need a definitive answer to this and update the doco to provide a little more background.

#26

I also use plugin library to install official plugins. Because I can upgrade all plugins in one click using CPL. I don’t want to edit tiddlywiki.info when I’m using note app.

Doc on tw5-com is outdated.

But our Chinese documentation is up-to-date. So I’m fine with it.