Using Plugins

Every plugin consists of one or more plugin functions. We have following plugin functions: file viewer, archiver, menu extension, thumbnail loader, and file system. You can see the list of supported functions in the plugin in the Plugins Manager dialog box. See how to use different plugin functions in following sections.

Each plugin has its own help which is available in Plugins section of this help (see Contents tab). You can find there details on purpose, using, configuring, and keyboard shortcuts of all plugins.

File Viewer

This function adds an ability to display content of a file.

See Viewing File for details about using viewers.

Every plugin with the file viewer function adds its file type associations into Viewers configuration, you can find there what file types are supported.

Archiver

Archiver function includes packing, listing, unpacking, and deleting from archive files.

See Opening Archive Files, Packing Files and Directories, and Unpacking Archive File for details about using archivers.

Some plugins support only unpacking - in such cases you can install additional archiver software and use it as external archiver (see External Archivers Locations configuration for supported types of archivers).

Every plugin with the archiver function adds its archive file type associations into Archives Associations in Panels configuration, Packers in Pack Dialog Box configuration, and Unpackers in Unpack Dialog Box configuration, you can find there what archive file types are supported.

Menu Extension

Plugin with this function adds commands to the Plugins menu. To separate commands added by different plugins Salamander creates submenu with the name of plugin for each such plugin.

To make repeated use of plugin menu command easier we have added the Last Command (the Ctrl+I key) item to the Plugins menu (just below Plugins Manager). This item always changes to the last used plugin menu command.

You can assign keyboard shortcut to any plugin menu command, see the Keyboard button in the Plugins Manager dialog box.

Thumbnail Loader

When you use Thumbnails view mode in panel (see Selecting Current View), you can see thumbnail (small picture, preview) for each displayed file. Plugin with thumbnail loader function can supply thumbnails for many types of files, see the line Thumbnails in the Plugins Manager dialog box.

File System

This function makes possible to communicate with various servers, services, and devices (e.g. FTP servers, SCP servers, Windows Registry, and Windows Mobile devices) as if they were local file systems. It means you can use e.g. the Copy command for downloading files from and uploading files to FTP/SCP servers, the View command for viewing files from FTP/SCP servers, etc.

See Opening Plugin File Systems for details about using plugin file systems.

See Also

Managing Plugins
Configuring Plugins