F-Spot

What extensions are

F-Spot extensions are means to add new functionality to the application. F-Spot supports two types of extension: exporters (which allow exporting photos to new web services or data storages) and tools (which allow new ways of color correction, duplicate photos finders etc.). Extensions are distributed in form of extension packages.

In the best traditions of not reinventing the wheel extensions can use other extensions, which means that one extension cannot work, if another extension is not installed. This concept of dependance actually means that

• you cannot install an extension, if the extension it depends on, is not present in the system
• you cannot remove an extension on which some other extension depends

Managing extensions

To manage extensions choose Edit » Manage Extensions menu item.

Managing extension repositories

Simply put, repositories are extension storages. They can be either network or local. To add a new repository click Repositories button, choose type of the repository you are about to add and provide either URL or path. If the URL or path you specified doesn't contain a description (index) file for extensions, a warning message will pop up to tell you that.

To remove a repository click Repositories button again, choose the repository you are about to delete and click Delete button.

Installing and updating extensions

To install an extension click Install extensions... button. In the newly presented dialog

1. Choose repository to install from all known repositories or just one of available repositories
2. Choose, what extension packages you want to see: all, only new, only updates
3. Click the Update button to update list of available extension packages by given criteria
4. Choose extensions you want to install/update, click "Information" to see summary on selected package, if you want to
5. Click Forward to proceed with installation

Enabling and disabling extensions

You might want to temporarily enable or disable a particular extension package, for example, if the extension is not stable enough to handle a large amount of photos or if menus get crowded with extensions.

In the Manage Extensions dialog select the extension package and click Enable or Disable. You will have to restart F-Spot to let changes apply.

Removing extensions

If you don't need an extension you can remove it from the system completely. In the Manage Extensions dialog select the extension package you want to remove and click Delete.

Reading summary of extensions

Every extension package contains metadata that provides the following information about the extension:

1. Description, which usually covers puprose of the extension
2. Version
3. Author
4. Dependencies

In the Manage Extensions dialog select the extension package you want to read summary of and click Information.

Developing extensions

Extend F-Spot document gives instructions on developing your own extensions for F-Spot.

A list of the available extensions and available repositories can be found in the Extensions page.