Allow to install the downloaded zip with 1 click

[NikolaiVChr]

When user click download on the repo and get a zip, it would be nice if that zip could be installed just by clicking "install add-on" button in Blender.

I just cannot get it to work, in old days there was a bug that if the folder inside the zip had a dot in the name it wouldn't work. Tried that and it still don't work. The nesting into io_scene_ac3d should also not be a problem according to various sources.

[Entamut]

Hi @NikolaiVChr!

Short version: sorry, nesting seems to be the issue

I've being trying for a while and I think I solved the "issue" (it is not an issue ;) ).
I think the main problem is Blender requires the plugin files to be in the first level folder. When someone downloads a zip the plugin GitHub repo (this repo), the first level of the path is the name of the repo and the second level is the folder containing the files. That won't work for now (nesting).

Trying to clarify (steps to check my argument):

• Download as zip this repo
• Unzip
• In my case I got the following folder structure: "./Blender-AC3D-2.80/io_scene_ac3d"
• Inside the io_scene_ac3d folder I find the files of the plugin

Blender expects the files to be in the first folder, so they should be in Blender-AC3D-2.80.

Steps to fix (my proposal):

• Rename the repo from "Blender-AC3D" to "io_scene_ac3d"
• Move all files from "io_scene_ac3d/io_scene_ac3d" to "io_scene_ac3d"
• Delete the empty folder "io_scene_ac3d/io_scene_ac3d"

Proof that it works:

• I completed the steps in my own repo https://github.com/Entamut/io_scene_ac3d
• After that I download as zip (using the button provided by GitHub and Chrome; this is a Mac and Safari unzips everything by default)
• Then I selected "Edit -> Preferences -> Add-ons" in Blender and clicked on "Install..."

And the plugin got installed as shown:

Additional comments by my side:

• Drag & drop install of add-ons seems to be removed from Blender 2.8x (for now)
• I think this way of installing (via install button) is the preferred one. On Mac this installs the script on user's library folder (e.g. "/Users/riki/Library/Application Support/Blender/2.82/scripts/addons/io_scene_ac3d-master")
• I think current way of installing is discouraged for a few platforms. On Mac it requires to open Blender package (application) and drop the files somewhere inside. From a standard user point of view that is crazy. It is quite similar to messing with .exe files in Windows, like you could unzip those exe files and put something inside. Totally insane ;) (e.g. "/Applications/Blender.app/Contents/Resources/2.82/scripts/addons/io_scene_ac3d")
• Another good thing is you can remove the plugin if required (remove button appears in Mac when installing with the button, but it didn't when using the old method)
• Unfortunately, when downloading the zip, the folder includes the name of the branch, so you get io_scene_ac3d-master. I think that is something that could be fixed via releases ;)

That's all!

[NikolaiVChr]

Thanks for figuring this out.
Will probably do that then, or maybe just start making releases with pre-prepared zips.