Linux Joplin 3.7.16
If I open Tools - Options, the resulting panel displays "Plugins" twice in the left hand list. It wasn't immediately clear to me the purpose of each of these.
-
The top "Plugins" manages the actual marketplace/cards (Built-in and external extensions), while the bottom "Plugins" acts as a settings container for configuration choices. This identical naming causes confusion when attempting to locate where to delete, update, or tweak individual extensions. The UI attempts to provide visible distinction by drawing the second "Plugins" with a blue background. Unfortunately, the currently selected item also is painted with a blue background, so if I select the first occurrence of "Plugins", now they both have a blue background.
-
The Solution: I suggest distinguishing the two side-menu labels to clearly indicate their functionality. For example, rename the top management option to "Plugins Management" or "Plugin Manager", and rename the bottom settings container to "Plugins Configuration" or "Plugin Settings".
-
Alternatives Considered: Leaving them identical requires the user to guess or check both screens to locate management tools vs. configuration menus.
-
Also, when the first Plugins is selected, the right panel shows only the installed plugins with the option to delete those not built-in. There is no visual indication this panel can also be used to install additional plugins. Only when I type some text in "Search for plugins..." do I get a panel of boxes showing the plugins available. I typed the single letter "a" in the search box hoping to see them all.
I'd suggest adding a label at the top, above the search box, perhaps "Install plugins", visually similar to the existing "Manage your plugins". Beneath that, add button before the search box labelled "Show available plugins" which just list all of them. If a search is then entered, the boxes displayed can be whittled down to just those satisfying the search.
I realize that this suggestion would move the list of installed plugins all the way to the bottom and off-screen. So, there should probably be a way to clear the displayed list so the user can see his or her list of installed plugins again easily. Or maybe think about moving the install option to the bottom.
