Missing plugin(s)

[zews 1]

I just downloaded and used Cura 4.

Previously I have used a very old version of Cura mostly because it had a plugin called "Pause at height" which I have used regularly for certain projects. This plugin allowed me to insert metal hardware into the print while the printing was paused.

Cura 4 did not seem to contain any plugins. So I searched for a solution on the Ultimaker web site.

At https://ultimaker.com/en/resources/21966-cura-plugins I found this:
 

How to install plugins

1. On your computer, go to the Cura folder.

   Windows: Located in 'program files' folder.

   Mac: Located in the applications folder.

2. Open the folder and find the following file path: Cura/Contents/Resources/cura/plugins
3. This folder contains a few other plugins, like '3MF Reader' and 'Autosave'.
4. Download a plugin and unzip it.
5. Move the entire folder into the plugins folder.
6. (Re)start Cura

None of these instructions work on my computer. I am running Mac OS X High Sierra, Version 10.13.6

1. I have no Cura folder, only the Ultimaker Cura application in the Applications folder.
2. The only way I can follow the suggested file path (which does not exist on my computer) is by right clicking on the Ultimaker Cura application icon, and choose "Show Package Contents". I can then follow a path to Contents/Resources/plugins/plugins.
3.This folder contains a long list of seemingly available plugins. "Pause at height" is not one of them.
4. This instruction makes no sense. Download? I am in a folder with many plugins. There is nothing to download. They all seem to be in this folder. There is no ZIP file anywhere in the plugins folder.
5. This instruction also makes no sense. What entire folder am I supposed to move where?

Please help.

[ahoeben 1,948]

The “plugins”  you are looking for are called “postprocessing scripts” in newer versions of Cura. See the Extensions menu, Post Processing.

[zews 1]

Thank you ahoeben! That is exactly what I was looking for.

What is that long list of "plugins" I found in Contents/Resources/plugins/plugins? None of those seem to appear in Extensions > Post Processing under post processing scripts.

[ahoeben 1,948]

You are still confusing "plugins" and "scripts". What used to be a "plugin" in the old Cura is now called a "script". You might infer from that that what is now called a "plugin" is something different.

 

A large part of the functionality of Cura is implemented as a "plugin". Instead of the program being a single block of code with all functionality built-in, it consists of a smaller "core" which is extended with plugins (which can - in theory - be disabled/removed). These plugins add different types of functionality. For example loading different 3d formats is implemented as plugins, but also connecting to printers (over USB, or over the network). Even the different "views" such as the normal view, layer view and x-ray view are plugins. Even the functionality to run "scripts" on the created gcode is by itself a plugin ("PostProcessing").

 

Most of the plugins that you found are enabled by default, so you never need to worry about them. The plugins that are available in the Marketplace are plugins of the same type (NOT postprocessing scripts).