Addons Overview - Vanilla Success
<main> <article class="userContent"> <p>In <strong>Higher Logic Vanilla (Vanilla)</strong>, an <strong>addon </strong>(also known as a <em>plugin</em>) is a feature or tool that can be added to your Vanilla community to <em>customize and</em> <em>enhance the overall experience</em>.</p><ul><li>Some addons are geared toward <em>community users</em>. An addon might, for example, give them more profile-avatar options by means of adding an avatar library to the community.</li><li>Other addons are for the exclusive use of <em>community managers and staff</em>. These provide management tools for administrative functions, such as moderation, gamification, and integrations.</li></ul><p>✔️ <strong>TIP</strong>: For developer information, see <a href="https://success.vanillaforums.com/kb/articles/152" rel="nofollow noreferrer ugc">What is an Addon?</a></p><h2 data-id="addons-per-plan-level"><strong>Addons per </strong>plan level</h2><p>Vanilla offers a variety of addons that are available on <em>all </em>plan subscriptions, while other addons have limited availability by plan level.</p><ul><li>See <a href="https://success.vanillaforums.com/kb/articles/115" rel="nofollow noreferrer ugc">Addon Master List</a> for information about all of our addons.</li></ul><h2 data-id="enable-and-configure-addons">Enable and configure addons</h2><p>Vanilla addons are grouped on <em>a single Dashboard page</em> to simplify managing them. To access it:</p><ol><li>Access the Dashboard.</li><li>Navigate to <strong>Settings > Addons > Addons</strong>.</li></ol><div class="embedExternal embedImage display-large float-none"> <div class="embedExternal-content"> <a class="embedImage-link" href="https://us.v-cdn.net/6030677/uploads/I8NJYWA2Y2VZ/access-addons-page.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener ugc" target="_blank"> <img class="embedImage-img" src="https://us.v-cdn.net/6030677/uploads/I8NJYWA2Y2VZ/access-addons-page.png" alt="access_addons_page.png" height="456" width="1192" loading="lazy" data-display-size="large" data-float="none"></img></a> </div> </div> <h3 data-id="enable-an-addon">Enable an addon</h3><ol><li>Locate the addon that you want to make available.</li><li>Click the addon's toggle on the right to enable it.</li></ol><div class="embedExternal embedImage display-large float-none"> <div class="embedExternal-content"> <a class="embedImage-link" href="https://us.v-cdn.net/6030677/uploads/WDZBULY2KW7Y/addon-enable-toggle.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener ugc" target="_blank"> <img class="embedImage-img" src="https://us.v-cdn.net/6030677/uploads/WDZBULY2KW7Y/addon-enable-toggle.png" alt="Addon-enable toggle.png" height="112" width="812" loading="lazy" data-display-size="large" data-float="none"></img></a> </div> </div> <p>📝 <strong>NOTE</strong>: Some addons can only be enabled by Vanilla staff; others are limited by plan level. If you cannot enable an addon or you do not see an addon you're looking for, contact Vanilla Support.</p><h3 data-id="configure-an-addon">Configure an addon</h3><p>Some addons have a <strong>settings</strong> icon that you can click to configure it.</p><div class="embedExternal embedImage display-large float-none"> <div class="embedExternal-content"> <a class="embedImage-link" href="https://us.v-cdn.net/6030677/uploads/V4MBYTTPYJWE/addon-settings-icon.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener ugc" target="_blank"> <img class="embedImage-img" src="https://us.v-cdn.net/6030677/uploads/V4MBYTTPYJWE/addon-settings-icon.png" alt="Addon-settings icon.png" height="112" width="812" loading="lazy" data-display-size="large" data-float="none"></img></a> </div> </div> <p>We recommend that you visit the Settings page for any addons that you enable. This better ensures that you:</p><ul><li>manage any required settings.</li><li>review what other options can be set in order to maximize the addon's functionality in your community.</li></ul><p>📝 <strong>NOTE</strong>: When you're considering using an addon, be sure to visit our <a href="https://success.vanillaforums.com/kb/categories/4" rel="nofollow noreferrer ugc">dedicated Addons KB section</a> to learn as much as possible about how the addon works and what you can do with it.</p><h2 data-id="disable-an-addon">Disable an addon</h2><p>If you disable an addon, you remove any features and functionality that it added, but the disabling <strong>never</strong> destroys any of the data associated with the addon.</p><p>⭐️ <strong>EXAMPLE</strong>: Disabling the <strong>Polls</strong> addon <em>does not delete any polls or their results</em>, it just hides the polls until the addon is enabled again.</p><h2 data-id="discovering-addon-features">Discovering addon features</h2><p>Addons can do many things. Some common changes include:</p><ul><li>adding options to the Dashboard's menu,</li><li>adding information to discussions and comments,</li><li>changing how parts of the community work and display,</li><li>adding information to user accounts and profiles, and</li><li>adding new pages of content to your community.</li></ul><p>Every addon has a short description of what it does. As a general rule, enabled addons can be disabled, so it's safe to enable an addon to try it out to get a better understanding of how it effects your community.</p><h2 data-id="open-source-addons">Open Source addons</h2><p>You may find some Open Source addons an <code class="code codeInline" spellcheck="false" tabindex="0">open.vanillaforums.com</code>. These are not supported in the <em>Vanilla Hosted solution</em>.</p><p>Anyone can create Open Source addons and make them available. These addons may not be available in the Vanilla Hosted solution because they might not meet our stringent standards for security/scalability.</p><p>If there is an Open Source addon that isn’t available in the Vanilla Hosted solution but which you'd like us to consider making available there, submit it as <a href="https://success.vanillaforums.com/categories/product-ideas" rel="nofollow noreferrer ugc">a product idea</a>.</p> </article> </main>