Plugins can be installed in two ways; manually, and from the plugin manager. In most cases, plugins should be installed from the plugin manager. It is easier and more convenient.

To install plugins manually, go to http://plugins.jedit.org in a web browser and follow the directions on that page.

To install plugins from the plugin manager, make sure you are connected to the Internet and click the Install tab in the plugin manager window. The plugin manager will then download information about available plugins from the jEdit web site, and present a list of plugins compatible with your jEdit release.

Click on a plugin in the list to see some information about it. To select plugins for installation, click the check box next to their names in the list.

The Total size field shows the total size of all plugins chosen for installation, along with any plugins that will be automatically downloaded in order to fulfill dependencies.

If a previously saved PluginSet was selected, it will automatically be loaded whenever the Install tab is created, and you will see the filename in the hovertip of the choose rolloverbutton, as well as all of the plugins in that set already checked for you.

You can clear the active PluginSet with the clear button next to it, or choose a different PluginSet xml file with the choose button. See the section called “Plugin Sets” for more information.

Once you have specified plugins to install, click Install to begin the download process.

By default, the plugin manager does not download plugin source code, and installs the downloaded plugins in the jars subdirectory of the user-specific settings directory. These settings can be changed in Plugin Manager pane of the Utilities>Global Options dialog box; see the section called “The Plugin Manager Pane”.

The Update tab of the plugin manager is very similar to the Install tab. It lists plugins for which updated versions are available. It will also offer to delete any obsolete plugins.