How To Use BumperCar » Using Plug-Ins

BumperCar's capabilities can be expanded by adding software components called plug-ins. A plug-in can provide any number of things: support for a new Internet protocol, a new pane for the Preferences window, or support for a particular image or media format, to name a few.

In addition to plug-ins designed specifically for it, BumperCar supports most components designed to the standard for Mac OS X web browser plug-ins. (In other words, it supports the Netscape/IE plug-in API.) Note that only those Netscape/IE plug-ins which have been "Carbonized" for Mac OS X can be used with BumperCar (or any OS X web browser, for that matter); plug-ins designed for earlier Mac OS versions can't be used.

To add a new plug-in to BumperCar:

If it's a generic web browser plug-in, put it in the Internet Plug-Ins folder in your Library folder. This will make it available to BumperCar and any other web browsers you use.
Otherwise, follow the installation instructions provided with the software you wish to install.

Your Library folder can be ~/Library (the Library folder in your home folder), /Library, or /Network/Library. Choosing the first one will make the plug-in available only to you; the second will make it available to all users on your Mac, and the third will make it available to all users on your network.

Alternatively, you can put BumperCar-specific plugins directly into your copy of BumperCar. This way, if you back up or copy BumperCar to another disk or another computer, the plug-ins will come with it.

To put a plugin into BumperCar's application bundle:

Select your copy of BumperCar in the Finder and choose Show Info from the File menu. Under Mac OS X 10.2 the command is called Get Info.
Choose Application Files from the popup menu, and Plug-ins from the second popup menu that appears. Under Mac OS X 10.2, Plug-ins is one of the items listed on the Get Info panel. Click the disclosure triangle next to the title to have the section displayed.
Click the Add... button. (Due to a bug in Mac OS X, it may be necessary to select a plug-in in the list to make the button available.)
In the panel that appears, navigate to and choose the plug-in. When plug-ins are added, updated, or removed, it may be necesary to quit and restart BumperCar for the changes to take effect. You can monitor the status of BumperCar's plug-ins in Plugin Preferences.