Ok here is my situation and what I mean by the title.
I have a friend and a family member that like me use Pidgin. Both of them are not very techy and guiding them step by step on how to download, install and activate plugins for pidgin can sometimes be a nightmare. I have even written the steps-by-steps on a TiddlyWiki for them to have access to even without having to access the web, and they still do it wrong.
Now I know that a lot of people repacakge software with junk and host them online for others to give it a go. I want to do the same with PortablePidgin in such a way that when they install it, it already includes all the plugins we use, etc.
I think this can be done using software that is already found here @ PortableApps.com, such as:
Pa.c Installer
PortablePidgin
And some how have the extra plugins be part of the installer.
Given that all of this is open-source, I hope that it can be done without any problem, futher more, that the actuall packaging doesn't turn out to be rocket science to me. ^_^
So if anybody can give me the 411 and point me in the right way, it will great outstanding. Thanks.
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When you run Pidgin Portable, settings are saved in the Data folder (when the program exits). Assuming that these plugins are also copied with the other settings, then the PortableApps.com Installer will not work (when you try to use it to compile the PidginPortable folder, it will [ignore] the Data folder and simply create an empty one when you try to install).
You could just distribute a zipped version, and have the person you give it to extract it through the built-into-windows compressed folder extractor thingy. If you want to get a installer for it (a PAF installer) with the Data folder contents included, you will need to do more work involving writing NSIS code.
You can make an installer if you want using NSIS Portable without writing code, too (but it won't automatically detect the X:\PortableApps folder). Just zip your PidgenPortable folder, then, on the NSIS menu, click the second option, Create installer from zip file.
The rest should be easy for you to do (if you don't know what something is, its best to leave it default).
I hope this helped
EDIT: Either version of NSIS will work fine for this purpose.
I use Peazip for this.
After you set up your PidginPortable, use Peazip Portable to create a new archive as a self-extracting 7z file.
It will create a file called PidginPortable.exe.
Rename this to PidginPortableCustom.paf.exe.
(You can actually rename it to anything.paf.exe, but to avoid confusion, don't name it the same as the normal installer.)
Now it will install fine using the menu's Install A New App function.
BITD, the original portable apps installers were just self-extracting zip files anyway. These are usually fine for the initial install, but subsequent updates should be done with the normal installer from PortableApps.com so that they don't overwrite preferences.
I made this half-pony, half-monkey monster to please you.
Just put the plugins, settings files, etc. in DefaultData. Then you can use the PA.c Installer to create your custom Pidgin Portable and the plugins will come along.
You can also edit Pidgin's appinfo.ini to give your custom Pidgin Portable a custom installer name, to make sure nobody gets your Pidgin confused with the official Pidgin Portable.
"The question I would like to know, is the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe and Everything. All we know about it is that the Answer is Forty-two, which is a little aggravating."
yes. that will definitely work. (unless the launcher handles DefaultData and Data differently, but that's a different story.)
But to elaborate a little more on that... run pidgin, get your plugins and whatever you want to add, close pidgin. Then go to your PidginPortable\App\DefaultData folder and delete the folder. Then copy PidginPortable\Data to PidginPortable\App. Rename Data to DefaultData and your good to go.
Now you can use the PA.c Installer without a problem.
Thank you guys for the help and recommendation. It actually worked. We are up and running and hopefully this will finally make things easy for all of us, specially me. ^_^
in_vino_veritas,_in_aqua_sanitas.