Quick start

Instructions for a user on how to get the plugin working. First section deals with QGIS, and what versions are best to work with. This is followed by a section on how to install the CPLUS plugin, ending with a short tutorial accompanied by a video to show the user how to use the plugin.

QGIS version

The CPLUS plugin might have issues with older versions of QGIS. QGIS 3.32 or higher has thoroughly been tested with no major known issues. Here is a list of possible issues which may occur if using an outdated version of QGIS are being used:

• Processing stalls and does not continue
• Symbologies (e.g. colour ramps) cannot be applied to the output layers
• Reports cannot be generated

Best will be to update QGIS to the latest version, even for other plugins, as bugs and improvements will be available for those versions. To update QGIS, a user can do the following:

• Go to the QGIS download webpage
• Download or follow the instructions for the OS on which QGIS needs to be installed
• If a specific version (not the latest version) of QGIS needs to be installed, click on the All releases tab

OSGeo4W network installer

This section will only be helpful for Windows users. The OSGeo4W network installer provides much more option in a user-friendly UI. Advantages of using this installer:

• Easily allows a user to install both the latest and the latest LTR versions of QGIS
• User can select the exact libraries and versions they want to install (e.g. gdal)
• Option to include (or not include) GRASS and SAGA
• Extensions for QGIS
• If a user wants to update an existing QGIS installation, simply run the osgeo.exe in the installation directory
• Simply run the osgeo.exe to update already installed libraries, or install new libraries
• Easy to remove libraries or extensions
• Python modules
• And much more

Installation

Plugin repository

During the development phase the plugin is available to install via a dedicated plugin repository. This link should be used: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ConservationInternational/cplus-plugin/release/docs/repository/plugins.xml

• Open QGIS application and open plugin manager.
• Click on Plugins -> Manage and Install Plugins (see Figure 1)

• Open the Settings tab

• Click the Add button
• Provide the following parameters:
  • Name: Provide a name for the repository
  • URL: Paste the above repository URL

• Click OK
• The result should be similar to the following:

Install from QGIS plugin repository

• Open QGIS application and open plugin manager.
• Click on Plugins -> Manage and Install Plugins (see Figure 1)

Figure 1: QGIS plugin manager

• Search for CPLUS in the All page of the plugin manager.
• From the found results, click on the CPLUS result item and a page with plugin information will show up.
• Click the Install Plugin button at the bottom of the dialog to install the plugin.

Install from ZIP file

Alternatively the plugin can be installed using Install from ZIP option on the QGIS plugin manager.

• Download zip file from the required plugin released version https://github.com/ConservationInternational/cplus-plugin/releases/download/{tagname}/cplus.{version}.zip

• Open QGIS application and open plugin manager

• Click on Plugins -> Manage and Install Plugins
• Click on Install from ZIP (Figure 2)
• Select the zip file which contains the plugin
• Click Install Plugin

Figure 2: Plugin manager install from zip option

• From the Install from ZIP page, select the zip file and click the Install button to install plugin

Install from custom plugin repository

Current repository: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ConservationInternational/cplus-plugin/release/docs/repository/plugins.xml

• Open the QGIS plugin manager, then select the Settings page (Figure 3)

NOTE: The plugin is currently in experimental phase, so enable Show also Experimental Plugins

Figure 3: Custom repository installation

• Click Add button on the Plugin Repositories group box and use the above url to create the new plugin repository.
• The plugin should now be available from the list of all plugins that can be installed.

Disable QGIS official plugin repository in order to not fetch plugins from it.

NOTE: While the development phase is on going the plugin will be flagged as experimental, make sure to enable the QGIS plugin manager in the Settings page to show the experimental plugins in order to be able to install it.

When the development work is complete the plugin will be available on the QGIS official plugin repository.

Short tutorial

Short example (Figure 4) on how to set parameters in step 1, implementation models in step 2, and weighing in step 3. For a more detailed instructions on how to use the plugin, see the guide and the manual.

Figure 4: Quick guide on how to use the plugin

---

Last update: October 2, 2024