Search Unity

  1. Megacity Metro Demo now available. Download now.
    Dismiss Notice
  2. Unity support for visionOS is now available. Learn more in our blog post.
    Dismiss Notice

Favorites Tab[s] - your favorite assets and game objects

Discussion in 'Assets and Asset Store' started by Flipbookee, Sep 3, 2012.

  1. mcmorry

    mcmorry

    Joined:
    Dec 2, 2012
    Posts:
    580
    It's called competition. It's interest of the other developer to extend his product to make it better then your. Also some developers drop support for their products. And then what we do?
    This is why ideas can't be patented. So please don't limit your products for a fair play that doesn't really fit with open market and business. (otherwise you should not have even started SI3 :p, you are coping idea of other editors :D)
     
    Flipbookee likes this.
  2. Flipbookee

    Flipbookee

    Joined:
    Jun 2, 2012
    Posts:
    2,788
    This sounds like a very interesting idea, I'll try something :)
     
  3. Flipbookee

    Flipbookee

    Joined:
    Jun 2, 2012
    Posts:
    2,788
    Hehe, that makes sense actually :p (except the Si3 part ;) Si3 is pretty unique in the way how it achieves to be faster than anything else and I'll explain how that works on my blog these days)
     
  4. mcmorry

    mcmorry

    Joined:
    Dec 2, 2012
    Posts:
    580
    I never meant that Si3 has no innovation and that is not better than other solutions. I was just saying that the idea of a code editor with autocompletion is not unique. :)
    Is the way an idea (new or already seen) is implemented that makes the difference. And Si3 is the proof of it.
     
    Flipbookee likes this.
  5. Dan2013

    Dan2013

    Joined:
    May 24, 2013
    Posts:
    200
    @Flipbookee
    I like Favorites Tab, and use it all the time.
    After using it for a while, I have two suggestions.

    1) Is that possible to make multiple Favorite Tabs independent to each others?
    I know this may be a non-trivial job. With this feature, Favorite Tabs actually become some generic GameObject/Asset views. This feature will be very useful.

    2) Adding an ordering option to manually order items in Favorites Tabs.
     
    Flipbookee likes this.
  6. Flipbookee

    Flipbookee

    Joined:
    Jun 2, 2012
    Posts:
    2,788
    Hey @Dan2013, thanks man! :)

    I don't understand what you mean exactly in 1)... Can you please explain what cool feature do you have in mind?

    Manual sorting is on my todo list! Not a trivial change though otherwise it would have been released by now. I'll have to check that again over the weekend, so I'll let you know...
     
  7. Dan2013

    Dan2013

    Joined:
    May 24, 2013
    Posts:
    200
    1)
    For example, if I open two Favorite Tabs, tab1 and tab2. When I add an item, GameObjectX, to Favorite Tabs, I can choose to add it to tab1 or tab2. Suppose I add GameObjectX to tab1, and add FolderY to tab2. Then, tab1 and tab2 shows two independent views: tab1 only contains GameObjectX, while tab2 only contains FolderY.
     
    Flipbookee likes this.
  8. Flipbookee

    Flipbookee

    Joined:
    Jun 2, 2012
    Posts:
    2,788
    @Dan2013 Ah okay, I see what you mean. It's doable but a little bit complicated because of the way how it works currently, but let me investigate that first, maybe there's a safer way to do something like that without breaking any of the existing code.
     
    Dan2013 likes this.
  9. Dan2013

    Dan2013

    Joined:
    May 24, 2013
    Posts:
    200
    Cool. Believe me that this feature will be very useful. :)
     
    Flipbookee likes this.
  10. Flipbookee

    Flipbookee

    Joined:
    Jun 2, 2012
    Posts:
    2,788
    Hey folks, the Favorites Tabs is currently available for half of its price for a limited time as part of the Asset Store's Birthday Bonanza Sale along with the other 26 most essential assets for your projects!

    FavsTabsSale.png
    Enjoy the discount! :D
     
  11. Flipbookee

    Flipbookee

    Joined:
    Jun 2, 2012
    Posts:
    2,788
    A friendly reminder, this sale ends today! Not really sure what time exactly, but my best guess would be 3 pm CET, which is in 3 hours from now... ;)
     
  12. Flipbookee

    Flipbookee

    Joined:
    Jun 2, 2012
    Posts:
    2,788
    Hey folks, there is an update to Favorites Tabs waiting for you to download it from the Asset Store!

    Favorites Tabs version 1.2.17 got just released :cool: and it's now compatible with Unity 4.7 and Unity 5.3...

    Enjoy! :D
     
  13. Michael-Ryan

    Michael-Ryan

    Joined:
    Apr 10, 2009
    Posts:
    184
    This is a really nice editor extension! Thanks for providing the source code.

    I added the following to FavoritesTab.cs so that Unity immediately repaints the window whenever something changes in the scene or hierarchy. This is useful to getting immediate feedback on when a favorite scene object becomes enabled or disabled.

    Code (CSharp):
    1.    internal void OnHierarchyChange()
    2.    {
    3.       this.Repaint();
    4.    }
    Unless you see a reason not to do this, consider adding this code to a future release of FavoritesTab.
     
    Flipbookee likes this.
  14. Flipbookee

    Flipbookee

    Joined:
    Jun 2, 2012
    Posts:
    2,788
    Thanks @Michael Ryan!

    The only reason I can think of for not doing that is the performance when running Editor game. You can imagine there might be many objects in the scene triggering that repaint on all instances of Favorites tabs. It might be a good idea to actually not repaint if game is running?
     
  15. Michael-Ryan

    Michael-Ryan

    Joined:
    Apr 10, 2009
    Posts:
    184
    That's a good point. I added a check locally.

    Code (CSharp):
    1.    internal void OnHierarchyChange()
    2.    {
    3.       if (Application.isPlaying == false)
    4.       {
    5.          this.Repaint();
    6.       }
    7.    }
     
  16. docsavage

    docsavage

    Joined:
    Jun 20, 2014
    Posts:
    1,020
    Hi @Flipbookee,

    Just had an idea for favorites tab. Apologises in advance if it already exists. I have just been testing a scene with a lot of game objects in it. Even though I make them all children of an empty parent object for tidyness Unity insists on opening up the full list of objects even though I have selected the little arrow for collapsing the object list. If there was a lock added to this foldout to prevent it opening unless double clicked on ot the foldout expressly selected then it would save loads of time scrolling down and up through the hierarchy all the time. What do you think??

    doc
     
  17. Wilbert-Blom

    Wilbert-Blom

    Joined:
    Aug 13, 2011
    Posts:
    109
    I'm working on a project on two different computers and using Favorites Tab is speeding things up a lot.
    But every time I load the project on the other computer, it won't update the Favorites.

    I'm using an external harddisk and SynBackPro (http://www.2brightsparks.com/syncback/sbpro.html?gclid=CMyfxuuH98sCFbEy0wod2ZAP5g) to take the project with me and copy it to and from the computers.

    Shouldn't the Favorites travel with the project?
     
    Last edited: Apr 6, 2016
    Flipbookee likes this.
  18. Flipbookee

    Flipbookee

    Joined:
    Jun 2, 2012
    Posts:
    2,788
    Hey @Wilbert Blom, favorites don't travel with the project. They are not supposed to because that wouldn't work well for other team members. All team members have to have their own set of favorites, therefore the favorites are saved in EditorPrefs.

    So in your case you should have two sets of favorites, one on each machine. But I understand some people may prefer to have the same set of favorites on both machines, and I think there's an easy solution for that, so I'll try to add that as an option. :)
     
  19. Flipbookee

    Flipbookee

    Joined:
    Jun 2, 2012
    Posts:
    2,788
    Hey man, sorry, somehow I missed your post... :oops:

    That's a little confusing. Can you explain a little more what's the idea and how is it related to Favorites Tabs? Thanks! :)
     
  20. Wilbert-Blom

    Wilbert-Blom

    Joined:
    Aug 13, 2011
    Posts:
    109
    Thanks for your reaction (and the new option :))
    Would it also be possible to have multiple Favorites Panels, each with their own list of Favorites ?
     
  21. docsavage

    docsavage

    Joined:
    Jun 20, 2014
    Posts:
    1,020
    Hi @Flipbookee,

    A picture is worth a thousand words (and in my case even more:)). Thanks

    Favoritesapps.png
     
    Flipbookee likes this.
  22. Flipbookee

    Flipbookee

    Joined:
    Jun 2, 2012
    Posts:
    2,788
    Ah, I see what you mean. I'd have to find a way how to alter the built in behavior of the Hierarchy window for that. It doesn't sound easy, but I'll investigate! Unity Editor is full of surprises and there might be a way to achieve that...
     
  23. docsavage

    docsavage

    Joined:
    Jun 20, 2014
    Posts:
    1,020

    Hi @Flipbookee,

    Just seen your post. Thanks

    Just a thought but I think a useful addition and selling point if easy enough to implement.

    thanks

    doc
     
    Flipbookee likes this.
  24. Wilbert-Blom

    Wilbert-Blom

    Joined:
    Aug 13, 2011
    Posts:
    109
    Hi,

    Would it be possible to add a manual sorting option to the Favorites tab. So, actually no sorting at all but drag and drop to get the order you want. Like in the Hierarchy window?
     
    mcmorry likes this.
  25. GamerPET

    GamerPET

    Joined:
    Dec 25, 2013
    Posts:
    370
    Hello,

    is there a way to make Favorite Tab work with QHierarchy?

    One small fix would be to disable the "Star" from the Hierarchy and implement a way to drag and drop the object into the Favorites Tab. That way I can still add GameObjects as Favorites.

    Thanks
     
  26. makeshiftwings

    makeshiftwings

    Joined:
    May 28, 2011
    Posts:
    3,350
    FavoritesTab throws this error occassionally in Unity 5.4 beta:

    GetBool is not allowed to be called from a ScriptableObject constructor (or instance field initializer), call it in OnEnable instead. Called from ScriptableObject 'FavoritesTab'.
    See "Script Serialization" page in the Unity Manual for further details.
    UnityEditor.EditorPrefs:GetBool(String, Boolean)
    FavoritesTab:.cctor() (at Assets/Plugins/Editor/FlipbookGames/FavoritesTab/Scripts/FavoritesTab.cs:240)


    Still seems to work fine though.
     
    Flipbookee likes this.
  27. Flipbookee

    Flipbookee

    Joined:
    Jun 2, 2012
    Posts:
    2,788
    Yes, there's no harm on that error in the beta, but I'll have to fix it anyway. Thanks!
     
  28. S_Darkwell

    S_Darkwell

    Joined:
    Oct 20, 2013
    Posts:
    320
    @Flipbookee: Hello, sir!

    I realize that development on this asset has slowed in favor of Si3 (which is fantastic, thank you so much)!

    I was curious if there was any any progress on displaying thumbnails in his asset.

    Ultimately, I was hoping to locate an asset like this one that I could use as a "Materials Palette" from which I could easily drag and drop materials while building level geometry in Unity. While this asset and others work, without Thumbnails, the productivity (and creativity!) is greatly reduced.

    If this feature was already implemented, or will be implemented within a relatively short amount of time, I would gladly invest in your asset.

    Thank you so much in advance, and be well!
    - S.
     
    Flipbookee likes this.
  29. Flipbookee

    Flipbookee

    Joined:
    Jun 2, 2012
    Posts:
    2,788
    Unfortunately no, there was no progress with thumbnails. If it was just about the rendering of thumbnails that would be really easy, but there's much more than that only. I'd have to change the layout of the items listed in tabs so they don't get listed only vertically, but horizontally and vertically as tiles, similarly to how we see assets in the Project tab in its Two Columns Layout. In order for that change in the layout to be complete, it would have to come with full keyboard and mouse support including multiple selections. So it isn't a trivial feature, but then again it's nothing too complex either. :p If If I could spare only a week of my time that would be enough, I think... I can't promise that, but I can at least spend some time to get a more precise estimate and if it turns out to be less than a week then I'd definitely add that feature! Otherwise if it takes more than a week I'd have to postpone that until there's more time for me to finish that in one go, because I hate when I have to stop in the middle of something like that. ;) Give me a few days and I'll let you know if thumbnails can be expected soon.
     
    S_Darkwell likes this.
  30. S_Darkwell

    S_Darkwell

    Joined:
    Oct 20, 2013
    Posts:
    320
    Thank you for your quick and in-depth response!

    I can certainly appreciate the intricacies that you mention. I will keep my eyes out and fingers crossed that this won't prove too difficult a task -- but if it is, I understand, of course.

    Thank you again, and be well!
    - S.
     
    Flipbookee likes this.
  31. mcmorry

    mcmorry

    Joined:
    Dec 2, 2012
    Posts:
    580
    @Flipbookee I just updated to 5.4.0f3 and I get this error:

    [Error] GetBool is not allowed to be called from a ScriptableObject constructor (or instance field initializer), call it in OnEnable instead. Called from ScriptableObject 'FavoritesTab'.
    See "Script Serialization" page in the Unity Manual for further details.
    0. UnityEditor.EditorPrefs.GetBool()
    1. FavoritesTab..cctor()

    Anyway it seems to work correctly so far but would be nice to get it fixed.
    Thanks.
     
  32. Flipbookee

    Flipbookee

    Joined:
    Jun 2, 2012
    Posts:
    2,788
    @mcmorry, I'm fixing it and I'll upload an update soon! It's safe to ignore the error for now... Thanks for the heads up :)
     
    tosiabunio and mcmorry like this.
  33. tosiabunio

    tosiabunio

    Joined:
    Jun 29, 2010
    Posts:
    115
    QHierarchy allows you to set indentation and make it work just fine with Favorite Tab.
     
    Flipbookee likes this.
  34. Jimww

    Jimww

    Joined:
    May 14, 2013
    Posts:
    63
    Yes, that getBool error is really annoying to have to read after every build. No more gratification of not seeing any errors. I just pulled your asset out because I couldn't take it any longer.
     
  35. Flipbookee

    Flipbookee

    Joined:
    Jun 2, 2012
    Posts:
    2,788
    Oh, I'm very sorry! I was busy with family duties and waiting for the weekend, but I can put them on hold a little bit...
     
  36. Flipbookee

    Flipbookee

    Joined:
    Jun 2, 2012
    Posts:
    2,788
    Quick update... I've fixed the error and it wasn't a trivial thing because of the way how the code was organized. There were a couple of unwanted side-effects, all of which are fixed now. This will be released as soon as I finish testing it across different versions of Unity. It will be a tiny update though, as I have to release it quickly this time, so all new features will be pushed to the next release ;)
     
    mcmorry likes this.
  37. Flipbookee

    Flipbookee

    Joined:
    Jun 2, 2012
    Posts:
    2,788
    Hey all, Favorites Tabs version 2.1.18 was just released on Asset Store! :cool:

    This fixes the "error" reported in Unity 5.4.0, so please update your projects.

    Enjoy! :cool:
     
    Jimww and mcmorry like this.
  38. Dan2013

    Dan2013

    Joined:
    May 24, 2013
    Posts:
    200
    @Flipbookee
    Nice to see multiple-tab feature now. :D

    I found all fav tabs save the same favorited items in them.
    The only way to take use of them is to use the "type filter" searching bar in each tab?
    fav_filter.png

    Is that possible support multiple customized fav tabs, where each single tab can contain different types of items?
     
    Last edited: Oct 1, 2016
  39. novaVision

    novaVision

    Joined:
    Nov 9, 2014
    Posts:
    515
    Hi,
    I am using your asset for a long time already. That really saved a lot of time, thanks.
    Just today I have bought another asset (QHierarchy) and I see it's not possible to use them both (
    Here is a video example. The solution I see here is do not hide star icon in hierarchy view, so another icons will not move all the time. Can you add that option please?
     
    Flipbookee and 2dgame like this.
  40. Flipbookee

    Flipbookee

    Joined:
    Jun 2, 2012
    Posts:
    2,788
    Thanks @novaVision for the video!

    There is an option in QHierarchy to offset the icons permanently - see @tosiabunio's earlier post on this page:
    I see my earlier answer to that same question has disappeared (it was posted at the time when Unity switched to the new forums, but since users didn't like them, later they switched back to these forums but the posts didn't get transferred...) so here it is again:

    Open the settings for QHierarchy, like this:
    image (5).png

    Then set the indentation to let's say 16, like this:
    image (1) (2).png

    This will offset all QHierarchy icons by 16 pixels, making room for the Favorites' stars or ribbons...

    Then you should also turn off the "Push other icons" option - right-click a Favorites' star in the Hierarchy window to access the option, it's in the star context menu:
    upload_2016-12-20_8-13-4.png

    I hope this helps :) and I'd appreciate if you (or anyone else saving lots of time with Favorites Tabs) spend a minute or two for posting a nice review :cool: (thanks in advance!)... Favorites Tabs has been helping a lot of Unity developers do stuff faster in the Editor, more than 1000 developers so far, but it has received only 23 reviews (all five stars, of course ;))
     
    novaVision likes this.
  41. Flipbookee

    Flipbookee

    Joined:
    Jun 2, 2012
    Posts:
    2,788
    Hey folks, did you notice Favorites Tabs is on sale? :) It's currently 50% off the regular price, only for the next 2-3 days...

    Enjoy! :cool:
     
  42. Flipbookee

    Flipbookee

    Joined:
    Jun 2, 2012
    Posts:
    2,788
    Just a friendly note, it's the last day of this sale :) Grab the Favorites Tabs while it's on 50% discount!

    upload_2016-12-22_18-46-9.png
     
  43. LarryWP

    LarryWP

    Joined:
    Oct 31, 2014
    Posts:
    57
    I just did!
     
    Flipbookee likes this.
  44. Flipbookee

    Flipbookee

    Joined:
    Jun 2, 2012
    Posts:
    2,788
    Congrats @LarryWP and thanks! :) I'm sure you'll enjoy using it and can't wait to hear your feedback :)

    @ Everyone else - The sale ends in about one hour, so hurry up ;)
     
  45. imgodot

    imgodot

    Joined:
    Nov 29, 2013
    Posts:
    212
    Dang! Missed the sale.

    Question: Can a favorite item be renamed?

    Thanks.
    -- Paul
     
    Last edited: Dec 23, 2016
  46. Flipbookee

    Flipbookee

    Joined:
    Jun 2, 2012
    Posts:
    2,788
    Ugh, I'm sorry Paul! :( I don't know if that helps, but many people have paid the regular price and they are still very happy with it. ;) Just read the reviews, 24 of them and all 5 stars! :cool: You can't find such level of users' satisfaction very often on the Asset Store.

    All favorite items are displayed using their names in Unity and favorite assets optionally with their path within the project. Whenever an item is renamed the change is reflected in the Favorites tabs. So yes, items can be renamed and they will be still in your favorites list since references are not stored by name - if that was your question?
     
  47. mografi_joe

    mografi_joe

    Joined:
    Aug 18, 2015
    Posts:
    14
    Hi Flipbookee,

    Please help! I was using Favorites on my laptop and it worked great. Unfortunately, I've installed Favorites on my Mac desktop running OS X 10.11.6, Unity 5.5.2f1 and a Wacom and it's unusable. The UI becomes unusably unresponsive, if you click and drag the UI freezes until you release, killing the ability to drag at all.

    I first tried different drivers for the Wacom to make sure that wasn't the issue. The only fix I can find is to remove the asset from the project. The UI then becomes normally responsive again.

    I had this same issue when using another asset which lets you drag and drop items to a temporary clipboard. The dev was able to fix it, but it must be something specific to the Unity UI with drag and drop alongside Wacoms on OS X?
     
  48. Flipbookee

    Flipbookee

    Joined:
    Jun 2, 2012
    Posts:
    2,788
    Interesting... Is it becoming unresponsive while dragging something off the Favorites Tabs or from anywhere? What's that other asset?

    Let me check and see if there's anything unusual I reproduce. I have a Wacom built-in on my Windows laptop, so I can only try that... I'll let you know...
     
  49. mografi_joe

    mografi_joe

    Joined:
    Aug 18, 2015
    Posts:
    14
    It's unresponsive anywhere in Unity in the project browser UI. Basically anywhere i get the outline of the favorite star to add/remove a favorite. The other asset I'm using that had drag'n'drop issues is Component Clipboard: https://www.assetstore.unity3d.com/en/#!/content/50686

    Might be worth contacting him to see how he fixed it:
    "
    New version 1.1.4 is currently "Published".
    - Change the drag'n'drop pasting system to avoid some weird behavior on Mac.
    Thank @mografi_jpruss2001 for support and help testing on Mac.
    "
     
    Flipbookee likes this.
  50. Flipbookee

    Flipbookee

    Joined:
    Jun 2, 2012
    Posts:
    2,788
    Well, I tried different things in order to reproduce the weird behavior, but it works fine on my Wacom on Windows. :-\

    Yes, I'll do that... Thanks @mografi_jpruss2001!