MSFS ADDONS LINKER

Managing additions (mods, add-ons) in the Community folder

The Community folder which contains all the scenes, airports, planes, modules added to MSFS, can quickly become
very complicated to manage because there is no tree structure possible to classify the loaded elements.

There are several programs that manage the "add-ons" of the Community folder.
This tutorial introduces the free software "MSFS addons Linker".
NB: french translation in on https://www.simvol.org

A- INSTALLATION

- Download the software "MSFS_Addons_Linker_v11_ywFSX.zip" on the developer's website or on flightsim.to :

- Once the folder has been unzipped and the product installed on the disk of your choice (C: or another, not
necessarily on the disk which contains MSFS) you must create the directory and the subfolders which will receive the
addons.

This directory can be created in the “MSFS_Addons_Linker_v11_ywFSX” folder (example below) or elsewhere, or
even on another disk. The name is your choice.
It is also necessary to search in "MSFS_Addons_Linker_v11_ywFSX" the file "MSFS_AddonsLinker.exe" and create
a shortcut to put on the Windows desktop.

Below, example, with a directory named "Linker_community" with a first level of sub-folders to classify the addons:
You can of course choose the names of subfolders that suit you well and each subfolder can also contain a tree of
subfolders:

You must then click on the Linker shortcut to launch the program that opens, the first time in an "Options" window”
In this window, if it is not pre-filled (you must then check the links), select the directory created previously which will
contain all the addons and indicate where the Community directory of FS2020 is located.

After pressing OK, the user window opens and you can check the tree structure of your directory and its subfolders:
Example:

NB: you can always come back and modify the options from the "Tools then Options" menu:
 B- USE

To use MSFS Addons Linker (short for "Linker" in this tutorial), you must store the addons in the directory created
previously (Linker_Community in our example). Linker will be responsible for creating links in the MSFS Community
folder, there will never be any duplication of files.

Many sites provide free addons, like flightsim.to and simvol.org. Others are chargeable, but the process is the same.

WARNING: some addons are done by an installer who, implicitly, puts the module in the Community folder and
therefore does not go through Linker. This is the case for the Airbus A32NX and for the pilot module with two "Your
Controls". But it is possible to configure them so that they create their files in the Linker addons directory.

The downloaded addons are in compressed format and you have to decompress them and only take the folder (or
files) containing the files needed by MSFS to store it in Linker.

For those who are just starting out, it will be quick, for those who already have a large number of addons, the tidying
up will be more important.

CAUTION: Linker is the one who creates the links in Community, so it must be empty at the start: save its content
elsewhere.

After installation, Linker opens in a two-part window:

- on the left, the tree structure and its content
- on the right, the contents of the Community folder

Example with addons already loaded and an "unfolded" tree structure:

Addons not present in Community are preceded by a red circle.

The addons that we want to see present in Community will be preceded by a green circle.
The advantage of this software is to only put in Community what is necessary for its flight (planes, regions, etc.)
However, there are some addons that we use all the time and therefore must always be in Community.
Two possibilities:
- place them directly in Community without listing them in Linker,
- put them in Linker and create a "Preset" which contains only these addons (see the creation of a “preset” below).

Example of minimum "Community" (everyone puts what they want):

We can then create other "Presets" which take all or part of the basic one and add other addons:
example: adding "Norway" scenes:

- scenes in Linker but not yet in Community

- scenes added to Community (by clicking on the white square to the left of the name of either the folder or each file)
Of course, if you had to select each time what should go in Community, that wouldn't be practical.
Linker therefore uses "Presets" which are pre-recorded situations allowing a single click to store all the content in
Community by replacing the existing one (remember, these are only links).

Example of creating a "preset"

You must first select all the files it should contain by changing them from red to green which puts them in Community.

You must then create the "preset" by clicking on the "create new preset" button
Once OK validated, the “preset” is created and can be found in the “preset” selection window by clicking on the “Apply
preset” button:
If you have created several flight environments by “preset”, they will appear in this window and, by clicking on the
square in front of the name and pressing OK, the addons replace the previous ones in the Community folder.

All this is very fast because, in the Community folder, the files are not copied, they are links to the files
contained in Linker.

Case of an empty Community

During the updates of MSFS, it happened that the content of Community was corrupted or prevented the update.
It is recommended to only do updates with an empty Community.
We can therefore create an empty “preset” which will allow the MSFS update to be launched without risk.
To do this, you just have to deselect all the addons present and create the preset.

NB: it is prudent to create this preset before putting addons in Linker.

NB: this operation is not mandatory, it is just a security.

C- Manage dependencies
As in any simulator, some scenes or airports can use object libraries (libraries) that must of course be put in
Community when you want to use the scene or the airport.

MSFS Addons Linker allows you to manage these dependencies very easily since they are installed in its directory (in
a “Libraries” sub-folder for example).

In Linker, find the scene that uses libraries (indicated by the author) and right click on it to open the menu for
accessing the "Dependencies selection" window. Select "Set dependencies for this selected addon…"

In the dependency selection window, search in the appropriate folder for the files that should be installed with the
scene and select them.
Click on OK and the relationship is established, all you have to do is select the scene for it to be installed in
Community with the dependent libraries.
D- Updating a « preset »

You may want to modify a “preset” (add or remove elements) without deleting it and creating another one.
You can do this with the "edit" icon at the bottom of the element selection window

Simply select the items to add (turning them to "green") or to remove (turning them to red) and click OK in the update
window that opens

The update will be effective the next time the “preset” is reloaded.
 E- Additional informations

1- It is possible that by loading your addons file in Linker you have duplicates: they are indicated as follows:

It’s not a gene, but it’s not very "aesthetic".

If, when you add new addons in the folder used by Linker, it is already launched, you will be warned by a message
and you will have to click on the icon to its left to update (refresh) Linker.

2- You can view the thumbnails of the addons by hovering the mouse over the icon to the right of the file name.
3- In the icon bar, you will find 3 specific buttons:

- an “Addons map” button which displays a zoomable map (several base maps) of the scenes and airports contained
in the Linker's addons folder

- an "Addons grid view" button which displays a window summarizing all the content of the addons folder with their
situation in relation to the current "preset" (red or green circle), their type, size and more.
- a "Thumbnails gallery" button which displays a window with all the thumbnails found in the addon files, indicating
whether the file is or is not in Community.
NB: If you modify the Community folder via Linker while FS2020 is running, these modifications cannot be taken into
account until the next launch of FS2020.
But nothing prevents to update the files of Linker with new addons and to create, modify or delete presets when
FS2020 is running, this one using the Community found when it was launched.

- Pacha35 – https://www.simvol.org