Vim Plugins - Installation guide

In preparation for 'Vim Showcase' series, were I'll be showcasing plugins and other vim tricks, I've decided to dedicate this short article to the process of setting up vim for installing plugins, as a reference to those of you who haven't done it already.

Vim is a great tool with a lot of amazing features that come out of the box. Sometimes, though, a little push is needed to take the experience to a whole new level.

This article expects the readers to be familiar with running basic commands in the terminal as well as basic vim knowledge including running vim commands.

Introduction

• What are vim plugins?
  Vim plugins are, in essence, scripts that are used to add new features to the editor or extend the already existing ones
• What are plugins used for?
  Plugins are used to bring anything from color schemes to providing full fledged IDE-like features to vim editor.
• How are vim plugins written?
  Vim plugins are written using Vim Script
• What is Vim Script?
  Vim Script is a language used by vim for startup files, syntax files, plugins and any other configuration of the editor
  For more info you can reference vim help
• How to get vim plugins?
  Staring from Vim 8 plugins are supported and should be placed in ~/.vim/pack/vendor/.
  There is also a possibility of using a plugin manager to streamline the process of installing, using, updating and removing plugins

In this article I am going to explain how to use Vundle, short for vim bundle, as the plugin manager

As taken from their help page:

Vundle allows you to...

• keep track of and configure your scripts right in the .vimrc
• install configured scripts (a.k.a. bundle)
• update configured scripts
• search by name all available Vim scripts
• clean unused scripts up
• run the above actions in a single keypress with interactive mode

Vundle automatically...

• manages the runtime path of your installed scripts
• regenerates help tags after installing and updating

Installing Vundle

In order to install Vundle git must be present on the system, which you can check by running:

git
bash: git: command not found

If you get command not found you will need to install it using your distribution package manager.

With that out of the way, we are ready to install Vundle. All you have to do is run:

 git clone https://github.com/VundleVim/Vundle.vim.git ~/.vim/bundle/Vundle.vim

After the Vundle has installed, there is a little configuration that needs to be done, in order for vim to recognize Vundle and start loading the plugins

Configuring Vundle

Open your vimrc file, which will most likely be ~/.vimrc, and paste the following boilerplate code at the beginning:

set nocompatible              " be iMproved, required
filetype off                  " required

set rtp+=~/.vim/bundle/Vundle.vim
call vundle#begin()

Plugin 'VundleVim/Vundle.vim'   " leave as first item

" All of your Plugins must be added here

call vundle#end()            " required
filetype plugin indent on    " required"

This code ensures that Vundle is started with vim, and to keep track of the installed plugins.

Note: As the comment in the boilerplate suggests, all of the Plugins must be added after call vundle#begin() and before call vundle#end() in order for them to be recognized by Vundle, and not cause error when starting vim.

With this out of the way, we are ready to install some plugins

Installing Plugins

To install a plugin from github, do the following:

1. Find the plugin you want to install and note the URL.
   Example: https://github.com/kana/vim-textobj-user
2. Take the author/name portion of the URL.
   In this case: kana/vim-textobj-user
3. Put Plugin 'author/name' in the designated area in vimrc file.
   Example: Plugin 'kana/vim-textobj-user'

Note: To see all of the URLs supported, reference :h vundle-plugins-uris

After, we have put in the list of plugins we want, vim needs to be reloaded.
We can do it by simply exiting and entering vim again or by running :source % directly in vim.

Finally to instruct Vundle to download the necessary plugins run :PluginInstall.
You will see a new window pop up on the side, with the list of all the plugins, and each line will be highlighted one by one as the plugin is being installed.

Note: This window can be closed like any other, using :q or Ctrl + zz.

After vim is restarted the plugin will be loaded and ready to use.

For any plugin specific configuration reference the specific usage guide.

Vundle Commands

For reference purposes, I will list all of the commands that are available after configuring Vundle.

• :PluginInstall: Will install all plugins configured in your .vimrc. Newly installed plugins will be automatically enabled.
• :PluginUpdatate: Install or update the configured plugins.
• :PluginSearch: Search Vim Scripts for matching plugins.
• :PluginClean: Requests confirmation for the removal of all plugins no longer configured - in your .vimrc but present in your bundle installation directory.
• :PluginList: Displays a list of installed bundles.

Note: For more information about any of these commands, reference :h command

Conclusion

With this one time setup out of the way, you are ready to explore the wonderful world of vim plugins.

Stay tuned for 'Vim Showcase' series to learn more about vim, and to discover some great vim plugins to boost your productivity.