N Panel Manager addon

TLDR:  We all know the N Panel Tab clutter in Blender. The N Panel Manager solves this problem by providing tools to manage add-ons in Workspace filtering. So instead of long days fine tuning Blender, you can do it now in 2 or 3 hours. (151 add-ons). Although we tested this add-on is still in Beta. Therefore, we ask you to report any issue so we can make the add-on stable for a wide range of scenarios. We tested with Blender 3.1, 3,3, Windows, Linux, and 151 add-ons (build-in included). 

Why the N Panel Manager

How long does it take you to set up Blender when there is a new version or when the startup file is corrupt? For example, I have in total 151 addons (including some build in ones) that I want to enable in Blender, And setting up Blender as I want to have it usually takes more than four days. 

Why does it take that long? The N Panel (sidebar) gets unreadable when you enable 20+ add-ons. We know that there is a solution, and that is to use Workspaces. But this workflow, without the NPanel Manager, has all kinds of quirks: 

• It's hard to find an add-on in the Workspace Filter. First, you have to read a lot of text.
• Only the enabled add-ons are listed in the Workspace Filter.
• You cannot filter, sort, and use an advanced search.
• Sometimes you don't have any idea what the add-on is about. 
• Often you forget where to find the add-on, and you need to look it up in the preferences. 

(There is another solution that works with renaming the tabs. But the N Panel Manager works very differently, as we see later.)

The Benefits of N Panel Manager

• It saves you precious time settings up Blender with all the add-ons.
• The N Panel Manager creates a workable environment every time you use Blender.
• Use the add-ons again you invested in. You probably don't use many of them because the add-ons are not organized in Blender. 
• Export setups as presets. For example, you can have a light version and another preset where most add-ons are enabled. Import them back in.

The UI shows the features

Known issues

• There might be a quirk when you update an addon, and only then when the addon doesn't register or unregister properly. Sometimes when you uninstall an addon you get a register/unregister error.  When that happens, and you can't enable/disable the addon in the N Panel Manager: go to the Blender's own workspace filter, scroll down to the unknown addons and uncheck the addon that showed an error. 

Release Log

Update 31 May 2022: There is now an initialize button in the preferences. This will enable the N Panel Manager addon in every workspace and load all current data of addons and workspaces in the N Panel Manager's list. See the screenshot below.  You can find the update in the downloads and it's the file: n_panel_manager_V1-2.zip.  Important: Uninstall the old version, save preferences, restart Blender and install the new version (This is the best way to update addons generally). Please mind that this update is tested in 3 different Blender versions. It would be great if you could provide us feedback so we can adjust the addon to a wide range of scenarios. 

The history of the N Panel Manger

I got nearly a nervous breakdown when there was a new Blender version. At such moments, I am less productive for a week, finetuning all the settings. So I decided not to struggle anymore and designed the N Panel Manager. 
Halfway through the addon development, I had to ask Blenderboi to do the more complex coding, and he helped me above expectations. 
And there we have the N Panel Manager that allows us to set up Blender with 150 addons in just 2 or 3 hours (150+ addons including build in) instead of 4 days. 

Roadmap

Depends on requests. 

How to contact us

• You see on the right of this page (if you are logged in): "Ask a Question." After a click, you will see a short form, and I will get a notification. Usually, I will reply within 9 hours unless I am on holiday. 

• You can also join our Discord Server. There you can ask questions, see all updates, and you can submit your art. 

• Or you can contact us at Twitter: @newmediasupply or @BlenderBoi (for technical questions).