# Installing a collection

## Loading collections

Now that you have the **QGIS Resource Sharing** plugin installed, you can browse available collections (from the repositories registered in the `Settings` tab) and install them in your file system, making them available to QGIS.

The first time you use the plugin, there will be no collections in the `All collections` tab.

But once you have loaded the available repositories, the officially approved collections should be there.

Loading the repositories is done by pushing the `Reload Repositories` button in the `Settings` tab.

It is a good idea to **_reload_** the repositories now and then, so that your local copies are kept up-to-date.

To install a collection, you go to the `All collections` tab, select it and click the `Install` button (below the collection
description).

The resources in the collection will be installed (the location in the file system depends on their type).

**Note**: When you have installed a collection from a repository, the complete _repository_ will be duplicated in your local file
system (under `resource_sharing/repositories` in the QGIS user directory).

In addition, the _collection_ will be added under the _collections_ directory (`resource_sharing/collections`).
The directory name is composed of the collection name and the repository name (the _QGIS R script collection_ from the _QGIS Official Repository_ is located in the `resource_sharing/collections/QGIS R script collection (QGIS Official Repository)`
directory).

The collection folder will have sub-directories for the resources as desrcibed in the [repository structure](../authoring/repository-structure).

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## Resources types

### SVG

If the collection contains SVGs, the path to the collections folder will be included in your QGIS SVG search path.
The SVGs will be available when editing symbols (under the `User Symbols` section in **SVG Groups**).

![SVG Group](/assets/img/svg_group.png)

### Symbol

The symbols, colorramps, textformats (since version 0.14.0) and
labelsettings (since version 0.14.0) from the style XML files in the
collection will become available in the Style Manager.

![Style Manager](/assets/img/style_manager.png)

For each symbol XML file, the plugin will create a tag where the last part of the name is the filename of the XML file (without the _.xml_).
The first part of the tag name identifies the collection.

Click on the tabs `All`, `Marker`, `Line`, `Fill`, `Color Ramp`, `Text Format` or `Label Settings` to see the items installed from the collection.

### Expression

> since version 0.15.0

The expressions defined in the collection's expression (JSON) files are made available under _User expressions_ in the expression
dialogue for QGIS versions 3.12 and higher.

The (JSON) file name is used as a prefix in the expression name.

### Style

For QML styles, the plugin will resolve the image or SVG paths for you.
You can click on the `Open folder` button to see where in the file system the QML style file is located, for later use.

### Processing Script

The Python scripts will be copied to the processing scripts folder and thereby become available for use in the Processing Toolbox under the `Scripts` menu.

![Processing Toolbox Scripts](/assets/img/processing_toolbox_scipts.png)

### Processing Model

> since version 0.10.0

The model fioles will be copied to the processing models folder and become available for use in the Processing Toolbox under the `Models` menu.

![Processing Toolbox Models](/assets/img/processing_toolbox_models.png)

### R Script

> since version 0.9.0

The R scripts in the collection will be copied to the R scripts folder and become available for use in the Processing Toolbox under the `R` menu.

![Processing Toolbox R](/assets/img/processing_toolbox_r.png)

### Dataset QA checklists

> since version 0.16.0

The checklists defined in the collection's checklist (JSON) files are made available to the _Dataset QA Workbench_ plugin by copying them to the _checklists_ folder in the user' QGIS directory.