1. Installing the Plugin#
There are two ways to install Polaris:
From the QGIS plugin store — use the QGIS plugin manager to search for Polaris and install it directly (recommended).
From a ZIP file — download the latest release and install it via Install from ZIP in the plugin manager.
To access the plugin manager, go to the menu Plugins–>Manage and Install Plugins …
Once installed, the plugin will check for newer releases each time QGIS starts and notify you via the QGIS message bar when an update is available. If the check cannot reach the server it will display a brief non-blocking message and continue to load normally.
1.1. Installing from the plugin store#
Open the QGIS plugin manager, select the All tab, search for Polaris and click Install Plugin. QGIS will download and install the plugin for you.
The installation process may take a long time to complete.
1.2. Installing from a ZIP file#
First, download the latest version of the plugin from
QPolaris-latest.zip.
This URL always points to the most recent release; previous builds are kept
alongside it as QPolaris-<version>.zip.
In the plugin manager, select the tab Install from ZIP on the left-side of the GUI shown above and search for the downloaded zip file on your system.
Once again the installation process may take a long time to complete.
1.3. Activating and deactivating the plugin#
After installing the plugin, the last step is to activate it by accessing the installed tab on plugin manager again and making sure the PolarisGUI plugin is selected, as shown. You may have to de-activate it and activate it again.
1.4. Activating the processing provider#
There is a remote chance that the processing provider is disabled altogether in your QGIS, in which case you need to navigate to the plugin menu, as described above. Once you navigate to the Installed plugins, you just need to make sure to check the box next to the Processing plugin, as shown below:
1.5. Plugin main components#
Once installed and activated, the user will be able to access its tools through a side panel.
Please note that the panel can be extended by dragging its top portion up after the windows expansion icon has appeared, as shown below.
The user also has access to a toolbar, which can be moved around like any other toolbar.
Both the toolbar and panel can be closed/hidden without deactivating the plugin.
1.6. Opening and closing tools#
Showing/Hiding the Polaris panel can be done in the View menu, as shown below:
Showing/Hiding the Polaris Toolbar can be done in the View menu, as shown below:
