vim-pathogen

People seem to swear by NerdTree, but I personally don't see the purpose of it. Sure it may be nice to see your file structure sometimes, but having a terminal open or even just the actual folder window open solves that. Everything else can be done with the built-in :Ex command, which lets you navigate to open files, create new files, rename, delete, mostly everything you want. As for other plug-ins, there are a few I would recommend (can you tell I'm a Tim Pope fan?): - vim-commentary: Gives bindings for commenting out code quickly: https://github.com/tpope/vim-commentary - vim-surround: Easily surround selected text with symbols: https://github.com/tpope/vim-surround - vim-unimpared: Adds bindings for some misc. commands, like enabling relative line numbers and spellcheck: https://github.com/tpope/vim-unimpaired - vim-repeat: Allows man

#1 I have been using pathogen since I started using vim, I can recommend it. (copy paste directions to install: https://github.com/tpope/vim-pathogen) And this is where you can find vim plug-ins: http://vimawesome.com/ After installing pathogen, to install a plug-in: cd ~/.vim/bundle git clone <url> and you are done in most cases, some require adding a few lines on ~/.vimrc. #2 There are multiple ways to work with multiple files. There are tabs in vim, split screens, files in buffer etc, these are all without plug-ins.

See also pathogen [1] and vundle [2]. [1] https://github.com/tpope/vim-pathogen [2] https://github.com/gmarik/Vundle.vim

I think your experience hits on a problem with vim distributions - you're jumping into a solution to someone else's pain points. spf13, which has a lot of great plugins, probably started as someone's personal collection of plugins at some point. As such, the author had a lot of time to muse on what her/his current vim set up was missing. Sharing someone else's vim distribution, you miss out on the motivation behind including things (and also on the opportunity to pick alternatives more suited to your needs). I would start with stock vim and spend a few minutes outlining the features you need. I recommend, as a minimal set, a couple of plugins I think most people are happy about: Vundle [or Pathogen] (two managers for vim plugins hosted on GitHub) https://github.com/gmarik/Vundle.vim [https://github.com/tpope/vim-pathogen] Sensible

What do you mean you could "never get it to work"? https://github.com/tpope/vim-pathogen#installation It's literally copy and paste. I understand preferences and taste, but you make it sound like you need a degree in particle physics to make the thing work...

Um, what? There's a suite of 35 plugins used in Maximum Awesome. It's using Tim Pope's pathogen plugin[1], so they're all listed in .gitmodules instead of directly in the .vimrc or in an included bundle file as with Vundle[2]. [1] https://github.com/tpope/vim-pathogen [2] https://github.com/gmarik/vundle

I'm sure you've heard of pathogen, but if not, check it out here: https://github.com/tpope/vim-pathogen. I've been using it for a while and it's fantastic.

I love how easy pathogen (https://github.com/tpope/vim-pathogen) makes installing vim plugins from github. I always struggled with it in the past (and mostly avoided it) but now it is as simple as git clone and done.

The most important thing I've learnt recently regarding Vim config is Pathogen. https://github.com/tpope/vim-pathogen With it it's much easier to keep plugins separate and encourages putting your own tweaks in custom plugins.

A few people have mentioned vimballs as a plugin solution. There are (at least) two other potential solutions for plugin handling: Pathogen and Vimana. Pathogen is what the blog author is actually using already, but he didn't realize it initially. He refers to a .vim repo on Github that "does some magic where [it] puts each plugin in its own directory under /~.vim/bundles/." What he describes here is based on Tim Pope's Pathogen: basically a plugin to manage all other plugins. I've been using Pathogen for a bit now, and it's excellent. Another solution is Cornelius Lin's Vimana, which I've heard very good things about, but I haven't tried. Some links below. http://github.com/tpope/vim-pathogen http://tammersaleh.com/posts/the-modern-vim-config-with-path... http://ithaca.arpinum.org/2010/06/28/vim-updates.html http://github.com/c9s/Vimana

Currently, VimJolts is in under construction... It may be great, but it's hard to say. There's not yet a lot of there on the website. (Does it support uninstalling? How are installed items organized? Do items have to come from Github or also Vim.org?) Edit: The README on Github is a bit more informative (yes, uninstall is supported): http://github.com/vimjolts/vimjolts As an alternative, perhaps Pathogen (not really an installer, more like a style for managing Vimscripts) or Vimana (a full installer). http://github.com/tpope/vim-pathogen http://search.cpan.org/perldoc/vimana