Where have all my plugins gone?
 

Since updating Lightroom recently I now find my plugins have all gone e.g Nik software, Photomatix, Perfect Effects etc.* They are all still in my applications folder but don't show in LR's plugin manager so I cannot access them now.* How can I reinstall and get them back please?* I am running LR v4.3.

You may want to ask this, or better yet do a search because I think someone else had the problem, over at lightroomforums.net

[QUOTE=donoreo;87636]You may want to ask this, or better yet do a search because I think someone else had the problem, over at lightroomforums.net[/QUOTE]

Apologies for that. It is my posting. I had multiple posted on other sites including here! But forgot this one! :o

The result was as follows. Because these plugins sat in my applications folder I worked my way round to reinstall them into Lightroom. Firstly using the option below I directed my LR prefs to these items with didn't have a recognisable plugin file and it worked. For the plugins that did have a visible plugin file I just copied and placed into my LR plugin folder and this worked also. The example below refers to Color Efex Pro but the same procedure applies to any.

*The option to automatically register Color Efex Pro 3.0 as an external editor for Lightroom is only available if Lightroom is detected during installation. Color Efex Pro 3.0 can be manually added as an external editor to Lightroom with the instructions below.

Adding Color Efex Pro 3.0 to Lightroom as an External Editor
1. Open the Preferences in Lightroom.
2. Click the External Editing tab.
3. In the Additional External Editor section select a desired File Format, Color Space, Bit Depth, Resolution, and Compression.**
4. Click on Choose to select an application. Navigate to the location of Color Efex Pro 3.0.
5. Select the Color Efex Pro 3.0 file and click Choose.
6. Under the Preset drop-down menu select Save Current Settings as New Preset... and name the Preset.

Sorry about that. It is me! I multiple posted to get a solution but in the end sorted it myself.
Because these plugins sat in my applications folder I worked my way round to reinstall them into Lightroom. Firstly using the option below I directed my LR prefs to these items with didn't have a recognisable plugin file and it worked. For the "plugins" that did have a visible plugin file I just copied and placed into my LR plugin folder and this worked also. The example below refers to Color Efex Pro but the same procedure applies to any.

*The option to automatically register Color Efex Pro 3.0 as an external editor for Lightroom is only available if Lightroom is detected during installation. Color Efex Pro 3.0 can be manually added as an external editor to Lightroom with the instructions below.

Adding Color Efex Pro 3.0 to Lightroom as an External Editor
1. Open the Preferences in Lightroom.
2. Click the External Editing tab.
3. In the Additional External Editor section select a desired File Format, Color Space, Bit Depth, Resolution, and Compression.**
4. Click on Choose to select an application. Navigate to the location of Color Efex Pro 3.0.
5. Select the Color Efex Pro 3.0 file and click Choose.
6. Under the Preset drop-down menu select Save Current Settings as New Preset... and name the Preset.

Thanks for posting the fix here. I know I saw someone else have the problem over at lightroom forums so I knew the answer was there.