Settings

Settings… in the menu opens the settings of NeoDownloader as a whole: what applies to every project. A project's own settings are in its Properties - see Projects.

The settings window

On the left are the pages, under Program and Extensions - and, with Show all settings on, Protocols; on the right is the page you picked. The question mark beside a setting's name says what the setting does: point at it, or move to it with Tab.

OK saves all your changes at once, and Cancel drops them all. OK becomes available once something has changed. If you click Cancel or close the window with changes you have not saved, NeoDownloader asks Discard unsaved changes? - Keep editing or Discard.

A value that cannot be used is marked at its field, and its page is marked in the list: Something on this page needs fixing.

Show all settings

Some settings are meant for advanced users and stay hidden until you turn on Show all settings at the bottom left. A page with hidden settings says so at the bottom - … more settings for advanced users - and Show them turns the switch on for you.

When a change takes effect

Settings on General are used from the moment you click OK. Settings on Downloads, Runs and Journal reach a project when its run starts: a run already going keeps the numbers it started with. Some of them say so under the field - Takes effect on the next run.

There is one exception: raise Projects running at once, and a project already waiting in the queue starts straight away.

Program

General

• Default download folder - offered when a project is created; projects that already exist keep the folder they were given. Unless you choose another, it is the NeoDownloader folder in your Downloads folder. Choose… opens Choose a folder, with Up, New folder and Use this folder. In the portable version this field cannot be changed: that version downloads beside itself, and a project's folder can be chosen when the project is created.
• Deleted projects to keep - how many deleted projects the trash holds, 50 by default. With 0 the trash keeps nothing, and deleting a project becomes final. A lower number takes effect at the next deletion. See Trash.
• Check the licence online - picks up a renewal and honours a refund; on by default. Turned off, NeoDownloader goes on with the licence it has, and the licence window can still check on demand. See Checking the licence online.
• Check for updates - tells you when a newer version comes out; on by default. See Update NeoDownloader.
• Path to ffmpeg, with Show all settings on - used only to make thumbnails for video. Leave it empty to use the copy that came with NeoDownloader, or the one installed on this computer. If the path you give does not lead to a working program, video gets no thumbnails.

Downloads

• Simultaneous downloads - how many files a running project downloads at once, 10 by default. With two projects running, each keeps to this number on its own. A site may allow fewer.
• Attempts per file - how many times NeoDownloader tries to download a file before it gives up on it, 5 by default. A file the site refuses outright, such as with HTTP 404, is not tried again. Video Downloader does not use this setting: it gives up on a video after three attempts in all.
• Longest wait between attempts - in seconds, 60 by default.

With Show all settings on, three more settings shape the wait. Before each new attempt NeoDownloader waits as long as First wait between attempts says - 1 second by default - multiplied by Wait multiplier, 2 by default, once for every attempt already repeated, and never longer than Longest wait between attempts. Wait spread makes each wait a little longer or shorter - by up to a quarter at its default of 0.25 - so that many failed files do not come back at the same moment. When a site names the wait itself, NeoDownloader waits as long as the site said.

Runs

• Projects running at once - how many projects download at the same time, 2 by default and 10 at most; the others wait in the queue. A project holds its place until its files are downloaded, not just until the plugin finishes. See Downloading.
• How long to wait on a silent plugin, with Show all settings on - in seconds, 300 by default. A plugin that says nothing for longer is ended, and the journal says The plugin went quiet and was ended. Seconds waited: ….

Journal

• Journal entries - how many lines each project's journal keeps, 20,000 by default; older lines are removed when a run starts. See Journal.

Extensions

Extensions holds the settings a plugin keeps for the whole program, and last of all the Plugins page. Today one plugin has such settings - Gallery Downloader, on the Site access page: see Access to DeviantArt. The Plugins page is described in Plugins.

Language

The language is not in the settings window: pick it in the menu, under Language. The window switches to it at once.