Installation Instructions for *.ZIP and *.EXE / *.MSI files downloaded from Google Drive

First of all, thank you for your confidence in downloading and trying this app. Why do these instructions exist?

The distribution of this app is decidely low-cost / low-tech and skips over some of the standard security safeguards that folks with bigger budgets can afford. These include SSH protocols for websites and digital signatures (lots of people in the middle collecting rent with little or no competition). It is also nearly impossible to get a digital signature without first incorporating - meaning more middle people and more money (not to mention that the goverment now has its nose in it as well). Perhaps you could donate about $5k USD/year and I'd be happy to do all this and the legwork for you. Mind you, the labor that went into building this is still free.

All this means that Microsoft and all the antivirus software out there will do its darnest to prevent you from installing and running this app. Here are the instructions for overcoming these legitimate safety protections and installing and running this app anyway.

1. Download the *.ZIP/*.EXE/*.MSI

Sometimes the first challenge is to download the file. Browsers such as Microsoft Edge has a 'Smart Screen' filter that will warn you that it is not a verified app and hence potentially harmfull. You will have to take two or three overrriding actions in order to bypass this.

a. Hover over the ellipsis and click on more actions to 'Keep' the file.

b. This will bring up another pop-up window trying to convince you that the only way forward is to delete the file... but at the bottom, there is more information that will let you keep the file. See the screenshots below for the steps:

If you managed to keep the file so far, you can proceed to the next step.

2. Unblock the *.ZIP/*.EXE/*.MSI

After downloading the app, right-click on to its properties and towards the bottom of the properties panel, you should see a check-box that says 'Unblock'.

Once unblocked, you should be good to install it if it is an *.EXE or *.MSI

3. Additional steps for *.ZIP files

*.ZIP files contain the App files in folders that need to be manually copied to a place where Autodesk Revit can copy and load into the Revit Session for you. (The MSI and EXE files do this for you automatically).

What the App File Contain:

1. The *.bundle folder containing Revit-readable files.

2. The *.addin file telling Revit where the Revit-readable files live.

Both of these need to be in one of the two folders described below for Revit to be able to load into a session.

Scenario 1: The Windows User installing the app is the one using it as well

You can copy app files and folders to the user's roaming profile located here: C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Roaming\Autodesk\Revit\Addins\2023. Please change the version year to the appropriate year for the version you are installing.

Scenario 2: Make the app available to all users of the computer

This is the folder that Revit users to load the app for all users of a given computer: C:\ProgramData\Autodesk\Revit\Addins\2023 - Again, make sure that you choose the appropriate version year.