The Developer Tools is a feature in most desktop browsers that allow one to play around with code. Here, you will be viewing the Console of Scratch's editor to add user-generated extensions. You will use the Console to enter code that runs a script that adds scratchblocks that do not exist. This adds the blocks to the extension category, but there is also some other info in the coding such as how to run the script, what link to connect to once the help button is pressed, and way more. However, with such an intriguing feature comes some other side effects.
How it Works
The special extensions run on code. This code is the same code that runs scratchblocks, except these scratchblocks do different things depending on how the code is made. When you put the code in the console, it puts the code wherever it fits in, and in this case it fits into the extensions category beause the code said to go there. This makes the extension scratchblocks appear. It may sound very hard, but it gets simple quickly. The code has all of the scratchblocks and the help button coded into it and all of the functionalities, because you can't just type a scratchblock; it will become obsolete.
Finding the Console
When you want to get an extension, you need to know your way to the console. After loading the Project Editor, you can press Customize and Control Google Chrome, then press More Tools, and finally Developer Tools on Google, or Settings, then Developer Tools on Internet Explorer. It is unknown for Mozilla Firefox. Once you are there click the Console Button to open the actual console. Now you just need to get your code.
Finding Your Code
Scratch Forums has an official topic made for these extensions, also called experimental extensions. This forum can be found here. Once you have found your code, copy it to your clipboard and go to the Project Editor's console. Then in the area where you are able to type, paste your code and press enter to activate it. Once that has been done, your extension has been added to the project.
Side Effects
Due to these being unofficial extensions, there are some side effects with activating them. These side effects include the following:
- They become obsolete after a reload.
- Uploading a project with the use of a Console Extension causes the project to work incorrectly.
- The extension will not save to anything, so it must be re-entered into the console every time you exit.
Offline Editor
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This article or section documents something not included in the current version of Scratch (3.0). It is only useful from a historical perspective. |
There was another way to add extensions to the offline editor by going to ScratchX, downloading the ScratchX URL, going to offline Editor, shift-clicking File and pressing Import experimental HTTP extension, then loading it.
