How does plugin, profile, workspace, page and action compare to each other?
Plugin
Plugin is a small program located between Loupedeck console and the (target) application in use. Each target application has it's own dedicated plugin, which does two things:
- Work as translator between "Loupedeck language" and "Application's language",
- Delivere those translated commands from Loupedeck console to the application (purple arrows) or back from the application to the Loupedeck console (turqoise arrows).
More detailed information about plugin types (normal and universal plugins) here!
Profile
Each target application (using the plugin) is controlled through a profile. A profile contains all the mapping information of the whole device - which action is mapped to which button.
In addition to the mapped actions, profile also is a container for all the additional information. Profile keeps the information about custom actions (created for this profile), icons, sounds, etc
Workspace
Workspaces are an optional level inside the profile - using multiple workspaces can be described of having multiple tool boxes.
A workspace is a combination of the dials, touch buttons (and the Wheel for Loupedeck CT) - their respective content changes simultaneously when navigating from workspace to another.
Workspaces do not include round buttons - which are "outside" of workspaces. Because of this, round buttons can be utilized to switch between workspaces.
Page
As 12 touch buttons or 6 dials might not be enough for one workspace (e.g. you might have 20 Spotify Playlists from which to choose from), each set of dials and touch buttons can be multiplied by adding more dial pages or touch pages.
Navigating between pages is possible by swiping the screen horizontally (for touch pages) or vertically (for dial pages).
If you have multiple touch pages in each workspace - you could assign "Previous Touch Page" and "Next Touch Page" to the last two round buttons and use buttons for navigating between pages instead of swiping the screen.
Action or Adjustment
An action, a press function, is mapped to a button and an adjustments, a rotational function, is mapped to a dial.
Each action or adjustment causes a reaction on the target application. A "Play" action starts playback and "Main Volume" would adjust the output volume.
Actions and adjustments are mapped by dragging and dropping them from the action panel over the device on the middle. Action panel is located at the right side of the Loupedeck software.
Some plugins have actions which need user input (e.g., select a playlist which to start). These are called profile actions.
Loupedeck system also has a variety of completely customizable actions and adjustments - these are called Custom actions.
All profile actions and custom actions are stored in a folder below generic actions - the folder can be identified from the name "Stored ..." (e.g., Stored Spotify Premium Actions, Stored OBS actions..).
Each of the plugin has their own specific Stored Actions folder