Organize your N-Panel with this free addon: SIMPLE TABS

chippwalters · May 6, 2022, 3:55am

Just put it in the exclusions list

don1138 · May 6, 2022, 6:43am

I figure it’s an issue with Kekit 2.0 and Blender 3.2 both being beta, and it’ll get worked out when both hit golden master.

Being able to exclude KK also fixes its weird panel display, although not being able to put a panel beginning with “K” in alphabetical order still triggers my OCD.

But hey — I’ve learned to live with MachineTools forcing itself to the bottom of the list, so I suppose I’ll survive!

Shieldxx · November 6, 2022, 7:55pm

Absolutely essential addon and the functionality should be included in Blender imo! Is there any possibility of it working with the Shader Editor in the future?

mjoe67886 · December 24, 2022, 1:44am

thank you so much Mr Walters for creating this I have one piece of constructive criticism I’m in blender 3.3.2 LTS And a lot of times or maybe even all the time when I start blender I have to open your ADDON by clicking that red icon on the header and then click the check mark to enable it because a lot of times my tabs are back to where they are unless I click that little check mark every time I open blender

joseph · December 24, 2022, 3:12am

If you add the operator from this add-on (F9 > “Simple” should give you the path) to your startup script, you won’t have to worry about this anymore

mjoe67886 · December 26, 2022, 7:30am

I just realized I work on big scenes So every scene I open is big and blender takes awhile to start So I raise that startup delay to the max thinking that that’s the proper setting and that’s why you put that in there Will report back either way if it works or it doesn’t

mjoe67886 · December 26, 2022, 7:33am

F9 didn’t do anything when I pressed it I’m not sure what you mean

Antony · December 29, 2022, 1:53pm

When you press the Update button the following command is sent: bpy.ops.simpletabs.update()
He probably meant you should add it into a script and place the script here: c:\Users.…\AppData\Roaming\Blender Foundation\Blender\3.3\scripts\startup
I could find an article regarding it (Method 2) : How To Run Python Script When Blender Starts

Antony · December 29, 2022, 1:57pm

@chippwalters
I’d like to report compatibility issue with Welder addon. I had to add it into Exclude Tabs.

mjoe67886 · December 29, 2022, 8:05pm

Thank you so much now I know how to add startup items to blender startup process is there any way to add that within the add on code I’m trying to code the add on I’m creating to do a start up process AKA load a theme I’ve created is why

joseph · December 29, 2022, 8:12pm

This is my startup script, notice that N-panel organization is included:
2022-12-29 14_10_59-Blender
Put this in the main() function of the simple operator template in a new file. Turn on Register:
2022-12-29 14_11_46-Blender
Save as your new startup file:

Now your panels will organize on startup

mjoe67886 · December 30, 2022, 3:24am

i’d really like to master this I appreciate you taking the time to do this for me I made a quick video detailing my steps Maybe you could tell me where I’ve went wrong

or is it like this?

mjoe67886 · December 30, 2022, 4:02am

I tried that post about running python scripts and startup and nothing has been seeming to work using that post I tried everything and when trying a batch file I stumbled on this…

made a video I’m getting a weird error message in cmd window when I run blender via command line …when I click that check mark icon on simple tabs interface

ulf3000 · March 24, 2023, 1:59pm

i made a little script which accompanies this addon and automatically updates the sidebar when a workspace is activated. that way it will work automaticaly and is a good tradeoff , it doesnt run too often but also not to few times.

you have to put it into scripts/startup folder.

github.com

Ulf3000/blender-scripts/blob/main/sort_npanels.py

# Helper script to trigger update on the simple tabs addon  https://chippwalters.gumroad.com/l/simpletabs
# everytime the workspace is switched. Put this in your blender scripts startup folder

import bpy
from bpy.app.handlers import persistent   # the script stay active even if new blend file is loaded

@persistent
def update_sidebar(context):
    print("ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ",context.workspace.name)
    bpy.ops.simpletabs.refresh() # refresh simple tabs addon
    bpy.ops.simpletabs.update()

@persistent
def scene_loaded_handler(scene):
    # create generic object() as handle
    handle = object()
    # subscribe to the workspace change event
    subscribe_to = bpy.types.Window, "workspace"
    bpy.msgbus.subscribe_rna(
        key=subscribe_to,

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buzzkirill · September 14, 2023, 3:09pm

Thank you for the free addon. Unfortunately the tabs get reset with Blender restart. Wish there was an easy fix to this.

joseph · September 14, 2023, 7:08pm

There is- set the tabs in a new file, save as your startup file. Works great

buzzkirill · September 15, 2023, 10:43am

When I do that, the Startup file itself seems to save. I.e. running a new instance of Blender after that shows the saved Simple tabs. But if you do anything and save that project, then open it - then the tabs are back to default.

ulf3000 · September 16, 2023, 10:35pm

you can stil use my script from the post above … it works for the purpose and triggers the update function on mode , object and workspace switching … npanels will always be sorted correctly also directly after fileload

Nanomanpro · December 11, 2023, 6:48am

Hello. Is there a plan to update the add-on to version 4?
Thx

chippwalters · January 20, 2024, 12:03am

Works for me in V 4.02
If you’re having issues, consider going to http://cw1.me/discord and find the SIMPLE TABS channel and the developer there can help you.