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General

The General Settings tab contains application-wide settings that do not belong to a single device or workflow.

The general settings tab

Profiles#

The profile list shows the profiles available on your system, including their active state, name, description, and ID.

Profile Buttons#

Use the buttons below the list to:

  • add a new profile
  • duplicate the selected profile
  • delete the selected profile
  • load the selected profile

Important

A different profile cannot be loaded while equipment is connected.

General#

Name, Description, Language and Font#

  • The active profile name and description can be edited here.
  • The language selector changes most labels, tooltips, and buttons throughout the application.
  • The font selectors let you choose both the font family and the font face used by the user interface.

If you want to contribute to localization, check out the localization guide.

Sky Survey Cache Directory#

This directory is used for downloaded survey images, such as images fetched while using the Framing Assistant.

Profile Chooser On Startup#

This option controls whether N.I.N.A. opens with the profile chooser or reuses the saved profile selection automatically.

Advanced Settings#

The Advanced Settings expander contains the following application-wide options:

Auto Update Source#

Selects which update channel N.I.N.A. checks. Available channels are Nightly, Beta, and Release. * Currently there are 3 version branches, Nightly, Beta and Release

> Nightly offers the latest developments including bugfixes and feature additions. These builds are not as well tested as the beta or released versions but should be stable for imaging runs

> Beta versions are considered feature complete and are typically very stable. They will undergo a series of testing and bug fixing with incremental updates before becoming a release version

> Release offers the most reliability and stability for your imaging runs

Single Imaging Layout#

Use this when you want the Imaging tab layout to be shared across profiles instead of keeping separate Imaging layouts per profile.

Logging#

  • Sets the application log level
  • The recommended log level for general usage is Info
  • Opens the log folder directly from the button beside the selector

Available log levels are Error, Warning, Info, Debug, and Trace.

Notification Work Area and Notification Corner#

These settings control where N.I.N.A. shows toast notifications on the screen.

Device Polling Interval#

Sets the device polling interval in seconds.

Save Queue Size#

Controls the size of the image save queue.

Hardware Acceleration#

Turns hardware-accelerated rendering on or off for the application.

Note

Changing Single Imaging Layout, Save Queue Size, or Hardware Acceleration requires restarting N.I.N.A.

Color Schemes#

Current UI Color Scheme#

  • Selects the primary color scheme used by the application
  • Lets you switch to one of the built-in themes
  • Lets you copy the current scheme into a custom scheme and then edit the individual colors

Alternative UI Color Scheme#

This is a second full color scheme that you can configure separately from the current one.

Color Scheme Toggle#

The eye button toggles between the current and alternative color scheme.

Astrometry Settings#

This section contains your observing site information:

  • latitude
  • longitude
  • elevation
  • observer name
  • observatory name
  • site name

GNSS Button#

Loads coordinates from the currently selected GNSS source.

GNSS source configuration is done in Options > Equipment.

Planetarium Button#

Loads coordinates from the currently selected planetarium application.

Planetarium software selection and connection details are configured in Options > Equipment.

Custom Horizon#

Use a custom horizon file when you want local obstructions to be reflected in altitude-based displays and sequence logic.

The file format is a list of azimuth/altitude pairs. Gaps between azimuth values are interpolated. At least two azimuth/altitude pairs are required.

Example:

# Az Alt
0 14
5 69
55 77
90 70
105 35
115 10
120 24
135 25
145 30
205 20
230 23
235 14
240 14
265 33
285 33
350 20
360 14

Once a horizon file is configured, it is shown in altitude charts across the application.

Altitude chart with horizon

World Map#

The world map provides a quick visual check of the currently configured observing location.

Plugin Repositories#

At the bottom of the page you can manage the list of plugin repositories used by the Available plugins tab.

  • Use the + button to add an additional repository URL.
  • Use the trash button to remove a repository you no longer want to query.

Note

The main N.I.N.A. plugin repository is always kept in the list and cannot be removed from this view.