Better Logger Documentation

User manual for version 1.0.0. Also included in the package as Documentation.pdf. Back to the product page.

1. What Better Logger does

Better Logger organizes your Unity console. Instead of one long stream of grey text, every log message belongs to a named channel. Each channel has its own color and its own on/off switch.

A log sent to the Player channel looks like this in the Unity Console:

Because each channel can be switched off, you can mute the parts of your game you are not working on and only see the messages you care about.

1.1 Requirements

Unity 2021.2 or newer. No other packages are required.

1.2 What is in the package

The package installs into Assets/Zest Studios/BetterLogger. It contains the compiled tool (Runtime and Editor), a demo scene in the Demo folder, and the manual.

2. Installation and first-time setup

1. Import the package from the Asset Store (Window > Package Manager > My Assets).
2. After the import finishes, a window called Better Logger Setup opens on its own.
3. The window shows a Base Folder field. This is where Better Logger will store your files. The default (Assets/Zest Studios/Better Logger Config) is fine for almost everyone.
4. Below the folder field, the window lists exactly which files will be created and where. Check the paths look right.
5. Click Set Up Here. Setup creates your config file and your channel list code, and the window closes. You are done installing.

2.1 What setup creates

Setup creates one folder with everything that belongs to you inside it:

These files are yours. Updating Better Logger never changes them (see section 8).

3. Creating your first channel

1. Open Tools > Better Logger > Channels.
2. Click Create New. A channel named NewChannel appears in the list.
3. Click the arrow on the left of the row to expand it, then click Rename... and type a name, for example Player.
4. Click the color bar and pick a color. This is the color the channel tag will have in the console.
5. Click Save LogChannels Enums at the bottom of the window. This writes your channels into code so you can use them in scripts.

4. Sending logs from code

Add the using line at the top of your script, then call Log.Send:

The full set of options:

If a channel is switched off, its messages are skipped completely. Nothing is logged and nothing is computed, so muted channels cost no performance.

4.1 Building your own tools on top

Every send also raises the Log.OnLog event with the time, type, channel id and name, color, message, stack trace, and context object. Subscribe to it to build an in-game console or a debug overlay.

5. The Channels window

Open it from Tools > Better Logger > Channels. Each row is one channel.

The Default channel always exists and cannot be deleted.

6. Converting your existing Debug.Log calls

If your project already has plain Debug.Log calls, Better Logger can convert them to channels for you.

1. Open Tools > Better Logger > Find Debug.Log Usages.
2. The window lists every Debug.Log, Debug.LogWarning, and Debug.LogError call in your scripts.
3. For each entry, pick a channel from the dropdown next to it.
4. Click Swap on the entry. The call is rewritten to Log.Send. The log type (Warning, Error, and so on) and the context object are kept exactly as they were.
5. Click Open on any entry to jump to that line in your code editor first, if you want to check it before converting.

7. Where your files live, and moving them

Your channel list (LogConfig.asset) must stay inside a folder named Resources. That is how Unity loads it when your game runs. Setup takes care of this for you.

7.1 Moving the folder

1. Open Tools > Better Logger > Setup...
2. Pick a new base folder with Browse.... The window shows where each file will end up.
3. Click Move Here. The config and the generated code move together.

You can also move the folder by hand in the Project window. Keep the config inside a Resources folder, keep the Generated folder in one piece, and keep only one LogConfig in the project.

8. Updating the package

Updating is safe. An update only replaces the package folder (Assets/Zest Studios/BetterLogger). Your config and your generated channel code live outside it and are never part of an update, so your channels survive every update with no steps needed from you.

9. Troubleshooting

10. Support

Discord: discord.gg/2ths8Hj9QE (the fastest way to reach us)

Email: studioszest@gmail.com

If anything in this manual is unclear, that is a bug in the manual. Tell us and we will fix it.

← Back to Better Logger