diff --git a/scripts/install_plugins.sh b/scripts/install_plugins.sh
index dc2d310..99a1ecb 100755
--- a/scripts/install_plugins.sh
+++ b/scripts/install_plugins.sh
@@ -10,13 +10,46 @@ clone() {
 		GIT_TERMINAL_PROMPT=0 git clone --recursive $plugin
 }
 
+install_plugin_git() {
+	local plugin; plugin="$1"
+	local branch; branch=":${1##*:}"
+	plugin="${1%$branch}"
+	clone "$plugin" ||
+		clone "git:$plugin"
+	if [ "${branch}" != ":${1}" ]; then #if exists branch/revision
+	    (cd "$SHARED_TPM_PATH"/$(shared_plugin_name "$plugin") &&
+		git checkout -q "${branch#:}" 2>&1 >/dev/null)
+	fi
+}
+
 # tries cloning:
 # 1. plugin name directly - works if it's a valid git url
 # 2. expands the plugin name to point to a github repo and tries cloning again
-clone_plugin() {
-	local plugin=$1
+install_plugin_github() {
+	local plugin; plugin="$1"
+	local branch; branch=":${1##*:}"
+	plugin="${1%$branch}"
 	clone "$plugin" ||
 		clone "https://git::@github.com/$plugin"
+	if [ "${branch}" != ":${1}" ]; then #if exists branch/revision
+		(cd "$SHARED_TPM_PATH"/$(shared_plugin_name "$plugin") &&
+		git checkout -q "${branch#:}" 2>&1 >/dev/null)
+	fi
+}
+
+install_plugin_web() {
+	local plugin; plugin="$1"
+	local plugin_name="$(shared_plugin_name "$plugin")"
+	(cd "$SHARED_TPM_PATH" && mkdir "${plugin_name}" &&
+	cd "${plugin_name}" && (wget --no-check-certificate "${plugin}" ||
+	curl -k -s -O "${plugin}"))
+}
+
+install_plugin_local() {
+	local plugin; plugin="$1"
+	local plugin_name="$(shared_plugin_name "$plugin")"
+	(cd "$SHARED_TPM_PATH" && mkdir "${plugin_name}" &&
+	cd "${plugin_name}" && cp -r "${plugin}" .)
 }
 
 # pull new changes or clone plugin
@@ -28,9 +61,29 @@ install_plugin() {
 		# plugin is already installed
 		echo_message "Already installed \"$plugin_name\""
 	else
-		# plugin wasn't cloned so far - clone it
 		echo_message "Installing \"$plugin_name\""
-		clone_plugin "$plugin" &&
+
+		local handler; handler="${1%%:*}:"
+		plugin="${1#$handler}"
+
+		case "${handler}" in
+			''|*/*) case "${1}" in
+				/*|~*|\$*)	install_plugin_local  "${1}" ;;
+				*)		install_plugin_github "${1}" ;;
+				esac ;;
+			gh*|github*|git@github.com*)	install_plugin_github "${plugin}" ;;
+			git:)				install_plugin_git "${plugin}" ;;
+			file:)				install_plugin_local "${plugin#//}" ;;
+			http:|ftp:)			install_plugin_web "${1}" ;;
+                        https:)
+                            case "${1}" in
+                                *github.com/*) install_plugin_github "${plugin#//github.com/}";;
+                                 *) install_plugin_web "${1}";;
+                            esac ;;
+			*) set_false ;;
+		esac
+
+		[ X"${?}" = X"0" ] &&
 			echo_message "  \"$plugin_name\" download success" ||
 			echo_message "  \"$plugin_name\" download fail"
 	fi
diff --git a/scripts/shared_functions.sh b/scripts/shared_functions.sh
index efa9e89..983540f 100644
--- a/scripts/shared_functions.sh
+++ b/scripts/shared_functions.sh
@@ -5,25 +5,51 @@ SHARED_TPM_PATH=""
 
 # sets a "global variable" for the current file
 shared_set_tpm_path_constant() {
-	local string_path="$(tmux show-environment -g TMUX_PLUGIN_MANAGER_PATH | cut -f2 -d=)"
+	#local string_path="$(tmux show-environment -g TMUX_PLUGIN_MANAGER_PATH | cut -f2 -d=)"
+	#pipes(due to fork) are expensive, the less the better
+	local string_path="$(tmux show-environment -g TMUX_PLUGIN_MANAGER_PATH)"; string_path="${string_path##*=}"
 	# NOTE: manually expanding tilde or `$HOME` variable. Avoids using `eval` as
 	# described here http://stackoverflow.com/a/5748307/777337
-	SHARED_TPM_PATH="$(echo "$string_path" | sed "s,^\$HOME,$HOME," | sed "s,^~,$HOME,")"
+	SHARED_TPM_PATH="$(echo "$string_path" | sed "s,^\$HOME,$HOME,;s,^~,$HOME,;")"
 }
 
 shared_get_tpm_plugins_list() {
-	tmux show-option -gqv "$tpm_plugins_variable_name"
+	local plugins_list
+	plugins_list="$(tmux show-option -gqv "$tpm_plugins_variable_name")"
+	if [ -z "${plugins_list}" ]; then
+		cat /etc/tmux.conf ~/.tmux.conf 2>/dev/null | \
+		#read set -g @bundle "tmux-plugins/tmux-example-plugin" entries
+		awk '/set.*-g.*@[bB][uU][nN][dD][lL][eE]/ {if($1!~"^#"){gsub(/'\''/,"");gsub(/'\"'/,"");print $4}}' #recover vim syntax'
+	else
+		printf "%s\\n" "${plugins_list}"
+	fi
 }
 
 # Allowed plugin name formats:
-# 1. "git://github.com/user/plugin_name.git"
-# 2. "user/plugin_name"
+# 1.  "user/plugin_name"
+# 2.  "user/plugin_name:branch"
+# 3.  "gh:user/plugin_name"
+# 4.  "gh:user/plugin_name:branch"
+# 5.  "github:user/plugin_name"
+# 6.  "github:user/plugin_name:branch"
+# 7.  "http://github.com/user/plugin_name"
+# 8.  "https://github.com/user/plugin_name:branch"
+# 9.  "git://github.com/user/plugin_name.git"
+# 10. "git://github.com/user/plugin_name.git:branch"
+# 11. "git://domain.tld/plugin_name"
+# 12. "git://domain.tld/plugin_name:branch"
+# 13. "http://domain.tld/plugin_name"
+# 14. "https://domain.tld/plugin_name"
+# 15. "ftp://domain.tld/plugin_name"
+# 16. "file://local/path/plugin_name"
 shared_plugin_name() {
-	local plugin="$1"
-	# get only the part after the last slash, e.g. "plugin_name.git"
-	local plugin_basename="$(basename "$plugin")"
+	local plugin; plugin="$1"
+	# get only the part after the last slash, e.g. "plugin_name.git:branch"
+	local plugin_basename; plugin_basename="$(basename "$plugin")"
+	# remove branch (if it exists) to get only "plugin_name.git"
+	local plugin_name; plugin_name="${plugin_basename%:*}"
 	# remove ".git" extension (if it exists) to get only "plugin_name"
-	local plugin_name="${plugin_basename%.git}"
+	plugin_name="${plugin_name%.git}"
 	echo "$plugin_name"
 }
 
@@ -47,8 +73,8 @@ reload_tmux_environment() {
 plugin_already_installed() {
 	local plugin="$1"
 	local plugin_path="$(shared_plugin_path "$plugin")"
-	cd "$plugin_path" &&
-		git remote >/dev/null 2>&1
+	cd "$plugin_path" #&& unmarry from git
+		#git remote >/dev/null 2>&1
 }
 
 end_message() {
@@ -58,6 +84,11 @@ end_message() {
 	echo_message "Done, press ENTER to continue."
 }
 
+set_false()
+{
+	return 1
+}
+
 # Ensures a message is displayed for 5 seconds in tmux prompt.
 # Does not override the 'display-time' tmux option.
 display_message() {
diff --git a/tests/expect_successful_plugin_bundle_download b/tests/expect_successful_plugin_bundle_download
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..e4cd43d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/expect_successful_plugin_bundle_download
@@ -0,0 +1,92 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env expect
+
+# disables script output
+log_user 0
+
+spawn tmux
+
+# Waiting for tmux to attach. If this is not done, next command, `send` will
+# not work properly.
+sleep 1
+
+# this is tmux prefix + I
+send "I"
+
+# cloning might take a while
+set timeout 15
+
+expect {
+  "Installing \"tmux-example-plugin\"" {
+expect {
+  "\"tmux-example-plugin\" download success" {
+expect {
+  "Installing \"tmux-online-status\"" {
+expect {
+  "\"tmux-online-status\" download success" {
+expect {
+  "Installing \"tmux-battery\"" {
+expect {
+  "\"tmux-battery\" download success" {
+expect {
+  "Installing \"tmux-sidebar\"" {
+expect {
+  "\"tmux-sidebar\" download success" {
+expect {
+  "Installing \"tmux-sensible\"" {
+expect {
+  "\"tmux-sensible\" download success" {
+expect {
+  "Installing \"sha1sum.txt\"" {
+expect {
+  "\"sha1sum.txt\" download success" {
+expect {
+  "Installing \"meta-micro\"" {
+expect {
+  "\"meta-micro\" download success" {
+expect {
+  "Installing \"readme.txt\"" {
+expect {
+  "\"readme.txt\" download success" {
+expect {
+  "Installing \"run-tests-within-vm\"" {
+expect {
+  "\"run-tests-within-vm\" download success" {
+    expect { "Done, press ENTER to continue" {
+        send "
"
+    }}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}
+
+  timeout {
+    puts "Plugin installation timeout (1)";
+    exit 1
+  }
+}
+
+# this is tmux prefix + I
+send "I"
+
+expect {
+  "Already installed \"tmux-example-plugin\"" {
+expect {
+  "Already installed \"tmux-online-status\"" {
+expect {
+  "Already installed \"tmux-battery\"" {
+expect {
+  "Already installed \"tmux-sidebar\"" {
+expect {
+  "Already installed \"tmux-sensible\"" {
+expect {
+  "Already installed \"sha1sum.txt\"" {
+expect {
+  "Already installed \"meta-micro\"" {
+expect {
+  "Already installed \"readme.txt\"" {
+expect {
+  "Already installed \"run-tests-within-vm\"" {
+    expect { "Done, press ENTER to continue" { exit 0
+    }}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}
+
+  timeout {
+    puts "Plugin installation timeout (2)";
+    exit 1
+  }
+}
diff --git a/tests/test_plugin_bundle_installation.sh b/tests/test_plugin_bundle_installation.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..7a9617a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_plugin_bundle_installation.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,60 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+
+CURRENT_DIR="$( cd "$( dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}" )" && pwd )"
+
+source $CURRENT_DIR/helpers.sh
+
+test_plugin_installation() {
+	set_tmux_conf_helper <<- HERE
+	set -g @bundle "tmux-plugins/tmux-example-plugin"
+	set -g @Bundle "gh:tmux-plugins/tmux-online-status"
+	set -g @BUNDLE "github:tmux-plugins/tmux-battery"
+	set -g @BUNDLE "github:tmux-plugins/tmux-sidebar:master"
+	set -g @BUNDLE "https://github.com/tmux-plugins/tmux-sensible:3ea5b"
+	set -g @BUNDLE "http://ovh.net/files/sha1sum.txt"
+	set -g @BUNDLE "git://git.openembedded.org/meta-micro"
+	set -g @BUNDLE "ftp://ftp.microsoft.com/developr/readme.txt"
+	set -g @BUNDLE "file://$PWD/tests/run-tests-within-vm"
+	run-shell "$PWD/tpm"
+	HERE
+
+	# opens tmux and test it with `expect`
+	$CURRENT_DIR/expect_successful_plugin_bundle_download ||
+		fail_helper "Tmux plugin installation fails"
+
+	# check plugin dir exists after download
+	check_dir_exists_helper "$HOME/.tmux/plugins/tmux-example-plugin/" ||
+		fail_helper "Plugin tmux-plugins/tmux-example-plugin download failed"
+
+	check_dir_exists_helper "$HOME/.tmux/plugins/tmux-online-status/" ||
+		fail_helper "Plugin gh:tmux-plugins/tmux-online-status download failed"
+
+	check_dir_exists_helper "$HOME/.tmux/plugins/tmux-battery/" ||
+		fail_helper "Plugin github:tmux-plugins/tmux-battery download failed"
+
+	check_dir_exists_helper "$HOME/.tmux/plugins/tmux-sidebar/" ||
+		fail_helper "Plugin github:tmux-plugins/tmux-sidebar:master download failed"
+
+	check_dir_exists_helper "$HOME/.tmux/plugins/tmux-sensible/" ||
+		fail_helper "Plugin https://github.com/tmux-plugins/tmux-sensible:3ea5b download failed"
+
+	check_dir_exists_helper "$HOME/.tmux/plugins/sha1sum.txt/" ||
+		fail_helper "Plugin http://ovh.net/files/sha1sum.txt download failed"
+
+	check_dir_exists_helper "$HOME/.tmux/plugins/meta-micro/" ||
+		fail_helper "Plugin git://git.openembedded.org/meta-micro download failed"
+
+	check_dir_exists_helper "$HOME/.tmux/plugins/readme.txt/" ||
+		fail_helper "Plugin ftp://ftp.microsoft.com/developr/readme.txt download failed"
+
+	check_dir_exists_helper "$HOME/.tmux/plugins/run-tests-within-vm/" ||
+		fail_helper "Plugin file://$PWD/tests/run-tests-within-vm failed"
+
+	teardown_helper
+}
+
+main() {
+	test_plugin_installation
+	exit_value_helper
+}
+main
diff --git a/tests/test_plugin_installation_extended.sh b/tests/test_plugin_installation_extended.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..8dbb5a4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_plugin_installation_extended.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,61 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+
+CURRENT_DIR="$( cd "$( dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}" )" && pwd )"
+
+source $CURRENT_DIR/helpers.sh
+
+test_plugin_installation() {
+	set_tmux_conf_helper <<- HERE
+	set -g @tpm_plugins " \
+	tmux-plugins/tmux-example-plugin \
+	gh:tmux-plugins/tmux-online-status \
+	github:tmux-plugins/tmux-battery \
+	github:tmux-plugins/tmux-sidebar:master \
+	https://github.com/tmux-plugins/tmux-sensible:3ea5b \
+	http://ovh.net/files/sha1sum.txt \
+	git://git.openembedded.org/meta-micro \
+	ftp://ftp.microsoft.com/developr/readme.txt \
+	file://$PWD/tests/run-tests-within-vm"
+	run-shell "$PWD/tpm"
+	HERE
+
+	# opens tmux and test it with `expect`
+	$CURRENT_DIR/expect_successful_plugin_bundle_download ||
+		fail_helper "Tmux plugin installation fails"
+
+	# check plugin dir exists after download
+	check_dir_exists_helper "$HOME/.tmux/plugins/tmux-example-plugin/" ||
+		fail_helper "Plugin tmux-plugins/tmux-example-plugin download failed"
+
+	check_dir_exists_helper "$HOME/.tmux/plugins/tmux-online-status/" ||
+		fail_helper "Plugin gh:tmux-plugins/tmux-online-status download failed"
+
+	check_dir_exists_helper "$HOME/.tmux/plugins/tmux-battery/" ||
+		fail_helper "Plugin github:tmux-plugins/tmux-battery download failed"
+
+	check_dir_exists_helper "$HOME/.tmux/plugins/tmux-sidebar/" ||
+		fail_helper "Plugin github:tmux-plugins/tmux-sidebar:master download failed"
+
+	check_dir_exists_helper "$HOME/.tmux/plugins/tmux-sensible/" ||
+		fail_helper "Plugin https://github.com/tmux-plugins/tmux-sensible:3ea5b download failed"
+
+	check_dir_exists_helper "$HOME/.tmux/plugins/sha1sum.txt/" ||
+		fail_helper "Plugin http://ovh.net/files/sha1sum.txt download failed"
+
+	check_dir_exists_helper "$HOME/.tmux/plugins/meta-micro/" ||
+		fail_helper "Plugin git://git.openembedded.org/meta-micro download failed"
+
+	check_dir_exists_helper "$HOME/.tmux/plugins/readme.txt/" ||
+		fail_helper "Plugin ftp://ftp.microsoft.com/developr/readme.txt download failed"
+
+	check_dir_exists_helper "$HOME/.tmux/plugins/run-tests-within-vm/" ||
+		fail_helper "Plugin file://$PWD/tests/run-tests-within-vm failed"
+
+	teardown_helper
+}
+
+main() {
+	test_plugin_installation
+	exit_value_helper
+}
+main