Index: app/qgspythonutils.h
===================================================================
--- app/qgspythonutils.h	(revision 7278)
+++ app/qgspythonutils.h	(working copy)
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@
 /* $Id$ */
 
 #include <QString>
+#include <QStringList>
 
 // forward declaration for PyObject
 #ifndef PyObject_HEAD
@@ -84,7 +85,13 @@
     
     //! return current path for python plugins
     static QString pluginsPath();
-    
+
+    //! return current path for home directory python plugins
+    static QString homePluginsPath();
+
+    //! return list of all available python plugins
+    static QStringList pluginList();
+        
     //! load python plugin (import)
     static bool loadPlugin(QString packageName);
     
Index: app/qgspluginmanager.cpp
===================================================================
--- app/qgspluginmanager.cpp	(revision 7278)
+++ app/qgspluginmanager.cpp	(working copy)
@@ -83,14 +83,13 @@
   if (!QgsPythonUtils::isEnabled())
     return;
   
-  // look for plugins
-  QDir pluginDir(QgsPythonUtils::pluginsPath(), "*",
-                 QDir::Name | QDir::IgnoreCase, QDir::Dirs | QDir::NoDotAndDotDot);
-
-  for (uint i = 0; i < pluginDir.count(); i++)
+  // look for plugins systemwide
+  QStringList pluginList = QgsPythonUtils::pluginList();
+  
+  for (uint i = 0; i < pluginList.size(); i++)
   {
-    QString packageName = pluginDir[i];
-    
+    QString packageName = pluginList[i];
+
     // import plugin's package
     QgsPythonUtils::loadPlugin(packageName);
     
@@ -125,7 +124,6 @@
         pl->setOn(true);
       }
     }
-  
   }
 #endif
 }
Index: app/qgspythonutils.cpp
===================================================================
--- app/qgspythonutils.cpp	(revision 7278)
+++ app/qgspythonutils.cpp	(working copy)
@@ -24,8 +24,9 @@
 #include "qgslogger.h"
 
 #include <QMessageBox>
+#include <QStringList>
+#include <QDir>
 
-
 QString QgsPythonUtils::mPluginsPath;
 PyObject* QgsPythonUtils::mMainModule;
 PyObject* QgsPythonUtils::mMainDict;
@@ -47,7 +48,7 @@
   
   // expect that bindings are installed locally, so add the path to modules
   // also add path to plugins
-  runString("sys.path = [\"" + pythonPath() + "\", \"" + pluginsPath() + "\"] + sys.path");
+  runString("sys.path = [\"" + homePluginsPath()  + "\", \"" + pythonPath() + "\", \"" + pluginsPath() + "\"] + sys.path");
 
   // import SIP
   if (!runString("from sip import wrapinstance, unwrapinstance"))
@@ -284,6 +285,32 @@
   return pythonPath() + "/plugins";
 }
 
+QString QgsPythonUtils::homePluginsPath()
+{
+  return QgsApplication::qgisSettingsDirPath() + "/python/plugins/";
+}
+
+QStringList QgsPythonUtils::pluginList()
+{
+  QDir pluginDir(QgsPythonUtils::pluginsPath(), "*",
+                 QDir::Name | QDir::IgnoreCase, QDir::Dirs | QDir::NoDotAndDotDot);
+
+  QDir homePluginDir(QgsPythonUtils::homePluginsPath(), "*",
+		     QDir::Name | QDir::IgnoreCase, QDir::Dirs | QDir::NoDotAndDotDot);
+
+  QStringList pluginList = pluginDir.entryList();
+
+  for (uint i = 0; i < homePluginDir.count(); i++)
+  {
+    QString packageName = homePluginDir[i];
+    if(!pluginList.contains(packageName))
+        pluginList.append(packageName); 
+
+  }
+
+  return pluginList;
+}
+
 QString QgsPythonUtils::getPluginMetadata(QString pluginName, QString function)
 {
   QString command = pluginName + "." + function + "()";
Index: app/qgisapp.cpp
===================================================================
--- app/qgisapp.cpp	(revision 7278)
+++ app/qgisapp.cpp	(working copy)
@@ -1563,14 +1563,13 @@
   if (QgsPythonUtils::isEnabled())
   {
   
-    // check for python plugins
-    QDir pluginDir(QgsPythonUtils::pluginsPath(), "*",
-                  QDir::Name | QDir::IgnoreCase, QDir::Dirs | QDir::NoDotAndDotDot);
-  
-    for (uint i = 0; i < pluginDir.count(); i++)
+    // check for python plugins system-wide
+    QStringList pluginList = QgsPythonUtils::pluginList();
+
+    for (uint i = 0; i < pluginList.size(); i++)
     {
-      QString packageName = pluginDir[i];
-      
+      QString packageName = pluginList[i];
+   
       // import plugin's package
       if (!QgsPythonUtils::loadPlugin(packageName))
         continue;
@@ -1596,7 +1595,6 @@
         loadPythonPlugin(packageName, pluginName);
       }
     }
-  
   }
 #endif
 }