Does anyone have a shapely install for python "dummies" guide?

Question

I have read both questions in regard to installing shapely on a Mac (OS Mountain Lion) and haven't been able to figure it out. I'm not familiar with python syntax and am just trying to get shapely installed so I can use the polygonizer plugin in QGIS.

I download and untar shapely to my downloads folder, but then I have no idea where to put it. I tried to put in some of the script from How to install shapely for python 2.6 (Mac) NOT 2.7? and http://tumblr.pauladamsmith.com/post/17663153373/howtoinstallgdalshapely, but all I get is "SyntaxError: invalid syntax" when I paste it into the QGIS python console. Example of something I tried:

cd -> '/Users/blablabla/Downloads/Shapely-1.2.17' File "", line 1 cd -> '/Users/blablabla/Downloads/Shapely-1.2.17' ^ SyntaxError: invalid syntax LDFLAGS=/Library/Frameworks/GEOS.framework/Versions/3/unix/bin/geos-config --libs File "", line 1 LDFLAGS=/Library/Frameworks/GEOS.framework/Versions/3/unix/bin/geos-config --libs ^ SyntaxError: invalid syntax CFLAGS=/Library/Frameworks/GEOS.framework/Versions/3/unix/bin/geos-config --cflags File "", line 1 CFLAGS=/Library/Frameworks/GEOS.framework/Versions/3/unix/bin/geos-config --cflags ^ SyntaxError: invalid syntax python setup.py install File "", line 1 python setup.py install ^ SyntaxError: invalid syntax

If someone has a basic explanation of what I'm supposed to be doing, it would be greatly appreciated.

Answer 1

Shapely is a Python module and not a QGIS plugin. Therefore you must use the terminal (Terminal.app) and not the QGIS python console to install shapely.